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Sarah Moran, Loreto Wexford
Dublin, November 24th, 2017: Brian Mac Neill
A little while ago we told you about a fundraising drive by a remarkable and determined young woman, Sarah Moran, a student at Loreto in Wexford (http://www.childfund.ie/dream-bike-fundraiser/)
Sarah was inspired to raise money for ChildFund having watched RTE’s Nationwide Ethiopia Special featuring our ambassadors Ann Cassin, Aoife Murray, and of course the inimitable Mags D’Arcy, a bona fide sporting icon in Wexford, rightly admired for her numerous achievements, and a huge role model for girls and young women in particular. How fitting then that Mags will be on hand to receive a fundraising cheque for €844 – the product of all Sarah’s hard work and determination. Mags and our Chief Executive Officer Michael Kiely will be visiting Loreto in Wexford on Tuesday 5th December to thank Sarah in person and acknowledge her fantastic effort.
Sarah hopes to carve out a career as a primary school teacher. Access to education and giving young women the means to determine their own future is something close to her heart. The money she has helped to raise will provide more bikes to girls in the developing world, enabling them to get to school regularly, avoiding exhausting walks of many kilometres on foot each day, and helping to provide them with the kind of access to education that we in the more developed parts of the world take for granted, and which every girl deserves. Sarah, and those who have supported her campaign, including Irish Ferries who graciously donated vouchers for the raffle, can feel hugely proud of themselves. Their act of generosity and solidarity will have positive ripple effects that are likely to resound well into the future for the vulnerable girls they have helped to assist.
We would like to once again thank Sarah Moran, everyone who supported the raffle, Irish Ferries for getting behind it, and all the staff and pupils (and parents) at Loreto Wexford for facilitating this most worthy fundraising initiative. We would also like to thank Mags D’Acry for once again taking time out of her busy schedule to help support our Dream Bike campaign, something that she is passionate about and which is close to her heart.
Mags D’Arcy with some budding camogie stars on her 2016 visit to Ethiopia with ChildFund to mark the handover of the first batch of ‘Dream Bikes’.
Finally, It would be remiss of us if we failed to mention the historic achievement of St Martins (Camogie) Club Wexford, Mag’s hometown club, founded by her own grandfather no less!, who recently won the country final for the very first time. Hearty congratulations to St Martin’s from everyone at ChildFund on this fantastic achievement.
Support our Dream Bike campaign today. It takes just €100 to buy a bike and change a life
Go raibh maith agat
ChildFund’s Programme Coordinator Clodagh Byrne at the BOISTWF event – Dublin: Oct 17th, 2017
Dublin, Oct 17th, 2017: Brian Mac Neill
It was a beautifully crisp and sunny autumnal morning in Dublin’s Grand Canal district as the city got back to normal following Hurricane Ophelia’s passing. ChildFund was delighted to support our partner, Bank of Ireland Staff Third World Fund (BOISTWF), in a an awareness raising event at the banks impressive Grand Canal offices. The Fund is essentially a charity that is supported by staff donations, and which in turns helps fund the work of NGO’s in the field like ChildFund. Our partnership with BOISTWF dates back nine years. In that time the Fund has supported more than 30 of our projects across 7 countries. Thanks to the generosity of Bank of Ireland staff, more than 300,000 people have directly benefited, and many more indirectly. It was an honour therefore to help BOISTWF generate awareness among staff and to help them to see the amazing difference their support can make.
The gathering was addressed by our CEO Michael Kiely
Bank of Ireland staff hear how their contribution helps change lives in the developing world
ChildFund’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Kiely, speaking at the event, which was attended by Bank Of Ireland’s new CEO Francesca McDonagh, emphasised the global scope of ChildFunds work to help children through our international network ChildFund Alliance, and the sheer life-changing significance of giving a little those who live in impoverished rural communities in the developing world;
“for people who support the Fund or are thinking of supporting it, I want to say simply this; it is impossible to overstate the impact your support can have on the lives of people who have so very little. It is only really when you go and visit impoverished communities in places like Ethiopia or Uganda, and see the impact even relatively small amounts of money can have on people’s lives, that you can truly understand the impact of your generosity. Quite simply, it is life-changing”.
