ourhero

Autumn Newsletter 2012 Issue 3

Youre transforming young lives

Urgent
Young mothers in Liberia need your help

AppeAl

Inside...

Thanks to you: Cambodias street children are still smiling

Terry Waites note from Palestine

Hello and welcome

Each edition of our hero gives us the chance to reflect on what you and Y Care International are achieving together. All of the articles confirm just how empowering your gifts are for children and young people in the poorest parts of the world. In this edition, we report on the Cambodia Street Childrens Project which has been saved from closure, thanks to the amazingly generous response to our appeal in February. This is fantastic news for the hundreds of street children who are able to continue getting an education and learning vital life skills thanks to you. It is a shining example of how your gifts have the power to reach out to vulnerable young people and help them achieve lasting change in their lives. With this inspiring thought in mind, can I draw your attention to our special appeal on page 5-6 of your newsletter? The Youth Livelihoods Project in Liberia is doing amazing work to help young mothers learn a trade so they can earn a living for themselves and their children. Yet for every young woman that this project helps, there is another who is desperate for the chance to change her life - and we simply have to be there for them. If you can, please support this appeal today. With your help, we can offer more young women the training and tools they need to work their way out of poverty and bring hope to the next generation. Thank you for your continuing kindness.

contents

3-4. Cambodia 5-6. Liberia

Youre a hero to so many

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Project saved

Thanks to you, Thomas no longer lives on the streets ins tead hes passing his exams with flying colours.

urgent appeal

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In countries disrupted by disaster, such as Haiti, you are helping children like Christelle go back to school.

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7. Waite Terry

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A note from Palestine

Terry Waite CBE President, Y Care International

8. Harrison Lizz
An interview

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Youre changing lives in Africa

9-10. world Around the

Changing young lives

10,000 449
people
In two slum areas of Freetown, Sierra Leone, 10,000 people now have new water points and latrines.

young people children

1,350
In Zambia 1,350 street children and young people are taking part in peer education and recreational activities.

In Madagascar 449 young people have completed vocational training courses.

Names and details have been changed to protect the identities of the young people and families we help.

www.ycareinternational.org

Smiles
T
hanks to your support, our Street Childrens Project in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is still running. In fact, everyone who gave so generously to our appeal last February helped us raise 110,000 to help life-changing projects like this continue. Cambodia is recovering from nearly three decades of conflict. More than 20 per cent of under 17s, some as young as seven, work as child labourers. Many live and work on the streets and suffer from hunger, violence and sickness. They are easy prey for the sex traffickers and criminal gangs that haunt Phnom Penhs slums. The Street Childrens Project, run by the local YMCA, has been a vital lifeline for these vulnerable children: offering them a chance to escape the dangers they face and attend classes in reading, writing, Khmer, English and Maths with the long term aim of helping them get back in to school. Akin, 11, and his big sister, Dara, 13, are just two of the 70 children who are thriving because of this project. Despite missing out on the early years of their education, both are keen students and really enjoy their classes. In fact, Dara is top of her class! Yet their story could easily have been so different. Childrens Project from permanently closing. If this had happened, Akin and Dara would have had to return to a life of hunger, danger and misery. Before they started at the YMCA, Dara and Akin worked all day washing clothes for a few coins and survived on prahok soup hot water flavoured with fish paste that provides almost no nourishment at all. They were at risk of violence, drug use, rape and even sex trafficking and slavery. In fact, Dara had narrowly escaped being kidnapped by a gang of sex traffickers. To have suddenly had to abandon their hopes of a better future and return to this terrible life would have been crushing. But thanks to you, Akin and Dara havent had to face this nightmare.

on the streets
Case study

Your gifts have kept the vital Cambodian project for street children running for another year

Cambodian facts:
Capital: Phnom Penh Population: over 14.8 million Main religion: Theravada Buddhism Average Annual Income: $650 Poverty: 28.3% of the population live on less than $1.25 each day Language: Khmer

Just 12 months ago, the future of children like Akin and Dara was at risk
Y Care International urgently needed extra funds to prevent the Street

Youre a hero to Akin and Dara Akin: My name is Akin. I am 11 years old. I am the youngest. I like being the youngest because my brothers and sisters look after me. We have a lot of fun together and we play together. I like reading and playing games at the YMCA. The teacher here really helps us learn a lot and I want to be an English translator. Dara: My name is Dara. I am 13 years old. I like reading and writing letters and playing games at the YMCA. I have lunch at the YMCA. We sometimes eat rice, soup, fried prawn and fish. I like the YMCA because my teacher explains things clearly so I can gain good knowledge. My life is so different now that I have come to the YMCA.

the YMCA because when I come here to study I learn a lotI want to be
Akin

My life is different now that I have come to

Your amazing response has kept childrens dreams alive!

