Viva News Issue 6

Connecting you to the world of children at risk

vivanews

| ISSUE 6

A hop, a skip, and a jump into life!

Children are suffering. We all know that.

Thousands of people are working to help them. We all know that too.

Yet the problem persists. Children go on suffering.

All over the world projects are doing great work, but they are often working in isolation, struggling to find enough money, people, and time.

But what if people caring for children at risk worked together?

What if we shared our skills, our contacts, our knowledge, and our ideas?

We could actively tackle the issues children face, not just reacting to the need but looking for long-term solutions to the problems.

At Viva we are doing just that.

We are working with more than 8,000 projects through 43 Christian networks to develop their quality, unity, and impact, bringing them together to offer the best possible care to over 1 million children around the world.

Together we can give more children the chance of a happier, healthier, and brighter future.

Viva, Unit 8, The Gallery, 54 Marston Street, Oxford, OX4 1LF, UK t: +44(0)1865 811660 e: enquiries@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

< editorial

viva at work > TEXT HEADERS

THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE FOR

together CHILDREN AT RISK IS TO WORK

www.viva.org

I have a daughter, seventeen years old, and so far I have loved every part of being a father. Rocking her to sleep when she was a baby, helping her learn to walk and talk, waving her off on her first day of school... it has been a privilege to watch my daughter change and develop through these various stages of life.

But many of the children I work with have not experienced life’s different phases in this way. They were forced to skip straight to adulthood when they were left to find their own food, fight for survival on the streets, or become the sole carer for their younger siblings.

It is impossible to break down the points at which a child’s future is determined, but somehow, somewhere, in the making of friends, in the learning of lessons, in the hop, the skip, and the jump of childhood games, lives are shaped. And when children are deprived of those key developmental experiences their futures are compromised. Viva’s goal is to see every child given the opportunity to become all that God intends, and through Viva Christmas Parties, Summer Camps, and Praise Parties we are working to make that possible.

This Viva News gives you a taste of the fun of these Viva parties and camps, but also shows the vital part they play in changing children’s lives in the longer term. You can find details on the back page of the many opportunities there are for you to get more involved in this amazing work this year.

So please do read on, and discover how together we can offer more children the chance to step into happier, healthier, and brighter lives.

Through regional centres in Africa, Asia, and Latin America,Viva is working with more than 8,000 projects through 43 Christian networks to offer the best possible care to over 1 million children.

Shantanu Dutta, Regional Co-ordinator of Viva India

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viva at work >

Viva Summer Camps When 12-year-old Thembi arrived at summer camp she had no idea that by the time she left a week later she would not only have developed a radically different view of herself, but would also have played a part in changing many other children’s attitudes towards HIV/AIDS. Thembi, who is HIV+, lives in a township outside Cape Town with her grandmother.

Her mother died when she was young, and she has never known her father. Before going to a Viva Summer Camp hosted by the Connect network in South Africa, she had felt very isolated, believing herself to be an outcast. She was also painfully self-conscious of the sores covering her face, a sign that it is no longer wellcontrolled HIV that she is suffering from, but full-blown AIDS. When she arrived at the camp she was introduced to a group of girls, all of a similar age to her, and they were given activities and games to play.Yet Thembi found that the other children were frightened of her, as they didn’t understand her illness and were worried that they might catch it if they played with her.

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Seeing this, camp leader Florence used the opportunity to gather the children around her and talk to them about HIV. She was able to tell them about what it is, how it spreads, and most importantly how to prevent it. Much of this information was new to them, and so Florence was also able to use this opportunity to dispel some of the very damaging prejudices that exist in South African culture, and help the children to understand that HIV sufferers are not to be avoided but loved and helped.

The knowledge the children gained from Florence is basic, but it will potentially save many lives. And the discussion not only changed the attitudes and actions of the children, but actually changed Thembi herself – as she was shown for the first time that she was valued, she began to understand that she was not an outcast but was in fact worth just as much as any other child.

Q: What does a Viva Summer Camp look like?

A: Five days of noisy and fun-filled chaos! Which is exactly what you would expect

when 100 children, usually aged 8-18, come together from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances to play games, watch dramas, learn bible stories, sing songs around campfires, go hiking or swimming, and generally just enjoy being children.

