Freedom to Flourish Fall Fundraiser Recap
This year we decided our theme would be “Freedom to Flourish”. As a board, we see CHILD’s role as something like fertilizer. When there is a garden that has seeds, rain, and sun, but the soil is lacking nutrients, it will be extremely difficult for plants to grow. By adding some fertilizer, those plants are given a favourable environment where it’s much easier for them to thrive. They are given the freedom to flourish.
Similarly, hundreds and even thousands of people have been given some “fertilizer” thanks to the generosity of our donors this year!
Take a look below at the presentations from the fundraiser to see how CHILD has provided communities the freedom to flourish over the last year.
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Haiti - Haiti Children's Home Nutrition Program
South Africa - SAHARA
Presented by Estelle Reuter, CHILD Executive Director
It was a privilege for Gerhard and myself to visit the SAHARA project in the town of George, SA in November 2022. SAHARA is short for Smoking and Alcohol Harm Reduction and Rehabilitation Association. SAHARA has 2 main focuses: 1) To prevent harmful substance use in youth, and 2) To help people with addictions. On our visit we met Amos, a recovered alcoholic. He told us that his conscience was bothering him as his children were crying from hunger, as he used his salary for binge drinking on weekends. Through a support group and medication from SAHARA, he stopped drinking and now his kids could eat. As a result, he got a job as the gardener at the science centre. He also took on the role as parent representative on the SAHARA board. |
Amos lives in Thembaletu, a very poor slum of George.
Substance use of nicotine, cannabis, alcohol, crystal meth and heroin are prevalent. Illegal taverns spring up everywhere, even close to schools, so alcohol and drugs are readily available to kids. The shanties are tiny and as there are almost no after school activities, children are on the street and easy prey to gangsters and drug pushers. Violence, murder, and the abuse of women and children are the order of the day. Police are corrupt, so all in all a dangerous situation. • 70% of crimes in South African communities are linked to harmful substance use. • 67% of domestic violence is alcohol related. |
SAHARA was started by a physician who the Xhosas call Dr. Themba, which means "Hope". Dr. Themba is passionate to help people with addictions as well as set structures in place to prevent youth from falling into harmful substance use but instead provide opportunities for youth to grow up in a healthy environment and live life with purpose.
SAHARA is evidence based and works on a bio-psycho-social-spiritual model. The team consists of a physician, social workers, behavior change counselors, youth organizers, a spiritual counselor and recently a program manager, who is sponsored by CHILD. SAHARA has collaborated with the city council of George, the department of Health and Education and various churches to implement a program called Planet Youth. |
Planet Youth started in Iceland and has been successful in reducing the rates of underage drinking from 45% to 5% in 17 years. Planet Youth promotes healthy family life by educating about the importance of regular family dinners and curfews for kids. It provides purposeful opportunities for youth to either lead or get engaged in extracurricular activities like sports, music, art or chess as a means to reduce harmful substance use and to help communities flourish.
Planet Youth in George is a pilot project for all of Africa and if successful, has potential to be implemented by governments in other slums in South Africa and beyond. Interestingly it is also implemented in some communities in Ontario, Calgary and Winnipeg. |
The second focus of SAHARA is helping people with addictions rehabilitate.
Research shows that adding medications to counseling and support groups increases positive outcomes by 50%. CHILD has had an important role in providing funds for medications for SAHARA as the South African government does not pay for them. The results are encouraging. We met Sivanati in a SAHARA support group for substance abuse. We interviewed him on video and here is a summary of his words. |
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My name is Sivanati.
I used to smoke ganja (a potent form of cannabis) and drink alcohol. Then I joined the SAHARA group, and I started taking the medications and the chewing gums and I stopped smoking ganja and drinking. The medications are good for the body and good for the mind and good for everyone. I did not have a job but now I have a job. I am a driver. I have gained weight. I now communicate with my mother and my sister. I do not fight anymore; I visit my mother and my sister. SAHARA has helped me a lot through the group and the medication. |
Like Sivanati many people have found jobs after joining a support group and got treated by medication.
Sivanati renamed Gerhard and myself, who represented CHILD, as Sakhele and Nosakhele, which means "Built" and "Build for Us". These names are acknowledging that CHILD has built a foundation for his people, and he is asking us to continue to provide the building blocks in the form of medication for the future, so they can be free of addictions and flourish as a community. We ask you to help him and us to make this wish come true! |
India - Metropolitan Mission
Presented by Annemarie Doell, CHILD Vice President
Now I’m going to give you some highlights from the work CHILD has funded at Metropolitan Mission this last year. There are so many programs that I won’t have time to run through them all, so for a more comprehensive review, please take a look at our annual report which has all the details. So, Metropolitan Mission is based in the province of Andhra Pradesh in south-western India. The majority of CHILD’s funding goes towards running the MM children’s home and school. One significant purchase from last year's fundraiser was a new school bus. The MM school now serves 220 children from 11 villages. Both this new bus and the other bus and rickshaw funded by CHILD are busy picking up all these kids to get them to school. |
And what would they do at school if there were no teachers? This past year CHILD was able to fully fund all the teachers’ salaries for the MM school. Inflation has not only been an issue in Canada, but also in India. MM wants to pay their teachers a living wage, but it has been difficult with rising costs. With your help, they were able to support the teachers and their families with a good wage and even a Christmas bonus.
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Additionally, CHILD provided school uniforms and textbooks, enabling families who couldn't afford these expenses to send their children to school prepared to learn.
The MM school plays a critical role in helping the community prosper by offering affordable, high-quality education in Telegu and English. Many children now have the opportunity to pursue secondary education, as universities in India only teach in English. MM also puts a special emphasis on educating girls, because not only does it keep them safe from being trafficked, but educated girls who eventually become mothers educate the entire family and keep them out of abject poverty. |
Harsha is the smiling girl in the second row!
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Take Harsha for example. When some of the directors of CHILD visited India, they met children like Harsha. Harsha was a 6 year old Dalit girl who lived in a one room mud hut in a village in India. Harsha’s father died when she was 2 years old, leaving her, her sister and her mother to fend for themselves. Her mother, an illiterate day laborer, earned less than $3 a day and couldn't afford the necessary school supplies for her children. However, attending the MM school transformed Harsha's life, as it does for many children like her.
Very poor families can send their children to MM school for as much as they are able to pay, which is sometimes nothing, and this is only possible through your support for teachers salaries, school uniforms, and textbooks. And so many children would have no way to get to school if not for the buses CHILD has provided. Your support gives hope to children like Harsha, enabling them to break the cycle of poverty by being the first in their family to secure a well-paying job or pursue higher education. |
In addition to providing food for the MM Children’s Home, CHILD has also been funding a breakfast program at a school in the slums of Hyderabad. Volunteers provide an egg and a cup of milk to 70 elementary school kids six mornings a week. Once a week they also receive their favourite treat, fruit!
Of the 70 children, 30 come to school with an empty stomach. But now that the kids are eating regular breakfasts, teachers have noticed they are much more energetic, attentive to their studies, and overall healthier. One unexpected benefit is that the children want to come to school specifically because they get breakfast. Both nutrition and education are improved through this incredible program! Of course this is only a snapshot of all that’s going on at MM, but I hope it encourages those of you who donated last year and were a critical part of making all of this happen. And for newcomers, I hope this inspires you to take part in this positive change tonight. |