life Issue 4
LIFE FOR CHILDREN AND THOSE WHO CARE FOR THEM Viva Life
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Issue 4
Summer 2017
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THANK YOU Credit: Amslerpix
SUPPORT AFTER TRAGEDY Gifts to the Guatemala Appeal – launched in March following a fire at a large children’s care home in the country – are helping our partner network to respond effectively and strategically.
Forty-one teenage girls died and 15 others were seriously injured after the tragedy at the Virgen de la Asuncion home on the outskirts of Guatemala City. Our partner network Viva Guatemala was invited to respond to help children left homeless by the fire, in partnership with UNICEF Guatemala. The network has already provided emergency food and clothes, and rented two homes for 24 children with disabilities to move in to.
Viva Guatemala will look for every opportunity to promote that children are better in safe, secure families than in care homes. “The network is highly respected in this city and we must use this position to change people’s minds about the best place for children to grow up,” says Carmen Alvarez, Viva Network Consultant for Latin America.
The network plans to provide psychological and educational support for children and, in the longer-term, will run Viva’s Quality Improvement System program in government shelters to ensure the foundations are in place for better care for children.
We are an international Christian charity passionate about releasing children from poverty and abuse. We grow locally-led networks who are committed to working together so that children are safe, well and able to fulfil their God-given potential.
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Last year, we reached 1.4 million children in 22 countries through our 37 partner networks, which comprise a total of 5,500 churches and community organizations. Find out more at viva.org Viva Life is published three times a year by Viva Network North America
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EDITORIAL
This edition of Life is all about saying two words.
Thank you! We are so grateful for people like you who make our work with vulnerable children possible. Our thanks is echoed by thousands of children, parents and carers around the world. When I was in Guatemala, I had the privilege of seeing the work of Viva’s partner network. Whilst there I visited three children, who had been rescued from a situation of abuse. Working as a prostitute, the children’s mother brought different men back to their home every night. The children would see everything that went on.
Pedro’s thanks is what I want to now pass on to all those who support Viva’s work. Without people like you, our partner networks wouldn’t be able to intervene in situations like this: rescuing children and resettling them into safe and loving families. I hope you enjoy reading about how your support is making an amazing difference to children!
Thankfully the network learnt about the situation and intervened. The children now live with their uncle and grandparents, and Viva Guatemala continues to support them, both with the legal proceedings and psychological support. “They have been with us every step of the way,” Pedro, the children’s uncle, told me. And as he began to understand who I, a random visitor, was, he turned to me and simply said, “Thank you.”
Paul Kennel Executive Director, Viva North America
Viva Life
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FREEDOM FOR GIRLS
IN INDIA
A girl receives one-to-one mentoring in Dehradun
Thanks to Viva supporters, we raised $38,000 for our Christmas Match Appeal to bring new hope and freedom to girls who face violence, harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse because of their gender. In India, the ‘Dare to be different’ mentoring program run by our partner networks is turning around the lives of hundreds of girls. Girls like Riya in Bihar state. “When people said anything bad about me it would impact me very badly. But I have learned that, with low self-esteem, I was going nowhere in my life.
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“The mentoring has given me skills to overcome different issues in my life, and I am more able to share them with other people. I now know how to protect myself, and I would like to change the lives of other girls too.” Viva Life
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THANK YOU 5 MINUTES WITH… Gary Kamaal and Devesh Lal, Viva’s Network Consultants for India, answer our questions.
Devesh Lal
Where is Viva in India?
Gary:
We have partner networks in Bangalore, Delhi, Dehradun, Hyderabad, Patna and Ranchi. A new network in Shillong is just underway and our plan is to launch one every year. Devesh: In each city, our year-on-year aim is to increase our network’s membership by 20 churches and 20 organizations, and to provide training for five more schools. What shocks you about the way children are treated in India?
D: In slums, girls cannot go to the toilet safely, and usually have to go outside, where they are vulnerable to abuse. Although there are policies in place to prevent this happening, they are not implemented in reality. Viva India is running a child protection training program in schools and Sunday schools to change attitudes and actions. What advocacy work is Viva involved in?