Q: What do the children say?

A: “I’ve really, really enjoyed this camp so much! Playing games with my leaders was so

fun, I was chasing them everywhere and running around with them.The adults cannot usually play with us because they are busy, but now they have time and we were with them so much.

And the food was wonderful - I want to go to camp next year please!”

Sandiswa, aged 10, South Africa

Q: What do the adults think?

A: “Summer camps are great.There are so many incredible people in this city [Cape Town] caring for children, and we work all year round to try and help them do that together. Being able to see the fruit of that, and see all these different children and different projects come together and have so much fun is amazing.The kids just love it, and so do we.”

Dee Moskoff, Connect Network Co-ordinator, South Africa

Q: How do the camps make a difference?

A: With Viva Summer Camps you get two good things for the price of one! The immediate benefit to the children of enjoying such an amazing week is clear, but what

you don’t always see is how valuable the camps are to the people who are caring for those children. The relationships and the trust that develop out of working together on a Summer Camp are vital in helping projects remain unified in the long-term; talking about issues in their work, maybe combining some of their resources, and sitting down together to plan joint activities and new ways to meet the needs they see in their areas.

The parties also involve whole communities in a very practical way, as local people and businesses can offer their time, their services, or gifts in kind as a contribution to the camps.

Q: What’s happening this year?

A: Several Viva Summer Camps took place in Cape Town this year - one of them the very camp that Thembi attended. So far the initiative has been based mainly in

Africa, but next year there will be Summer Camps in the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, and Costa Rica, as well as 12 further camps in South Africa.

IT’S A KNOCKOUT!

Thank you to all those who took part in or supported our It’s A Knockout event this summer – the money you helped to raise has paid for 250 children to attend camps in the Dominican Republic and South Africa next year. vivanews 5

viva at work >

The name and picture of the child has been changed in accordance with our Child Protection Policy: the child shown here has not experienced any form of sexual abuse.

Viva Christmas Parties Beautiful 9-year-old Karina is healthy and strong, she has good friends to play with, and she is well settled in her local school in Hyderabad, India.

But it wasn’t always this way. Before the Viva Christmas Party last year her story was very different.

Abandoned by her family as a baby, and taken in by a cousin who abused her, Karina was seven before she found her chance to escape. When she was found by a worker from the Lila Project, a local-run housing and counselling centre for sexually abused children, she was severely traumatised.

Anxious and hurting, she refused to open up to the project counsellors as they tried to talk to her and help her deal with the trauma she had experienced.

closer still, talking quietly to some of the other children, and sitting with them to eat. And when she was handed a present, a special gift just for her, nothing could stop a big smile from spreading across her face. For the first time she saw the reality of the love the Lila Project were trying to offer her: it wasn’t just words, this present showed her that she mattered to them.

The very next day Karina had a session with one of the project counsellors, and this time she began to tell her story. The counsellor could finally start to explore with her the hurt that she felt, the lack of trust, and the ways to move forwards. Now, almost a year later, Karina sees her counsellor only once a month, and the reports are full of positive progress. Although she has not yet completely put the past behind her, Karina’s experience at a Viva Christmas Party has helped mean that she will one day be able to.

Then, through Viva’s partner network in Hyderabad, the Lila Project was able to take Karina to a Viva Christmas Party. Though withdrawn at first, she began to creep closer to the action as the other children sang songs and played games. When an enormous Christmas cake was brought out she got vivanews 6

“The parties are so simple, yet so significant. It’s just one day... but it’s a day that changes a life.”

If you go online and visit

viva.org/christmaspartyresources.aspx then you can see for yourselves what the Christmas Parties look like!

Q: What does a Viva Christmas Party look like?

A: It looks like any ordinary party – lots of food, a big cake, silly games, maybe a visit

from a clown. But to many of the children it is the most extraordinary and exciting thing to have happened in their lives. Anywhere between 50 and 1000 children attend, from tiny babies to tough 18-year-old street kids, and at the end of the party every child is given a present to take away with them as a lasting reminder of their day of fun.

Q: What do the children say?

A: “I liked playing with the babies.We don’t have babies with us where we live and I love them,

it was so fun. I have never been with this many other children at the same time- it’s like having a big big family today!” Rosa, aged 8, Nepal.

