A wonderful residential programme that provides all round care to some of the area’s abandoned and neglected children, as we seek to reintegrate them back into a safe family. It has also started ministering to vulnerable teenage mums, many of whom have been victims of sexual assault.
Juniper Tree Children´s Home is located in Pachacamac, on the southern outskirts of Lima. Here we are dedicated to rescuing orphaned, abused or abandoned children and placing them in loving, family-style homes. As with all of our residential projects, we provide holistic care, seeking to meet their physical, emotional and spiritual needs while giving them tools to begin healing from the trauma they’ve experienced.
Because most of them have endured trauma, we keep the homes small, helping them to feel safe and giving them a family atmosphere most of them never knew, giving them tools to process the hurts of the past so they can move into bright futures.
Our hope is that some of these children will be able to reunite with parents or other relatives when it is safe and wise to do so, restoring the family unit. Our Families Together team provides training, support, resources, and oversight to families as they reintegrate either with their own families, or to connected families within the community (quite often from a local church).
Many of the kids we are serving now are teenagers, and we’re thrilled that many of our graduates continue their education in either university or trade schools. Juniper Tree has also been the birthplace of a new ministry for young teen mums which will soon be a site of its own. Through God’s power and the support of our generous partners, we are planting seeds of faith that we pray will lead to good fruit in these wonderful Peruvian children.
Meet Rebecca (name changed to protect privacy)
Rebecca came from a dysfunctional, unsafe situation. Her parents separated and she lived with her mother, but her mother worked long hours and Rebecca was severely neglected. There was no food left at home for her, there was no running water or toilet, and her father rarely visited. Kids Alive became aware of Rebecca’s need and she came to live at Juniper Tree when she was eight – thin, hungry, and far behind in her schooling. And shortly after her arrival, her mother died of breast cancer.
Today, though, Rebecca is a cheerful, confident, 14-year-old who works hard to get good grades and is motivated to succeed. In the past year, her father has visited her a few times, which lifts her spirits. She deeply desires to be reunited with her family, and we are working on a plan for her to live with her brother’s family. As she makes the transition, our social worker and psychologist will follow the situation, maintain our connection with her, and offer continued support.
We are very happy that Rebecca will soon be living with family, and as the plan unfolds, we look forward to watching her thrive in her new home.