Journalist: Apostolos Staikos
Operator/Editor: Giannis Dolas
Foster care scheme: Offering love and care to unaccompanied children
It is almost nine o’clock, and Ali* has just woken up. In the kitchen, “mommy Evangelia”, as the boy calls her, is making toast and preparing orange juice. The living room is decorated with colourful balloons, and at around midday Evangelia Adam will go to the pastry shop to get a large chocolate cake. The foster mother and the boy will spend this Sunday with Ali’s friends and classmates. It’s the boy’s birthday, he’s turning seven.
“I chose to foster an unaccompanied minor because I believe that these children need support and love. They have fled their homelands because of war and poverty, they have been through much… They have lost parents, relatives, everything… They are alone in life and this thing hurts me. I feel guilty towards these little souls and that’s why I chose to go ahead and offer foster care to a child,” says Evangelia Adam.
In 2015, METAdrasi introduced for the first time in Greece the foster care scheme for unaccompanied refugee children. The aim was for these children, who from one moment to the next found themselves alone in a foreign country, to grow up in a safe and protected family environment that will support and care for them.
By 2022, through the Organization’s foster care scheme, 113 refugee children found care in 89 families.
“At a party of my little niece I met an old friend. She told me that through METAdrasi she had gone through the fostering of a girl. I found it interesting, searched the internet and contacted the organization. METAdrasi’s people helped me a lot. They invited me to the office. There were other prospective foster parents there. They talked to us, informed us about the process. I made the application and then I attended a seminar” says Evangelia.
After the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family Affairs took over the implementation of the institution of foster care, METAdrasi, thanks to its valuable experience, contributes to the strengthening of the institution regarding unaccompanied refugee children, by providing information, guidance and support to prospective foster parents, in cooperation with UNHCR. The process takes place through the Ministry’s platform www.anynet.gr.
“The foster care scheme is very important initiative. It fills the gaps created by the lack of suitable accommodation facilities and the need for personalised care. Many of these children have had traumatic experiences and living in a loving and stable environment helps them to overcome trauma, gain self-confidence and integrate smoothly into society. Foster care fills the gap of the lack of a family, but also helps to prevent exploitation and neglect of these vulnerable children. METAdrasi’s programme helps decisively, offering children hope and opportunities for a better future”, says Christianna Papadopoulou, METAdrasi’s foster care programme manager.
At first Ali was reserved and somewhat distant. He was in a new environment, with people he didn’t know. It took time and patience to convince him that Evangelia and her son want to offer him what he has been deprived of.
“Of course there was the difficulty of adaptation. Both mine and his. That lasted about three or four months. Once school started and we got into a routine, Ali adjusted; and so our new life began. As for my older son, not only did he not object, but he came with me to METAdrasi to support me. Then he came home for a few days and stayed with us. Now he feels he has a little brother,” says the foster mother.
Before she applied to become a foster parent, a couple of her friends tried to dissuade Evangelia. They spoke of lengthy procedures with a lot of bureaucracy, and added that she is probably “a little too old” so they will not give her a child. As it turned out, they were wrong.
The foster mother claims that this is an “experience of a lifetime” and urges those who do not have children or just want to support an unaccompanied refugee child to seek information and take the step.
The practice of foster care has been followed for decades by other countries in the European Union and it has now been proven that the placement of children in families is the best option for their psychosocial development. Foster parents can be spouses or single persons, with or without children, who meet the conditions of law. Of course, it must be made clear that fostering does not (necessarily) mean adoption.
“It is important to clarify that fostering and adoption are two different forms of childcare. Foster parents provide temporary care for a child, with the aim of supporting them until they return to their family or a permanent solution can be found. Adoption, on the other hand, is a permanent legal process where the child becomes part of a family, with all the rights and responsibilities. In fostering, parental responsibility remains with the State or the biological parents, whereas in adoption it is fully transferred to the adoptive parents. Of course, fostering can, under appropriate conditions, lead to adoption. This has happened with refugee children who were fostered through METAdrasi’s programme and then adopted by their families”, says Christianna Papadopoulou.
It’s almost six in the afternoon. The chocolate cake with the seven candles is on the table, while friends and classmates sing the happy-birthday song to Ali. The boy received many gifts, but it seems that a board game and a white robot have already gained his attention.
The house is filled with laughter. The children run around the living room and the garden. “Mommy, can I have another slice of cake?” asks Ali. Smiling, the foster mother nods “yes”.
“Ali is having a great time. He likes that we live in nature, by the sea. All our friends and relatives love him very much. He goes to school, he has made new friends. He is learning English and dancing. Of course, gymnastics is his greatest preference. I imagine a beautiful future. The boy has changed a lot, he has adapted and now we are a normal family. He is the child of my heart and I believe we will be together as long as I live,” says Evangelia Adam.
For more information about the foster care programme for unaccompanied minors, contact METAdrasi at 214 100 8700 or at the email foster@metadrasi.org.
*The boy’s name has been changed for his protection.