By saving this vital project, you have ensured street children like Akin and Dara still have a special place in their community where they can escape danger, get a good nutritious meal and find the education and support they desperately need to make a better life for themselves: 70 street children each year will continue to learn, eat and receive support at the Phnom Penh YMCA 50 street children each year will be helped to return to school 1,200 street children will benefit from education on issues such as rape, hIV/AIDS and drugs

20%

of children aged 17 or under work as child labourers

an English translator.

250,000

children forced into slavery and prostitution

Thank you!

www.ycareinternational.org

 OUR HERO FUNDRAISING APPEAL

Livelihoods in
T

liberia
Now Dabieh has been training in catering for over a year and will graduate soon. She has been learning how to cook all kinds of mouth-watering dishes: meat pies, different breads, biscuits and cakes. She has also learned other vital life skills like kitchen hygiene, literacy and numeracy. For the first time in her life, Dabieh is hopeful about her future. She now has the catering skills to get a job or set up her own business. She will be able to earn a living and put food on the table. She will even be able to save a little so she can send her son to school and ensure he gets the education that she missed out on.

Young mothers urgently need your help

oday you can help the Youth Livelihoods Project empower more of Liberias young women to learn a trade, transforming lives - and whole communities. This vital project is currently able to offer vocational training to young women. Yet for every young mother learning a trade like baking, sewing or cooking, there is another who is desperate for the chance to provide a better future for herself and her children. By supporting this appeal today, you could give more young mothers the one thing they are hoping for: an opportunity to learn a life-changing new skill and create lasting change in their communities.

When I graduate, Ill start my own business selling bread. Ill be able to finish my and pay for him to go to school. Dabieh house, care for my baby

Young mothers in Liberia are living in terrible poverty

Your gift can give a young mother a new skill and a new start in life

10.60 could help one

After a decade of violent civil war, many young women and their children are living in extreme poverty. The war tore their families apart and robbed them of the chance to get an education. As a result many simply dont have the means to earn a living or little hope of building a better future for their children.

Please help us ensure more young women like Dabieh get the chance to change their lives
Its fantastic that Dabieh and her son are looking forward to a much brighter future, yet Y Care International urgently needs your help to ensure this project continues to offer young women lifechanging training. Please will you support our appeal on behalf of young mothers like Dabieh so we can give them the chance to learn a trade? Your gift can help them free themselves from poverty and provide their children with opportunities they never had.

young woman to begin her first months training in a trade like catering or tailoring which will enable her to find work or set up her own business.

In this desperate situation, the Youth Livelihoods Project has been a lifeline for young mothers like Dabieh
Dabiehs story is typical of the vulnerable young women the project helps to learn trades such as catering and tailoring. She is 20 years old, with a two month old little boy, and lives with her

parents and four nephews. her father is disabled and, with so many mouths to feed, the family has always struggled. They can only afford to eat once a day and when Dabiehs son gets sick they have no money for medicine.

Dabieh is now working for a better future for herself and her son
When Dabiehs father heard about the vocational training available at the YMCA, he encouraged his daughter to apply for a place.

57.39 could give a

catering starter kit to one young mother like Dabieh. The kit includes cooking pots, spoons, plates, dishes, knives and other equipment theyll need to start up their own business.

Without you young women could miss their chance to learn life-changing skills.

rs g mothe re youn ing mo you e in giv Thank e join m Pleas ir lives. e the o chang hance t a c , indness r your k fo

to give a gift now please complete the donation form enclosed, or call 020 7549 3175 or visit www.ycareinternational.org/appeal

A note from

palestine

Meet Lizz Harrison

Find out how your support is helping Y Care International staff work with street children and young people around the world.
Q: Lizz, what is your role at Y Care International?
A: Many Y Care International projects are based in communities which are vulnerable to earthquakes, floods, droughts, cyclones and storms. My job is to support YMCA and other overseas partners to reduce the risk of these disasters and plan how to respond when they occur. our main aim is to lessen their impact on the vulnerable young people and communities were working with. carpentry and masonry so they can earn an income or set up their own business. I was particularly struck by the story of Sage, a young man who lost his parents in the earthquake and

In October 2011 I went to Palestine to visit one of our star projects: a training centre in Jericho where your gifts are helping young people create livelihoods for themselves and others in their communities.
I travelled down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho which, of course, is the scene for the story of the good Samaritan. It was apt that this famous parable was in my thoughts as I reached the centre. In many ways supporters like you are the kind strangers reaching out a hand of friendship to young people, when so many others just pass them by. Many of the students I met come from impoverished families throughout the West Bank and its overcrowded refugee camps. These young men and women would normally be on the streets and have very little chance to improve their lives. They could have all too easily become involved in the violence that continues to destroy so many young lives in this conflict-torn part of the world. Yet at the Jericho centre, I saw these young people working hard: training to become car mechanics and carpenters, perfecting their skills as graphic designers, painters and computer experts. I find it very inspiring to think that you and I are supporting such a unique and life-changing place that is offering young people in Palestine hope and opportunity. Sometimes it feels like all we ever hear about is news of the ongoing violence and religious and political tensions. Well I hope I have given you a glimpse of a different, better Palestine where you are helping young people not only change their lives but rebuild their communities, and work for a better tomorrow. Thank you so much.

