At the Rosie May Home sisters are reunited so that they can stay together until they can return home to live with their family.
About the Rosie May Home
Since the small family home opened in 2008 following the devastation left by the 2004 Asian Tsunami. Working in partnership with People in Need Foundation, the ethos of this unique, family orientated home is to reunite children in crisis, and to support and nurture girls, to unlock their potential and give them a positive future.
Here are some incredible achievements:
- 50% of girls have either been legally re-united with their parent/s or have been adopted. An A-level student achieving an incredible AAC grades with university on the horizon.
- Leaver gaining employment after successfully completing a vocational training course in textiles and now living independently.
- 70% of girls now go home to stay with their mums in the school holidays.
The Rosie May home provides:
- A quality education in the local school.
- After school tuition in English and Maths
- Counselling and development sessions
- IT skills training
- Creative activities and dance programs
- Family strengthening through home visits with the aim of eventual reunification.
Our experience of working with girls at the Rosie May Home over the last ten years, has led us to discover that over 80% of girls have at least one living parent or relative. In most situations, these single parents want their children but, do not have the support to be able to keep them. Poverty is the biggest cause of family breakdown and many mums believe that giving their children to a home is ‘for the best’.
It is estimated that 5,275 children lost either or both parents in the Boxing Day Tsunami (BBC)
The tsunami led to a trail of destruction across Sri Lanka, killing more than 31,000 people, displacing 443,000, destroying 99,000 homes which all had a negative impact on the Sri Lankan economy (World Bank)
In the immediate aftermath of the Tsunami, an additional 287,000 people in affected areas fell below the national poverty line in Sri Lanka (Asian Development Bank)
The Rosie May Home aims to:
Educate: Provide girls with a quality education, additional tutoring and support outside of school hours.
Empower: Equipping girls with the skills and qualities they need to become independent and have a better and brighter future.
Re-unite girls with their families: Strengthening the bonds between children and their parents/ relatives to enable reunification. Break the cycle of unnecessary institutionalisation.
The Rosie May home works towards specific UN Sustainable Development Goals:
The Rosie May Home fits with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC):
Article 3- Best interests of the Child
Article 6- The right to life
Article 9- Right to a family life
Article 27- An adequate standard of living
Article 28- The right to a quality education
Article 29- Goals of education: developing personalities, talents and abilities to the fullest.
Where next for the Rosie May Home?
Our strategy to continue to develop a reunification programme so that girls can return home as soon as possible is key to the success of our small, family orientated home and the best possible outcome for all girls.