AL I C SPE TION I ED
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Viva 2011 Review
AL I C SPE TION I ED
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This year Viva turns 15 years old! Page 6:
2-month-old Lia in Uganda
3-year-old Jomo in Kenya
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5-year-old Daya in Nepal
8-year-old Marilyn in Peru
Viva Review 2011
As we read the stories of seven children* who have been helped through Viva this year, all of different ages, we also reflect on what we as an organisation were like at that stage of life…
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12-year-old Saúl in El Salvador
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14-year-old 15-year-old Deepti in India Veata in Cambodia
Page 18: Looking forward
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Opportunity knocks
Page 22: Financial review
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 n! Viva is bor
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ler years Viva’s todd
Viva rea he s double ficgu res
Annual Review 2011
This year has seen Viva, and the many networks we partner with, face some tough challenges. So it has been a real encouragement for me to look back over the 15 years of Viva’s life and see God’s faithfulness, as he has brought us through many difficult situations and has steadily grown and blessed us.
Front cover image courtesy of John Cairns (johncairnsphotography.co.uk)
Although we are still wrestling with the global effects of the recession, and have had to make some hard decisions about the way we work, God has provided for Viva yet again this year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported us so faithfully, demonstrating the body of Christ and providing on earth the answer to many of our earnest prayers to God in heaven. While 15 years is not that old, I continue to be amazed and excited by what Viva is accomplishing. The power of networks, or communities working together for children, is distinctive and unparalleled.We have spent our 15 years dedicated to creating, developing and proving a robust model for establishing such networks and it is clear to me that the model which now exists is truly the most powerful of its kind within the international development community. If one takes the analogy that is so familiar to modern audiences, then what Viva has developed is a platform, like the iPad or iPhone, upon which enormous numbers of applications can be run. A community of compassionate people, well organised and united in purpose, is the best possible platform on which to run innovative, far-reaching and ultimately life-changing programmes for children at risk. Programmes like Viva Equip, Early Encounter, the World Weekend of Prayer, or many of the inspired solutions created by the networks themselves, have been successful chiefly because of the secure platform of unity and quality on which they sit.
Viva becomes a teenager
a! irthday Viv b h t 15 y p p Ha
As you look through this Review and see the fruit of many of this year’s ‘apps’, remember that you are witnessing, and supporting, an incredible culmination of many years of toil, prayer and challenge.The original vision has been transformed into a powerful operation that has the potential to bless millions of vulnerable children and we would love you to join us in prayerfully seeking for this amazing work to be multiplied a hundred fold. Serving Viva as a Trustee has been extraordinarily wonderful and although I am now stepping down as Chair, handing over to fellow Trustee Nick Bamber, I will continue to serve the organisation and Board with even more passion and conviction than I had when I started. I commend this Annual Review to you and hope that you are inspired by what God is doing through his people.
Simon Laver Chair of Viva’s Board of Trustees (2004-2011)
*Any children referred to in this Review have had their names changed in accordance with our Child Protection Policy
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Lia in Uganda
Viva Review 2011
Lia had not long been born when AIDS claimed the life of her mother. Her father, panicked by the thought of raising her alone, simply left one night when she was asleep.The prospect of caring for little Lia was too much for her aunt after the painful loss of her sister, so Lia was taken to a babies’ home in Kampala. At only two months old Lia had already lost the care and support of the three people closest to her. Or so it seemed…
The babies’ home is a member of the citywide network in Kampala, so they are working regularly with the network’s Families for Children (FFC) team. Wanting to see as many children as possible grow up in families rather than institutions, FFC works with projects like the babies’ home to help them reunite children with their biological family. They also work through churches in the network to find local people who are able to foster or adopt children, when going back to their own homes is not possible. When the team received a phone call about baby Lia they were more than happy to take her case. The lack of consistent care in her first few months had left Lia very under-nourished, so the babies’ home made sure she had round-the-clock attention and was given the medicines and food she so badly needed. As they helped her get back to full health, FFC re-established contact with Lia’s extended family and began the work of preparing them to care for her long-term.
2 months old
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1996 The idea for Viva began when current Chief Executive Patrick McDonald went to Paraguay as a 17-year-old volunteer. In his first few weeks he discovered four different churches providing food for street children in a large local park, each one doing so on a Monday. None of the churches were aware of the work of the others and so the local children feasted on Mondays and starved the rest of the week. The simple act of introducing those churches to one another made sure that more children were fed more often. What could be accomplished in the lives of children at risk, Patrick wondered, if more people started working together? When he got back to England he shared his ideas with fellow students Katy Miles and Martin Hull, and it was not long afterwards that Viva was born…
They also set up a regular monthly allowance for the family to spend on her food, clothes and medical care and talked to them about how to save for her future needs. After a few carefully monitored visits with her family, Lia was able to go back into their care full-time. Lia’s whole family are happy to have her back, and although it’s not always easy they now know where to get help. A social worker from the network visits them once a month and Lia’s aunt and grandmother regularly attend the Families for Children coffee mornings, receiving advice and support from the team and other families in similar situations. Now as Lia grows up, learns to crawl and explores playing with her grandparents, her aunt and uncle and her four older cousins, she is discovering what life is like when you have the care and support of even more than three people.