Profile:
Name: Lizz harrison Job: Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergencies Advisor

The skills and enthusiasm of the students were outstanding. Here, I am watching a young mechanic refurbishing a car.

Q: Can you share any examples of your work with supporters?

A: Just recently Ive been back to haiti where 220,000 people died when an earthquake struck in 2010. With the help of our supporters, weve been working with a local partner in Port au Prince, running a project called the haiti Emergency Youth Livelihood Response Programme or hERo. The project is helping over 300 young people rebuild their lives. It provides vocational training in tiling, plumbing,

per cent of those were people living in the developing world where poverty, poor housing and lack of healthcare made them especially vulnerable. Were working on a local level to reduce their vulnerability. For example, in flood prone areas of Sierra Leone, YMCA staff have just completed training on disaster management, First Aid and awareness raising of disaster risks with local people. is now supporting his younger brother and sister. Sage is learning how to tile and taking reading and writing classes. he is passing on everything he learns to his siblings. Sage hopes to find a job when he finishes the course.

Q: Why do you love working for Y Care International?

A: I love working at Y Care International because young people are the future, and supporting them to improve their lives and learn skills to support themselves and their peers is so important. Visiting the projects we implement and the young people that our generous supporters are helping us to assist always makes me feel really proud.

Q: How important is Disaster Risk Reduction to the communities we work in?

A: Very! Since 1992, 1.3 million people have been killed by disasters and 90

Young men learning electrical/computer skills in the workshop at Jericho.

Lizz! Thank you

What youve helped to achieve so far

518 young men and women have been trained in skills such as metal work, mechanics, painting, carpentry and graphic design 80 per cent of graduates find work within six months of graduating enabling them to support themselves and their families

www.ycareinternational.org

Youre changing young lives around the world

Sierra Leone
In one of Africas poorest countries your gifts are supporting a project which is giving vulnerable, poor young people, particularly women, the opportunity to learn trades such as catering and tailoring. Equipped with these skills, these young people can earn a living and lift their families out of poverty.

Palestine
Your donations are enabling children and young people to access training and education at the Jericho vocational training centre, giving them a chance to gain skills that will enable them to find work and set up businesses of their own.

Cambodia
The generous response of supporters to our February appeal has saved the Street Childrens Project in Phnom Penh from closure by raising 110,000. This means the project can keep running for at least another year.

Haiti
It is two years since the devastating earthquake hit Port au Prince in haiti where over 220,000 people died and more than one million were made homeless. With your support, Y Care International has been supporting vulnerable young people to learn the skills needed to access jobs and rebuild their lives.

Zambia
With your help the YMCA in Lusaka, Zambias capital, is running the Street Childrens and Young Persons Project: reaching out to homeless children as young as eight with home cooked food, warm clothes and a chance to get an education. This project is supporting 600 street children and young people every year.

Donate

Please be a hero today

get involved

Your gifts make such a difference to children and young people battling poverty, hunger and exploitation all over the world.

Please continue to be their hero and give what you can on the enclosed donation form.
Alternatively, call 020 7549 3175 or visit www.ycareinternational.org/appeal

Another way to give your support is to fundraise with family and friends. Whether you choose to hold a coffee morning or do a sponsored run, its easy to do by setting up your own fundraising page on JustGiving (www.justgiving.com) or VirginMoneyGiving (www.virginmoneygiving.com). Friends and family can donate securely online and the money goes straight to Y Care International. So why not start fundraising with your friends today?

Fundraise with friends

www.ycareinternational.org

10

leave a gift. Give a future.

With a gift in your Will, you can help young people like Makenna change their lives forever.
Makenna and her six year old son Samuel are looking forward to a brighter future for the first time in their lives, and its thanks to gifts left by supporters in their Wills. Makenna, 20, lives in Sierra Leone. up until the moment she heard about the YMCA, life had been a desperate struggle for survival. Makennas parents died in the civil war when she was young and growing up she never had the chance to go to school. Then when her son Samuel was born, life became even tougher. often, there wasnt enough money for food Makenna was forced into prostitution just so her son could eat a few mouthfuls of rice each day. Then Makenna heard about the vocational training offered by the YMCA and she has never looked back 12 months of hard work later and Makenna is a fully trained hairdresser. Now she can earn money for food and send Samuel to school. You may not have realised that gifts in Wills make a significant contribution to our work to help young people like Makenna. These special gifts give young people the long-term support they need to put a life of poverty behind them and turn their hopes for a better future into a reality. Could you help another young person like Makenna change their life forever by leaving a gift to Y Care International in your Will? Gifts both large and small can make a life-changing difference.

To find out more about leaving a gift to Y Care International in your Will, please call Amy Russell on 020 7549 3157 or email her in confidence at Amy.Russell@ycareinternational.org

Y Care International is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales Registration No. 3997006. Registered Charity No. 1109789. Registered office: Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NP