The magazine for Plan UK supporters Spring 2011
the Plan:
for you to find out more about how your support is making a difference – to girls, boys and whole communities
welcome
Contents
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News update
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Children lead the way
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the Plan: inspiring change for India’s girls
Stories of hope from Vietnam, Mali and Zambia – plus what we’re doing in the UK to highlight children’s rights
Cleaner communities and new attitudes in Guinea-Bissau
Giving girls the confidence to transform their lives
stories 12 Children’s – children’s lives Young photojournalists provide a fresh take on life in Haiti
tale of two 14 Acommunities The difference children have made in flooded Pakistan
prevention 16 Cholera: and cure
How Plan is working to tackle this killer disease – in Haiti and elsewhere
18 A lasting mark
The remarkable stories of two ex-sponsored children who became generous Plan supporters
Plan: make 20 the a bigger difference How enthusiastic Plan supporters are backing our work
A rainy day in 22 Guatemala A sponsor visits Guatemala and two little girls forge a bond
23 Striking a balance
A Plan field worker discusses the challenges of rural Togo
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Contact Us If you have any comments on this edition of World Family, or suggestions for future articles, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact the Editor Giles Morris at: Plan UK, Finsgate, 5-7 Cranwood Street, London EC1V 9LH, telephone 0300 777 9777, or email giles.morris@plan-international.org
Photos: Alf Berg, Fabrice Boulais, Franklise Dumeus, Roland Geisheimer, Jane Hahn, Benita Jean-Louis, Jenny Matthews, Florence Rabusseau, Zambikes Cover: two schoolgirls with their textbooks in their Plan-supported school in Bolivia. World Family is printed on recycled paper. Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy reasons.
welcome
Message from Marie
What happens to a child when a landslide, earthquake or flood destroys their community? And what’s the best way to help them avoid the worst when disaster does strike? hese are big questions in a world where climate change is making extreme weather ever more prevalent. Recent Plan research shows that natural disasters have a massive ongoing effect on children’s lives, long after the short-term danger is past. And girls suffer more than boys. Girls are more likely to have to sacrifice their education, and spend more time collecting increasingly scarce resources like water and fuel. They also often have to migrate far from home, leading to more dangerous scenarios. We found, for example, that a disproportionate number of young prostitutes in Bangladesh’s capital come from cyclone-affected areas. Meanwhile girls living in camps in Haiti have told us how they feel far less safe than before the earthquake. They’ve described the increase in violence they have seen, and how they are scared to leave their tents after dark. Governments need to ensure that more money is available to protect girls in disaster situations. But communities themselves also have to change and adapt – and children have a massive role to play. Perhaps it’s because they live more in the present and the future than adults, but children are very good at adopting new ways of thinking. With the right help, we’ve found they can be very effective at reducing the risk disasters pose to their community and making basic services work. The results are plain to see. Visiting Pakistan recently I heard how
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the Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity Where 48 OF THE WORLD’S POOREST COUNTRIES Impact 2.4 MILLION CHILDREN’S LIVES IMPROVED
To find out more, go to www.plan-uk.org
Registered Charity No. 276035
one community in the flooded Indus River basin had to flee in chaos, leaving behind everything that they had. In contrast, the Plan-backed children’s early warning group in another community ensured that all lives and assets were saved. You can read more on pages 14 to 15.
Involving boys and girls in their communities’ future produces tangible long-term results There’s growing evidence that involving boys and girls in their communities’ future produces tangible long-term results, and not just after disasters. A recent report on our governance work found that children’s participation made a resounding difference. 150,000 children got access to better basic services, including healthcare, education and clean drinking water. As a Plan supporter, you are helping children and young people to achieve those successes. Thank you very much for your support.
Marie Staunton Plan UK Chief Executive
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news and features
News update Plan news from around the world
Delivering change Children who have been sponsored often tell us that the warm words they got from sponsors’ letters have encouraged them to achieve their ambitions ilifing Sibide, from the village of Dafela, western Mali, is one. This 20-year-old former sponsored child has recently become a matron at the health centre in her village. “My sponsor was very concerned about my school results and this encouraged me to obtain my certificate as a matron,” she says. As a native of Dafela, she provides a familiar and reassuring presence at the health centre. “Since my arrival,
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From young offender to entrepreneur Plan works with many of the most marginalised children around the world. This includes boys and girls in trouble with the law hey’re often hard to reach and challenging to work with, but when success comes, it’s doubly gratifying. Born into a family that struggled to feed itself, Vietnamese teenager Thao soon turned to crime. Aged 15, he found himself serving a two-year sentence in a juvenile detention centre for theft and public disorder. But Thao’s life changed when he began a Plan-supported course in
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motorcycle maintenance in the detention centre. He proved himself very hard-working, and on his release he turned over a new leaf by opening his own motorcycle repair shop. His grandmother let him use her house for the shop, his mother took out a loan to support him, and Plan provided some equipment. After four months of intensive effort, the shop opened. “With the vocational training, I knew that Plan had given me the only chance to return to real life,” says Thao. He now earns over £75 a month and has taken on two young apprentices. Last year Plan Vietnam helped almost 300 children in trouble with the law to develop worthwhile job and life skills, enabling them to turn their lives around.