He added:
“thanks to the generous support of Bank of Ireland staff, we have been able to assist children and their families in countless ways that have helped make a huge difference to their lives. I want you to really think about the value and nobility of contributing to the Third World Fund”.
It was a fantastic opportunity to meet and speak with staff, and to raise awareness about our vital programme work overseas. ChildFund Ireland would like to sincerely thank Una and Nick from the BOISTWF for inviting us to support the event and promote the Fund to staff. We would also like to thank Fintan and Ronan from Bank of Ireland for their generous assistance and hospitality on the day.
ChildFund Ireland
Shakuntala is an 8th grade student and sponsored child, who raised herself from illiteracy and child labour with the help of ChildFund India project – Disha in Firozabad.
Dublin, October 5th, 2017: ChildFund India (edited by Brian Mac Neill)
Shakuntala is an 8th grade student who lives in Firozabad city of Uttar Pradesh – popularly known as, City of Bangles for the glass bangle industry it houses. She was just seven years old when she had to join her parents in bangle making work to help them earn additional income for the family. But things started to change when Shakuntala was enrolled under Childfund India’s remedial classes, where she was encouraged to study and introduced to various child protection issues. There she started attending training’s and workshops conducted by Childfund. She joined the Children’s Club and rose to become its president. She stopped working as a labourer and took upon herself to encourage other children to do the same. Shakuntala formed a group that visits at least 10 households in their area daily, to sensitise them on issues of child protection, immunisation and hygiene.
Last year, the group was able to help 12 children enrol in school. This year, they have a list of another 14 children. She led a rally on prohibition of child labour which was organized in eight slums of Firozabad, where Childfund works. All Children’s Club members from the areas participated in the rally. Today Shakuntala has emerged as an inspiration for other children in her community. Under her leadership, the Children’s Club has helped the municipality of Firozabad to resolve several community development issues. Because of their efforts, their area is one of the cleanest slums in Firozabad.
“i want our club to work harder and make child labour history, while addressing other community based issues too,” Shakuntala says. “We will keep on organising rallies to spread the message and ensure that children do not get trapped in labour but are free to focus on their studies.”
Shakuntala (second from left) escaped a future of child labour and has became a leader in her community.
Representing ChildFund at the UN General Assembly in New York: September 2017; Left to right: Anne Goddard, Meg Gardinier, Patrick Canagasingham, Antonia Antonopoulos & Sonia Bozzi
Dublin, September 29th, 2017: Meg Gardinier (edit. Brian Mac Neill)
The month of September has been particularly productive one for the work of the Alliance. ChildFund convened a luncheon briefing on Child-friendly Accountability during the time of the High-Level segment of the UN General Assembly in New York (18-29 September). CEOs from five of the child-focused agencies – including ChildFund – met with UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake on 18 September to advise him of the major outcomes for our Bellagio Conference – Joining Forces for Children. Follow-up meetings on the same were held in New York at which Patrick Canagasingham, CEO of Christian ChildFund of Canada (CCFC) participated, given his lead role.
We were delighted to have Sonia Bozzi, from ChildFund Mexico visit us in New York. Sonia was one of the presenters at our luncheon briefing along with Anne Goddard from ChildFund International. We also had the opportunity to address the UNICEF Executive Board on our key activities and participate in a series of sessions on child rights issues organized by UNICEF and partners.
Our thoughts at this time remain with colleagues living in countries impacted by natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies – our work on behalf of children is more urgent than ever.
