Life magazine (US version) issue 2

life Inside issue 2

Unlocking the potential of girls LIFE FOR CHILDREN AND THOSE WHO CARE FOR THEM A link in the chain in Costa Rica

page 3

Educating girls in page 4 Uganda: Claire’s story Discover India’s girls’ real value

page 6

EDITORIAL

A warm welcome to another edition of Life magazine, as we share with you a little of how we’re helping 1.4 million children globally be safe, well and able to fulfil their potential because of your partnership with Viva.

Under the theme of ‘unlocking the potential of girls’, read how girls in India are learning to become more confident in making decisions (page 6) and how Claire in Uganda is pursuing her dreams after graduating from one of our Creative Learning Centers (page 4).

And please join us in bringing new hope and freedom to girls by making a gift towards this Christmas’ match appeal. Turn to the back cover to find out more.

Thank you for the part you play in helping us to release children from poverty and abuse.

Paul Kennel Executive Director, Viva North America

PRAYING

FOR CHANGE Every minute, 28 girls are married before they are ready Pray that God would transform parents’ attitudes towards their daughters in countries like India so that they see true value in them.

May girls have a greater say about their futures.

Global population statistics may show that males and females are evenly balanced in number, but the reality is that there remains a great gender gap at every level of society. Please join us in praying for changed hearts and minds about equality, and a fairer world for all girls and women.

1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime Pray for better protection for girls and women in regions such as Central America and that there would be greater respect towards them.

63 million girls still need to go to school Pray that every effort would be made to educate girls in countries like Uganda, and that more alternative, vocational learning methods would be sought to improve their job prospects.

Statistics from globalcitizen.org

Save the date! Be a part of the World Weekend of Prayer for children, hosted by Viva, on 3-4 June 2017. Look out for more details nearer the time.

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UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF GIRLS

A INLINK THE

Brenda with a girl and mother who attended the fun day

CHAIN

In Costa Rica, children with disabilities face discrimination and isolation, but there are encouraging signs of change for the better, writes Brenda Darke.

Imagine trying to catch a bus in Costa Rica if you have a disability. It’s great that buses are required by law to have lifts for wheelchair access.

However, the problem is that pavements, if they even exist, are totally inadequate for families to get to the bus stops.

This is one example of the fact that, despite good laws being in place to protect and provide for people with disabilities, there remains a huge degree of discrimination and apathy from the majority of people around the issue.

The areas where Viva’s partner network in San José is active have few social opportunities for children with disabilities and quality of life can be limited by social isolation.

Over the past 14 years I’ve tried to raise awareness around the inclusion of children with disabilities across Latin America, especially seeking to engage churches and Christian ministries. I’ve held training courses and produced resources.

Therefore, after all of this work, it was fantastic to get some breakthrough last year as Viva’s partner

Families appreciated the chance to come together

network in Costa Rica was invited to support the government’s children’s department in investigating the situation of children with disabilities – the first time such a thing has happened.

Two of the very poorest and most violent areas of San José were selected for the project. We started with a basic mapping exercise, contacting the families and arranging interviews. After this, they were invited to a fun day where churches welcomed the families into brightly decorated rooms, and volunteers engaged them in conversations and then music, games and food.

Parents were asked to express their hopes and desires and many said, with emotion, that this was not something they had been asked before. One family said, “It is wonderful to be in a place where people care and treat our children well.” As a result one church has started a support group called Eslabón which, translated to English, means “link in a chain”.

Juan Carlos Morales, Viva’s network coordinator in Costa Rica, has said that one of the most important results so far has been to see the increase of awareness in the local churches and that, although still few in number, they are very committed. For that we give thanks.

Brenda Darke is a regional consultant for Viva Latin America on the issue of disability

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CRIB TO CLASSROOM TO COMMUNITY:

FROM

CLAIRE’S STORY Young mum Claire is now better placed to further her studies and get a good job

“If I had not gone through the CLC, I would never have got such a job.”

Over the last three years, the Creative Learning Centers (CLC) we run with our partner network CRANE have helped more than 2,700 out-of-school girls in Kampala receive catch-up education. More than six in ten girls have gone onto ‘graduate’ to some kind of further learning, and we continue to support those who are yet to.

Behind each number is a girl whose life is being changed for the better. One girl, Claire, chatted with CRANE’s Patrick Byekwaso about becoming a young mum, learning new skills and getting a good job.

Tell us a little about yourself, Claire I’m 21 years old, mother to three year-old David whom I love very much. I’m currently a loans officer at a local microfinance bank in my community.

Going back a few years, how was life for you?

Not good. I dropped out of school when I became pregnant and had no hope of going back to school.

At my parents’ home, I could get some food 4

to eat, but the diet was not the best for me and David. Without an education or a job, how could I give him a better life?

What did you do next?

I looked for any available opportunity to go back to school and decided to visit a secondary school near my home. I didn’t have any money for school fees, but wanted to find out what was required to join. The people in the school office introduced me to a mentor from the local Creative Learning Center who took time to find out what was troubling me. That is when he invited me to join the CLC. How did the CLC help you?

Everything there was good – from the way they taught us to the way they treated us. They

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF GIRLS even allowed me to come with my baby, and to take breaks to care for him. I learned so many things, including literacy and numeracy, arts and crafts, and about trusting God for everything. It gave me hope again.

What did you do after completing your six months at the CLC? The CLC helped me join a secondary school.

A ‘Good Samaritan’ paid my school fees up to my O Level exams. After passing them, I opted to do an apprenticeship with a microfinance bank that was opening in my community. I started training as a loans officer in January 2016 and am now working there. If I had not gone through the CLC, I would never have got such a job.

