Book review: Black Children in Care Health Hair & Skin

I think the book is amazing and was a great read for me as a black foster carer as I learnt things about my culture that I am aware of but have taken for granted for example Sickle Cell am aware of it but my knowledge was limited. 

This book will help put you in the mindset of other cultures' needs and help reduce the lack of understanding and avoid extreme measures like cutting hair when it can't be managed which was an example from the book.

When people asked why and how I got into fostering, I say my wife lived in a small town in the UK and as a child her mother would see another child who was 'in care’ who came to their home to get their hair done by her mum, as the white foster family did not know how to deal with it. This was over 40 years ago. We are who we are through our experiences.

I also liked the aspect around food. My family is a Jamaican/English background and many times we have had black children from other cultures and we have investigated the food from their culture and also fed them our food which has always gone down very well and everyone is learning about other cultures. I also think that it's an opportunity to get support from the community with book in hand and a visit to the hairdresser as necessary.

Great book great idea.

Be-longing, the story of Khoji, a 9-year ‘looked after’ boy living within a foster family, a film by Mike McKenzie

Black Children in Care: Health, Hair and Skin, Denise Lewis 2013 (Amazon)