vivanews issue 9 by Viva

Together we can give more children a safer, happier and brighter future

vivanews

14-year-old Miguel journeys from Cochabambaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s slums to its TV studios PAGE

Great gifts for Easter PAGE

4 new ideas for your prayer times

Breaking taboos in Bangalore

PAGE

| ISSUE 9

vivanews

Editorial Joanna Mitchell Donor Relations Manager

When I was small, I wanted to grow up to be a horse-riding novelist who read the news on Midlands Today. Not everyone’s dream, maybe, but it was mine. It’s a question friendly adults often ask children: ‘What do you want to be when you grow up? What do you dream of doing?’ For children living on the streets, or struggling in real poverty, dreams might seem a luxury, but these children have the same talent and potential as any others. At Viva, the belief that every child is unique and precious is what drives us to bring people together and equip them to give children at risk the hope and future that so many young people take for granted. On page 8 you can read the inspiring story of Miguel, a Bolivian teenager whose dreams have led him from hardship to helping others. Four years ago our Child Leaders programme helped to give him a voice, and he’s been ﬁnding creative ways to use it on behalf of Cochabamba’s children ever since. You can also ﬁnd out what a church in St Albans and a network of children’s projects in Harare have in common, as page 12 gives a snapshot of what it’s like to be a Viva Church Partner. I hope you enjoy this issue, and don’t forget to look out for me on Midlands Today...

P.S. I’d love to hear your thoughts on vivanews or any questions you might have about Viva’s work, so please get in touch with me at jmitchell@viva.org at any time.

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Breaking taboos in Bangalore Many people in the UK think that children are learning about sex too early. Magazines, television and the Internet have made it a familiar topic for most young people before they even reach secondary school. But in Bangalore, India, it seems that children may be learning about it too late.

“Sex education does not happen in most of India,” says Karuna Sagili, from Viva’s Delhi ofﬁce. “All matters of the body and sexuality and sex are seen as taboo. Even in families these are not acceptable topics.” The prevalence of conservative values, combined with remnants of the mindset that came with Victorian-era colonialism, means that a frank discussion of sexuality is simply off the nation’s agenda. Parents rarely discuss such personal matters with their children, and teachers are very reluctant to canvas the topic in the classroom. “In one school in Bangalore,” Karuna shares, “the teachers have stuck some pages together in the

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biology textbooks, so that children would not look at the pictures often. It is photos of a man and a woman, and all the parts of the body.”

Tackling the problem Karuna feels that this widespread reluctance to discuss, or even acknowledge, sexuality, is a major contributor to the country’s high rate of child sexual abuse. “If people won’t address even normal healthy issues of sexuality, then think how much more they refuse to talk about the negative issues. Things like rape or child abuse are never discussed by anyone, so how can those problems be dealt with and people be helped?” Well, on the southern tip of the subcontinent, the Bangalore chapter of Viva’s ASHA forum is helping to answer that question. An Indiawide project focused on bringing an end to child sexual abuse, ASHA uses the city-wide networks as its local bases. In a given area, organisations that are working to stop child abuse can join an ASHA group, meaning that they can offer very speciﬁc support to one another in their local communities but also combine their efforts across the country. Karuna co-ordinates the work of ASHA all over India, but has been particularly focused

P Schoolchildren in Bangalore work on ideas for a drama about how to stay safe from potential abusers Q A bookmark made by the Bangalore group, highlighting key statistics on child sexual abuse in India

on helping the Bangalore group in recent months: “Here the team felt that we needed to begin simply – to afﬁrm that sexuality is not bad, but is God-given. Unless a child learns the value of their body, how can they ever realise what abuse is?” So, using the expertise and training materials of one of the organisations in the group, the ASHA team is going into local schools to talk with children about healthy expressions of sexuality.

Breaking the taboo The trainers begin by asking the children what they already know, trying to set them at ease with the topic and encourage them to open up. As they establish the level of knowledge within the group, and begin to build a rapport with students, they introduce a variety of games, dramas, ﬁlms and role-plays to help the children understand the value of their bodies, how to differentiate between ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’, and what to do if they ﬁnd themselves in abusive situations. The seminars have been held in several local schools and church-based education projects, and so far 348 girls and boys aged 10 to 16 have attended the sessions. One child wrote in

her notes: “From now on I will not trust anyone who makes me uncomfortable” and another girl felt brave enough to say: “I know now that I do not need to allow any man or boy to touch me when I don’t want them to.” Several young boys in one seminar also committed to stick together and play in groups in their neighbourhood, instead of walking alone in dangerous areas with a higher risk of attacks.

