Aid Children's Health & Education in 5 Countries

After responding to the pandemic, the Ukrainian refugee crisis and now the cost-of-living crisis, we want to express so much gratitude to each person who has continued to support the children and young people at our projects, over the past few years. Life has been challenging for people around the world and we are so thankful to you for caring about the children.

Here are some recent projects that your donations through GlobalGiving have been supporting:

Food for children in South Africa

The Future Factory in South Africa has been involved in supporting food programmes, supplying hot meals to children and families around Cape Town, since the first lockdown in South Africa. With the rising prices of food, the need for this programme continues. Thank you for helping these children with this most vital and basic need.

Anne, the founder of The Future Factory, wrote: "You help our feeding programmes once again in a big way... Lots of gratitude to CHW for all your love and support."

Winter boots and coats for children and teenagers in Romania

Refugiu, in Romania, assists families living in a village with food throughout the year. Winters in Romania can be very harsh and Refugiu wanted to be able to give warm coats and boots to fifteen children and teenagers from the village. We are very grateful to CHW's supporters for making this possible!

Robert, the Head of Refugiu, sent a message to say that the children were so happy to receive the coats and boots. He also said "many thanks to [CHW's] supporters!"

Repairing a roof for a school in Ghana

New Life in Ghana assists children and youth in the local community in a variety of ways and it also runs a primary school, making sure that the children have an education. There were heavy rains and the school's roof was damaged. Repairs were needed to stop rain water leaking into the classrooms. With thanks to the generosity of CHW's supporters, it was possible to repair the roof!

Rising prices in Ghana meant that we had to raise more than we had originally planned. It took us a while to fundraise for this project and in the meantime, the building materials had become more expensive. However, it was thanks to the help of those of you who had donated through this page on GlobalGiving, that it was possible to fund everything that was needed to fix the roof!

Derrick, the director of New Life wrote: "We thank CHW and supporters to have helped us fix the leaking roof. No leakages, safe learning."

At CHW, we are so truly grateful to you for making it possible to support the children and young people at projects like these. You are the ones who make it all possible!

We wish you a happy and peaceful festive season and all the very best for 2023! Thank you for making a difference for children and youth in 2022!

Links:

• Photos from Refugiu: Giving the children the coats and boots

Thank you very much for your wonderful support for the children and young people at our projects! Your generosity is so greatly appreciated.

Rooikappie, a creche in South Africa, needed help with buying a new stove, so that it could easily prepare food for the children. We are so grateful to all who made it possible to help with this. With the assistance from our supporters, Rooikappie was also able to buy some other much-needed items such as a mop, broom, toilet paper and food supplies. 

Faranaaz, the Principal of Rooikappie, expressed her gratitude for your support for the children at the creche. 

CHW was introduced to Rooikappie by another of our partner organisations in South Africa, The Future Factory. 

Since 2020, The Future Factory has been helping to provide children and families around Cape Town with food, as the poverty level rose dramatically during the lockdowns. Assistance is still needed, and the price of food has greatly increased recently. 

With your help, it has also been possible to continue to support The Future Factory's food programme. 

Anne, the founder of The Future Factory, wrote: "Food is becoming so expensive and we still try our best to continue feeding [everyone]. We are so grateful to you for your support and love."

Right now, we are working on fundraising for two appeals. One is from Refugiu in Romania, to help 15 children, from an underserved village, with school items, clothes and shoes, in time for the new school year, in September. The other appeal is from New Life International in Ghana, to fix the roof at its school, as it has been damaged. Earlier this year, there were heavy rains in Ghana. Rain now leaks into the classrooms.

Your continued support, through our GlobalGiving page, makes it possible to support projects like these. Trying to reach the total needed for these appeals would be a lot more challenging without the contributions you have been making through GlobalGiving. 

These two very different projects will have such a positive impact on the children's education in the new school year. We will keep you updated with how it all goes.

Thank you so much for helping children and young people across the world. Projects like the food distribution means you are helping children with their vital and immediate needs, and the educational programmes will give the children a brighter future. Thank you for being part of this and for making such a difference.

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With thanks to Anne (The Future Factory), Derrick (New Life International), Faranaaz (Rooikappie) and Robert (Refugiu) for the photos included with this report.

We are so grateful to you for supporting children and young people through Children's Helpers Worldwide!

