Currently over 5.4 million children are growing up in orphanages - c. 80% of them have a living parent 

Lumos has found that extreme poverty is the main reason these children are placed in orphanages. War, natural disaster, discrimination or disability compound the problem and force desperately poor parents to seek help. Without support, the only option they have is to put their child in an orphanage. 

Sadly even when orphanages and institutions are set up with good intentions the reality is raising children in an orphanage or other institution severely damages their emotional and physical wellbeing. 

Since 2009 Lumos has: 

• Prevented 20,915 children from entering harmful institutions. Lumos work to keep families together and provide support for children within their communities 
• Saved the lives of over 2,692 children suffering from malnutrition, severe neglect or a lack of access to medial services and treatment 
• Helped re-direct more than 300 million EUR of donor funds from orphanages toward creating community-based services
• Trained over 31,693 social workers, medical professionals, teachers, carers, civil servants and policy makers to deliver community-based services for children.