They worked particularly with her aunt and her grandmother, giving them several practical teaching sessions on how to look after Lia.
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1997
February
The founders – Patrick and Katy Martin,
June led Viva l a c n e Viva (th k) officially Networ s with the rs register Commissione Charity ebruary 1996. on 28 F k wor l l i st ree oday! h t All Viva t for
The first city-wide networks are formed in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Peru and Venezuela. er go ould nev rayer w a iv V t p a knew th they put founders n’t driving it, so his year our e e r th e T Th n. was eral e if God ganisatio anywher e heart of the or Prayer sees sev ke f o th s t d a ie n ntr ta eke right orld We 17 different cou W r e v e tfirs from d people t risk. thousan y for children a a r p time to
“The larg e with child st organisation w o Christian ren at risk today is rking c h fragmente urch. But this e the like we’ve d into a million p ffort is ie battle, bu got an army and ces. It’s there’s a t we just Nobody’s h called the aven’t mobilised. troops to Patrick, gether.” interview magazine ed in ‘Pu lse about the start of V ’ iva
The logo Viva begins with
January Viva’s first office – with no premises of their own, Patrick, Katy and Martin make all their calls from this phone box on Pembroke Street in Oxford!
Jomo in Kenya
Viva Review 2011
On a quiet village street, just outside of Kisumu, a little metalsheet house was shaking with the noise of angry shouts and the slamming of pots and pans. Suddenly the shouting got louder, the door of the house creaked open and a small boy ran outside, fell down in the dirt and began to cry. Yet none of his neighbours even looked up.This was just another ordinary day for threeyear-old Jomo.
His father had died just before he was born and over the years Jomo’s mother had become a very bitter and unhappy woman. She was frustrated by her circumstances, and exhausted by the daily struggle for survival, and Jomo bore the brunt of her resentment. The neighbours were reluctant to get involved in another family’s business and gradually the community simply grew accustomed to the tumultuous household. Alison Ngorabo was one of those neighbours. A house-mother in a local project, caring for children who used to live on the streets, Alison always felt sorry for Jomo when she saw him sitting so sadly outside his house.Yet as he wasn’t one of the children she was responsible for she didn’t feel that she could do anything to change his situation. That is, until Viva Equip People gave her a different perspective.
3 years old
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ity for a prior rd is k is r at Oxfo hildren ing with the ferent c g in lp k if that he ar, wor m 38 d ’s vital e. So this ye et people fro e out how it k in We th ch worldwid udies, we g figur er r t he pap oom to the chu or Mission S gether in a r ian agenda. T ionate f t to ss Centre ’s ministries e global Chris with this pa s h n t e in r child it’s on ultation beg ly s e sure easing to mak g up that con he incr sues t in o t m m n su is attentio . The tion: to draw ld’s children ut our declara y r a s uffer es or ,b them s l it nec f our w blem “We fee le position o their pro by and watch ft free to t le ab vulner ce are no longer stand enemies are a o f n ir e y n h e a t th ec ile em. W ons wh probl in their milli e.” sid and die m on every Leaving the phone e h t lk sta we
box behind move Viva’s growing staff to an office in Nort h Oxford although we’re still w fairly close quarters orking in !
Earlier this year Alison spent six months training with 28 other caregivers from organisations in the Kisumu network, learning how to care for children in the best possible way. Alongside learning very practical childcare skills, such as how to counsel traumatised children and how to write and put into action a child protection policy, she also discovered the importance of showing children that they are
February
Brian Wilkinson, Chief Operating Offic er
As she began visiting regularly on her way to or from work, Alison was able to help Jomo’s mother understand that he had emotional needs as well as physical ones. She explained that although he was receiving enough food and had a bed to sleep in, he needed to be shown love and positive attention to help him grow up happy and healthy. Jomo’s mother was quite shocked and upset when she realised how her actions were affecting him, and she has been working closely with Alison over the last few months learning to interact more kindly with Jomo and to respond to the difficulties of their circumstances in a more constructive way. Now when Jomo goes outside he runs around energetically, laughing and playing with the other local children, and the neighbours can’t help but pay attention to this lively and happy little boy.
