Author: Web Team Posted: 28th November, 2012
Category: Child Sponsorship No Comments
Kini’s destiny brought her under the blue roof of Compassion. In Bengali there is a proverb, “the color of sorrow is blue”. However, the blue of Compassion represents hope for Kini.
In 2006, a Compassion Australia employee named David Harrison visited Bangladesh to experience the lives of children in extreme poverty.
Author: Paul Dymott Posted: 19th October, 2012
Category: Photos No Comments
As I was walking to the office this morning I had the opportunity to overhear a mother talking to her young child as they walked to school.
There he was on his scooter, probably in his first term of school, travelling alongside his mum. And as she walked along, she was explaining the finer points of maths to him. After a few minutes she stopped dead in her tracks and said, “look, three plus one is four” pointing to her fingers.
Now that’s not so easy to copy when you’re riding along on a scooter, but the boy managed to do it.
Do you know what has the greatest impact on child mortality? Female literacy.
According to UNESCO, in 2008, 796 million adults worldwide reported not to be able to read and write (so there’s probably a lot more in actuality). 412 million of these live in Southern Asia and a further 176 million in sub-Saharan Africa. That’s three-quarters of the total in just those two regions. But just think about this for a minute.
To reduce mortality in children, there isn’t a health solution, it’s an educational one!
This week’s image is from India. It shows the project worker at a project, teaching mothers from Compassion’s Child Survival Programme. In addition to the vital health and medical supplies that are given, the Child Survival Programme seeks to educate the mothers and caregivers that are enrolled.
Next time you see a mother talking to their child, remember that in many countries mothers aren’t able to help their children survive and thrive because they can’t access the education to help them.
Imagine a child turning to their mother for help, and she looking blankly back unable to intervene.
Author: Web Team Posted: 11th October, 2012
Category: Child Sponsorship, Uncategorised No Comments
The Maasai tribe is one of the most recognisable tribes in the world, but many of the cultural practices carried out by the group continue to limit the development of young girls, and even endanger their lives.
Through the local churches in Kenya, Compassion is challenging many of these damaging traditions and is offering young girls from the Maasai tribes an opportunity to fulfil their potential.
One of the practices that Compassion Kenya is seeking to change is childhood marriage.
In Kenya, an estimated 42 per cent of girls are married before their 18th birthday. This limits their education, social and emotional development and their health. Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for girls aged 15-18 in the developing world.
Another dangerous tribal custom is female genital mutilation. In Kenya alone, 49 per cent of women are victims of this sort of mutilation and the practice is highly prevalent in the Maasai tribe.
Pauline Shonk is a 16-year-old sponsored child who won’t face early marriage thanks to a Compassion project.
“I want to shape my future so that I can be of help to myself and others. I want to be a doctor,” she explained.
Thanks to the support of her Compassion sponsor, Pauline attends the prestigious Ewaso Najile Girls School, a girls’ boarding secondary school.
Of the 267 students, 21 are Compassion sponsored girls. “Other girls [not in school] look much older than me,” continues Pauline. “They are married and have children at a young age and they face many hardships at home.”school, approximately 70km from Nairobi.
”Illiteracy and lack of exposure has dragged us behind. We have many bright girls who can compete with anyone,” says Isaac Teeka, a history teacher at the Ewaso Najile Girls School.
“This opportunity to be in school offers them that chance.”
By working through local churches who understand local traditions, Compassion can reach out to those who are in greatest need effectively and with sensitivity. It often takes many, many years to see change, which is why the local church is the best vehicle for long term development.
The landscape of rural Kenya is undoubtedly changing and with a generation of educated and confident young women, it will be better prepared for the future.
By Kate Sharma
Author: Paul Dymott Posted: 18th May, 2012
Category: Photos No Comments
I think I am in the minority when it comes to maths; I love it. I love the fact that there are no grey areas; things are either right or wrong. Either you can prove something or you can’t. I can remember for one assignment at university being asked to prove that 1=1. An hour later, and many sides of A4 paper filled, I did it. There is something very appealing to me knowing something definitively.
Author: Joe Posted: 30th January, 2012
Category: Child Sponsorship 1 Comment
Rubén started his first job when he was five. Barefoot and dirty, Rubén would stand beside his mother, Inés, at crowded bus stops, selling sandwiches and drinks. Before he was 10, Rubén had already worked three jobs — washing cars, fixing locks and polishing shoes.