Two whee
news and features
In brief
Girls online I have delivered 22 babies and brought nursing care to hundreds of children,” she says. “Filifing has greatly improved the performance of our team through her close follow-up and treatment of patients,” says Dr Maiga, who is in charge of the health centre. “The community also entrusted her with the
ls good
management of the pharmacy. I think she has a promising career.” Indeed, Filifing is already thinking about her next step: “I want to study for two years in obstetrics,” she says. The expertise of Filifing and others like her will be sorely needed in a country where one child in 10 dies in the first year of life.
In developing countries, girls get a raw deal compared to their brothers. Standing up for girls’ rights is an increasingly central part of Plan’s work. Our Because I am a Girl campaign now has a brand new website, filled with inspiring stories, a quiz, and lots of ideas on how you can get involved. Check it out at www.becauseiamagirl.org
This “Zambulance” (pictured left) might look like fun, but it serves a vital function ver half of Zambian women say that the distances to hospitals and health centres are a problem. Many maternal deaths occur at home or on the way to a facility. To change that, Plan is partnering with an organisation called Zambikes to procure over 80 of these pedalpowered mini-ambulances in Zambia. “The Zambulance is particularly important for emergency transport for the ill, wounded or expectant mothers,” says Tim Budge, Plan’s Country Director in Zambia. Zambikes will also train at least two members of each community on how to repair and maintain the Zambulances – vital in remote rural areas where spare parts are hard to come by.
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Refreshing our look
You may well notice the change in the look of this magazine. We’re changing the design of all our communications to help us stand out from the crowd and raise awareness of Plan. This is vitally important for the long-term future of our work. We hope you’ll play your part by talking about Plan with family or friends – and passing on this copy of World Family when you’ve finished reading it.
Sadly missed Maureen Muggeridge, the daughter of Eric Muggeridge, one of the founders of Plan, has died, aged 62. She was a keen Plan supporter in both Australia and the UK. Maureen was also a geologist and mining executive, and discovered the Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia. She is survived by her husband John and two sons.
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news and features
Children lead the way Children are at the heart of what Plan does – not just as recipients of help, but as agents of change in their communities
iven the right training and encouragement, it’s amazing what these young citizens can do. A recent project in 80 communities in rural Guinea-Bissau is a prime example of the tremendous results that a child-led approach can achieve.
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Action on health
Diseases like diarrhoea and malaria claim the lives of thousands of children in Guinea-Bissau each year. Yet combating them is very often a matter of basic measures like good hygiene, which a determined group of children can very often make happen. Meta, a mother in the village of Ga Fati explains how it’s done: “The children have cleaned the village, reducing the cases of malaria, and encouraged pregnant women to attend ante-natal care. “They have taught the other children to wash their hands properly with soap, and made sure that they are all clean and tidy before going to school,” she adds.
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“Every Saturday, they check the toilets and if they are not clean, insist on these being cleaned properly. They also check the water supply and make sure that it is all in order.”
(Clockwise) Children holding a meeting wearing Plan caps and T-shirts; sweeping the streets together; a winning household flies the national flag
Keeping up with the Joneses
The children have even started weekly competitions to see which family has the cleanest home, with the winner announced on local radio.
Case study: from orphan to teacher
Being a children’s group member often helps boys and girls to achieve big changes in their own lives. Codo, 16, is one Codo had a tough upbringing in Ga-tauda, one of the poorest villages in Guinea-Bissau. Her parents died when she was very young and since then she’s been looked after by relatives. However, being active in the children’s club in Ga-tauda has really helped. As the club’s secretary, she has gained the enthusiasm and confidence to convince her family of the importance of allowing her to finish her studies. She’s now finished primary school and is in Year 6. She’s also received training from Plan to work as a nursery teacher, and currently volunteers at a nursery school
Codo volunteering at nursery school
in Ga-tauda while continuing her own studies. “I’m happy now,” she says, “teaching the children in my community what I’ve been taught.”
news and features
The children sing the national anthem outside the house of the winning family and present them with the national flag, which they can display for the coming week. The result has been some hot competition between neighbours! Lack of education is another major challenge in rural GuineaBissau. The children’s groups have also encouraged more of their peers to go to school, especially girls, who are often denied an education. Fun drama skits are used to get the message across.