1999
1998 The World Evangelical Alliance asks Viva to be their Commission for children at risk. As the WEA seeks to provide Christians all over the world with a unified identity and voice we can now make sure that one of the things the global Church shouts about is helping children!
loved and valued. Alison told us she felt a new enthusiasm for her work when she understood that good quality care was not about ticking things off a checklist, but about being a practical example of God’s love in her daily interactions with children. This new-found enthusiasm led her to stop at Jomo’s house, eager to see both him and his mother benefit from what she had learned.
The network in Manila, the Philippines, is formed.
In May we hold our first Cutting Edge conference, a four-day symposium where key leaders come together and share their expertise, connect their efforts and spark innovative ideas to fight the problems faced by children across the world. More than 100 decisionmakers from 62 countries attend.
cuttingedge
now been used Viva Locate has frica, Asia and in 21 cities in A meaning that Latin America, isations who an hundreds of orgunaware of one y sl u io ev were pr able to work another are now er. togeth
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ifton Lord Carey of Cl Canterbury of (Archbishop 1991 – 2002)
October
Like ma n keen to y three-year-old explore s we are ou c launch t he Viva r surroundings urious and , so this Locate p we set ab yea ro o is workin ut discovering a gramme. Throu r we gh it nd docu g with ch m what the y are do ildren at risk in enting who ing and report o a given George Cf our findings is how. The first officity, e arey: “W c you will here the ndorsed by Lord ial fi n d C r h e r hope an istians p is suffer d doing wh help, and yet w roviding practic ing change t at and where. T e don’t know w al h revolutiohat and I believ his Viva report o is e a n ims to t a h e kno you wor ry: it will em k with, t power y wledge will be at risk.” ou o change the world, and those for child ren
Daya in Nepal
Viva Review 2011
Imagine that at night time, instead of your warm and comfortable bed, you have a piece of cardboard to sleep on. At dinner time, instead of a full fridge of food to choose from, you eat only what you can find in rubbish bins or beg from neighbours. Then imagine that you are only five years old.
For Daya, living in one of the poorest parts of Biratnagar, Nepal, this was not a fictional scenario, but real life. With no knowledge of his parents, and no brothers or sisters, he simply drifted around the slum areas relying on the charity of local people. Lonely, unhappy and often sick or injured, he might not have lived into his teens if it had not been for the compassion of one young woman inspired by Viva Equip People.
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2000 o everyone wh Up until now a has raised their iv works for V , but this year we rt o p p su our own art paying lmost st to le b a a are in two years staff. With at Viva is officially n every perso lthough even today (A ! d e y lo rs still emp staff membe stead of r u o f o e m in so ise support choose to ra lary.) drawing a sa
Udita Kapoor is one of 51 caregivers who have taken part in the Viva Equip People training in Nepal during 2011. After the success of last year’s course in Kathmandu the network opened two new teaching centres this year. Through local networks in Butwal and Morang,Viva Equip has been enabling more people to gain the skills and receive the support they need to offer children care that is as professional and effective as it is loving. Learning how to help children in the context of their culture and background and discovering how to value and listen to them were quite new concepts to Udita. She found that the training challenged her ideas of how to care for and respond to children and said that it completely transformed the way she interacted with them. So when she came into contact with Daya through her work in his local area, and discovered how he was living, Udita was convinced that she needed to respond in a much more personal way than she would have ever considered before: she wanted to take him into her own home.
Many people, including Udita’s own parents, were opposed to her looking after Daya, especially as she was just about to be married. Yet thankfully her fiancé saw how Viva Equip People had changed her heart and he too felt that it was the right decision to care for Daya together. The local network was also very supportive of Udita’s plan and several people from network projects have been able to offer her practical help and advice. Udita and her new husband have now been looking after Daya for almost six months, making sure he has a proper bed to sleep in, plenty of nutritious food and good medical care. Thanks to Udita’s learning from Viva Equip People, and the new-found compassion that came with it, Daya now has a safe home and a new family who love him.
5 years old Junesletter we share witohmsuthpeporters
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2002
2001 October The city-wide network in Cape Town, South Africa, is formed.
ns. yer Diary begi The Viva Pra will help people it For 10 years d pray for projects an t ou ab n lear linked and children , and ks or w et n to the at time th t ou gh u ro th ople pe by it is used 0 5 an th e in mor ies. tr n u co t en er diff
e fiv iva y V l on old nual t A ars an f ye s an er o ha rnov 17. ot of tu 45,0 a l ney! £3 at’s mo Th cket po
November
Viva goes global when one staff member moves to Uganda to start an Africa office and a few months later another moves to Kuala Lumpur to provide a Viva presence in Asia. Including the Latin America office, which just moved from Miami to San José, Viva now has a staff of 19 people in the UK and 10 overseas and our work spans four continents!