Thank you
Meg Gardinier,Secretary General, ChildFund Alliance
The quake struck close to Mexico City, in the Provence of Puebla. Source: USGS
Dublin, September 21st, 2017: ChildFund International (Edited Brian Mac Neill)
The people of Mexico will never forget the violent 1985 earthquake that wrought enormous human and infrastructural damage on the country, particularly in Mexico City itself. Countless buildings collapsed and thousands perished. The trauma of that event still lives large in the memory of the Nation. Astonishingly, with the kind of cruel irony that only nature can serve up, Tuesdays earthquake struck the country on the 32nd anniversary of that fateful day. Earthquake simulation exercises (one of legacies of the 1985 disaster) were held just a couple of hours before the real deal arrived. No wonder then that people were shocked, terrified and stunned by the sequence of events – but also ready to act immediately, which undoubted saved lives. So far approximately 230 people are confirmed dead, including the tragic loss of around 20 children who died when their school building collapsed upon them. Rescue efforts are now being focused on removing the rubble from the school as quickly as possible, to reach the children still trapped inside http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41343244
ChildFund colleagues in Mexico have provided a report describing how the day’s events unfolded there;
A 7.1 earthquake with its epicentre in Rabosa, Puebla, hit the country on Tuesday Dept. 19th at 13:14 local time. Due to its proximity to Mexico City, it was felt in most of the city and the damages are significant, also in the nearby States of Puebla and Morelos, and to a lesser extension in the State of Oaxaca who had already been affected by a 8.2 earthquake on September 8th. Most of the staff was present in our National office as it was during working hours. We had a simulation exercise at 11:00 am to commemorate the 1985 big earthquake so fortunately people had very fresh information about the security areas within the office and the evacuation protocol.
As the epicentre was located in Puebla, the early warning system didn’t activate in a preventative manner but the city alarms started ringing as soon as the first movements were perceived. The staff waited in their security area until the movement stopped and then evacuated the building. We took shelter in a nearby park which is the safest area around our office. After a while two members of staff were allowed to enter the building to gather all of the staff’s bags and purses and everybody was sent home until further notification. Our building shows some cracks, in the stairs between ground and first floor, and in our floor, in one of the side walls. The building administrator reviewed the load-bearing walls and columns and said he didn’t notice anything alarming, but an official civil protection inspector is expected to visit the building to dictate whether it is safe to use. So until we are informed of the outcomes of this visit, we are maintaining all staff members at home, to avoid risks, and also because the transportation system has been affected and the streets must be left primarily to the ambulances, army and rescuers’ access.
In Mexico City the most affected neighbourhoods are the ones in the center and south-center of the city. Until now, 40 buildings collapsed and many more are at risk according to Mexico City’s mayor, Miguel Angel Mancera, and 24 are about to collapse in the central area of the city. Rescuers are still working to save people trapped in the debris. The Ministry of Public Education (SEP) decreed that all schools in Mexico City, Puebla, Morelos, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Mexico, Hidalgo and Michoacán should be suspended from classes today. Likewise, the institution reported that in Mexico City, 209 affected schools are counted, in a preliminary way, 15 with major damages.
Our local partners in programme areas haven’t provided us with any worrying information, and everybody seems to be ok. This morning we received notification of some cracks in buildings that should be checked by Civil Protection authorities in the northern part of Oaxaca State, adjacent with Puebla, another in which the roads and bridges are closed until official inspection is Tonala, in the same region. In the northern part of Puebla State they felt the earthquake but haven’t reported any damage besides the fright. ChildFund will continue to monitor the office building situation with the building administrator and local authorities, and monitor the local partners until we are confirmed that all their staff, communities and enrolled children are accounted for. ChildFund’s National Office manager and Child Protection Officer are evaluating the possibility of a support intervention in Mexico City, directed to children (safe spaces) and in coordination with the other NGOs
We will provide you with further updates from Mexico as they arise.
Thank you
Sarah Moran Loreto Wexford
Dublin, 19th September 2017: Deirdre Regan
Sarah Moran is running a raffle in the school for the Dream Bike Initiative, having being inspired by the Nationwide programme featuring ChildFund’s trip to Ethiopia with two of the ChildFund Camogie ambassadors and intercounty camogie stars Mag’s Darcy (Wexford) and Aoife Murray (Cork) and Nationwide’s Ann Cassin, which aired last year .
