Each year, Back2Back staff gather and create action plans for the children and families they serve. These plans differ from site to site, based on the needs of those served. This year one of the action plan items in Nigeria is a quarterly give back activity. Staff visited homes of widowed caregivers in the third quarter and helped them clean. A young boy in the program, Jesse*, lived with his grandparents at the time.
“The home was very disheveled,” shared a Back2Back staff member. “We did our best to tidy things up and truly clean areas of the home that needed it.”
While staff were there, they overheard talking of the young men in the village going to the mines for work. “They pick tailings, which has the potential to expose those touching it to radioactive materials,” staff shared. “When we found this out, we knew someone needed to intervene, and we talked to the Strong Families Program Coordinator on staff.”
Back2Back’s Strong Family program allows children and teens to stay safely where they truly belong – with biological family. It also provides support and access to resources for the adults with whom the children live. By God’s grace, staff were able to locate an uncle who lived near Back2Back’s trauma-informed school, where Jesse would attend.
Today, Jesse remains in contact with his grandparents, but lives full-time with his uncle and attends school faithfully. While he was loved and cared for in his previous home, staff saw a need to better connect him to resources available and situate him in a space conducive to learning and growth. Back2Back’s Strong Families program is transforming Jesse and his uncle’s story with their advocacy, support, and willingness to come alongside them in the difficult moments.
Please join Back2Back in prayer over Jesse, his family, and other families like his. Pray they become properly connected, invested, and collectively pursue growth for each other.