Inevitable barriers
Yet it hasn’t all been easy. “There was initially a lot of resistance to the children expressing their opinion,” says Plan health advisor Maria Irene. “But their views are much better accepted now, because they adapt their messages to the context and the culture of the adults.” It helps that each children’s group contains two adults – nicknamed Mum (“Mai”) and and Dad (“Pai”), who can advise on how best to approach older members of
the community. Training from Plan on prioritising issues and resolving conflict has also been useful. Now support comes from many different sections of the community. In the village of Sintcham Alanso, the local imam says the project had produced huge changes in behaviour. Local mother Ansatu agrees: “It is as though we have been in another world, since the children started these activities.”
Guinea-Bissau facts: GUINEA-BISSAU
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Bissau
Guinea Guinea-Bissau is one of the very poorest countries in the world. It achieved independence from Portugal in 1974, and its history since has been marred by civil war and military rule. The cashew nut crop is the main source of foreign exchange.
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Capital: Bissau
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Population: 1.58 million
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Languages: Portuguese (official), Crioulo and indigenous African languages
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Half of people in rural areas do not have clean drinking water
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Two-thirds of people in rural areas do not have adequate sanitation
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Only 13% of secondary-age girls are enrolled in school
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news and features
the Plan: inspiring change for India’s gi
Meera surrounded by her family, who have now agreed she should stay in school
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ive months ago, 14-year-old Meera was about to be married. She sits among a group of friends as she tells her story, her voice hardly audible as she describes the harsh realities of girls’ lives in her village in eastern India. A professional matchmaker arrived at Meera’s house and said that he knew of a man living nearby who wanted to marry her. Although Meera’s mother Poonam says she thought the man was “a gentleman”, the family did not know the suitor at all. At the age of 14, Meera was facing marriage to a stranger in another town.
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Unexpected help It was a chilling prospect. But help came from an unlikely source – the very children who surround her now, a Plan-supported group of young activists who make up the local children’s forum. “When Meera told us that she was to be married, we immediately wanted to stop it,” says Sushma. “The entire group came to her house to confront her parents. We performed a short drama on the harmful consequences of early marriage – the loss of the chance of an education and the risk of dying in labour. This proved effective.”
New attitudes for the older generation
Meera’s father Ranjeet and her mother Poonam now have a different perspective. “We realised marrying now might be harmful,” says Poonam. “We have agreed that she can finish school and then we’ll see,” adds Ranjeet. So what caused her family to contemplate the matchmaker’s offer
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In some communities in India, girls are seen as less valuable than boys. While sons are expected to earn money and support their parents, daughters are viewed as a drain on resources. Often they are married off to save their families the cost of keeping them in the first place? It wasn’t cruelty but the grinding reality of rural poverty. “We have too little, we struggle financially,” explains Meera’s grandmother. The family is so poor that the “bride price” offered by the matchmaker was a serious temptation.
“I don’t want to quit. I would like to become a teacher. I dream of teaching other poor children” “We never wanted to see our daughter leave the house at such an early age, but financial difficulties meant lower food expenses would have been welcome,” says Poonam. Her parents’ change of heart comes as an enormous relief to Meera. Marriage would have meant the end to her education. “I still have a year left of my secondary school. I don’t want to quit. I would like to become a teacher. I dream of teaching other poor children.”
Too young for motherhood
Education is not the only issue. Early marriage can have a devastating effect on a young girl’s whole life. Married to a much older man, she may have little control over the decisions that affect her. Domestic violence is still widely tolerated in India, and can ruin a teenage girl’s mental and physical health. And pregnancy at such a young age can be fatal. The most common cause of death for Indian girls aged 15 to 19 is complications in labour. “I worry about marital problems at such an early age,” says Meera. “I think the
Continues overleaf 9
news and features Clockwise from above: traditional Tawarf dancing; Anita; Meera at her local children’s forum; an aerial shot of the forum in action
worst thing is that my body is not able to deliver a child. Sometimes [childbirth] can seriously harm both child and mother.” “A girl should be at least 18 before she gets married,” says children’s forum member Shiv, who is 15 himself. The other children nod in agreement. Several of the girls say that being married is what they fear most.
Bought and sold for sex
They have good reason. Just an hour’s drive away from Meera’s village is the city of Muzaffarpur, a centre for prostitution in this part of India. Over the
past few years, there’s been a growing tendency for men who are connected with prostitution in Muzaffarpur to marry much younger girls from surrounding villages. After marriage to these men, many of these girls find themselves working in the city’s red light district. “As soon as I moved in with my new family I got locked up,” recalls Rinka, who was married off at 16. “It was a frightening experience. I often felt scared and unsafe. I was never allowed to venture outside the house. The place was dominated by men and their needs. There was a lot of crime going on. I tried convincing my family that I
Building skills for life
should be allowed to go out of the house, but no women went outside back then.”
Tragically low expectations
Many women in Muzaffarpur here practise the ancient art of Tawarf dancing, but find it increasingly difficult to make a living without resorting to prostitution. “The prostitutes have taken over completely,” says Tawarf dancer Nisha. “It is virtually impossible to survive as a skilled dancer without providing other services.” Thankfully, that trend is being challenged. With Plan’s support, women and girls in Muzaffarpur are finding the confidence to stand up for themselves and realise their potential.