Marilyn in Peru A common phrase in many households, when children’s noisy and energetic play tests their parents’ nerves, is ‘go and do something useful!’ They mean by tidying up the toys, looking after younger brothers and sisters, or helping with the washing up. In eight-year-old Marilyn’s house being useful meant sitting for hours on a dusty road, putting on her saddest smile and hoping that passers-by would be moved to give her enough money for her family to eat the next day.
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2003 grow For the first time we decide to ple sim a m fro our Annual Review ailed financial report into a more det can s ter por sup publication, so our the of e som s see for themselve amazing transformations we are witnessing in children’s lives.
Viva Review 2011
Marilyn lives with her parents, her older sister and her two younger brothers in a small riverside community by the Rio Rimac in western Peru. Her parents could barely scrape a living collecting recyclable rubbish, so Marilyn’s brothers and sister often joined her outside as she begged. Marilyn’s mother had experienced repeated sexual abuse as a child and both she and Marilyn’s father had been abandoned by their families at a young age. After having children together they moved out of Lima in search of a better life, but past experience and present poverty had robbed them of the ability to see what a happy home might look like.
8 years old
2004 tled aper enti p a e c u d s o ion to pr sion urge Compass sion. Its conclu ission priority in h it w s k Viva wor : The Great Omis n the greatest m ommanded to c Children s to make childre “Christians are nd no group , n g a ld in ti r y o a a n Chris decade, s ist to a hurting w en... A generatio g in m o c r r d h il C the h f c ly o n we o e love e than reveal th are hurting mor are for real or if e children s e e le w p of peo , wondering if ho will show th nture, g e is waitin ing about love. W t it is full of adv pe s a o d th h n , a g m e in lk th ta worth liv e will show that life is d wonder? Who strate God’s lov t n n e a o r g m ty e a de beau e? Let’s at omission in th s o p r u p re and ect the g and corr ion.” commiss
June
Then earlier this year as Marilyn was sitting, smiling sadly, in her regular spot, one of the passers-by stopped to speak with her – it was a woman from the city-wide network in Lima. They talked only for a few minutes but the woman came back the next day, then the next, then the next, and soon she became a regular visitor at Marilyn’s house. At first the family were wary of her offers of help, unused to
such kindness, especially from a stranger. Yet slowly their trust in her grew and over the last nine months Marilyn has seen her family utterly transformed. Through the network they have joined a local church and begun attending a regular Bible study together. Marilyn’s father has also started learning engineering skills, hoping to find a better paying job so that he can provide for his children. A professional counsellor has been helping both of Marilyn’s parents to work through the effect of their own childhoods on their current family life and find new, healthier ways of parenting. All four of the children have been enrolled in the network’s after-school club where they can get help with their homework, enjoy painting and playing games and even attend classes that tackle topics like eating healthily or staying safe from sexual abuse. Marilyn’s old dusty spot on the riverside road has been sitting empty for six months. Thanks to the network she now has many better places to spend her childhood.
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2005 September
ngall, a lo uit w l i L b q o ides to r-old R 27-yea d of Viva, dec acher and te ien time fr a geography laxing: s re a e b r o jo ! his far m g the UK in h t e ack to oute b ia do som s s om Ru -mile r cycle fr s the 15,000 nd hopes d n hs a He inte 8 mont for Viva in 1 im h to take bout £10,000 a to raise ip money. sh r sponso
City-wide networks in Nepal, Uganda, Cambodia and India begin this year.
Turn the page to long it actually see how takes him!
At this ye presented ar’s global Lausan to church Children: Th ne Forum we e denomina leaders of more th Great Omiss ion ti o n s , imploring an 1,000 at the cen them to p tr e o f th ut childre eir missio responde n d official bo by asking Viva to n agendas. Lausan dy for chil ne become th dren at r “We, the isk, sayin e Forum’s g: children! church, have bee n W o h v e e t r h looking t er it’s wh Sunday s he is c of childr hool or simply ig king them away en aroun to n o r ing th d suffering , the chu the world who a e millions repent as rch has m re physic Lord’s he needed, and mov essed up. May w ally e art towa e rds child in step with the ren.”
Saúl in El Salvador 12-year-old Saúl didn’t exist. Not legally anyway.When he was born, in a small village in the north of El Salvador, his newlywidowed mother had been too overwhelmed to officially register his birth. As he grew up she worked long hours on a coffee plantation to support Saúl and his brother Daniel, yet money was always tight, and the older he got the more complicated and expensive the legal obstacles seemed to become.
