Christopher Muwanguzi, Elli Oswald and Jared Scheppmann - Reforming Care in the Age of Mass Media

Think Global, Do Justice

Joining the podcast for episode 260 are global child welfare leaders Christopher Muwanguzi from child’s I Foundation, Elli Oswald from Faith to Action Initiative and Jared Scheppmann from Ekisa Ministries. Our guests speak with Brandon Stiver and Phil Darke about the status of moving people’s mindsets in the west to focus on the need for children to be in families, as opposed to orphanages. We zero in specifically on the country of Uganda and juxtapose the good work being done by organizations like child’s I and Ekisa with the common practice of needlessly placing kids in residential care. With the backdrop of larger cultural narratives and specific stories about orphanhood that are promoted in media.

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Resources and Links from the show

The World : American Missionary Accused of Abuse At His Organization, AidChild (First Article)

Barna and Faith to Action : Study on Christian Giving to Orphanages

Faith to Action : Family Care in the News

Conversation Notes

• The deliberate work of Faith to Action and partner organizations to change the western media narrative around orphan care
• The environment within the UK in regards to Global South orphanages
• The country of Uganda has been up and down in supporting care reform, is it currently progressing or regressing
• The setbacks in promoting better care in the Global South when stories like Ghetto Kidz comes out on Britain’s Got Talent
• Comparing the perceived realities for children in orphanages versus the actual realities for such children
• The reality of abuse and corruption within orphanages covered in the media in Uganda
• The role of local governments to meet the needs of the community – capacity and enforcement
• Continuing gaps in coverage even in media that promotes care reform

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License