Viva Equip
one
many
Viva Equip Why?
Who?
“I know from experience that working with children at risk is both rewarding and challenging, so good quality training is vital. But where can we find it? How can we afford it? Too many people helping children end up overwhelmed and under-equipped, so eager to make a difference but feeling they cannot. Viva Equip People allows us to succeed in our work, making sure that people feel both willing and able to care for these special children.” Jorani Cheavy Church worker in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
What?
Every day there are children who go without food, education, a family or a home. Local people are responding, but often lack the skills and support they need to give these children a better future.Through 44 city-wide networks Viva connects and equips people to work better together, changing the lives of over 1 million children.
Viva Equip People helps address the unique challenges faced by those working with children at risk, developing workers’ knowledge, attitudes and skills to ensure that children receive the best care possible.
Specialist instructors use classroom-based teaching and on-the-job mentoring to guide participants, while small training groups provide a safe environment for people to learn from and support each other. Participants learn how to help children in the context of their family and environment, how to care for those who have been traumatised, how to make sure every child is listened to, valued and protected, and how to develop and take care of themselves at work to avoid burning out. At the end of the training each person is not only better equipped to provide quality care for children, but is also committed to working together with others in their area to see entire cities changed for children.
Teachers like Jayita in India... Jayita teaches in a slum school just outside Delhi, which is where she met 12-year-old Naveen. For a long time he had spent his days experimenting with alcohol and drugs instead of attending school, and was not interested in Jayita’s invitation to her lessons. But when Viva Equip People taught her how to engage with children in the context of their family she felt able to persevere with Naveen, and talked with his parents about how education would keep him away from bad influences and also help provide for his future. Naveen no longer spends his days in the makeshift bars and drug dens of the slum, but has now been attending Jayita’s lessons for six months.
Who? Carers like David in Uganda… “Walking one day I saw a child with mental disabilities tied to a tree, unable to move. His grandparents told me he was ‘mad’ and they could not control him, so they tied him up to keep him safe. Before Viva’s training I would not have been able to help, even though I know this treatment is not right. But I was now able to go back to the family over several weeks and counsel them to care for the child and understand him, teaching them what I have learnt. Now the grandparents are loving this boy and they do not mistreat him. I have seen him much happier and very calm.”
You can commit to a regular gift of £30 per month, enabling a worker to take part in the Viva Equip People course
We will commit to keeping you informed, sending regular updates on how the
training is progressing and how people are putting what they are learning into action
Together we can change the lives of thousands of children, as the people who serve them are better equipped to invest in their futures
“
My job in the UK involves working with children in some very difficult situations, and I rely heavily on the training I’ve received and the support of my colleagues. I can’t imagine having to pour my energy into developing children without these back-ups, and yet people are doing it every day. Investing in Viva Equip People is a way of giving to others what has been given to me: the tools to do the job and to do it well, so that children can grab hold of a positive future with both hands.
”
Viva Unit 8, The Gallery 54 Marston Street Oxford OX4 1LF Telephone: 01865 811660 Email: equip@viva.org Web: www.viva.org
Abi Stacey Casework Officer
one
many
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
Get involved…