None of them ever imagined being a resident of a children's home one day, and living a period of fun and innocence deprived of their parents' embrace; they are of both genders, living a bitter experience after their parents abandoned them and bad luck accompanied them, thus becoming rich material for research and investigation, and mere numbers that increase and fall as autumn leaves fall.
Here in the Adir neighbourhood in the centre of the city of Dar Dmana, not far from the provincial residence, where Mehdi Chalabi, the governor of the Ouazzane province, resides, the centre for children in difficult situations is located. In the middle of this facility, we encountered children in the prime of their youth; these children do not have the right to play like their peers, simply because their painful reality chose to erase their rights and dreams of living their childhood away from their parents, searching for lost affection.
"Ahdan".. an association that gives warmth and affection
The centre dedicated to children in difficult situations, which is supervised by the "Ahdan Association for the Protection of Children in Difficult Situations" in Ouazzane, is one of the social spaces that has marked since its establishment a voluntary and self-denying associative path by all its components, in order to restore hope to a societal group in need of careful attention and special care.
Behind the joy and smile with which the centre's children welcomed the Hespress team, sad stories are hidden; some were disowned by their parents, and others became a heavy burden on their families, which forced them to abandon them at the "centre", so that it could take the place of the family and replace the mother's affection and the father's warmth.
The young association, which was entrusted with the task of managing the centre for the protection and care of children in difficult situations in Ouazzane, bets on advocating for childhood issues, especially the difficult ones, and promoting the rights of this group; it also aims to contribute to reducing the phenomenon of child abandonment, which has expanded in the province recently, in addition to providing a range of legal and social services to this societal segment.
Noura.. "an angel illuminating the darkness"
Noura Outaleb, president of the Ahdan Association for the Protection of Children in Difficult Situations in Ouazzane, is one of the chandeliers that illuminates the darkness of the lives of abandoned children in this centre. Away from the spotlight, Noura, who is an administrative executive at the provincial directorate of the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports in Ouazzane, does everything in her power to alleviate the pain and suffering of this group, and to overcome the difficulties they face, as her main concern has become providing help and assistance to this societal group tirelessly.
The centre, according to the association's president, receives children who are in difficult situations, such as orphans, abandoned children, children in contact with the law, young children "without shelter", and those who are in a situation of family neglect of all ages (from birth to eighteen years old), according to the available possibilities and resources and what the law allows.
Outaleb stated that the majority of beneficiaries who come to the centre are received based on a referral from the competent Public Prosecution to take the necessary measures to ensure their care and protection, in addition to some cases where the association may receive notifications from the same party for rapid intervention for their admission; not to mention other cases that come to the centre referred by the local authority.
Noble services..
The centre, according to Noura, provides reception and a safe environment for those who come to it, in addition to enabling the young residents to receive medical services supervised by a doctor specialising in paediatrics for the initial examination, which often results in continuous follow-up, given the physical harm the arriving child has suffered (most cases), before presenting them to a psychologist to diagnose the condition, considering that the majority of children have suffered due to the consequences of their difficult situation.
The association also ensures, the same associative actor confirms, the re-enrolment of children who have dropped out of school in educational institutions, and provides educational support to address the academic difficulties that hinder their academic achievement, and also works on the precise follow-up of children's vaccinations from birth, as well as monitoring their natural growth in constant coordination with the paediatrician.
Furthermore, the association intervenes to enable every beneficiary to obtain legal administrative documents, whether it concerns registering them in the civil status register, or other documents; a service provided to every child, whether they are a resident of the centre or not.
In addition, the association organises outside the framework of the centre several initiatives concerning the axes of supporting schooling and fighting school dropout, and awareness campaigns in educational institutions, with humanitarian initiatives for the benefit of children from fragile families; it also accompanies a group of children who are not beneficiaries of the centre, whether they are residing with their families or their legal guardian, through a group of social, educational, and medical services to reduce the severity of the fragility they live in, for no other reason than to reproduce a good individual serving their country, believing in their cause, according to the president of the "Ahdan" association.
Challenges and problems..
The centre for children in difficult situations in Ouazzane constitutes a vital space for receiving fragile groups and providing them with the necessary support, but it faces many challenges and problems that hinder its performance, affecting human, financial, and structural aspects, which makes its continuity dependent on the intervention of various actors and parties concerned with childhood affairs.
In this regard, the same speaker recalled the acute shortage the centre faces in qualified nannies, which affects the quality of services provided to children, especially with the diversity of beneficiary groups, adding that the centre suffers from the difficulty of receiving children in situations of disability, due to the lack of sufficient training in this field, and the poor equipment of structural facilities to meet the needs of this group.
Noura stressed that the centre relies mainly on the National Initiative for Human Development grant, which makes it vulnerable to fluctuations in financial support; also, benefiting from the National Mutual Aid grant clashes with complex procedural measures that are not commensurate with the nature of the labour market in the province, given that the material cost of the required "profiles" is high compared to the limited possibilities available to the centre.
The speaker stated that despite the limited financial support, the centre receives cases from various communes of the province, but it only benefits from the support of the Ouazzane Commune Council, in the absence of contributions from the rest of the territorial communes, which increases the financial pressures on the managing association, and she continued that one of the main constraints the centre faces is the lack of psychiatric specialisation in the province, which prevents providing the necessary support to improve the psychological situation of children, as the space currently relies on the services of the Al-Hanan Association for the Integration of Children in Situations of Disability, within the framework of limited cooperation with the latter; it also lacks a private means of transport that helps facilitate management and movement operations, which forces it to find temporary solutions, increasing administrative and financial burdens.
A call for the convergence of actors
Outaleb said that the childhood file is not an easy subject, especially when it intersects with social and economic fragility, stating that with the deterioration of the family system and values, and the absence of an effective therapeutic philosophy, this crisis becomes like an "earthquake" that threatens the entire society if the competent authorities do not intervene to provide effective and sustainable solutions.
Faced with these challenges, Noura confirms that the situation requires the convergence of all local and regional stakeholders, from territorial communes and public institutions, to provide sustainable financial, technical, and psychological support, which ensures the centre's continued provision of its services to children in difficult situations, and contributes to their effective integration into society, thanking the centre's partners and donor institutions for their valuable contributions.
After the sunset of each day, the exhausted small bodies go to sleep, while hope is renewed with the sunrise of the following day, as if the warmth of its rays erases all the darkness and emptiness that preceded it, so is there an answer?.
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