12 years old
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2006
10 years be on the old is quite youn this year property ladder, g to goodbye sees us finally wabut to the incre renting. Thank ve s d supporte ibly generous gif to rs and fr ts of able to b uy an op iends we are en-plan tw storey bu UK staff. ilding to house o our 22
2007
rst es the fi ies held by e s r a e This y istmas Part ot only sn hr Viva C s. The partie ch and the d etwork stoma f our n resent, a full y are loved an local o y n a o e m t p h t a with wledge that onnect them in hildren m c oc kno e d i v but als n support the pro , d e u l a a v ow s that c lved n to project come. o v n i o as et oth years t can g g/christm t takes b for the I u “ o id Y a r s ope once va.o inators see vi ut how. enuine h ts this d g r o a o n C e k r d c or find o give chil ip Proje ur Netw One of o d practicality to unch Viva Equ ugh the first la ro an cited to going th ica. It’s so x passion s e n e io ’r t e a So w rganis in Afr now future.” ildcare o vement System h c re that is 4 a 3 c h n o it e r r w p d , year ality Im jects offer chil f the Qu o ro d n u The city-wide networks ving. o r ee the p s o t g as it is lo in e g iv a t r c u in El Salvador and Kenya e f o f enc al and e n io s s e are formed. f as pro
September
Viva Review 2011
Sadly, Saúl is not the only child in this position: recent UNICEF figures show that one in 10 children in El Salvador has no birth record. Whilst international laws state that every child must receive one, millions of parents are simply not able to fulfil this requirement and it affects their children at every stage of life. If you do not have a birth certificate you will struggle to move through the education system, get a passport, open a bank account, gain a driver’s licence, or even get married. Although Saúl’s mother had managed to find him a place in a small local primary school, he was still worried by his lack of official identity: “I was frightened about what would happen if I got lost one day. How would anyone find me? I did not know how old I was or if I was even truly Salvadoran or not,” he explains. Then when Saúl was old enough to start secondary school it became an even greater problem, as no school would accept him without a birth certificate. However, just as Saúl was beginning to feel hopeless, he and Daniel had an encounter that changed their lives forever: an Early Encounter. Viva’s Early Encounter programme works through the El Salvador network to connect
with children who are not yet living on the streets but whose family situations mean they are dangerously close to that way of life. People from 23 organisations and churches within the network have joined up to form street teams, working together to try and provide families with housing, employment, counselling, food: whatever it takes to keep their children off the streets. Our Early Encounter teams were also working through networks in nine other cities across Latin America this year. After meeting people from one of these teams, Saúl’s family were given the legal support and advice they needed to tackle the process of getting birth certificates for both him and Daniel. The Early Encounter team were also able to find a school that would accept Saúl while he waited for the official documents, so his education wouldn’t be disrupted. After 12 years of waiting, Saúl finally became the proud owner of a birth certificate in March 2011. “I’m glad I can now be identified as a Salvadoran,” beams the 12-year-old, “and I am very happy for everyone to know that I exist!”
2008 October rs 12 yea e r ’ e w Now e seem to t w old eft pocke d l n a ind have n y beh mone urselves a b o o j ol got scho after- year our - thisl turnover annua 1,772,891! was £
Three ye ar and 28 c s, 30,000 miles ountries later, Rob Lilwall fin all the UK h y arrives back in avin than £20 g raised more ,0 journey is 00 for Viva! His ep ic e into a boo ventually turned k and a D VD.
September
Viva Equ ip Kampala, People begins in sees 197 Uganda. This firs t c course, n aregivers go thro year ow better ugh the supported skilled an needs of as they work to m d better c their city hildren at risk in eet the .
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Deepti in India
Viva Review 2011
Despite being a brilliant pupil at the top of her class, 14-yearold Deepti had to drop out of school. Not because of bad behaviour, not because she wasn’t working hard enough, but because her family were too poor to pay the exam fees of Rs 2,000 – just over £27.
Back in August of 2009 India made changes to ‘The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act’ (RTE), altering it to give all children aged 6-14 the right to free education. The change in the law also required that private schools offer 25% of their places to underprivileged children.
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With the formation of Viva’s Jyoti Forum last year we have begun to see some of those questions addressed. A nation-wide project focused on gaining equality for girl children, Jyoti has so far helped several hundred girls to stay in school through ongoing financial, educational and emotional support. In 2010 the work was based mainly in Delhi and Patna, but this year has seen the city-wide network in Vijayawada join the fight to make sure India’s girls are given an equal chance at a more secure future.
14 years old
2009
June
February in sence e r p s a Viva’ h Americ Nort mes more e beco ial with th f a offic ntment o he appoi irector. T ny ive D d ma xecut as inspire and E S U es ce h d offi can church rk with e s a -b o i le Seatt orth Amer port our w p N u s e mor duals to . indivi en at risk childr
Although this was good news, it also raised some important questions. Who would seek out the children unaware of their new rights? Who could bridge the gap between the private schools and the children trapped, like Deepti, behind financial barriers? Whose job is it to make sure that the law gets put into practice?