Q: What do the adults think?

A: “What amazes me most, even after all this time, is that the parties are so simple, yet so

significant. It’s just one day, but it can accomplish so much. For example, some of the children that attend our parties may need money for education, or they might be living on the streets, or their families may need help with housing or debt issues.When they come to the parties they not only get a great day of fun, but they will be introduced to probably 20 or 30 different projects and leaders all in the same place who can then discover what their needs are and connect them with people who can help. It’s a day that changes a life.”

Nina Rodriguez, Network Co-ordinator, El Salvador.

Q: How do the parties make a difference?

A: Christmas Parties provide another great opportunity to get two benefits from just

one event, as they not only make a difference to the children on the day itself but also build up the projects that care for those kids in the long-term. Relationships spring from the parties in a way that makes unity a reality – once staff members and project leaders really get to know the others working in their area it is much easier to share ideas and plan together how to meet children’s needs. The parties are also a highly visible (and audible!) opportunity to make local communities more aware of the vulnerable children in their area and encourage them to get involved in supporting them.

Q: What’s happening this year?

A: Viva Christmas Parties will be happening between the end of November and the

middle of January, in more than 18 different locations. Approximately 21,000 children will be at those celebrations in countries like Peru, India, Kenya, Nepal, Cuba, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe, and more parties are still being organised. vivanews 7

viva at work >

Viva Praise Parties Praise Parties are one of our newest ventures, hot off the press. Stemming from our World Weekend of Prayer, they are designed to be brilliant days of child-led prayer and praise that act as a catalyst for ongoing prayer groups throughout the year.

Q: What does a Viva Praise Party look like?

A: It looks like lots of fun.Whether it’s 20 children praying around a huge world map,

50 children leading singing and dancing in a local park, or 200 children marching around their communities on a prayer walk, these parties are all about helping children to pray and praise in fun, creative, and relevant ways.

Q: What do the children say?

A: “I really enjoyed praying with the adults, all together, because we are a Christian family and we need to pray all together sometimes. It encourages me so much.”

Maria, aged 14, Costa Rica.

Q: What do the adults think?

A: “Children can often have an amazing amount of faith – I find it inspiring. And as they are the next generation of leaders we need to encourage that faith and that confidence in them, and grow it further. Praise Parties are an incredible experience, but they are just the beginning: they help to kick-start groups of children praying for children, and these groups then carry on growing throughout the year.” Chrissie Wilkinson, Viva Prayer Mobiliser, UK

Q: How do the parties make a difference?

A: As well as developing prayer with and for children at risk, Praise Parties also focus on growing the children in their own abilities as leaders and advocators. Giving the children a chance to lead their peers and to work alongside their carers helps empower them to bring about change in their own lives, and in the lives of others. The parties also bless local communities: the money raised not only funds the party itself but also allows the children to spend money on a gift or a service that the whole community can benefit from.

Q: What’s happening this year?

A: You can help us answer that. So far Praise Parties have taken place in Africa, Australia, Latin America, and the UK, and every week we’re hearing of new locations taking on the

“I really enjoyed praying with the adults, all together, because we are a Christian family and we need to pray all together sometimes. It encourages me so much.”

concept. Whether it’s holding a Praise Party yourself, getting your church on board, or supporting the initiative financially, you could play a big part in determining what Praise Parties look like this year. vivanews 8

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viva at work >

Light up a face this Christmas

Join the fun!

Would you like to hold a Praise Party with your own church or children’s group? Please get in touch at pray@viva.org or on 01865 811660 and we will happily give you some resources to get you started.

We would also love you to join with us in prayer for this growing initiative, and for other areas of Viva’s work.

Visit viva.org/pray.aspx to sign up for our bi-weekly prayer e-mail or for the quarterly Prayer Diary, giving you the latest prayer requests from people and projects working with children at risk around the world.

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Don’t forget to put the 2010 World Weekend of Prayer dates in your diary – June 5th/6th

Need a reminder of what working together can accomplish? Take a look at our 2009 Annual

Review.

All over the world children’s lives are being changed for the better because of our united action.

View it online at viva.org/review2009.aspx or call us on 01865 811660 and we can send you a copy in the post.

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