Fortitude Children’s Home (FCH) was borne out of a passion to provide a loving, stable family and home environment for less fortunate children. Our hope is to nurture the innate talents and gifts of each child and give them the opportunity  in life

Several visits over the years to several orphanages in and around the country, highlight’s some of the flaws of those homes towards the children in their care. Personal observations are that:

• Some of the kids sometimes have behavioural problems and there’s no specialist or behaviourist, and such a child is treated solely as a stubborn child and made to feel worthless.
• The staff at the home are dispassionate about the children in their care.
• Dishonest staff who do not buy into the vision of the home and therefore tend to deprive the children of donations made to them
• Lack of adequate funding
• Dilapidated facilities and poor living conditions
• Poor medical response times, thereby leading to the spread of diseases or worse
• Non payment of school fees, so children tend to miss a lot of school and invariably suffer academically in the long run
• The homes do not handle adoption cases properly and through the proper channels.
• There is no liaison between the school and the home, so the child’s developmental process  is not well monitored.
• There is verbal,sexual & physical abuse in many homes.
• Children are not properly registered with the Police or Social Welfare Offices, and so could be illegally adopted or trafficked.

What Are We Doing Differently?

      We are effecting systems  to close the gaps in those flaws identified, and establish policies of openness both financially and from care-givers to children. A sense of responsibility from the top-down (vertically) and from child-child (horizontally)is an integral part of our ethos . Implementing our policies have de-institutionalized the concept of living in an orphanage ,instead providing a sanctuary which feels more like living with biological parents and siblings.We also have …

• educated and professional staff and care-givers
• extra-curricular activities for the children, such as learning to play musical instruments, football, learning new languages, arts & craft etc.
• Round the clock CCTV surveillance
• comfortable rooms and sanitary, clean environments
• on-site medical centre with 24hours on-duty nurses
• Realistic salary+allowance package’s for staff; including medical insurance
• well considered, planned and nutritious meals to help stave off diseases and help develop the children mentally and physically.
• well trained  children and care-givers with a sense of belonging, so that instead of being destructive, they seek to protect their home from dilapidation . We also maintain the property at all times, so as to maintain a high standard at the home.
• The Administrator and assistants live  on-site, so as to keenly monitor the children and their care-givers
• In order to curb abuse, CCTV monitoring and a separation between the boys and girls dormitories . Also, nannies will accompany the children each time they leave the premises. e.g to school, hospital visits, etc.
• Every child, regardless of how FCH comes by them must be duly registered at the Social Welfare Office.