Community Development Archives - Page 68 of 103

17 October is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which this year recognises people living in poverty as critical partners for fighting the development challenges we face.

Child sponsorship has the power to change the life of a family in need. Annet was just six years old when she was sponsored through ChildFund. Here we tell Annet’s story, and discuss the impact child sponsorship had on her childhood, particularly her education.

The youngest of seven children

Annet’s family scraped by on a meagre income, Annet`s father was a farmer, who grew peanuts and maize, and her mother sold fish at the local market.

Growing up in Uganda while Joseph Kony and the LRA were terrorising the country`s north, she faced a difficult and unstable childhood. “I grew up in a lot of different places. My family had to move from our village when I was 8 years old. I stayed behind to live with a neighbour because my parents wanted me to remain in the ChildFund program. Eventually I had to leave when I was 12 because war broke out. I went to live in Soroti town [in eastern Uganda] with various family members.”

How our sponsorship program keeps children in school

Sponsorship gave Annet the opportunity to stay in school. “When I was eight, ChildFund built a new classroom at our school and provided us all with desks. I remember before we used to sit on the floor or study under the trees. When it rained, there were no classes.”

Through sponsorship, her family also received a cow and a few goats, the income from which helped to pay for Annet`s secondary school fees, books and after-school tutoring. “Unfortunately, the goats were stolen from our family during the war,” Annet recalls, “but to this day we still have the offspring from that cow. We still get milk and breed the cows to sell.”

How a quality education provides a brighter future

Having completed her school education, Annet is now studying to become a nurse in Uganda`s capital, Kampala, a career that will enable her to stand on her own two feet.

“I want to work in healthcare because if you have your health, you can do anything. People here lack basic information about the prevention of diseases. I want to be part of the group that helps to educate people.”

How child sponsorship can help break the cycle of poverty

Annet`s story is just one example of how sponsorship can help break the cycle of poverty. In fact, globally, the world has made significant strides in overcoming extreme poverty, reducing by half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, ahead of the target date set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

“When world leaders agreed the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, many of us thought that they were too ambitious,” says Mark McPeak, ChildFund Australia`s international program director. “Thirteen years later the picture is clear, and we note in particular the achievement of MDG 1 (reducing the global proportion of people living in extreme income poverty by half) in 2010, five years ahead of the MDG target date of 2015.

“This is a significant event in human history, with around 700 million fewer people living in extreme income poverty today than in 1990, according to the United Nations. And even though these numbers are biased significantly by the long period of economic growth experienced in two countries with large populations (China and India), it is to be celebrated.”

Become a child sponsor to help keep children in school

Education is one of the most powerful tools we have to break the cycle of poverty. By keeping children in school, we empower the next generation with the knowledge and skills for a better livelihood.

Becoming a child sponsor is a meaningful way to help the next generation of children escape extreme poverty. Your sponsorship will help your sponsored child stay healthy, succeed in school and thrive in life.

Our child sponsorship program doesn’t end with your donation. We’ll update you about your child’s progress and we encourage you to write to them, so that they know you care about them.

Child sponsorship is a journey, and you can learn more about sponsoring a child through us here. Why sponsor a child? Because every child needs a childhood.

In the outskirts of Mandalay, Myanmar`s second biggest city, in an area where small pockets of urban development have begun, there is a school helping underprivileged children.

It’s a monastic school that was originally set up for monks; however, the principal soon became concerned with the plight of local children.

Many local families live in squatter houses, small bamboo shacks on marginal land, often over water. They settled on the land when it was still a rural area and farmed paddy rice. When the government built roads the land gained value and many families, whom had no legal title, were pushed off to make room for large villas.

Many of the parents are illiterate and cannot afford to send their children to school. It is common for the children to instead collect rubbish to help supplement the family income.

Primary education in Myanmar is free, in theory. Though, in practice expenses include school furniture, enrolment fees, textbooks and notebooks, and uniforms.

The school has gained a reputation beyond Mandalay and attracted children from Shan State and other areas who have no access to high schools.

When it began there were 50 students and two or three teachers, including monks. Now there are over 1,900 students.

About 400 of these students sleep at the monastery, including 100 orphaned children, like three-year-old Hoekyaw who has been at the centre since he was just one month old, and those from distant villages.

ChildFund has provided the school with a computer training room so the children can improve and extend their skills and education.

“In the 21st century, learning how to use a computer is a crucial part of education. If we don`t provide computer knowledge they will be behind the times,” says U Ven Nandaka, a teacher and monk at the school.

“Students from poor families in the countryside didn’t know how to use a calculator let alone a computer! We are trying to provide them with the right skills for the future,” he adds.

ChildFund provided the school with 10 computers in total. Now they provide the students with three IT classes with a maximum of 10 students in each and two trainers per class. Each IT course lasts for three months but students are also allowed to use the computers in their free time.

The trainers are all university students who are studying IT and want to help younger students in their local community.

13-year-old Su Myat (pictured above) is one such student. She is in grade nine and has been living at the school for over two years.

“I`m very happy here. I can learn many things, I wouldn`t get that opportunity in my village,” she says.

“Before arriving here, I`d never seen a computer. Now I know it`s very important to getting ahead in the 21st century. So I`m very happy to be learning computer skills and English.”

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