Adolescence is a key stage in life, particularly for girls. Many changes occur between the ages of 10 to 18: the reaching of sexual maturity, the transition from primary to secondary school, and the change from education to work or motherhood. Yet all too often, girls have precious little control over these massive transitions in their lives. Entrenched poverty and gender discrimination mean they are unable to build their skills and fulfil their potential as full and equal members of society. Often, they cannot choose to complete their education, whether or not to get married, or even to control their sexual and reproductive health. Instead, they are often withdrawn from school. Parents and the girls themselves have low aspirations. For many, early marriage, teenage pregnancy and subservience to men are the norm. Not only are girls denied their human rights, but as a result their communities and whole countries lose out on the chance to gain from their potential. Future generations in turn are condemned to continue in a cycle of poverty and inequality. That's why Plan UK’s new Building Skills for Life programme is so important. Over the next four years and beyond, we will be working with girls as well as boys, men, women, traditional leaders, community organisations, charities and governments. We will stress the importance of basic education which is appropriate for both boys and girls. We will work to provide protection from violence, boost sexual and reproductive health and rights and improve living standards. Most of all, we will emphasise the tremendous potential girls have to improve their own lives and the future of their communities.
– Michael O'Donnell, Head of Programmes Support and Impact, Plan UK Plan has recently been awarded funding from the UK's Department for International Development for this work.
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news and features
A lesson in self-belief
For example, Plan also supports a youth centre in Muzaffarpur where older girls can catch up on the education they may have missed out on. Maths and literacy are high on the agenda, but perhaps the biggest lesson of all is self-confidence.
“Did you know that India has a female president? It means we can become whatever we want to be” Anita is now 15 but she only started her schooling aged 10. Still, she has caught up to the point where she’s now top of her class. And she has big ambitions. “I want to become a lawyer,” she says. “When I am a lawyer, I will be able to fight for children’s rights. I want to fight discrimination against girls, and contribute to girls and women leading better lives.” Fourteen-year-old Beena is equally confident. “Did you know that India has a female president? It means we can become whatever we want to be.”
Because I am a Girl is Plan's campaign to get millions of girls into basic education and help them develop the skills to lift themselves out of poverty. It’s a pressing issue in India, and last September Plan India released its very own girls’ report: The State of the Girl Child in India 2010. The report focuses on adolescent girls in India’s swiftly expanding cities and the growth of IT, which is opening doors to new forms of crime such as child pornography and cyber bullying. “India is undergoing a social and economic transformation,” says Bhagyashri Dengle, Executive Director of Plan India, “but the bias against the girl child is still prevalent on a large scale. “We need to invest in girls and work to change the social and economic equation for girls and women, help them be equipped with the requisite skills to face the world and enable them to succeed in life.”
To find out more about the campaign, go to www.becauseiamagirl.org And to download The State of the Girl Child in India 2010, go to
plan-international.org/girls/resources/publications.php 11
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photostory
photostory
Children’s stories – children’s lives This is Gerline, a five-month-old girl who lives in a tent with her family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Frederic (below) is a Haitian man searching for scrap metal to help rebuild the devastated town of Croix-des-Bouquets ou might think that both these striking images were taken by professional photographers. Yet both were taken by Haitian teenagers supported by Plan. Plan is helping children like Gerline to survive the current cholera epidemic, providing clean water, sanitation, basic healthcare plus the chance to learn and play. And we’re supporting people like Frederic with cash-for-work schemes that motivate ordinary Haitians to rebuild their shattered neighbourhoods. But we recognise the need to rebuild Haiti’s spirit as well as its infrastructure. In situations like this, it’s enormously important to give children a voice in the future. So we’ve been encouraging young people to tell their own stories in the aftermath of disaster. Last October, we trained 22 Haitian teenagers in photojournalism, enabling them to document everyday life in their homes, schools and neighbourhoods. Benita JeanLouis took the picture of Gerline. Franklise Dumeus took the shot of Frederic. Photographer Natasha Fillion led the project. “They were really excited that somebody wanted to see their point of view of their own country,” says Natasha. “Not many people ask Haitians what they want or what they see.”
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You can view all the remarkable photos taken as part of this project at http://tinyurl.com/6ef8c4p
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news and features
A tale of two com Twenty million people have been affected by flooding in Pakistan. Plan UK Chief Executive Marie Staunton sent back this report when she visited Pakistan to review work in flood-hit areas magine you are a young woman with three children. You are woken up in the pitch black of the small hours by the sound of raging water. Imagine that this water threatens to submerge your small house and you have to flee with nothing but the clothes you sleep in. And imagine that it will take a whole day for you to reach safety. This is what faced Humera in her village in south Punjab as her mud house was washed away by the floods.
