Viva News 5

Connecting you to the world of children at risk

vivanews

| ISSUE 5

Who cares for the caregivers?

viva at work > TEXT HEADERS

THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE FOR CHILDREN AT RISK IS TO WORK

together www.viva.org

With Regional Centres in Africa, Asia, and Latin America,Viva and its 78 associates currently support 7,000 local projects working together in 40 networks in 40 countries.Together, we are reaching 1.8 million children.

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“I was ready to throw in the towel, but after this weekend I have the strength to keep going” Dagmar* told me with tears in her eyes. We were in the mountains of Slovakia at the network’s annual conference and Dagmar had just been listening to my talk about the importance of taking care of oneself amidst the pressures of work with children at risk.

During my years with Viva I have had the joy of meeting scores of men and women like Dagmar who have given themselves wholeheartedly to the care of needy children. They truly are my heroes and heroines. They have sacrificed so much. Sometimes too much. Too often the weight of children’s needs bears down so heavily that these precious people burn out or get ill. It breaks my heart.

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

Many of Viva’s networks recognise this great need and have made it a goal to ensure workers not only survive but thrive as they serve children.

Weekend retreats and peer support groups help carers take care of their own needs. They provide space for fun as well as rest, reflection and spiritual refreshment.

A recent example of this was in the network in Zimbabwe. As project workers gathered to discuss plans for a children’s event many broke down in tears as they shared how difficult it was to keep their work with children going amidst hyperinflation, disease and lack of fuel. It was not just children who were affected, these workers were also clearly suffering from the stress and trauma. So the network began to offer trauma counselling sessions to give people space and time to share their burdens. These have been a lifeline and enabled many to persevere in their work despite increasing hardships.

It’s stories like these that keep me going in my work with Viva. I am passionate about doing whatever I can to ensure these heroes and heroines have what they need to be effective in the work they have been called to do. It gives me great joy to know that Dagmar is sustained in her work with children because of support that Viva has been able to give her.

Katy Thompson Head of Programme *name changed vivanews 3

viva at work >

Too important to ignore The safety instructions given on an aeroplane require that in an emergency you must secure your own oxygen mask before helping those around you, recognising that in order to administer help to others you must first protect yourself. In the same way, it is vital to ensure that carers of children at risk get the support they need.

The most valuable resources in the effort to transform the lives of children at risk are the people who interact with them day by day. No amount of money, training, or equipment would be of any use without the individual carers who clothe, feed, educate, love, and nurture vulnerable children towards a better future, and yet their hard work is frequently overlooked. Armed only with determination and a heart to serve,

many are working tirelessly without a break and for little or no pay.

Viva staff in Latin America recently learned of an old grandmother in Peru who had been left to care for her abandoned, disabled, 16 year old grandson. In addition to tending to his everyday needs, several times a week she would make the long and arduous journey to reach a hospital that could offer him specialist help. Despite being half his size she would carry him on and off three different buses, almost collapsing with exhaustion as she lifted him in and out of the rickety wheelchair. Frail herself, why would she choose to do this?

She did it because she loved him; because she could not turn away from his need; because without her this boy would have been left entirely helpless and alone.

All over the world caregivers reach out to thousands of vulnerable children, and the responsibility of successfully protecting and nurturing these children is a heavy one.

The demands of daily life are unending, and most carers never have an opportunity to unwind and share the struggles as well as the joys of their work. Unnervingly close to breaking point, many desperately need to be refreshed and strengthened physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to continue caring for children at risk.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was so worn out I had completely lost my perspective, but being with others who are in similar work where we could offload in a peer environment has made me feel I can go back and face things again.â&#x20AC;?

Caregiver, CarNet (Nepal) vivanews 4

“Where is the value in training and equipping carers if they do not have the energy and enthusiasm to adhere to the principles they have been taught?”