Offering on-going support After the seminars are over, the team make sure that they carefully follow up with the schools. If a session prompts a child to come forward and share an experience of abuse then there is a support system in place, using both school counsellors and members of the network. The ASHA team go back into the schools on a weekly basis following the sessions, and as different needs arise they can bring relevant network contacts with them, such as doctors or trauma counsellors. “Just talking about the issues, and seeing children become more aware, is such an important step,” says Karuna. “Only once the taboo is broken can we see the way forward to making sure India’s children are always kept safe.”

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Viva Equip UPDAT E

on Viva’s work will go longer than a lifetime. Your support can too.

GACY… ASK ABOUT A LE

Call 01865 811660 rg Email legacy@viva.o cy Visit viva.org/lega

On 4–5th June 2011 join more than 2 million people in 89 countries to pray for the children of the world.

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Have you ever wanted to trek the Inca Trail? Shave your head? Go skydiving? Lose 10 pounds? Then do it for Viva! It’s quick and easy to set up your own personal FUNdraising page through viva.org/donate Then all you have to do is decide on a challenge and get friends and family to start sponsoring you.

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Viva Equip People at Somalia’s front line Oketch Mukhwana (right), a Ugandan soldier working in a military hospital with children, was half way through last year’s Viva Equip People course when he was recalled to Somalia. However, he was too inspired by what he had been learning to let a change of location stop him from putting it into practice. He is asking to be assigned to a children’s department in his new posting, and has vowed to “ﬁght for and protect children’s rights while in Somalia and elsewhere on the front line”.

We can all put children ﬁrst

VIVA’S TOP TIPS FOR CREAT IVE PRAYER …

PRAY ANYTIME, ANYWHERE When you pass a child on your walk to work, catch an advert on TV for a child’s toy, or see a family eating near you in a restaurant, let that prompt you to pray there and then for children around the world INTRODUCE SOMETHING NEW A photograph, a game, a song, a painting, a piece of liturgy, a YouTube clip, some exotic food... if it helps you pray, use it

LEARN FROM OTHER TRADIT IONS Many faiths have set times of the day for prayer. The discipline of interrupting your normal ﬂow of activities and focusing wholly on prayer can be very rewarding, and a more structured approach can help you make the most of whatever time you have to pray FOLLOW YOUR HEART You’re not expected to pray about every issue faced by children at risk. Talk to God about the issues that are important to you – what’s on your heart to pray for children?

Over the last two years Viva Equip Projects has helped the team at Children First, a school and residential home (left) in Manila, the Philippines, to realise the vital part they each play in shaping children’s futures, no matter what their role. “Always we thought that interaction with the children was only between the children and the social workers or house parents. We did not think we had a place in what was happening with them,” one administrative staff member told us. “Viva has shown us that all our staff, even in administration and ﬁnance that work so far from the children themselves, we are all involved in helping them as they grow up. It is a privilege.”

Daya gets a new home In Biratnagar, Nepal, Viva Equip training is engaging people’s hearts as well as their heads. So when new trainee Udita Kapoor found ﬁve-year-old Daya (right) in one of the country’s poorest communities, hungry and parentless, she responded in a much more personal way than she would have considered before. Choosing to take Daya into her own home, Udita made sure he had good food, new clothes, proper medical care and the love of a new family. Read the full stories at blog.viva.org

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You can

live your

dreams!

‘‘

Life is not easy, and as children we have faced many people treading on our dreams. But with my songs I am saying that whoever you are and whatever has happened to you, you can live your dreams.

Miguel Arevalos has helped to lead several nationwide campaigns against child abuse, he is a singer and songwriter for a local band and he will soon begin presenting his own TV show, broadcast to 150,000 people in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Miguel is also just about to celebrate his 15th birthday. He talks to us about his journey from Cochbamba’s slums to its studios, and what it means to be a voice for the children of his nation… Q Miguel with one of the younger boys from his former home, Pequeño David

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Yet despite the sadness that placed him there, Miguel is thankful to God for his time at the project, as it was there that he had the chance to become a Child Leader. “We had a vote, and out of six others I was chosen to be the representative for our project,” smiles Miguel, proudly remembering his peers’ faith in him. “I was our ambassador, our leader, and it was my job to plan how we could make our community take notice of the needs of children like us.” Approximately 100 boys and girls from various projects in the six Bolivian networks are participating in the Child Leaders programme, collectively representing more than 10,000 young people across the nation. The programme trains up and supports young

R Local children get involved in one of the campaigns Miguel helped to organise

people like Miguel to be a voice for their peers, helping them to plan campaigns and events to change local people’s attitudes to domestic violence and child abuse, mobilising them to change children’s situations. Miguel saw right away the importance of speaking out for others and, in the process, helping them to ﬁnd their own voice: “I know what it is to grow up with a hard life, with no money and a father who does not treat you the right way. I don’t want other children to have to face that life. Even in the beginning that is what inspired me; it is still what makes me speak out.”