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A ruined world
Humera and millions like her are used to flooding. But upriver this year, ten years’ worth of rain fell in five days. Now they find their world devastated. They have to wade through two feet of water to what remains of their house. Their crops of sugar cane and cotton are ruined, and the ground is too waterlogged for cultivation even if fresh seeds were available. The women and children sit in villages surrounded by piles of silt and pools of stagnant water. “We needed shelter so we sold our livestock at half price. And a corrugated iron sheet costs a fifth more than normal.”
Communities lead
But it doesn’t need to be like this. Villagers can prepare for floods and survive them – without their lives being ruined. Plan is helping them to do exactly that – and often the impetus to change comes from the communities themselves. On the other side of the flood plain, the early warning committee in Mahmud Kat Rangpur district has managed to organise an effective flood response. The committee
was started two years ago by local children, and with Plan support it monitors the rivers that wind through 80 communities. Measuring the impact of extreme weather needn’t involve complex technology.
The children are surprisingly resilient. Some still have nightmares but mainly they live in the present “We put a stick in the water,” explains Adeel, the 15-year-old secretary of the committee. “Three times a day for eight days we measured the height of the water. We used a mobile phone to report back.”
Careful planning
Thanks to such planning boatmen were ready to evacuate the villagers, three households to a boat, and transfer them uphill to safety on carts pulled by bullocks. The children took their school books with them as they fled. With Plan’s support, the local school has been rebuilt, and now children are back in education. The children are surprisingly resilient. Some still have nightmares but mainly they live in the present. Adults have
news and features
Families in many parts of Pakistan were forced to evacuate with just the possessions they could carry
munities more history and find it harder to adjust. And there are still problems aplenty, even for the best prepared. The vast stagnant lake of floodwater and the heat make perfect conditions for mosquitoes and flies. Malaria, scabies, diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid and dengue fever have all been reported. And even before the flood, a third of children in this area were weakened and stunted by malnutrition.
Plan’s Pakistan Appeal
Plan recognises the importance of children and communities being able to protect themselves from disasters, but when the worst happens, we step in to help where we can. Plan supporters in the UK have kindly donated a total of £560,000 to our Pakistan Appeal, enabling our field workers to provide a range of immediate and longer-term help. With your support, we have distributed
Pakistan facts: Afghanistan
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Islamabad
. . Lahore
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Capital: Islamabad
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Population: 184.7 million
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Languages: English, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi
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9% of children die before reaching the age of five
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Only 28% of girls are enrolled in secondary school
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14 million people have been affected by last year’s floods, which destroyed 650,000 homes and flooded 1.4 million acres of farmland
Faisalabad
Iran
PAKISTAN
India
Pakistan is about three-and-a-half times the size of the UK. Summer temperatures can rise to 45 degrees. Rainfall can vary greatly from year to year, making drought and flooding common.
cooked food to over a quarter of a million people, as well as providing clean water, tarpaulins, health kits and mosquito nets for thousands of families. We distributed milk and high-energy biscuits for malnourished children. And we set up over a hundred child-friendly spaces with toys and books so children could play, learn and reconstruct a semblance of normal life.
the Plan:
to get children back into school. Money is still needed to buy books and repair furniture Please donate by calling 0800 526 848 or send a cheque marked “Pakistan Appeal” to: FREEPOST PLAN 15
news and features
Cholera: prevention and cure
Cholera: the key facts Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae. Every year, there are an estimated 3 to 5 million cholera cases and 100,000 to 120,000 deaths due to cholera. The short incubation period of two hours to five days enhances the potentially explosive pattern of outbreaks. Up to 80 percent of cases can be successfully treated with oral rehydration salts. Effective control measures rely on prevention, preparedness and response. - Source: World Health Organisation
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oth Haiti and Zimbabwe have seen major outbreaks in recent years, killing thousands. But perhaps cholera’s cruellest tragedy is that these lives could have been saved. “The thing with cholera is it’s so easily treated and managed when you have the resources on the ground,” explains Gerry Carty, Plan UK’s Disaster Management Officer. “The problem is, it spreads so quickly, either because there is no safe water or people don’t have the ability to keep water safe.” In Haiti, cholera cases have multiplied with frightening speed. It’s estimated that over 200,000 people have been infected by cholera and over 4,000 killed.
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Containing the spread
But encouragingly, the outbreak now appears to be under control. And Plan – working with government, other aid agencies and local people – has been at the forefront of prevention efforts. “Information sharing is the first line of defence,” says Gerry. “This is a particular problem in Haiti, where cholera was relatively unknown until the recent outbreak. “We’ve focussed on public health education, so communities understand what cholera is and how it can be prevented. “Health brigades of three people, paid by Plan, have been spreading the message. Plan is establishing over 300 hygiene committees in schools. These committees are made up of a teacher, two parents, a boy and a girl.”
