Children Belong in Families
A Remarkable Journey Towards Global Change
Mick Pease and Philip Williams
Foreword by Baroness Caroline Cox
Children Belong in Families
A Remarkable Journey Towards Global Change
Copyright © 2018 Mick Pease and Philip Williams. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Resource Publications
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-4433-7
hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-4434-4
ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-4435-1
Manufactured in the U.S.A. 09/17/15
Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
Back Cover Illustration: Drawn by a Brazilian child to show the contrast between his home—bright and cheerful—and the institution where he was sent, dark and forbidding.
“Mick’s story will resonate with those who, like myself, desperately want to contribute to the protection and care of vulnerable children around the world. We all may not take on a national system of care, as he did in Brazil, but we all can do something to encourage the care for children in safe, loving families.”
—Elli Oswald
Interim Executive Director, Faith to Action Initiative
“Wrapped within a humorous and personal narrative, this book contains a powerful illustration of how one man with a true passion for justice can create a ripple effect, reaching from the gutters of favelas to the offices of influential government agencies. Anyone who cares about children should read it.”
—Helen Conway
District Judge
“Learning from their own mistakes, this book shows that families are the best place for children to be raised. Professional skills are needed to ensure that children’s needs are met. As Mick asks, ‘Would you want your own child to be cared for in an orphanage?’ If not, why is this good enough for other children?”
—Ruth Barley
Sheffield Hallam University, UK
“From the coal mines of Yorkshire, to the favelas of Brazil, to the intolerable orphanages of Romania and Tajikistan, to the villages of Myanmar, this book will take you around the world as it follows a man with only one goal in his heart—the well-being of the world’s vulnerable children. This book raises vital and urgent questions about orphanages and children’s villages; it offers many practical examples of alternative forms of care. I commend it you warmly.”
—Krish Kandiah
Founding Director of Home for Good
“Children flourish in families. I hope the inspirational account in this highly readable book encourages many more families from across the world to come forward to care for children who would previously have never experienced the love and joy which family life can uniquely provide.”
—Fiona Bruce
Member of Parliament
To
the family where I belong,
George (1923–1996), Ada (1926–2000), Brenda, Mark, and Kevin.
Foreword
I am delighted to provide this foreword to an account of the journey of Mick and Brenda Pease. They have run their remarkable UK-registered child protection charity with passion and dedication over the last two decades and told me several times how our unexpected encounter in Brazil provided the catalyst for all that followed. If my advice during that brief lunchtime conversation triggered so much, I count it a privilege to have played a part. Over twenty years ago Mick and Brenda were virtually lone voices in what has now become a global movement to support safe, family-based care for abandoned or vulnerable children. I am thrilled to see the values they embody spreading across other organizations and helping to shape practice and policies around the world.
When Mick first set up his charity he called it Substitute Families for Abandoned Children (SFAC). I am pleased to hear that it is now Strengthening Families for Abandoned Children. The subtle change of name reflects development toward capacity-building for families, communities, and organizations. Family-based care can flourish in all communities with encouragement and support. SFAC and like-minded individuals and organizations provide that training and support. It need not stop there. These developments can be transmitted and passed on.
My own work previously through Christian Solidarity International (CSI) and now with the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) has touched on the kind of areas that SFAC address. When I visited the Soviet Union in 1989 and 1990 I saw the shocking conditions endured by children in orphanages. At that time there were some 750,000 abandoned children across Russia. In St. Petersburg alone there were 19,000 children in special institutions and another 10,000 who were homeless. Perhaps the most shocking statistic of all was that only 6 percent of children in institutions were fully orphaned, without either parent. The others had been abandoned.1
One of the first humanitarian initiatives we undertook through CSI was a return visit to Russia with a team of psychologists and pediatricians. Our reports and recommendations were hard-hitting but nevertheless well received. They helped to pave the way for extensive reforms as the Soviet Union gave way to the Russian Federation.2
There are other parallels between my work and Mick and Brenda’s. I have lobbied in the UK House of Lords on behalf of oppressed minorities or those caught up in “forgotten conflicts” such as in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the jungles of Myanmar, and in war-torn Sudan.
Mick and his team speak for the voiceless, in their case, abandoned children with no say or influence on the care or support they receive. They demonstrate how family-based solutions, foster care, kinship care, and other forms of relational care can and do work in even the most challenging settings.
All too often I have seen that well-meaning efforts are not always accompanied by sound professional practice. Not so with Mick and those with whom he works and whom he has influenced. The work of his charity and that of others with whom he collaborates is supported by solid research and sound practice. Passion will only get you so far. From the outset, Mick’s enthusiasm was matched by the