Reflecting back on the past couple of years, which have been so challenging with the pandemic and then the crisis with the Ukrainian refugees, we are very thankful to each person who has continued to offer support.

Some of our partner organisations are still responding to the rise in poverty caused by the pandemic and the lockdowns. The Future Factory, in Cape Town, became involved with food programmes serving families in disadvantaged communities during the first lockdown. Today it is still continuing to assist with food. 

Anne, the founder of The Future Factory, wrote: "[We] are truly grateful for all you do for us, and everyone who donates makes a big difference in the lives of others."

Since the beginning of March, two of our partner organisations in Romania, FAST and Casa Mea, have been helping Ukrainian refugee families (mostly mothers and children). Casa Mea has taken in a family and is willing to assist more. FAST has turned its building into a refugee centre and there are currently 75 refugees staying there.

Thank you very much for your continued support during these difficult times.

Some of our partner organisations have returned to running the same projects and programmes that they did before the pandemic, following all new health and safety protocols. For example, New Life's school in Ghana has been continuing with its great work. We are glad that CHW's supporters recently made it possible for the school to have some new lockers, as storage space was needed.

Some of the older teenagers who grew up at New Life are also hoping to either start or continue with their studies in the next academic year. The courses they are interested in taking include teaching, nursing, tourism management and estimation and quantity surveying. A big thank you to all who have previously supported students at New Life! Being able to study is a life-changing opportunity for a young person.

Thank you for being part of CHW and for making an impact for the children, young people and families at the projects.

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With thanks to Anne at The Future Factory, Derrick at New Life and Jan at Casa Mea for the photos included with this report.

Links:

• Video from FAST in Romania

Links:

• Our Christmas Greeting

Thank you very much for your help and support for the children at our projects.

Times continue to be complicated as the countries where we work are all at different stages with their lockdowns and with the waves of the pandemic. The economic impact of the lockdowns is still being felt around the world and we are truly grateful to each of you, for carrying on with your support for the children and young people at our projects.

Out of the few main needs we have seen since the pandemic started, this update will focus on the following two:

1. Extra assistance for organisations offering a home and shelter to children;

2. Programmes set up during the lockdowns to assist with food and other basic needs.

With the first type of project, the needs of the children have either remained the same, or have increased during the pandemic, but it has been harder to find support, given all the challenges.

We are thankful that your help has made it possible to support two such organisations in Argentina and Romania.

In Argentina, we work with a centre which temporarily houses children aged 0 to 5, who have been removed from their families due to abuse or neglect. The babies and children are given special care and attention during their time at the centre. With your help, it has been possible to sponsor a caregiver to work with the children throughout the pandemic. You have also made it possible to sponsor treatment needed for a five-year-old boy.

Natalia, who works at the centre, said "Once again, we appreciate your help which is very valuable and essential to continue carrying out our work with the children."

Whilst we are hoping it will be possible to continue to serve the babies and children in this way, there is another project underway at the centre. Work is being done to expand the building, to be able to cater for more children and to have better spaces for therapy, play and early stimulation activities. This will be a big project but very worthwhile! If anyone would like to partner, either with us or directly with the centre in Argentina, to help with the funding of the centre's expansion, we would love to hear from you!

We are also extremely grateful that, with your support, it was possible to again sponsor some of the running costs at Casa Mea's home in Romania. Casa Mea gives a warm, loving, family-style home to children and teenagers who, for various reasons, are unable to live with their families.

Felicia, the manager at Casa Mea said "Thank you... for all the effort you put into helping us."

As well as helping with existing projects like the ones above, your support has also been making a difference at programmes that were set up in response to desperate needs caused by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

We want to thank you for also helping The Future Factory in South Africa, which is involved with a programme giving children and families hot food. The food is given out in disadvantaged areas of Cape Town. Times were especially complicated in parts of South Africa recently, due to unrest, whilst the country was already dealing with the third wave of Covid.

Anne, the founder of The Future Factory said, "We are doing our best. It has been tough as Covid is just growing still and it seems like it is not about to change at all, be we are thankful for you [Children's Helpers Worldwide's supporters]... as we can still make a difference daily."

Thank you very much for your kind contributions that you made through this project page. Your donations are always allocated to where they are most needed. CHW is a small charity and it is only with your support that it is possible to continue serving the children and youth at the projects. Thank you for making this happen!

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With thanks to Anne, Natalia, Felicia and Jan and for these photos from our partner organisations.