Working with government
Plan is also working with the Haitian ministry of health to identify shortages of materials and drugs. “We’re paying for things like cholera treatment beds, oral rehydration salts, disinfectant, posters, leaflets, megaphones and radio advertising slots. “People with symptoms who present themselves at oral rehydration points are being given family cholera kits, which include water purification
news and features
Cholera is a horrific disease. It can kill within days and spreads quickly through contaminated food or drinking water. Little wonder that it poses the greatest danger in countries and communities where healthcare and sanitation are rudimentary or have broken down tablets, disinfectant and cleaning materials. And Plan-backed cash for work schemes encourage local people to carry out sanitation work in the communities. For example, they’re trying to make sure clean water sources aren’t contaminated by sewage from latrines.”
A global problem
The Haitian outbreak is not the first time Plan has had to deal with cholera. The disease breaks out periodically in rural areas of Africa, and in 2008 Zimbabwe was hit. 600 people were killed. Plan provided funding to set up cholera treatment centres in two of the most affected areas, Chipinge and Mutare. Plan workers supplied drugs, medical supplies, disinfectants, food for patients and allowances for health workers. This was coupled with efforts to improve the water supply, building or upgrading wells and boreholes.
Improving sanitation
We also encouraged children and their parents to realise the harm caused by poor sanitation, stop the practice of defecating outdoors, and build their own toilets using readily available and affordable materials. A total of 862 domestic toilets and 30 school toilets were built as a result. Local people were quick to see improvements. “Our children are going to school and our clinic staff are not overloaded like before,” said Chief Nechumbo in the Harare area. “Keep up the good work and everyone now has a toilet in his or her homestead.” Most important of all, lives have been saved. “I am so thankful to Plan and all the nurses for the care they gave me,” says one local woman. “Had it not been for them, I would not have survived.” Plan’s cholera response in Haiti has been possible thanks to the support of those who gave to our Haiti cholera appeal, plus the generosity of UKaid from the Department for International Development.
Clockwise from the left: this Haitian mother now knows how to keep her child safe from cholera; a Haitian woman receives a family cholera kit; a boy in Haiti collects a clean water container distributed by Plan; patients on “cholera beds” in Zimbabwe
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supporter section
A lasting mark
Many children helped by Plan have unforgettable stories to tell, and retain strong memories of sponsorship. Andy Shipley and Giles Morris profile two sponsored children from Plan’s earliest days
José Castillo Martinez’s father Tirso was a Republican sympathiser in Bilbao during the Spanish Civil War. e used his job as a dockworker to run guns to the frontline. When Franco was poised to make a breakthrough, Tirso was a marked man and decided the best thing he could do for his sons was to send them to the safety of England by sea. So aged 11, José was huddled together with 4,000 other Basque children on the rain-lashed deck of the cruiser Habana. “Before we left, my father’s last words to me were: ‘England is a wonderful country and you will be safe.’”
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Finding a home
At that point, Plan sponsors were supporting refugee children who had fled Franco, paying for their upkeep in communal houses. One such communal house was The Culvers, in Carshalton, Surrey, where José ended up.
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“Daily life in Carshalton was wonderful,” recalled José. “We used to go on outings in a bus. We would go to Windsor a lot for high tea because it was near.” The young José soon showed a talent for painting, and became known to his friends as Coque the Artist.
Creative blossoming “Carshalton was a very good environment from an educational point of view and brought out my creative side. I was surrounded by creative people who encouraged me.” He attended the Croydon School of Art and soon landed a job as a fabric designer. His works have been shown at several London venues and at the Prado in Madrid. José Castillo Martinez, artist, 1926 – 2009. He chose to support Plan’s work by leaving a legacy in his will.
José (left) and one of his works, a portrait of the Spanish theatre director Pepe Estruch
supporter section
What will your legacy be? You don’t need to have been a sponsored child yourself to leave a legacy to Plan, but a gift in your will could give children the chance of a fresh chance. To find out more, please contact our Legacy Advisor Sophia Stylianou in complete confidence. You can reach her by phone on 0300 777 9777, by email at sophia.stylianou@plan-international.org or by writing to: Plan UK, Finsgate 5-7 Cranwood Street, London EC1V 9LH.
Victor Mirski came to the UK from Poland, on the opposite side of war-torn Europe, but his story is every bit as dramatic as José’s hen the USSR annexed parts of eastern Poland in 1940, I was sent to Siberia with my mother,” says Victor. “My father was arrested in September 1939 and taken to the Lubyanka prison in Moscow. I never saw him again. My mother died in Siberia. I was looked after by an aunt. “The Soviet government permitted the Polish government in exile in London to form a Polish army in the USSR, which left via Iran to fight with the British Eighth Army in North Africa. All ablebodied Polish men earlier deported to USSR were allowed to join, and to take their families out.” As a Polish child, Victor went with them, to Kazakhstan and then Iran.
