Insan foundation provides hope for orphans

After finishing their homework, the kids are bicycling in the yard at Insan house.

Just a few steps into the structure, it becomes clear that the building has a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. It’s a big house with many kids, yet the place is calm, clean and neat. The only audible sound is the kids’ innocent voices and laughs. It’s 4:30 p.m. and the kids are, like any other kids at such a time, doing their usual task; they are struggling with their homework after school. The rooms are filled with 5 to 10 kids collaborating, chatting, giggling and acting like any other child of their age would act. They seem too engaged with their books and notebooks to let anyone interrupt them. They want to finish their homework so they can go bicycling in the yard later. While they are busy studying, a quick tour at their bedrooms reveals order, tidiness and discipline. Such an uncluttered and disciplined lifestyle requires a remarkable effort from parents. However, these kids have no parents. They are orphans.

It is the Insan for Development foundation; a non-profit and non-governmental humanitarian foundation based in Sana’a, with recent growth in Aden and Taiz, which has been working rigorously for almost five years, catering to orphans who are most in need. It provides shelter and educational and health services for unfortunate children, the homeless and orphans. It was established in 2005 with an objective to work in child protection and youth development. The organization continuously strives to provide shelters that present a dignified opportunity for their children. Their services include educational attention and training courses, which boost the children’s skills and abilities. The foundation also includes programs that encourage and develop individual children’s talents. As a matter of fact, the kids receive the complete care that any child with parents would have been given, despite the fact that the kids are deprived of parental love and care. The Insan foundation works in cooperation with other NGOs and relies on public donations to fund a normal life –filled with catering and compassion- to all the children.

The financial difficulty is huge, but has never deterred the foundation’s determination to continue. Donations and volunteer work form the complete foundation of continuous care for the children. Despite the financial difficulties, the foundation is willing to support their kids until high school ends, and even later into post-secondary education. The foundation is determined to provide for the children and give them full fostering until their graduation from universities. The oldest inhabitant of the house is in high school now, and will go to college in the coming year. He doesn’t have to worry about university expenses; the foundation will take care of everything. Each kid will be sustained until he has graduated from college and has gained employment. That’s the ultimate challenge.    

The gate of Insan Foundation.

Most of the kids come from unthinkably harsh backgrounds. Forced to steal, threatened by weapons, forced to beg and witnessing extreme violence are just a few of the cruel experiences the children had to go through before they came to the Insan house. Understandably, special attention has to be offered to the kids in order to erase the kids’ aches. Almost every member of the house exhibited a violent behavior at the beginning of his or her stay. Therefore, the foundation provides intense psychological therapy for the kids through its well-trained workers. This kind of treatment naturally costs the foundation a lot, but it must be offered, given the traumatized backgrounds. Throughout the kids stay in the house, they gradually exhibit less and less aggressive behaviors than initially. There are certain supervisors whom the kids call mother and father. The foundation is determined to provide an experience any other child would have.

Insan has not only demonstrated a great deal of appreciation to its children but also to its volunteers. Recently, the foundation held a celebration ceremony for its volunteers who greatly contributed on the foundation’s continuity through out the year 2009. The ceremony aimed at honoring the volunteers who worked graciously during 2009 within many jobs at the foundation. Each volunteer contributed to the foundation’s programs and assisted in ensuring that the plans were a success. They have been essential partners to the foundation, implementing the most visible care and attention to the children.  Unquestionably, the volunteers deserve this kind of honor to salute their time and effort’s to bring a successful face to charity and volunteer work in the country. The foundation’s charity work and the volunteers are pioneering the status of just how important civil society activities role are within social progress. However, governmental effort and civil society must work hand by hand in the effort to ensure civil needs are served.

Infancy is sacred within all religions, and our humanitarian duty is to protect and cater to it. Yemen is witnessing an incredible population growth, reaching 3.7% per year, one of the highest rates in the world. As it presently stands, the age demographic of youth less than 18 years of age currently comprise half the country’s population.

Yemen endorsed the International Convention for Children’s Rights in 1911. Accordingly, many charitable foundations were established focusing on the financial support of those in need. What is remarkable about the Insan foundation is the full care given to the children, demonstrated by the shelter, the educational and health services and the regular training courses in cooperation with the volunteer efforts. All the parties aim to secure a dignified and better life for these kids. It is important to note their willingness, as they are able to procure the funds, to cater to more and more unfortunate children in the future.

With such intentions, these children definitely have a great opportunity to have a better tomorrow with reduced concerns. In the mean time, their eyes glitter with hopes and ambitions; they live by the dream of becoming influential members of society.

*For your kind donations, Insan for Development’s bank account is (326201) at Tadhamon International Islamic Bank.

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