Stephen with lo leaders from th cal church e Nepal network
Stephen Gaukroger is appointed the Patron of Viva, championing our work within the Christian community. When he joined us Stephen told the UK media, “Viva is one of the most forward-thinking and inspirational organisations I know. If we want to see vulnerable children lifted out of poverty and witness whole communities sustainably transformed and renewed, then Viva has the vision, the passion and the programmes to make that happen.”
In response to the specific problems facing children in their city the network’s new Jyoti
group decided to launch a project aimed at girls like exactly like Deepti. They have been working through local organisations and churches in the network to identify at least 100 girls under the age of 14 who have dropped out of school and, with the legal power of the new RTE, help them back on the path to education. Deepti herself was one of the girls discovered by the network and they managed to connect with her just when she needed them. Through a sponsor linked to the network Deepti’s exam fees were taken care of, and a local Jyoti mentor is working with both her family and her school to ensure that any future issues that might disrupt her education are dealt with carefully and in good time. As a result Deepti is now back in class and she was able to get there in time to pass her exams with flying colours!
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2010 Viva starte d blogging! C heck out blog.v iva.org to see for yourself.
Viva Chief Executive Patrick McDonald is named one of the top 20 most influential voices in children’s ministry by Children’s Ministry Magazine.
s us her take f members, give and saw af st r ou of e on st daughter of to Uganda inson, the younge our whole family went ber the babies’ ilk W lla E d ol reven mem 14-yea , especially re hen I was s e very much on what we do: “W Viva is working with. I children there didn’t hav nd, but now ts some projec ed. It was sad that the m what we have in Engla working to it s vi e w owing he’s fferent fro home were really di helping to do. I love knke me.” s ve li r ei th is li and what my dad d loved, just I understand er children are happy an th make sure o
November
A new national office opens when Rob and Christine Lilwall move to Asia and become the Directors of Viva Hong Kong (after Rob finished his epic cycle ride home from Siberia, of course!)
Veata in Cambodia 15-year-old Veata wasn’t worried about falling house prices. She wasn’t worried by all the job cuts, the rising cost of fuel, or the fluctuations in the stock market. But she was very worried about being sold as a mistress to a businessman in Phnom Penh.
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Life for Veata’s family was not easy, but they had always scraped by: her father had a job as a construction worker, her mother and sisters worked as rubbish collectors and Veata brought a small income to the family by making and mending clothes. She was also taking advanced English classes through one of the Phnom Penh network’s
2011 January d wellctive an risk must e f f e ly a tru children at launch w that We kno d response to o this year weuses rounde the church, s ogramme foc s to get r include gage. This p bling churche nd reach n a E n e ork a Viva iring and al netw mmunities. c p lo s r n i i e th on their co d with me in involve he children infor the first ti out to t Viva Engage d, India. We run y in Hyderaba Januar
Viva starts to tw eet! Follow us @viva together
Through Viva this year 3,500 organisations and churches around the world get significantly involved in joint action for children at risk in their cities.
Viva Review 2011
education programmes, which was where she had learnt to be a seamstress. She had good friends through the network school, she was one of the brightest students in her class and her parents had high hopes for her future. Then everything began to change.Veata’s father found his construction assignments decreasing and Veata’s clothing sales became almost non-existent, leaving them with nothing to live on but the small wage brought in by her mother and sisters. As the effects of the global recession rippled through their village it wasn’t long before the loan sharks and traffickers began knocking on doors.
15 years old March
We release Prayer that hits the target, a child-friendly resource that uses the themes of the Millennium Development Goals to offer eight weeks of prayer for children across the globe.
A man approached Veata’s parents with a proposal: he knew a wealthy Asian businessman who was looking for a young live-in mistress in Phnom Penh, and if they would send Veata to him they would receive regular monthly payments of 450,000 riel (around £65).They didn’t know what to do - the money could prevent the whole family from going hungry and possibly losing their home, yet they couldn’t bear the thought of parting with Veata in this way.
network school and because of the love and care they had shown her she knew she could trust them with her family’s dilemma. They immediately made arrangements for her to become a boarder at the school, keeping her safe from the trafficker in the short term.They also asked two social workers from a network project to speak with her family, helping them find other ways of resolving their financial difficulties in the long term.Those social workers were able to arrange for Veata’s family to receive a small business loan through another organisation in the network. The family decided to use the loan to set up a sandwich cart for local workers, and as Veata’s father and sisters were well-known and wellliked in the area it wasn’t long before their business was thriving.Veata is now living happily with her family again, she continues to excel in her English lessons and her parents now know where to go if they need help and support. Thanks to the network Veata no longer has to spend her time worrying – instead she can get back to hoping, dreaming and planning for her future.
