A home in the small community of Hauraruni on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway provides a sanctuary for abused and abandoned young girls, and while reintegration with their families is the key aim some are allowed to remain after the stipulated 18 years if they have nowhere else to call home.
And it is not just the girls who are provided with a roof over their headsby the Hauraruni Girls Homes, but also their children as presently there are three teenagers with their babies who are living at the home.
Deoram Timram, administrator of the home, which is owned by the Full Gospel Fellowship, in a recent interview with the Sunday Stabroek revealed that two of the girls are under the age of 16 and while one went to the home with a baby in arms the other was taken to the home pregnant. A third teenager, who is over sixteen, became pregnant while at the home and he explained that the father of the baby plays a part in the child’s life even though mother and baby remain at the home.
He said that the two younger girls would be returning to school in September while the older girls in the home take care of their babies under the supervision of the house mother.
“A lot of people ask to adopt the babies but the girls don’t want to give up their babies… and the home has provided for the babies from day one and we have had some kind-hearted people who have donated items to the babies,” he said.
According to Timram this is the first instance where they have had babies in the homes.
Timram has been the administrator of the home since 2007 and he said from that time to now some 50 girls would have passed through the home but at any one time between 21 to 25 girls can be found living in the home.
“We can take up to thirty in terms of accommodating them, but we are not able to raise the kind of financing that is needed to adequately care for that number, but if we can raise more finances…we would definitely be able to take in more,” he told the Sunday Stabroek.
All the girls are referred to the home through the Child Care and Protection Agency of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the home would provide accommodation and also ensure that those of school age attend school.
“All of these girls come with horror stories, very traumatic experiences, and our job really is to first and foremost get them over the trauma,” the administrator said.
Timram said while some of them are orphans many of them are sexually abused.
He said they work with the children through personnel from the church while professionals, such as psychologist Barbara Deodat, who works with the girls, and from time to time social workers from the ministry would visit and work with the girls. The home is visited regularly by the agency’s inspector to ensure that the girls are properly taken care of.
While it is hoped that by the time the girls who remain in the home attain the age of 18 they would be able to move off on their own; Timram disclosed that presently there are three 19-year-olds at the home who have nowhere to go.
“They have nowhere to go and we would not put them out…” he said, adding that while they ensure that the children go to school many of them have such huge gaps in their education because of the trauma and their home situations, that it is difficult for them to cope with their studies.
Two of the older girls are paid a small stipend for helping out in the kitchen and serving as a matron of the home.
A home in the small community of Hauraruni on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway provides a sanctuary for abused and abandoned young girls, and while reintegration with their families is the key aim some are allowed to remain after the stipulated 18 years if they have nowhere else to call home.
And it is not just the girls who are provided with a roof over their heads by the Hauraruni Girls Homes, but also their children as presently there are three teenagers with their babies who are living at the home.
Deoram Timram, administrator of the home, which is owned by the Full Gospel Fellowship, in a recent interview with the Sunday Stabroek revealed that two of the girls are under the age of 16 and while one went to the home with a baby in arms the other was taken to the home pregnant. A third teenager, who is over sixteen, became pregnant while at the home and he explained that the father of the baby plays a part in the child’s life even though mother and baby remain at the home.
He said that the two younger girls would be returning to school in September while the older girls in the home take care of their babies under the supervision of the house mother.
“A lot of people ask to adopt the babies but the girls don’t want to give up their babies… and the home has provided for the babies from day one and we have had some kind-hearted people who have donated items to the babies,” he said.
According to Timram this is the first instance where they have had babies in the homes.
Timram has been the administrator of the home since 2007 and he said from that time to now some 50 girls would have passed through the home but at any one time between 21 to 25 girls can be found living in the home.
“We can take up to thirty in terms of accommodating them, but we are not able to raise the kind of financing that is needed to adequately care for that number, but if we can raise more finances…we would definitely be able to take in more,” he told the Sunday Stabroek.