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A long journey
Later, Victor spent several years in Lebanon where he attended
an Italian boarding school in Beirut, learning French, Italian and Arabic. In 1948, he sailed from Egypt to the UK, where he stayed in a number of displaced people’s camps in Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. At this point he became a Plan sponsored child. He still has fond memories of his American sponsor. “I still remember scrawling a note to my sponsor each month,” he says.
Useful help
Decades later, Victor and his late wife Krystyna became sponsors themselves. “We decided to sponsor a child in the Middle East,” explains Victor. “We thought a little help might prove useful, just as it proved most valuable to me.” Sadly, Krystyna Mirska died in 2007. She left a legacy to Plan in her will and Victor still sponsors a girl in Egypt.
Above, Victor and his aunt in England in 1949. Left, Krystyna Mirska
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supporter section
the Plan: make a bigge There’s a massive range of ways you can support Plan, from involving your employer to enjoying an evening with friends…
Girls Night In Fundraising needn’t mean climbing a mountain or working up a sweat on a sponsored run. So if you fancy something a little less strenuous, why not just organise a get-together with some friends?
Ben visits the owner of a smokeless stove, which is healthier and more eco-friendly
Inspired Fundraising Plan depends on the enthusiasm of many committed supporters, donors and fundraisers. Ben Roseveare, Sales and Marketing Director at Exodus Travels, is one “Plan's child-centred, community approach really resonated with me,” says Ben, 37. “Plan is real. It engages on a family level and a village level.” Ben has sponsored a child in India and has raised around £3,000 on top of that. So what's his secret of successful fundraising? “Combining a real personal challenge and communicating a worthy cause,” he says. “Two reasons to give generously.”
A ‘Girls Night In’ is a fantastic way to have fun with your closest female friends and help a girl in a developing country to make a fresh start. It works like this: simply invite your friends for a fun night in. Instead of bringing wine or flowers, ask your friends to make a donation to Plan’s Because I am a Girl campaign. If you’re cooking, we’ll supply an exclusive range of menu ideas from Ruth Rogers, co-founder of London’s River Café. Plus you’ll get free thank-you cards to send your friends and a free Plan tote bag.
How do I organise a Girls Night In? Go to www.becauseiamagirl.org/fundraise If you have any questions please contact Kevin Machin on 020 3217 0217 or kevin.machin@plan-international.org
Raising funds
Last September, Ben climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with his 60-year-old father-in-law and business colleagues. Ben has also involved his company, Exodus Travels. Staff members have done the Royal Parks Half Marathon, and the company has funded a smokeless stoves project in Tanzania, which Ben visited in September 2010.
Reaching out
The visit was, he says: “Quite shocking in a way. Despite doing lots of travel I hadn't been that far off the beaten track in a long, long time. The poverty was quite shocking. Plan is the only NGO working in that area.” If you’re interested in fundraising for Plan, please contact Elkie Thorndyke on 020 3217 0288 or email elkie.thorndyke@plan-international.org
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£50 OFF! Plan Supporters are eligible for an introductory £50 per person discount on any Exodus adventure holiday. Request a brochure or visit www.exodus.co.uk/plan for details.
A recent girls night in
supporter section
r difference Find out more
Are you a member of a women’s group, church group, rotary club or similar? If so, why not invite a volunteer Plan speaker to give a FREE talk to your group explaining more about the work Plan does? All our speakers are sponsors and can talk knowledgeably about the issues faced by children in the developing world.
Suffolk family film fun Picturehouse Cinemas invite all Plan supporters to an outdoor family movie at Abbey Gardens, St Edmundsbury, Suffolk on 28 May. A voluntary ticket price will be donated to Plan’s work in Niger. Further details will be available nearer the date at www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/ Abbeygate_Picturehouse
0pen to you On 13 July, Plan will hold an open evening at our London office. All our supporters are very welcome So why not come along, meet staff, and find out more about the difference your support is making? “It was a great idea for us to meet the staff and be able to appreciate Plan’s good work” says one Plan sponsor who attended the 2010 evening. If you’re interested, please email uknosupporterevent@planinternational.org for full details.
To find out more, please contact Magdalene Thomas on 0300 777 9777 or magdalene.thomas@plan-international.org
The business people of tomorrow Helping young people to develop business skills is a big part of our plan to tackle poverty. We're grateful to Credit Suisse for helping us achieve this Credit Suisse analysts Laura Manthe and Daniel Bates recently spent a week in Malawi where they shared their skills with two schools running a School Linking project. Together with their teacher, the students form a notional "company" and exchange goods with a partner school in the UK, so students get an insight into how business works. Credit Suisse has been supporting Plan since 2008 and has funded education programmes in Guatemala, Liberia and Cambodia. If your company is interested in a partnership with Plan, please contact Ruth Baker on 020 3217 0220 or ruth.baker@plan-international.org. To find out more about School Linking, email alex.monk@plan-international.org
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supporter section
A rainy day in Guatemala
Visits by sponsors can leave everyone with a different point of view – not least the children involved. Last year Judy Seall of Berkshire took her adopted daughter Anna to visit her sponsored child Ana-Floricelda in Guatemala. A rainy day in a remote village left both girls with a new perspective and vivid new memories Anna (left) and Ana-Floricelda brave the rain
first met Ana-Floricelda in front of her school,” says Anna, nine. “She was pretty and serious, and we shook hands quickly. I wondered if her life was easy or hard. She looked a lot like me but our lives were probably very different. “Her home was made out of wooden planks and the roof was corrugated iron. Her grandmother was boiling chicken stew over an open fire and it smelt like my grandma’s chicken soup.