R Miguel talks to a young class about their right to be protected and how to stay safe

One track, entitled Open Book, talks about a young man whose life has been very painful but who wants to open his heart and share that pain with Jesus, letting him take it away. Another song tells of the joy that can be found in living when you know Jesus. Miguel says that it is his vision that one day the songs will be played all over the city, “in market squares and discos and all the popular places, speaking out against things such as violence, abortion and abuse.” The band is currently saving up to record a CD and already making enthusiastic plans with a local Cochabamba studio.

“My father left us when I was seven,” Miguel conﬁdes quietly. “He was very bad with alcohol problems and so angry, it was hard for us and for my mother.” After years of emotional and physical abuse, the family was also ﬁnancially drained by their father’s alcoholism. When he abandoned them, Miguel’s mother was forced to send his two sisters to live in a local orphanage while she and Miguel sheltered at Pequeño David (Little David), a boys’ home that is part of the Cochabamba network.

Since ﬁrst becoming a Child Leader, now over four years ago, Miguel has spoken out for others in a variety of different ways, beginning with the network campaigns and growing into singing, songwriting and now television presenting.

Miguel’s songs will also play a part in his new television show, due to air in April this year. Presented by Miguel and close friend Jorge, a fellow Child Leader, the show will feature music from local bands, interviews with pastors and other Christian leaders and also a ‘Missionary Moment’ where they will share the needs of other countries around the world and look at what can be done to help. Miguel says he wants to inspire local children to look outside their situations and see the needs of the wider world, as well as encouraging them about their own lives.

‘‘

I know what it is to grow up with a hard life, with no money and a father who does not treat you the right way. I don’t want other children to have to face that life.

His band Tuex (which means ‘leave your past behind’) is made up of three boys and two girls, all under the age of 18. They play at Christian and secular events around the city, with a mixture of covers and original material. “We like to play music, all kinds of music, but the words are also important. We want the songs to bring a message.”

As Miguel’s leadership skills have grown and changed, so his family situation has also seen transformation. His mother is now one of the co-ordinators of the Pequeño David project, and the modest income she receives has enabled the whole family to live together once more. “I am so thankful to God for my life,” Miguel concludes gratefully. “Before I was a Child Leader I would never have had the courage to do any of these things, or even dream them. But being taught about my value to God and how I should be treated, and actually seeing positive change in my situation, gave me such conﬁdence and hope.” Thanks to Miguel, that message, speaking of conﬁdence in your dreams and hope for the future, will be carried into homes all over Cochabamba this year.

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Q: What do a church in a wealthy English town and a group of projects in a struggling Zimbabwean city have in common?

Viva Network Zimbabwe

A: They are both making a big difference in the lives of children at risk! We talk to Kath Clough and Rudo Mutangadura about how Viva Church Partners has helped these two groups work together for children.

A: “A big one! Because of the gifts we have received we have been able to continue with our mobile Learning Library, taking books to 100 street children every week and helping with their reading skills. It has also meant that 30 staff from network organisations can take Viva Equip People training. I have seen them interacting so much better with the children, and the kids trust the staff more now. Also some of St Luke’s money helps to pay my salary, because without the co-ordinator role none of our activities could happen. It means a lot to me that this church sees my value, and the value of the network. I also know they pray for us regularly and I feel sure that much of what God is doing for children here is due to the prayers of these committed people.”

St Luke’s church ST ALBANS, UK

Q: What does being a Viva Church Partner look like for St Luke’s?

From hire ords f t r e H

A: “It’s something our whole accomplish. It’s also brilliant congregation is involved with. to be partnering with a As well as offering ﬁnancial whole network – we hear support to the network, we great stories about individual are praying for them regularly. children’s lives, but we also The kids’ groups have also R Kath Clough M ST LUKE’S MISSIONS TEA know that a whole city is really grabbed hold of the being reached, and large-scale idea, especially our afterschool change is happening. Plus there are so many ‘messy church’. It’s so great for them to learn churches involved with what the network are about children in Zimbabwe and what their doing – we love knowing we’re linked with a lives are like, and to pray for them. We also worldwide church family helping reach out to had a great service with feedback on how children.” the network’s Christmas Party went, and we showed photos and had a brilliant time of Q: What would you say to churches prayer; people were so positive. And in the thinking of partnering with Viva and next year or two we should be able to send a a network in this way? church representative out to Harare to meet A:“If you’re looking for something fresh and the team, and that will be a great step in the fun that can involve your whole church, then relationship.” this is a great way to support work with Q: Why do you enjoy partnering children at risk. You get great information and with Viva Network Zimbabwe? stories to feed back to your church family, and we feel very connected. We are really A: “The main positive is that it’s a two-way excited about where God is going to take thing. It’s not just about sending money this partnership and how it can bless the and hoping it does something good, we’re Zimbabwe network and also our own church actually hearing from the team in Zimbabwe and community.” and seeing what our support is helping to