G: We launched the Good Treatment Campaign in India for the first time last year, reaching about 10,000 people. The campaign sees children take to the streets, with information and pledge cards, asking adults to treat them better, particularly in caring for and listening
Gary Kamaal
to them, recognizing their qualities and supporting their learning. Each network will run this campaign over the next year. How is the girls’ mentoring program going?
D: Around 1,200 girls have been helped through the ‘Dare to be different’, with 100 mentors trained. At present 265 girls are being mentored in three cities. We help to improve girls’ selfesteem, understand about their rights and enable them to be confident in taking part in decisions that affect their lives. As a result we’ve seen family relationships restored and girls getting better grades at school. Hope has replaced hopelessness. What excites you most about the work?
G: Viva has really good programs that are transformational. When we see change happening, that’s when we know the work we do is worth it. It’s exciting to find solutions to problems. D: When we equip the Church to go out and do God’s work, and see His Spirit move. It’s great seeing pastors in Patna responding to the challenge of girls equality. G: We’re so thankful for people’s support and prayers!
Continue to pray for work like this by signing up to our monthly prayer updates at www.viva.org/signup 5
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Almost 2,500 girls have returned to school
BACK IN THE CLASSROOM WITH YOUR HELP
As part of our catch-up education program in Uganda, with our partner network CRANE, we asked for your help last summer in providing starter packs for 1,000 girls returning to mainstream school. Thanks to you, they certainly looked the part and had all the essential kit as they went back to the classroom after six months in our Creative Learning Centers (CLCs). In the last four years, 2,242 girls went back to school. ■ 173 CLC graduates were children with learning difficulties. ■ 66% of graduates went on to primary, 16% to secondary and 18% to vocational education. ■ 180 girls have registered for national exams in 2017, compared to 100 from the last three years. ■ 21 girls completed their O-Levels ■ The only A-Level candidate attained 11 points, enabling her to enrol in any university in the country. 6
“It was encouraging to see such commitment to inclusive education in Uganda. We hope that your work will go from strength to strength in supporting marginalised children in their education. The visit was extremely informative and we took away some valuable considerations for our inquiry into our work on education.” Stephen Twigg MP, Chair of the British Government’s International Development Committee
This four-year program was supported by a grant from the British Government’s Department for International Development.
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THANK YOU
Children in Eastern Samar learn about being safe in an emergency situation
BUILDING
Hundreds of vulnerable young people in the Philippines’ province of Eastern Samar now have a better life after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 because of a post-disaster program run by Viva’s partner network, PCMN.
RESILIENCE FROM THE RUINS
As the local network in Eastern Samar has increased from just three churches four years ago to 80 churches today, committed volunteers have been helping children recover from Haiyan and become more resilient in the face of future typhoons.
Six successes:
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A government partnership with the network has been agreed, focusing on child protection and family strengthening.
The number of children in need of special protection has decreased from 600 to only 25 who are still being monitored and provided for with food and family support.
Over 1,000 children and adults were reached through the Good Treatment Campaign, based on advocacy and awareness-raising.
50 churches in Eastern Samar completed foundational training on children’s work.
16 Operation Safe trauma debriefing camps were conducted, increasing the resilience of 1,028 children. 17 community-based training camps taught almost 1,500 children to know how to stay safe in emergency situations.
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Read more about this program at bit.ly/AfterHaiyan Viva Life 28853 Life Magazine 4 US version AW.indd 7
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By supporting Viva, you can help us bring lasting change to children in countries such as Uganda, India, Guatemala and the Philippines. You can give online at viva.org/give Viva, 601 Union Street, Suite 3010, Seattle, WA 98101, USA t: 206-382-0790
FACEBOOK.COM/VIVATOGETHERFORCHILDREN Mixed Sources Product group from well-managed forests, controlled sources and recycled wood or fibre. www.fsc.org Cert No. SA-COC-09174 Front cover: Patricia Andrews
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NA@VIVA.ORG
VIVA.ORG
Viva is an operating name of Viva North America. Viva North America is a registered 501(c)3 organization, registered under employer identification number 84-1541857. Any children referred to have had their names and photos changed in accordance with our Child Protection Policy.
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