Network volunteer, CRANE (Uganda)

Integral to Viva’s vision of providing better quality care for vulnerable children is the equipping, protecting, and strengthening of those who are working with them; and so through the networks Viva offers events known as ‘caregiver retreats’. These allow the hardworking project staff time away from the stresses and responsibilities of their work routines, and opportunities to enjoy fellowship and relationship building with other network members. Typically lasting for two to three days, the retreats provide seminars, bible studies, worship times, and recreational activities, and they also leave room for plenty of rest and relaxation.

Many caregivers have already felt the positive impact of these retreats, and the results are evident in more than just those individuals.

Strengthened and encouraged, workers are better equipped to serve their projects, and

this in turn fortifies each network as a whole.

As Viva helps strengthen individuals and projects, networks are able to develop and improve, transforming the lives of children and communities. By supporting Viva, as we look after those on the front line caring for children at risk, you are helping to change and improve the lives of thousands of children and their carers.

“Games and exercise were part of the retreat programme. Having time to relax and address my own physical wellbeing really helped with the healing process, and recovery from burn out.”

Caregiver, Connect (South Africa)

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viva at work > caregivers

All in a hard day’s work…

British people are renowned in Europe for working particularly long hours, often in highly pressurised jobs. The French are quite laid back, working on average a 39.6 hour week, and the Italians weigh in at a mere 38.5 hours, putting the notoriously hard working Britons in first place with an average of 43.6 hours per week.

Grace Muhanbuzi works 91 hours per week. 13 hours a day, 365 days a year she cares for more than 50 physically and mentally disabled children in Kampala, Uganda.

Grace is passionate about her work and cares deeply for the children she helps, yet she admits that her dedication is often stretched to its limit. Before being invited to a caregiver retreat, Grace had not been able to take time off work for two years. “No matter how much you love what you are doing” she says, “after a while you just lose focus. All you can see are the days and weeks and months stretching ahead of you with no chance of rest.”

Grace is the founder of the Joy Foundation, which works with the parents and primary carers of children with special needs.

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The needs of the vulnerable, the poor, the hungry and the neglected are vast, and they are never-ending. You can’t just press a pause button and come back when you have the time or energy to tackle the problem.

Poverty isn’t confined to a timesheet.

Although she is encouraged by the progress many of the families have made, it is a job with few other rewards: Ugandan culture does not typically value children from the streets and slums, viewing them simply as a drain on the country’s already stretched resources. “That is one of the hardest things about this job,” Grace confesses, “that even when you feel you have made progress you are still fighting against a culture that is not sure why you are even bothering. People do not look at what we are doing and say ‘well done’. They do not even understand why we are doing it in the first place.”

Overworked and undervalued, Grace was desperate for a reprieve, and she was thrilled when she learned of the network retreat.

Offering time for prayer and worship as well as space for rest and recreation, this particular retreat encouraged the project staff to reflect on God the Father, reminding them that they too are children whom God loves deeply and wants to look after. Grace

comments: “The CRANE network in Kampala allowed me to experience the kind of care that I am trying to give daily to the children I work with. The network taking time to care for me allowed me to care more effectively for others.”

Two years on Grace is still so thankful for the retreat, and is keen to stress its value, saying, “I would love to go to another retreat, please keep on running them! I think they are actually one of the most valuable things that Viva and the network can offer us.Vulnerable children will never be adequately developed and loved and cared for if those working with them are not cared for too.”

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Working Together Our work to grow networks and get people, churches and organisations to work together is increasing in size, impact and potential.

There is room for everyone to get involved.

• PRAY Prayer has the power to transform lives.

Viva Pray offers several ways to get involved.

Prayer Email - receive up-to-the-minute prayer requests from our networks around the world.

[Sent every two weeks] World Weekend of Prayer - each year in June, join with millions of Christians around the globe in praying for children as part of our World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk. Find out more at www.viva.org/pray

• GIVE Simply put, investing in Viva means revolutionising life for children. Whether you can give once or regularly, £5 or £5,000, we can help you invest this for children at risk and those who care for them in the most strategic way.

To give, please find details online at www.viva.org/give or write to Viva at the address below.

Viva, Unit 8, The Gallery, 54 Marston Street, Oxford OX4 1LF, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1865 811660 Email: enquiries@viva.org www.viva.org Registered charity no. 1053389