/ 10 June 2008

A kit that makes a difference

When Mike and Claire Carr’s youngest children were born, they became painfully aware of the growing number of missing children in South Africa.

Eight hundred to 1 000 children go missing every year in South Africa, according to the organisation, Missing Children South Africa.

The Carrs have three children: Marki (22), Matthew (4) and Amy (10 months).

Mike and Claire believed they not only needed to protect their own children but also to do something to help protect all children and to encourage parents to be proactive rather than reactive in the battle to keep children safe.

When they started investigating the reality of missing children in South Africa, they discovered that parents were so traumatised when reporting a missing child that they were unable to provide authorities with concise data that would enable the police to be more efficient in their search.

This was despite the fact that the first hours after a child goes missing are the most critical for recovery. This is why a parent’s best assurance for the quick and safe recovery of a missing child is to have a complete profile of the child on hand.

After much thought the couple decided two years ago to start a business focusing on child safety and arming parents with tools to help them keep their children safe.

They developed a special kit with everything police might need to find a missing child.

“We do not have identity books for our children until they are 16, so Claire and I decided to assist South Africans in this regard by designing the programme.

“Our system is effectively an ID book for kids that records 10 fingerprints, DNA, includes a photograph and full demographic information of a child’s data.

“The information is kept by parents as added security. If their child goes missing, they can hand the kit to the police at the start of the investigation.

“One minute can make all the difference. If we are prepared with all the necessary information to assist in the safe recovery of our loved one, that makes us better parents,” Carr says.

After investigating different identification models worldwide, the Carrs decided on a link with Fingerprint America, as it has an easy-to-use fingerprint manual.

“The ID data can be recorded easily with no technological requirements such as electricity and computers.

“No electronic fingerprinting or digital photographs are needed; our system requires only a pen and one printed photograph, which can be obtained at a low cost. Everything else is supplied in the kit,” Carr says.

Traumatised parents might not remember details, such as their child’s height, weight, and blood type, so the kit is useful.

Fingerprints never change and make valuable investigative tools for law enforcement. Each person’s DNA genetic make-up is different and unique, making it a definitive means of identification for a child.

Carr says that recording and collecting details for the kit should be done in the safety of the child’s home with his or her parents present. This gives parents a chance to talk to their children about their safety in a non-invasive way.

Schools can participate in this initiative to keep South Africa’s children safe. The first move is to arrange a visit from one of the child safety specialists to the school. The principal or the school governing body can arrange to have pre-printed order forms distributed to each parent and the ID-a-kid kits can be delivered for distribution.

Schools can help parents to complete the kits, which cost about R100 each.

For more information call 011 452 0769