Our Aim                                                                                             4Watoto strives to bring children into contact with relatives or even return them to relatives whenever possible.

Situation Goma

Most of our children come from conflict areas. When there is a rebel attack, people all run in different directions. Thus, families are torn apart from one moment to the next due to a lack of means of communication. Since basic registration of citizens has not been done for years, it is difficult to get in touch with any family members or neighbours.

There is also no registration of street children. Some have been abandoned or run away and children who have lost their parents have only a vague knowledge of where their home is and are sometimes so young that it is difficult to actually find out where they came from.

• Children are registered with Courts of Law and the district registry
• Investigation of surnames in existing district registrations
• Intensive contact with the Chef de Quartier (local police officer)
• When we come into contact with a mother / family member, the organisation in a DR Congo has a protocol that is followed on the way to reunification, for both verification and a pleasant interaction with each other.
• The added value that our organisation can subsequently offer after this search is mainly expressed in financial or educational support.

Success Stories * 

• At the moment we have been able to return two girls who worked in the street in prostitution to their parents. This after long research on surnames in existing district registrations and with the help of the coincidence that our district elder (Chef de Quartier) recognised the girls.

• Another (former) street boy had run away from home as a result of domestic violence from his father's side. He then lived on the street for two years. After living in our 4WatotoHouse for a month, he has indicated, after many conversations, that he wants to return to his parents. He is currently living with his parents again (September 2020). We have appointed a person within our organisation to monitor this situation.

• Two girls came back into contact with their mother after a short daycare of 3 weeks, again through investigation of surnames in existing district records. 
  

* We do not use names in this paragraph, to protect the children who no longer live in our house and therefore no longer fall under our responsibility / supervision.