All the girls are referred to the home through the Child Care and Protection Agency of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the home would provide accommodation and also ensure that those of school age attend school.
“All of these girls come with horror stories, very traumatic experiences, and our job really is to first and foremost get them over the trauma,” the administrator said.
Timram said while some of them are orphans many of them are sexually abused.
He said they work with the children through personnel from the church while professionals, such as psychologist Barbara Deodat, who works with the girls, and from time to time social workers from the ministry would visit and work with the girls. The home is visited regularly by the agency’s inspector to ensure that the girls are properly taken care of.
While it is hoped that by the time the girls who remain in the home attain the age of 18 they would be able to move off on their own; Timram disclosed that presently there are three 19-year-olds at the home who have nowhere to go.
“They have nowhere to go and we would not put them out…” he said, adding that while they ensure that the children go to school many of them have such huge gaps in their education because of the trauma and their home situations, that it is difficult for them to cope with their studies.
Two of the older girls are paid a small stipend for helping out in the kitchen and serving as a matron of the home.
Success stories
Timram said that the child care agency has had some very good success stories through their work with relatives of some of the girls who were later re-united with their families, and there were cases where a house-mother might be leaving and some of the girls may have became so attached to that person she then chooses to become their foster parent. He said in at least one of those cases the girl became an adult and has since married and started a family of her own. But he said they have had some bad experiences with some of the girls running away from the home.
“We would have had to then contact the Child Care and Protection Agency and then the police, and they were picked up, and there were a couple of cases where they had to be placed in front of the courts for wandering, and in one case the magistrate actually sentenced the girl to NOC (New Opportunity Corp) which was sad,” Timram disclosed.
However, he pointed out that while the home has a gate it is not a prison, since the girls are allowed to go to school and interact with persons in the community, and they can only ensure that they are home at night; if not, they are reported as missing.
At present the home has 21 girls between the ages of 5 and 19, but Timram said at any time this number can change, even if is for a short period while the child care agency sorts out home situations for some little girl in a crisis situation. All the girls attend school in the general area of the home.
The major adversity faced by the home is the meagre funding it receives, and according to Timram they depend heavily on the partnership of their sponsors who have been giving regularly. Owing to the global economic meltdown, however, their income has been drastically reduced and they are in the process of looking for additional partners.
While the home needs about US$2,600 a month to adequately provide for the girls, Timram said they receive US$1,400 a month which includes the US$500 per year it receives from the Ministry of Human Services.
The home has 15 bedrooms with double bunks, a kitchen, a dining hall, a sitting room, a play area, a library, and a computer room. It is equipped with eight toilets and eight bathrooms and there is also an outdoor play park.
“In spite of the many challenges, the home continues to provide the atmosphere, activities, and experiences that contribute towards the holistic development of some of the less fortunate girls in our country,” Timram said.
History
Giving a historical background to the home, Timram said that it was first established as the Hauraruni Children’s Home in 1982 by the late Reverend Philip Mohabir, Founder of the Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches in Guyana. He said it was born out of a desire to provide the love of a real home in a peaceful and healthy environment to deprived and homeless children, and one where they could receive emotional healing and the care which would enable them to live normal lives and become productive citizens.
At that time the home catered for both boys and girls, and its first house parents were Terrence and Roxanne Haynes, who were succeded by Joseph and Doreen Livan in 1985.
In 1996 the Livans secured funding from friends to build their own home at Kuru Kururu and because they had been house parents to the children for over ten years, many of the children knew no other parent and there was a deep bond between them. Timram said in order to avoid wrenching them apart the children were allowed to move with the Livans to their home.
The house became empty and this provided an opportunity for much-needed repairs and refurbishment, and for a new start with new children and new house parents. And it was in 1999 it reopened with Michael and Carolyn Maloney from the UK being house parents and administrators, and this time it became the Hauraruni Children’s Home for Girls.
At present Hess and Alexis Harry are the house parents of the home.