“I
A special day
“The home was specially decorated for our visit with grass on the floor and banana leaves on the roof and walls. “They gave us some very sweet hot chocolate made from the cocoa beans growing outside their house. I found it really easy to play with them. It was almost as easy as playing with my own friends in England. Perhaps our lives are quite similar after all.”
An unexpected treat
the Plan:
combine a holiday or business trip with a visit to your sponsored child Contact visit co-ordinators Maggie, Rachel or Gary on 0300 777 9777 or email uknovisits@planinternational.org NB All visits are wholly funded by the sponsor
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The visit was a real surprise for sponsored child Ana-Floricelda, also nine. “I knew I had a sponsor but I never thought that someone who lives so far away would come and visit me,” she says. “Ours is a poor community where the sponsor could see for herself the reality of where we live. “I was very happy with the visit. I feel very flattered and proud. I am the only girl in my community to have received a visit from a sponsor. “I was surprised to find out that my sponsor has an adopted daughter from Guatemala – and that she looks so much like a child from my community. “Before this visit, I knew little about the United Kingdom – only what I saw on postcards from Judy. Now I feel I know lots more. I can’t wait for another visit!”
field worker profile
Striking a balance
Most Plan staff and volunteers are motivated by working directly with children and seeing positive changes in their lives. But this has to be balanced with planning, monitoring and working with local government to make sure change is sustained
he passion aspect of our work is in the field,” says Ouro Tchatchedre, a Plan manager in Atakpame, central Togo. Ouro tries to spend as much time as possible meeting and talking with children and communities. “When a child drops out of sponsorship, I visit the community and see why this has occurred, so that any issues can be resolved where necessary. Sometimes this is because the child has left the community. I also meet with the children’s clubs, such as the out-ofschool clubs for children in Elevagnon [the capital of Atakpame district]. “I enjoy sharing knowledge and points of view with children and communities. I especially enjoy my time in the field.”
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Ouro
Children from a Plan-supported community in Togo.
Monitoring and evaluation However, planning, co-ordination and keeping tabs on progress are also a big part of Ouro’s job. “The Programme Unit management team meets with field staff every two weeks. They have a team briefing for work planning, monitor progress towards achieving the month’s work plan, and do an evaluation of programme implementation.” Plan cannot be present in communities for decades to come, but we want to make sure that the projects we help to start are sustained in the long term. So when we help to rebuild a school, for example, we make sure students, parents and other decision-makers are involved in its long term upkeep. Local volunteers who know the community and are committed to the project have a massive role to play. A lot of our projects involve working with local government, and we try wherever possible to boost the skills and awareness of policy-makers and administrators so they can do their jobs better.
Togo facts:
Making decisions Ouro also has to manage expectations and make tough decisions. “When visiting the field, you see a lot of needs, and Plan can’t do it all on our resources.” That’s why it’s so important to give local people the skills and confidence ultimately to do as much as possible for themselves.
Togo is located in West Africa. The country is tropical in the south and semi-arid in the north. Farming, phosphate mining and the international sea port are the main sources of income.
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Capital: Lomé
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Population: 4.7 million
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Languages: French, Kabiye, Ewe
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One child in ten dies before the age of five
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Almost a quarter of girls do not attend primary school
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47% of adults cannot read and write
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Plan/Alf Berg
The world needs more people like you. Will you introduce a friend to the joy of sponsoring with Plan? Right now, we have hundreds of boys and girls waiting to be matched to a sponsor who could help transform their lives. And the simplest, most for you to introduce them to us. You already know just what a special experience sponsorship is. So please, tell your friends.
Tell them about the child whose life you’re helping to transform. Tell them how you’re making a difference you can see. And tell them there are many more children who need their help today. Please make your friends part of the plan to change a child’s life. Send them to our website or tell them to call the number below today.
Send your friends to www.plan-uk.org/becomeasponsor or tell them to call 0800 526 848 today Share sponsorship on Facebook at facebook.com/planuk Plan UK, Finsgate, 5-7 Cranwood Street, London EC1V 9LH
Tel: 0300 777 9777
Fax: 0300 777 9778
www.plan-uk.org