HARARE, ZIMBABWE

Q: What difference is this partnership making to the network?

ura R Rudo Mutangad

WE VIVA NETWORK ZIMBAB R ATO DIN OR CO

...tore Hara

Q: Why do you enjoy partnering with St. Luke’s? A:“Well, we sometimes receive support from other sources, but it is not the same. This is so much more than money – it is a matter of relationship. The church are working with children in their country too and we can learn from this. For example, it is very good for the children I work with to really understand life in the UK, not just that they see it as a rich place without any problems. Also it is important for the church in England to know what children in Zimbabwe suffer, and the problems of our country. We must each pray for one another.” Q: What would you say to churches thinking of partnering with Viva and a network in this way? A:“It is a great thing, and I hope more churches will feel it is right to do it. I believe God has given Christians such an important task in making sure children are looked after, and the more we join together for this, the stronger we will be. Whatever else you do, please pray for us. More than anything we need the partnership of God to be successful in helping children.”

Could your church partner a network? Choose one of ﬁve city-wide networks based in Africa, Asia and Latin America and begin a three-year partnership of learning, praying, giving and going. Call 01865 811660 or check out viva.org/involveyourchurch for more information and to become a Church Partner.

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purchase

CEO on the go How do you usually feel at 7am on a Monday morning? Sleepy? Hungry? Grumpy? I bet ‘passionate’ isn’t one of the words you were thinking of. But recently my Monday mornings have been full of passion as I have met with an amazing group of Christian students with a heart for improving medical care for children at risk, and we have prayed together before work. This brilliant crowd, all under 25, are keen to focus particularly on maternal health in Africa, making sure we start the process of caring properly for children before they even enter the world. My role in it all has been to help them forge links with Christian-led projects and hospitals through our partner network in Uganda. They have been very enthusiastic about this, as they know that the work of the church is powerful, practical and relevant. And a bunch of go-get-’em students aren’t the only ones who know this. Some of the country’s top minds are aware of it too. I’ve recently been asked to join the Executive Board of a project called the Joint Learning Initiative, the main goal of which is to show the world just how much faith-based organisations (FBOs) do for kids at risk and why they’re so effective. Representatives from organisations like World Vision, CAFOD and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation are collaborating on research around the fact that FBO work is so successful because it changes hearts as well as heads. Building schools, serving meals and giving vaccinations will only get you so far – addressing people’s attitudes is the only way to bring about lasting change. I’ve been fortunate enough to see this at

work all over the world, visiting church-based feeding centres helping 1,000 children in San José (last year), speaking to Californian congregations excited about local mission (last month) and drinking coffee in Copenhagen with inspired volunteers just back from Honduras (last week). I also see it here in the UK, ﬁrst thing on a Monday morning.

Watch… the DVD of Max Lucado’s award-winning book You Are Special. Following wooden boy Punchinello, who is sad because people don’t think much of him, the story shows how a visit with Eli the master woodcarver teaches an important lesson about Punchinello’s real value. This song-ﬁlled adaptation could make a great Easter present for a child you know, reminding them that no matter how others judge their worth, God loves each of them just as they are. Order through viva.org/purchasewithapurpose and 25% of the sale goes to Viva.

Wear…

Now maybe 7am is a bit early, and maybe Monday isn’t your most passionate day, but whether you use your money, your words, your prayers, or your actions, I hope you ﬁnd some time this week to go out there and put your faith into action.

the chic and unique accessories found at Heaven’s Attic. This online shop not only sources all its products from disadvantaged communities around the world, it also donates a percentage of its proﬁts to help put a stop to sex trafﬁcking. With 12% from the sale of every beautiful bag, funky ring, or hand-beaded scarf going to charity, looking good isn’t the only thing that shopping here will accomplish.

Patrick McDonald Chief Executive

Have a browse at heavensattic.co.uk

Read… about the origins of everything we consume! The Story of Stuff author Annie Leonard travelled around the world exploring behind the scenes of the long and damaging process of getting goods onto shop shelves. She looks at all the people, creatures and processes involved, and while she doesn’t shy away from revealing the ugly truth (“kids pay for our goods with their futures”) she manages to infuse the tale with humour and adventure, making this book both an educational and entertaining read. Check out storyofstuff.com/book.php

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 ďŹ ghting them right at the root. At Viva we are doing just that.

Viva, Unit 8, The Gallery, 54 Marston Street, Oxford, United Kingdom, OX4 1LF t: 01865 811660 e: info@viva.org w: www.viva.org

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

ANDERSON DESIGN | 01865 201300

Through 44 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 1 million children around the world.