We believe that education is the most important way to stop the poverty cycle. By giving a child the opportunity to go to school and gain an education, you are opening doors for them into a world of possibilities. Not only does an education provide a child with greater job opportunities when they are older, but it allows them to be able to communicate effectively and teach others.

Across the world, millions of children are suffering from malnutrition, even though there is enough food in world to feed us all. Not much else can be achieved for a child or an adult if they are not getting enough food. Therefore Bare Feet makes it a priority to address nourishment and food security in the communities in which is works. Bare Feet works with communities to increase their level of food production through using better farming techniques and creating communal farming projects.

In Africa, thousands of people still die from simple, treatable diseases every year. In many countries in Africa, malaria and malnutrition are still the highest killers of children under the age of 5. HIV/AIDS has also had a huge impact on the continent, and has created more orphaned children than any other singular disease. Bare Feet International is dedicated to improving the health of children, as well as their knowledge about their health. Bare Feet provides medical care to children in need, as well as providing them with mosquito nets, and organising educational workshops for schools and children’s homes.

One of the most ignored factors affecting orphans and vulnerable children are the psychological affects. In most western countries when a child loses a parent they are provided with counselling and a great deal of support. In most developing countries, children are expected to just carry on. Very little or no attention is given to the psychological, emotional and social affects that losing one or both parents has on a child. Bare Feet International believes that addressing these psychological affects is crucial for a child’s development. Bare Feet International provides counselling training for people who will be involved with orphans and vulnerable children, such as teachers, guardians, and other child care workers. We also run a memory book project through orphanage centres, working with children to create a scrap book of memories about their family history.

 

 

Bare Feet’s goal is to maintain natural family setting’s for orphaned and vulnerable children, by training people in the community on how to care for children and encouraging and supporting families to foster or adopt orphaned children. Sometimes this is not possible though. The vast numbers of orphaned children in Africa alone makes it virtually impossible for families to cope with the expense of taking in other people’s children. In such cases, children end up living in places like children’s homes and orphanages. Bare Feet International works with children in homes like these to ensure they do not lose their cultural roots and are provided with as close to a normal upbringing as possible.