Where do they go after leaving orphanages?

Dar es Salaam. Young adults living in foster homes are supposed to vacate the centres at the age of 18, according to social welfare guidelines, but the question of where they should go is a stressful one for them and their caregivers.

The Social Welfare Department has outlined formal procedures to be followed, in collaboration between the government and stakeholders, to help integrate foster children approaching the age of 18 into society through further education, employment, or rejoining relatives.

But caregivers say nothing of the sort is being done, as the whole responsibility is left to them and the children alone.

As a result, the teen orphans who attain the age of 18 leave the centres arbitrarily to fend for themselves, with some joining criminal groups and others ending up on the streets.

The main reason for grown-up orphans to leave foster homes is to give space to younger children joining the orphanage centres.

"Children being taken care of in the orphanages should leave the centres before reaching the age of 18 through reintegration procedures as stipulated in the national guidelines on children’s reintegration with families issues in 2019," the Commissioner for Social Welfare, Dr Nandera Mhando, told The Citizen in an interview this week.

However, a two-week survey conducted by The Citizen corroborates caregivers' accounts.

Despite the guidelines requiring these children to be reunited with society, including with their extended families, before the age of 18, there are those who are forced to stay at the centres beyond the stipulated age because they have nowhere to go.

"I never saw any efforts to help me find my relatives. Up until now, I have no idea whether my parents are alive or dead. I don’t even think that I have relatives... I just found myself brought up in an orphanage centre," explains Mussa*, 21, who escaped from an orphanage centre in Morogoro.

Foster homes are the only homes

To him, the only brothers and sisters he knows are the ones he left at the children's home in 2021. "We decided to escape because we sympathised with the grandmother (caregiver) who wanted to see us succeed. We felt we should not be a burden."

Mussa was lucky enough to study until Form Four while at the orphanage, but the centre could not continue supporting his studies amid difficult circumstances.

So he decided to struggle for his independence. He wanted to be a mechanic, but in every garage he went to in Morogoro, he was kicked out like a thief. "I never got used to such harassment," he says.

He found himself working as a Mpiga debe (a tout) at a commuter bus stand in Morogoro.

When he saw the situation becoming difficult, he decided to board a truck to Dar es Salaam in 2022.

After spending three days and nights around the main bus stand in Mbezi, Mussa was joined by the city’s street boys, who took him to their main camp, Ubungo.

"I really want to go back home (to the orphanage) to at least offer a gift to my grandma, but I still haven't found a meaningful job. I first became a beggar, and now some of my friends and I make ends meet by collecting makopo (plastic cans) for sale," he explains.

Monica Cosmus, 22, (not her real name) says that she didn’t choose to become a prostitute, but she was forced by the hardship she endured after vacating an orphanage centre in Mwanza in 2021.

"I remember talking to some people who constantly came with a charity organisation to our orphanage centre. One woman promised me a job prompting me to leave the orphanage," she says.

She eventually found her way to Dar es Salaam, where, to her shock and dismay, she was made to work as a barmaid.

"I was 19 years old when I was forced to start working serving customers in a drinking joint," she says.

Monica was sexually exploited, and the money she was paid was taken by her employers. "I decided to leave the place and find my own ‘niche’ elsewhere. I joined other young women and started roaming nightclubs and the streets in search of ‘customers’."

Even so, she’s not ready to quit this job for now, she says sadly. "I have noticed that people show a lot of love to orphans when they are still in foster homes. But in reality, they are hypocrites who mostly use us for their own interests," she remarks.

Dilemma in foster homes

Managers/caregivers at orphanage centres find it emotionally hard and are usually reluctant to let the children they raised go back to the society they have never known and where they are not sure of their future.

"To be honest, we have not seen any efforts from anyone to help us reunite these children with their extended families before they reach the age of 18 as those guidelines demand. We continue living with some of them past the age of 18 because they have nowhere to go," says one of the orphanage managers (name withheld).

"What we are trying to do is talk to well-wishers so that at least they can help them, but it's not easy. There is usually no response. So we just stay with some; others ‘escape’ to go and fend for themselves," he explains.

He adds, "We cannot force them to leave the centres because they are our children. But we only wish for a mechanism to help them reconnect with society or even find a job or join vocational training centres."

A caregiver from Morogoro reveals that although there has been some aid from well-wishers, they have faced challenges in ensuring that young adults study and become independent.

"When they are young, we don't have a lot of problems because they live here and we eat what is available together, but the biggest burden comes when they attain the age of 18," she explains.

"There are those who graduate from universities with different professions in need of someone to hold their hands until they can stand on their own, but there are no such people, and the burden comes back to me," she added.

A caregiver from Hisani Orphanage Centre in Mwanza urged the government to prepare a special programme through which social workers could go through all the centres every year to find orphans who have finished secondary school, colleges, or universities and who are in need of help and help them find jobs, businesses, or any other projects that they wish to engage in.

"As we speak, I have children in my centre who have been sent back for not having exam fees, despite the fact that I told the school that I would pay it in full after some time. It’s really painful," she reveals.

Michael Njovu, a social psychologist from Mzumbe University, says that those opening up foster homes should create strategies for the future of the children after 18.

"Foster children need more help when they have to vacate the foster homes.

This is because, in many circumstances, they neither have parents, nor relatives to welcome them with open arms when they re-enter society," he says.

As the government works on improving the lives of vulnerable children, it must address the pressing issue of what happens to them when they turn 18. Supporting these young adults during their transition to independence will ensure a brighter future for them and protect them from falling into risky and vulnerable situations.

It is crucial to have a comprehensive plan that involves social welfare officers and well-wishers to provide guidance, education, and employment opportunities for these young adults, securing a better tomorrow for all Tanzanians.