Thankfully Veata had a good relationship with her teachers at the
hilding else c of th e m o s s g d June brin e World Weeken people th ll a ly f d o n % 1 frie his year 6 Prayer. T ere under 18. praying w
ore for m ort p w p w e / full r iva.org See v s and the WP. storieis year’s W of th
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July
This year 306 church and project workers benefit from the Viva Equip People course and 238 organisations are strengthened by the Viva Equip Projects training.
Want Just to play? info@ email us call 0 viva.org o on for a 1865 81166 r of yo free cop 0 y ur ow n.
Wanting people to be able to see for themselves the many challenges that caregivers face, and how Viva Equip can help them in their vital work, we develop a game…
Viva Review 2011
Looking forward When I came back from Latin America in the early nineties, an earnest teenager fired up by a year of working with street kids, I had no idea what the following 15 years would bring. I just knew two things: children were suffering, and we needed to start thinking big if we were ever going to stop that. On page five of this Review I’m quoted in a 1997 interview saying that “the largest organisation working with children at risk today is the Christian church. But this effort is fragmented into a million pieces… nobody’s called the troops together.” In my time as a volunteer I’d met many amazing Christians working tirelessly to try and change children’s situations, yet it seemed we were barely making a dent in the problem. Green, but keen, my thoughts were pretty simple: if all these people were working towards the same goals in the same communities, why not get them to work together? So that’s exactly what we started to do.The first city-wide network began in 1996 in Lima, Peru, and since then Viva has built and supported over 150 networks on five continents.
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Of course, over years of developing these networks, trying to facilitate meaningful and effective partnerships, things have inevitably grown more complex. Mutually beneficial partnerships are not easy to build or maintain, and although that simple truth of ‘better together’ has continued to be at the heart of Viva its outworking has changed and matured throughout Viva’s life.This Review offers a glimpse of our growing-up years and it is thought-provoking, funny, challenging and celebratory. Yet what truly excites me is what I see when I look forward. As our Board Chair reflected in the introduction to the Review, we now have a truly robust and replicable model for city-wide partnerships, and I can’t wait to take it out for a drive and see what we can do with it. Many of the networks are united and effective communities within themselves, offering quality care to children and encouragement and resources to one another. Now we want to grow them to bring transformation to the wider communities around them.To achieve this we have inevitably had to narrow our focus, choosing to invest greater time and energy in fewer areas. It’s like how in primary school children get to do a little bit of every subject, then they narrow it down for GCSE’s, then they
2012
2014
pick just three or four subjects for A-level study.We are still connected with many of the networks we began when we were young but we have now chosen to concentrate on 22 of them, strengthening those groups of people and projects to not only help individual children but bring change to whole cities in the 14 countries they are spread out across. We’re actually beginning to see the fruit of this already.The network in Kampala, Uganda, which has grown to have 120 member organisations and churches, is not only caring for 29,000 children within the city itself but has a significant voice at a national level.The network’s presentations to parliament, their government-championed events and their extensive media coverage have allowed them to exert an influence on behalf of children that simply would not have been possible for one project alone. Similarly, the seven Bolivian networks are now working together across the country to involve thousands of children and adults in their campaigns to stop sexual abuse, forcing the Bolivian government to take action and prioritise keeping children safe. When I re-read my quote from page five it made me smile because, 15 years on, things are so different. This Review alone shows that in many places the efforts of Christians are now not fragmented but united and strong, giving amazing results.The church was never meant to be a club but a community with a purpose, and although we will continue to develop and improve our ways of working Viva’s purpose will remain the same: uniting Christians to see whole cities changed for children.
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Patrick McDonald Founder and Chief Executive of Viva
2016
2017
Opportunity knocks Keeping up with Viva
Leaving legacies Earlier this year we began encouraging people to think about leaving a gift to Viva in their Will. If you are considering this and want to amend your Will, or if you do not currently have one, take a look at viva.org/legacy for information and advice.