This is not the first time that Sarah Moran has raised money for the Dream Bike initiative. Last year having seen the Nationwide programme and despite her very busy schedule in Transition year she painstakingly produced a range of handmade Christmas cards. They sold extremely well and when you see the samples you will see just why. All proceeds from the sale of the cards went to ChildFund Dream Bike initiative. The school also recognised her with a mini enterprise award for this initiative.
One of the people to receive a handmade card was a senior manager from Irish Ferries who was so impressed by Sarah’s idea of raising money to support girls continue their education that he pledged the first gift of travel vouchers for a raffle in aid of the Dream Bike Initiative.
So this year again Sarah set to work to raise funds and awareness for this cause, that is close to her heart, empowering women and giving them equal opportunities and access to education by organising this raffle to be held at the end of September . Sarah recognises the importance of education and she herself, hopes to pursue a career as a primary school teacher.
Prizes for this raffle include Travel vouchers from Irish Ferries, a GHD hair straightener and a hamper.
She is currently selling tickets at the school.
Or if you would like to donate to the Dream Bke initiative please go to http://www.childfund.ie/get-involved/make-a-donation/ and please reference Sarah Moran
Sarah Moran 5th year student Loreto School Wexford.
We will keep you posted on her progress
Thank you Sarah for all your hard work from all at ChildFund
Girls from ChildFund Pass it Back present Belfast Lord Mayor Nuala McAllister with a jersey and card, accompanied by ChildFund Ireland CEO Michael Kiely. Photo credit: Brian Mac Neill
Belfast, August 21st 2017: Brian Mac Neill
On the eve of the first semi-final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017, Asian girls from the ChildFund Pass it Back programme took part in games of tag rugby with local girls, and members of Peace Players Northern Ireland. The matches represented just one element in a day of sport, laughter and learning designed to bring communities from different parts of the world together, and to demonstrate why sport is such a powerful, universal tool for breaking down barriers.
The ChildFund Pass it Back girls travelled all the way from Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines to take part in the event, organised as part of of festivities around the Women’s Rugby World Cup, and to support World Rugby’s legacy programme, ‘IMPACT Beyond 2017’. The event was attended by Ian Mcilrath (Vice President), and Michael Cunningham representing the IRFU. ChildFund Pass It Back is supported by world Rugby, Asia Rugby and Women win. The Irish government supported the event in Belfast as a demonstration of its commitment to international development work, and indeed the work of Irish Aid which supports many global development initiatives right across the planet, including programmes run by ChildFund Ireland in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Uganda.
The Lord Mayor of Belfast Nuala McAllister was on hand to lend her support for the event, giving graciously of her time to talk to girls from the programme and hear just what their visit to Belfast means to them. For all of the girls, it was their first ever time on an airplane, much less in another land far from home!
ChildFund Ireland CEO Michael Kiely poses with players from the ChildFund Pass It Back Cup. Photo Credit: Brian Mac Neill
After demonstrating their rugby skills in a series of tag-matches with local girls, we broke for lunch. Afterwards the girls began the second phase of the day, and for local girls participating this meant exposure to the integrated life-skills component of Pass It Back which uses rugby exercises to explore emotions and thoughts, exploring issues of power and agency such as bullying. The sessions encourage participants to reflect on their real life experiences, and underscores the value of team work and being assertive in combating these issues. Later, in sessions off the pitch, the girls engaged in conversations to exchange knowledge and share experiences acquired from their own lives, within their respective communities. The innovative life-skills curriculum of PIB was developed by ChildFund Australia, utilising the considerable expertise of Women Win https://womenwin.org/
Travelling players from CPIB dance and sing with local participants at Belfast Harlequin’s RFC: Photo Credit: Brian Mac Neill
The sheer energy and enthusiasm from all the participants on the day was clear to see. As an exercise in bringing communities together to learn about each others live’s through shared experiences, and understanding the importance of unity in combating exclusion and disadvantage, it made a powerful case for the universality of sports, and indeed why sport-for-development initiatives are such good vehicles for breaking down social barriers.
