Jimma University

College of Education and Behavioral Science

Department of Psychology

Program: PhD in Counseling Psychology

Assignment submitted for in partial fulfillments of the course special

Population counseling and rehabilitation
Course Code: Psych 8111

Title: Establishment, service delivery and beneficiary reaction among

rehabilitation center: The case of SOS Child Village; Ethiopia

By: Fikadu Tafesse ID. NO. Rp0118/2012

Advisor: Getachew Abeshu (PhD, Associate Professor)

May 20/2022

Jimma/Ethiopia
Contents

1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................2

1.1. Backgrounds of the Institution.....................................................................................................3

1.2. Objectives of the organization.....................................................................................................4

2. Process and trends of service delivery.................................................................................................5

2.1. Assessment and screening............................................................................................................5

2.2. Recruitment to the centers...........................................................................................................6

2.3. Rehabilitation activities...............................................................................................................7

3. Resources utilized (including human and material) in rehabilitation center.........................................7

4. The beneficiary’s characteristics, emotions and attitudes towards rehabilitation and/or institution.....8

5. Summery.............................................................................................................................................9
 1. Introduction
The special population consists of individuals who are marginalized because of the conditions
that they face physically and mentally. This type of community has a significant influence on the
professionals of the field and the world community to look the ways to help; because the
demands arising and the complexity of their conditions. Consequently institutionalized
rehabilitation center service delivery is the significant approach of improving the life of special
populations.

Therefore De La Salle Community Development Organization categorized as rehabilitation

center established for helping the neglected part of the society. Thus this mini research has
described the establishment, service delivery, resources utilized, the beneficiary’s characteristics,
emotions and attitudes towards rehabilitation of De La Salle Community Development
Organization.

The research used qualitative approach, and source of data were both used secondary and
primary sources. The process include: identifying rehabilitation center, searching different
documents such as Policy, working documents/ manuals, strategic and annual plan and reports of
an institutions. Secondary data obtained from document has triangulated by observation.

1.1. Backgrounds of the Institution

De La Salle Community Development Organization is a nonprofit organization established in
2004 in Adama town, Ethiopia. It was founded by few volunteers who were passionate of
helping the neglected part a society. It was a time when millions of people were combating
against the threat of HIV/AIDS. Thousands remain homeless due to this disease, thousands of
children remain without parents, and many old aged people were abandoned on streets b/c their
children passed away and remained patient. This was the situation that leads to the birth of this
Organization.

The Organization took the name De La Salle from a very well-known French catholic priest and
teacher who were extremely humanitarian in his acts. He lived before 360 years ago. This name
was known by one of the founder of this association at the beginning so the founders favored to
take this name to their Organization.
During its establishment; as the strategy of achieving its goal; it form club of Volunteers to help
aged people, teach Orphaned children and create awareness among the community of Adama
town.

De La Salle Community development Organization more concerned with street children, elders
and youths. The Organization defined street children and elders as special population due to that:
they are socially neglected, unable to lead their life, highly need help and require immediate
attention. As described by DSCDO; the majority of the street children and elders were affected
by preventable and treatable diseases, lacks daily diet, are addicted to substances like benzene,
children neglected from school (no parental care and support), and street elders failed job
presence. Therefore they become needy group of the community and required rehabilitation.

Concerning youth; an organization promote good youth development and enable to have good
knowledge about reproductive health, reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and alleviate the impact of the
pandemic on youth through community empowerment to create a self-helping new generation in
economy.

Accordingly this paper mostly concerned with street children rehabilitation strategy, service arrangement
and activities of an Organization.

1.2. Objectives of the organization

The general objectives of De La Salle community development organization can be described as:

 To safeguard street children and elders from existing life challenges through full
accommodation and rehabilitation, make abled to maximize their physical and mental
abilities, to access regular services and opportunities, and to become active contributors
to the community and society at large.
 Enable youths to have good knowledge about reproductive health and reduce the spread of
HIV/AIDS through community empowerment to create a self-helping and supporting
community youth.
 2. Process and trends of service delivery

2.1. Assessment and screening

The Organization is fully working with street children rehabilitation. The existence of potential
client has been pre assessed and planned strategically; including the annual and continuous
capacity of client admission for rehabilitation.

Concerning street children rehabilitation most of the children’s joined rehabilitation center are at
the early age, some lost their parents due to HOV/AIDS, and some do have very poor family
who can’t support themselves so they flee to street. Assessment and screening process include
the followings:

 Assessing the reasons for children taking to the streets:

According to the De La Salle children in the rehabilitation centers department information, the
main reason for children taking to the streets was poverty. Poverty also caused some breakdown
of families and moral values pushing children in this situation into the streets in search of
opportunities to earn some money and support themselves, and their families.

The other major causes were dysfunctional families, physical abuse and lack of education. In
dysfunctional families, children were abandoned, abused and neglected. A large number of
children fled their homes because their biological or step-parent had beaten them, inflicted
wounds or even burnt them severely. Other children also took to the streets because they had
remained at home baby sitting and doing house work while their peers went to school.

 Assessing children activities while on the Streets:

To be able to stay on the streets, street children behave and respond in different ways. The
children were able to stay on the streets due to their engagements to various survival activities.
Patience and toughness was a requirement for survival. They lacked stable adult persons in their
life, yet they were exposed to a variety of major life events (leaving home, arrest and violence)
and minor hassles during their daily struggle to survive.

