Casa Viva
The Challenge: More than 40 million children in Latin America are in need of residential care because of the startlingly high number of cases of abandonment or orphaning. The traditional approach to this problem has been institutionalisation: placing children in orphanages or rehabilitation centres which are often ineffective and expensive to run. Even with the best intentions, children are still growing up without the individual care and attention they so desperately need, and they are not experiencing the love and support of a family unit.
The Idea: Research begun in 2003 pointed to the church as a natural springboard for fostering children. Enabling churches to play an active part in supporting children at risk by encouraging church members to take on individual children would eliminate the need for constant staffing of expensive facilities. It would also provide the child with a better psycho-social environment in which to grow up, surrounded by the love and support of the Christian community experienced in the context of a close-knit family unit.
The Solution: In 2005 Casa Viva was established in Costa Rica, grown from an idea formed by two missionaries from Leader Treks and then developed in partnership with Viva. Within only a short time 14 willing churches were found to participate in the scheme, and from within those churches 30 different families signed up to test the idea. Four people were hired as Casa Viva staff to provide the recruitment, screening, and training of potential parents, and to organise the legal arrangements with local authorities.
The Result: Casa Viva has been so successful that Oscar Arias Sánchez, Nobel Peace Price winner and current President of Costa Rica, came to open the Casa Viva Centre and has signed up the initiative for government funding. The initiative is now being exported across Latin America. Children are experiencing what it is like to live with a real family, who support and care for them, and to whom they are not just another mouth to feed but a loved and valued child of God.
The Partnership: Here is where you could get involved. The vision has been handed to the local churches, energising and empowering them to take responsibility for the children in their localities, caring for them as God’s own children. Viva has provided the contacts and the connections, linking churches to relevant initiatives and sources of help, and has also offered valuable training and ongoing support. However there are still difficulties: Casa Viva cannot always provide funding for families to take on extra children, meaning that some people cannot get involved, and they are always trying to increase advocacy and awareness, promoting fostering and adoption within churches, but staff and time are limited. If you are interested in playing a part in giving children a loving family, please contact us for more information on how you could partner with Casa Viva in this initiative.