Want Viva’s latest news to pop right into your inbox every month? In April we launched two new email updates, Global News and Global Prayer, bringing you all the top stories and current prayer requests from our work around the world. Get yours at viva.org/signup
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Involving your church We could tell you how our networks are changing their communities for the better, but why take our word for it? Now with Viva Church Partners you can connect with one city-wide network over a period of three years and see the change in children’s lives for yourselves. r “If you’re looking fo Choose from five networks in Africa, Asia and Latin America and your whole and something fresh church can journey with that group of people and projects. As you share lve your fun that can invo successes and challenges, pray for one another and offer financial support to this whole church, then the network, we hope that the faith and mission of your church will also be pport is a great way to su refreshed and strengthened. at risk. work with children ed about To find out more, or to get your church involved, see We are really excit viva.org/involveyourchurch p with how our partnershi babwe Viva Network Zim them but will bless not only urch also our own ch ” and community. Hyderabad, India
Cochabamba, Bolivia
Harare, Zimbabwe
Kathmandu, Nepal
Kampala, Uganda
Kath Clough, urch St. Luke’s Ch
Viva Review 2011
For 15 years we have been greatly blessed by the faithfulness and generosity of our supporters and this last year has been no exception. In fact, 2011 has seen people begin supporting Viva’s work in many new and creative ways…
Caring for the caregivers All over the world people are trying to help children at risk in their communities, but they often lack the skills and support they need to offer these children a more secure future. A regular gift of as little as £5 can help us take a caregiver through the Viva Equip People course, making sure that children receive care that is as professional and effective as it is loving. Check out viva.org/equip to find out more.
Shopping with Viva This year saw the launch of Viva’s very own online shop. Now when you want a good book, a new dress, a fun game, or a great gift you can buy it knowing that 20% of the sale will go directly to our work with children at risk. What’s more, we’re committed to ensuring that the products you buy have been ethically produced and fairly traded and we never work with manufacturers who exploit their workers, pay unfair wages or use child labour. Take a look around at viva.ethictrade.com
Sponsoring adventures Not content with Cycling Home from Siberia, our Viva Hong Kong Director Rob Lilwall is about to start Walking Home from Mongolia… This November will see Rob and his good friend Leon set off from the windswept wilderness of the Gobi Desert and walk south for over 3,500 km until they reach Rob’s home in Hong Kong, raising money for Viva as they go. As well as following their progress on Twitter and Facebook you’ll be able to share in their adventures on the big screen – National Geographic have commissioned a TV series about the expedition! Check out viva.org/whfm to sponsor the boys or to learn more about their travels.
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THANK you
Viva Review 2011
Your creative, faithful and generous support is what makes our work possible. On behalf of all the children shown in this Review, and the many thousands more we have worked with this year, we would like to say thank you. For further information and fully audited figures please see viva.org or get in touch on info@viva.org
Viva Denmark*
Income: £597,061 Expenditure: £592,558
Viva International (UK, US and Hong Kong) Income: £1,274,047 Expenditure: £1,221,814
Viva Latin America
Viva India
Income: £613,370 Expenditure: £610,823
Income: £100,126 Expenditure: £115,472
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Viva Africa Income: £200,873 Expenditure: £198,631 Individuals (30%) Major Donors (12%) Churches and Groups (30%) Corporates (7%) NGOs (4%) Trusts and Foundations (13%) Statutory (4%)
Whole Viva family income: £2,502,656** 2009-10: £2,571,231
Latin America Programme (45%) Africa Programme (10%) Asia Programme (7%) India Programme (5%) International Programme (12%) Fundraising (9%) Administration (7%) Awareness-raising, Prayer and Advocacy (5%)
Whole Viva family expenditure: £2,465,356 2009-10: £2,615,554
*Denmark’s financial year runs January - December 2010, all others are April 2010 - March 2011. **In past years we have merged the financial figures of the different legal entities that make up the Viva family, giving a fuller picture of our overall financial position. However, as each office is now audited separately, we have displayed both consolidated and non-consolidated figures this year.These figures await final auditors’ approval.
Children are suffering. We all know that. Thousands of people are working to help them. We all know that too. Yet the problems persist. Children are still suffering. In cities all over the world there are projects doing great work, but a lack of money, people and time means there is a limit to what they can achieve alone. We need to work together. Imagine what would happen if the people caring for children joined forces. If childcare workers, local churches, governments and international charities came together to tackle the issues faced by children. Whole cities would be transformed. Together we would have the power to bring about real change for children, not just chipping away at the surface of the problems but fighting them right at the root. 24
At Viva we are doing just that. Through 22 city-wide networks we are increasing the unity, quality and impact of work for children at risk, our joint action changing the lives of over 104,000 children around the world.
Viva, Unit 8, The Gallery, 54 Marston Street, Oxford, United Kingdom, OX4 1LF t: +44(0)1865 811660 e: info@viva.org w: www.viva.org
We would like to thank Sterling Greenaways for so generously printing this document at no cost to Viva and also Chris Matthews for the wonderful design work.
Viva is an operating name of Viva Network.Viva Network is a company limited by guarantee no. 3162776, registered charity no.1053389, and registered in England at Unit 8,The Gallery, 54 Marston Street, Oxford, OX4 1LF, UK