Content tagged with: "Lumos CEO Blog"
Learning Lessons from the past to tackle modern day orphanage myth
In 2001, together with representatives from the European Commission, I made an unannounced visit to an orphanage in Romania. It was situated in a town ...
Why are we surprised by children starving in a Belarusian orphanage?
“Almost 100 children and young people have been found on the brink of starvation in orphanages in Belarus, prompting widespread public revulsion and a criminal ...
What does Freedom Day mean in Haiti?
On the 5th of February, the Haitian police broke up a trafficking ring at Kaliko Beach – a stunning Caribbean resort that is a hotspot ...
For 800 years, the problem of orphanages has been underestimated and misunderstood
Could a potential investment from the MacArthur Foundation finally help bring an end to this particular injustice against children? Over the past two decades, I ...
Father's Day
When children are vulnerable – following war or disasters – it is often because they are left behind with only one parent. In many cases ...
The 1st of June: What it Means to a Child’s Identity and the Right to Family and Future
In many countries, the 1st of June is celebrated as international children’s day. Over my years working to end the institutionalization of children, I have ...
What literacy can do for children in institutions
We may just about grasp the challenges faced by a very poor Romanian family with five children, including a daughter in a wheelchair, when they ...
NGOs Ramp up Push for Better UN Data
Desperately poor and bereft at the death of his wife, Daniel’s father made the only choice he could for his six-year-old son. But Daniel, afraid ...
‘Proud beyond words’: Lumos, 2015 overall winner of the Charity Awards
Lumos Foundation had never entered an awards competition before this year. So its staff were astounded to win the overall award at the Charity Awards, ...
Why money should follow the child
My first job, as a young Residential Social Worker in Sheffield, Northern England, involved supporting very young mothers and babies to stay together. It brought ...
Three Christmases in Romania
In Northern Transylvania, Christmas is extraordinary. Picture-postcard mountains and pine forest, covered with a metre of snow. The air crisp and cold. Horse-drawn sleighs drive ...
Institutions not only separate children from families, but also their communities
Children who are placed in institutions or so called ‘orphanages’ are not only deprived of a family life but, very often, are also denied the ...
Successful international development needs families
A group of children in a residential special school crowd around us when we visit, pulling at our clothes and hair, craving our attention and ...
International Human Rights Day
“They hide us away… and treat us like animals. But we are not animals. We are human beings. And we have rights”. EACH year, on ...
HIV/AIDS and children’s institutions – stories from Europe and Africa
When I first worked in Romania, in the early 1990s, there were hushed discussions and rumours about the problem of HIV infection in the institutions. ...
Three little words that make a big difference
It's actually five little words, but I had to draw your attention to a hugely important clause which could - if left unamended - result ...