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The CRARN childrens camp was establihed in 2003 when 7 abandoned children were rescued from the hands of violent gangs
who were intent on killing them due to the belief that they were 'witches' and 'wizards'. Despite threats on us from these
irate youths we came together to shelter them and prevent them from being attacked. Initially we helped to house these children
in disused market stalls, however in the last 4 years the camp has grown significantly to accommodate around 120
children.
The number of these children is increasing sharply because every day about 4-6 children are stigmatised as possessing
witcraft spell and forced out of their homes. This act is usually the handiwokt of increasing number of fake and
hungry prophets and witch Doctors. While on the street and bushes, they face constant attact from members of the public. Some
chilren are killed before we arrive to rescue them, as rescue mission is always difficult due to lack of proper mechanism
or logistics to carry out the mision.
| These are the initial CRARN children |
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The CRARN camp is a happy place and a safe haven for some of the areas numerous abandoned and orphaned children. We provide
accomodation, food, medicine, love and security an ever growing number of these children. At the moment accomodation is provided
in one housing block which is extremely cramped and at full capacity. In the future we hope to be able to provide more accomodation
for the growing number of street children in the form of small scale housing units, each housing 8 children.
Each child is given two good meals a day. Their diet consists of a mixture of garri, rice, beans, vegetables and fruit.
We have a small area of land which is farmed. At the moment we produce a small quantity of waterleaf, plantain, pumpkin, and
pineapple. However this makes a relatively small contribution towards feeding so many hungry children! The most malnourished
children are given a food supplement called complan.
The children at the camp have a wide range of medical problems and injuries brought about by beatings and rape endured
on the street, lack of food and poor access to any basic healthcare. Conditions that the children have include epilepsy,
worms, tuberculosis, scabies, malaria and severe psychological trauma. CRARN is constantly struggling to meet these
basic needs. Healthcare in Nigeria is not free, unlike in many developed nations, and the costs of hospital visits to treat
the children is very high and time consuming. Despite this we have had many success stories and have effectively rehabilitated
the health of numerous children.
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