ChildFund Ireland
About ChildFund Pass It Back:
ChildFund Pass it back is a sport for development initiative that has been ruining in disadvantaged rural communities in Asia for five years. The programme introduces rugby to these communities, often for the first time. It encourages children to uptake the sport and to see the value of the game, as not just a fun, healthy, collegiate activity but also as a vehicle to develop important life skills that can assist the in their pathway to adulthood. One of the main goals of the programme is to encourage children to learn about leadership and to be assertive in their own communities as active role models for other children. This is of particular importance to girls and young women in the developing world, often marginalised, discriminated against, or victims of gender based violence and abuse. The programme represents a positive, life-arming vehicle for promoting children and respect for the rights of children in the community, while encouraging a passion for the great game of rugby.
Two girls play tag rugby as part of ChildFund Pass It Back’s programme
July 27th, 2017: ChildFund Australia
ChildFund Pass It Back, a unique sport for development program in Asia, has won the UNICEF Safeguarding Children in Sport Award at the prestigious Beyond Sport Global Awards.
The high profile event is held annually at the One World Observatory in New York to highlight organisations which are successfully using sport to promote and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. ChildFund Pass It Back was also shortlisted for the Best Partnership or Collaboration award.
Margaret Sheehan, ChildFund Australia’s International Program Director, who accepted the award at the event, said: “This is a program that we are incredibly proud off, and is highly deserving of this award. Not only does ChildFund Pass It Back give marginalised children from poor communities in Asia the opportunity to learn valuable life skills through rugby, but our child safeguarding systems mean we support children’s rights to be protected from all types of physical and emotional harm.
“Given our expertise in this area, ChildFund is now sharing best practice safeguarding methods among rugby federations across Asia, in the lead-up to global sporting events taking place in the region over the next four years.”
ChildFund’s Pass it Back program was set up for children in rural and remote communities of Laos and Vietnam, who face significant challenges around poverty and inequality. Implemented in partnership with World Rugby, Asia Rugby and Women Win, more than 3,000 children and youth from Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam have benefitted from participation in the program with more than half of all players and coaches female.
Ms Sheehan said: “We know that where safeguarding measures are working effectively, this has the added benefit of increasing the number of girls taking part in organised sports activities. ChildFund Pass It Back is testament to this – currently, more than half of all players and coaches are female.”
About ChildFund Pass It Back
ChildFund Pass It Back is an innovative Sport for Development program led by ChildFund in partnership with World Rugby, Asia Rugby and Women Win. The program aims to equip children and young people in Asia to overcome challenges, inspire positive social change and ‘pass it back’ to their communities.
www.childfundpassitback.org
About Margaret Sheehan
Margaret Sheehan is the International Program Director at ChildFund Australia. With a Masters in Public Health, she has over two decades of experience managing international development programs and personnel in field office settings. In recent years, Margaret has been responsible for emergency programming implementation, including the management of the $150 million Strategic Response Plan for Typhoon Haiyan Emergency in the Philippines, and supporting the development of the Humanitarian Response Plan in Yemen in 2016. Prior to joining ChildFund, Margaret held a number of in-country roles with UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.
Chaltu (5). from the Fentale District, Ethiopia. May 5, 2017. Photo by Jake Lyell for ChildFund.
Dublin. July 25th, 2017: Brian Mac Neill
When I first became involved in global development work it was easy to see what drew most people to it. NGO workers, it seems, are invariably idealistic and caring. What happens to fellow global citizens in far-flung corners of the developing world matters to them, profoundly. Global injustice and rising inequality troubles them greatly. They care about the the plight of whole communities where services and supports for people, especially children, are almost non-existent. They want to do something about that in their own small way. Simply caring though, while eminently commendable, is not enough. We also have a responsibility as NGO workers to help foster an understanding of global development amongst our fellow citizens so they can support our work to create sustainable outcomes. To do that we have to appeal, not just to the heart – but to the head too.
Protecting children: a moral and social obligation..
