A large number of carers are themselves very young, fresh out of school, and with no experience of looking after children except perhaps being around siblings or young relatives in a family environment. Older members of staff are similarly lacking in training, their only relevant experience being having brought up children of their own. Management and staff at the Shelter would like, as a bare minimum, the opportunity to observe how such centres are run in other countries of the world so they can at least familiarise themselves with international best practice. Such an opportunity has never been provided since the Shelter was established in 2004 and formally inaugurated in 2006 Currently there is not a single trained medical professional at the Shelter, meaning that in case of a medical emergency however major or minor, children have to be taken to a doctor at the Villingili health centre or in Male’. The lack of residential healthcare, combined with the lack of adequate space at the Shelter also means that the Minimum Standards’ requirement that all children admitted at the Shelter be screened for infectious diseases and other medical conditions before being allowed to mix with other children is not being fulfilled. The Shelter is home to many children who have been subjected to severe emotional and physical abuse as well as many who are suffering from mental issues related to abandonment. There is, however, no psychiatric help available for them at the Shelter. The children who are most seriously damaged psychologically have to be taken for counselling sessions with one of only two psychiatrists available on the capital island of Male’. The transfer of children from Villingili to Male’ for each psychiatric or medical consultation presents a logistical nightmare for the short-staffed establishment. This is further complicated by the fact that neither staff nor management at the Shelter can organise such visits to Male’ without obtaining prior approval from the Children’s Department of the Ministry of Health and Family, under the aegis of which the Shelter is run. The Children’s Department itself is short staffed, many having recently left under the redundancy packages offered by the government in its bid to streamline the civil service and reduce the extraordinarily high amounts of the State budget spent on civil service salaries by the former regime. There is one member of staff at the Department assigned to deal with the Shelter. This means that responses to requests made by the Shelter is often slow, further hindering efforts by its staff to ensure the proper functioning of the Department. The shortage of staff means that children’s education, the proper provision of which is demanded by the Minimum Standards, is not being adequately provided to children. Several of the children attend the school on the island of Villingili—and as became evident from the discussions with the parents/teachers groups referred to above, their attendance has been fraught with problems both for the children and the larger island community itself. Many of the children do not have the appropriate educational standards to join the school with other children of their age groups, meaning that they have to be ‘home-schooled’ within the Shelter to try and bring them up to speed and prepare them for joining school. The Shelter relies almost entirely on volunteers to provide children with the tuition they need for this purpose. Once again, 55