How has this impacted your family?

I am very happy now that I am earning money and able to take care of David and meet most of his needs. I am also able to assist my parents in meeting some of the domestic needs at home.

What are your hopes and dreams?

I want to pursue further studies and get a certificate in banking. This will equip me with the knowledge that I need to do my job better and advance my career. But for now, I am going to try my best to start a piggery and poultry farm where I can get some more money to support my son and the wider family.

Patrick Byekwaso is CRANE’s Communications Officer

We believe that for education to increase the life chances of children at risk, it needs to be engaging and creative, considering the unique needs of each child, and embraced at community level.

Viva runs its CLC program with CRANE, its partner network in Uganda, as part of the Girls’ Education Challenge, run globally by the British Government’s Department of International Development (DFID).

In addition to the centers, we’ve also trained 400 mainstream teachers in creative learning methods, mentored hundreds of families about economic sustainability and set up a mobile resource library used by thousands of children.

In Uganda

Only 1 in 4

girls complete primary education

Fewer than to 1 in 5 advance secondary school Around a third of girls become mothers before reaching adulthood

Creative Learning Centers teach literacy, numeracy, crafts and life skills

By giving to our Christmas Appeal, you can help girls like Claire get back to school again and go onto even greater things. Go to the back cover to find out more.

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A DOWRY:

© Simone D. McCourtie/World Bank

MORE THAN INDIA’S GIRLS’ REAL Daughters are often considered by Indians to be a drain on family life

VALUE

In India, almost two-thirds more girls than boys die before their fourth birthday.* Jane Travis explains why such a low value is placed on girls’ lives there, how Viva is changing attitudes towards gender inequality and building confidence in India’s precious daughters.

“It’s a girl!” Three simple words pronounced at birth that should evoke tears of joy and excitement about the baby’s future. However, the stark truth for many families in India is that such an arrival brings shame, despair and anger.

Families are less likely to invest in a girl’s education or health, because she will eventually leave them to join another family. This limits her opportunities and makes her more vulnerable to early marriage, child labor or trafficking. As a result, attitudes towards girls in Indian society can be hostile, leading to violence, harassment, sexual exploitation or abuse.

It is in this context that Viva is working with six city-based partner networks in 6

Among the activities planned by networks for the next three years is a mentoring program for 1,200 girls called ‘Dare to be different’.

It aims to help girls increase their self-esteem, understand about their rights and protection and to enable them to be confident in taking part in decisions that affect their lives. It has been tried and tested through some of the networks in India with encouraging results.

Volunteers are trained as mentors to come alongside the girls and guide them through sessions which look at knowing their worth, purpose and value, protecting themselves and helping them to make wise choices. The mentors also support girls

* 2009 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in India. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3)

Daughters are often considered a drain on a family. As soon as a girl is born, her family must start saving for the dowry which is given to her husband’s family on marriage – a custom which, although outlawed by the government of India in 1961, still has a major influence on how families view girls.

Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), Delhi, Dehradun, Hyderabad, Patna and Ranchi. Network members comprising a total of 500 local churches and organizations are working collaboratively for girls to be as equally valued as boys, their rights and safety ensured, and their hopes and opportunities for the future secured.

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF GIRLS with difficult decisions or issues they are facing, meeting with families and teachers if necessary.

Fourteen year-old Sapna is one girl whose outlook on life has improved radically through participating in the program. She lives near a slum behind an upper class colony of Patna, a city of nearly two million people in eastern India. The family has no sanitation and must fetch water from the public tap which serves 200 people in the locality. In her neighborhood, it’s the boys who are encouraged to study whilst the girls help their mothers with home chores. Teenage girls are frequently forced to marry.

Sapna’s parents are normally away working as sweepers, which makes her feel unsafe because some men and older boys in the locality get drunk and fight, and are known to abuse girls.

She said, “I lacked confidence and had very low self-esteem. I could not make future plans as I was preparing to be married and to move away from home. All of this disturbed me.”

© Patricia Andrews

Taking part in ‘Dare to be different’, run by the Patna network, has helped Sapna tremendously.

“I feel that I can better take care of myself now and I will resist abuse and share

it with the elders in the family.” She has also come to understand why changes to her body are taking place – something that no-one had ever told her before. Sapna is also taking her studies seriously and dreams of becoming a teacher to help children in poor communities, just like her.

As ‘Dare to be different’ evolves, girls like Sapna who have been mentored will be given opportunities to develop advocacy groups to share learning with their peers and to lead initiatives that look at changing some of the attitudes around girls.

Additionally, the networks are hosting seminars and meetings with church leaders, parents and community elders to focus on laws protecting girls, government schemes to assist them, and the value of educating girls and enabling them to take part in decisions that affect their lives.

We’re excited that, through the program, hundreds of families will be encouraged to support their daughters by enabling them to attend school, leading to even greater opportunities for the future.

Jane Travis is Viva’s Program Development Manager and recently spent two years based in India

71% 48% 27%

of girls reported having been neglected by family members. of girls wished they were boys. of girls reported getting less food then their brothers.

Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007

1 in 3 4.5

child brides in the world is in India

(‘Ending child marriage progress and prospects’, UNICEF 2014)

million girls in India under 15 years of age are married with children. (2011 census)

Male literacy rate is Through ‘Dare to be different’ girls learn their purpose and worth

82% 65%

female literacy rate is

(2011 census)

Join us in bringing new hope and freedom to girls in India and elsewhere by making a gift towards this Christmas’ match appeal.

Turn to the back cover to find out more.

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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 main: © CRANE Front cover inset: © Patricia Andrews

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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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