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Cradle of Love Baby Home gives hope to orphansby Vincent Obiro Orute Their aim is to provide hope where there is non, and for those who are part of Cradle of Love Baby Home, the job is not one to be taken lightly. The Cradle of Love Baby Home situated in Usa River in Arumeru district gives infants the opportunity to live in a nurturing environment with the care and love they so desperately need. The home which has 10 infants and 2 care givers is intended to offer orphans short-term care, usually no more than two years and any relative who is willing and able to take over the care of the child after it is weaned and able to eat solid food, will be asked to do so. According to the Director of Cradle of Love Baby Home, Davona Thoresen Church, placing children with adoptive or fostering families in Tanzania is part of formal efforts towards providing children who are neglected, abandoned, and unwanted with a family that will provide such children with love and care, as well as the opportunities for and rights to growth and development. "Adoption and fostering are two different processes and one should not be confused for the other," said Davona Church. She says while adoption is permanent, fostering is temporary. However, she adds that both processes share in common the fact they are family-based as opposed to institutionalization. Adoption according to Davona is the complete severance of the legal relationship between the child and its biological parent(s) and the establishment of a new legal relationship between the adopted child and his/her adoptive parents. "It is important to note the permanency of this newly established relationship," said Davona. "We do not adopt children, all we do is to foster them till they grow up and a home is found for them", She adds. Under adoption the adopted child becomes the child of adoptive parent(s) with all rights including the right of inheritance and the child so adopted is separated finally and irrevocable from his biological parents and siblings. Devona stressed, however, that the situations that lead children to adoption and fostering care are social, economic and sometimes psychological. She says in the traditional African set-up, the homeless children were taken care of by the community and extended family members and that there was neither the need nor place for legal adoption as we know them today because the child still retained the natural family’s identity. But with urbanization, rapid social change, high cost of living, increased numbers of children needing alternative family care and erosion of strong community ties, community policing has reduced considerably hence the need for adoption and fostering. "We would like to encourage Tanzanians to see adoptions and fostering as viable options in alleviation of poverty and in dealing with children orphaned by HIV/AIDS," said Davona. According to her caring and loving children means understanding their felt needs and responding to them appropriately and in a timely manner. It means giving them shelter, if they do not have a home, giving them support when they are abandoned and abused, giving them education, and helping them to develop social behaviour if they got into conflict with the law. This according to her not only needs good social work or a good heart, but also a well based information management. Although the Cradle of love Baby Home is an affiliate of Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), it does not receive regular funding from the organization and it is run by a separate Board of Directors and administrators. The program depends primarily on donations from individuals well wishers. According to Davona, the Cradle of Love Baby Home’s biggest challenge is to find a permanent home for the orphans when they leave the centre.
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