Frequent assessment of an organization indicated that: their harsh experiences have made them
acquire valuable practical skills and survival instincts. Current street children assessment report
indicated that they involved themselves in more than one activity during their stay in the streets.
Glue sniffing, eating form garbage points, begging and gang membership were common
activities among children in all the three centers. The children argued that glue sniffing dull
hunger, made them forget their problems and face dangers easily.

Therefore the above backgrounds of street children were assessed in assessment and screening
stage; for the purpose of identifying the root causes of the problem, its psychosocial impact and
to propose fitting rehabilitation strategy.

2.2. Recruitment to the centers

Most of the children in the centers were not ready to let go of street life because opportunities
offered by street life were too attractive particularly the freedom, glue sniffing, drugs and money
of their own.

The center’s assessment deduced their focus is on the present and thus they find it difficult to
bother about the years ahead. But assessment and intake officer introduce about positive aspects
of admitting rehabilitation center special having accommodation, food and their future life
improvement as attracting and inspiring mechanism. Hence during first invitation (recruitment)
day; all the children accepted to join the home because they were convinced that they would be
provided with food, shelter and education.

However some children had been admitted into rehabilitation programmes and soon after ran
away to the streets. The rehabilitation officer; specially rehabilitation counselor despite promised
education, shelter and food, frequently and carefully provide psychological sustenance
counseling and therapy until they become stable at the center.

In general recruitment procedures followed that: the assessment and intake officers go to the
streets and hold talks with street boys several times and then bring those who were willing to
come and stay at the center.
 2.3. Rehabilitation activities
Rehabilitation Strategies (activities and techniques) at the center observed that there was a set
routine of waking up, performing duties before breakfast, and then going to school. After school,
they did laundry work, had supper, evening devotion, preps, and then went to bed.

During the weekend, worked on the farms until 1pm and then had free time. Children in health
problem only were free to play all weekend; the set routine helped instill order in the children's
lives, a sense of responsibility, and to mold emotion, thought behavior and character (counseling
and psychotherapy). Mostly guiding and counseling was provided though by psychologist. This
aimed to help the children understand each other better and repair any bad relationships between
them and staff, and among themselves and also helped the children change negative perceptions.

Most frequently using reinforcement consistently, facilitating the understanding of others,

increasing the ability to accept individual differences, facilitating thinking processes so as to help
the children deal with consequences, helping them generate effective problem-solving strategies,
changing negative perceptions, and altering negative interaction patterns were their daily
activity.

3. Resources utilized (including human and material) in rehabilitation

center
According to data from documents and observation result; the resources that were available for
the rehabilitation of street children included the children, members of staff, funds for the
purchase of provisions and staff salaries, facilities equipment and housings.

Besides the funds from the sponsors, well-wishers made donations in form of clothing and food
stuff to the centers. De La Salle had farm land that was used to provide fruits specifically mango
and Papaya. The children in the center provided manpower for the farms as producing food and
also work attitude skill training.

The staff at the center took up multiple and varied positions. In Organization those hired as
teachers taught in the schools where the children went to and also took care of the children when
they were out of school. They also supervised the children doing manual work. The psychologist
and social workers were also volunteers who did both counseling and teaching duties.
Another staff the farm worker, sport teacher, logistics and facility worker, health officers, driver
and other support and administrative staff were there and had their own specific role. The
majority of human resources of the organization are volunteers.

4. The beneficiary’s characteristics, emotions and attitudes towards

rehabilitation and/or institution
At the beginning of their requirement most street children thought like “they get to this place
to stop sniffing glue, smoking and such things. we bathe at particular times even when we do not
want to, eat the same food every day, go for prayers by command, the staff are very harsh, there
is no freedom to do things like I/we want”.

They favored immediate relief rather than long term solutions to their acute problems.
While at the centers, the children were never given a voice in determining what was good for
them. They got into a place that had set rules and routine unlike the streets where they had
freedom to do things as they wanted. After a while, they adjusted to the situation and settled
down.

However according to progress evaluation reports of the center; after a weeks or days; they begin
to feel that “it is better than the streets. At least I am eating clean food timely, sleeping at clean
house and bed not sleep in the cold street, go to school and learn” and also starting belief that
they are living like any other, they develop hope progressively. Finally they begin to act
normally, responsibly and rationally. They proceed to giving thanks for an institution and
promoting the need for rehabilitation to needy children.
 5. Summery
The purpose of this assessment was examine the establishment, service delivery, resources
utilized, the beneficiary’s characteristics, emotions and attitudes towards rehabilitation of De
La Salle Community Development Organization.

De La Salle Community Development Organization categorized as rehabilitation center

established for helping the neglected part of the society in Adama City. An organization had set
rules and routines the children had to adhere to. This helped instill a sense of responsibility and
productive community member. Education therapy with guidance and counseling was employed
in the center. Different resources are existing in the organization; available for the rehabilitation
of street children included the children themself, members of staff, funds for the purchase of
provisions and staff salaries, facilities equipment and housings

The character of street children and the character expected of them at the institutions determined
the way the children were handled by staff. New entrant children feel and behave un
conformable. However through intervention of an organization and time, they become adjust
them self’s to the system and begin to show emotional, behavioral, thought and other important
changes. The Organization had made some achievements in that the basic physiological needs of
the children were met and, there was observed positive behavior change in the children existing
in an institution during the study period. Socially the children joined an institution before six
months were observed disciplined, clean and trustworthy.