Child protection in one guise or another encapsulates all the work that Childfund does for children. Our goal is to provide a stable platform for children, supporting them in everyday aspects of their lives, and supporting their primary carers in ensuring their rights are protected and their needs prioritised. In practice that can mean anything from installing water pumps, removing the need for children to undertake long exhausting journeys each day to source water, it can mean providing safe spaces for them in our ECD centres, it can mean supporting their parents with home visits and health checks, it can also mean educating parents on better nutrition for children and supporting them to manage household finances so that they can better provide for their children. Our view of child care therefore is organic and all encompassing.
It all comes back to Poverty..
Poverty and economic disadvantage is the black cloud that dominates global development. It is the fuel that drives disadvantage. It is the reason why we do what we do in ChildFund. Poverty is like a disease that permeates society and enslaves communities. It traps people in a cycle of disadvantage and perpetuates a way of life that means people in the developing world can never hope to enjoy the same qualify of life that people in the privileged world of developed nations take for granted. We can do something to stop this, and we are. ChildFund’s way of working is to interact with communities and trusted partners on the ground to first identify problems impacting children and their carers, and then deliver what those communities need. Their needs can be manifold but smart, targeted action can raise the bar in these rural communities where people have so little and help children in a host of ways. Access to education is a major problem for many children. Education is one of the most likely escape routes to help people break the cycle of poverty. If we support young girls to have the same quality of education as boys for example, there is less chance of them being forced into early marriage in their teens.
We work with children to given them the best possible start in life, in their hugely important formative years. ChildFund’s ECD (Early Childhood Development) schools (essentially pre-schools) have provided spaces for young children to be cared for and to develop physically, cognitively and socially – in places where no such services previously existed. As a result, children moving to primary school from our ECD centers are performing significantly better in the formal school system. Children supported by our child sponsorship programme have moved into professions such as nursing and teaching as young adults, availing of opportunities that would otherwise have been beyond their means. Our interventions have provided a platform for a better life -which is all that people in the developing world would ever ask for – a fair chance, just like anyone else.
The moral argument of why we need to help those more disadvantaged that ourselves cannot be disputed. The statistics speak for themselves – more that two billion people dont have access to clean water or basic sanitation, a child dies every 3.5 seconds as a result of poverty, one quarter of humanity lives without electricity (endpoverty.org). Statistics like these dont just demand action, they should be a wake up call to humanity.
Its easy to highlight the human dimension of child protection, the unbearable toll that something like child labour or GBV can have on millions of children’s lives. Most of us understand how damaging these practices can be, we can rationalise the moral and ethical arguments against them with ease. Its much harder however to talk about the quantification of all that suffering, to monetise the very cost of inaction on global society and make the economic case – but do that we must.
Lets talk about the money…
What is perhaps more difficult to consider is that there is also an economic cost to our inaction. In blunt terms, not helping people costs us more money than the sums we currently spend on global development initiatives. in fact it costs a staggering amount…..
As one of the leading child-focused NGO’s in the world, with extensive experience working in as many as sixty developing countries worldwide, ChildFund understands these dynamic only too well. In 2014 ChildFund Alliance teamed up with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) to produce a groundbreaking report:’The Cost’s and Economic Impact of Violence Against Children’.
One of the most startling findings to emerge from this report is the overall global cost of violence against children – an enormous $7 Trillion. A titanic figure on this scale provides grim testament to the sheer scale of the problems afflicting children, and underscores why it is now a global priority issue. This figure easily exceeds that of all the investment that is necessary to combat it, again making both a moral as well as financial case for action. The annual cost of child labour; a practice that blights the lives of millions of boys and girls, is some $97 billion. Children’s association with armed forces or groups and in various conflict zones is estimated to cost the world $144 million. These substantial findings underscore not just the urgency but also the wisdom of tackling violence and exploitation of children. ChildFund was able to draw on the findings of the 2014 report to empower our intensive lobbying and advocacy efforts at UN level, contributing in no small way to the final wording of Goal 16.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s or Global Goals). This was the first time children’s right to be free from violence and exploitation was explicitly adopted by the international community as nothing less than a global priority. the 2014 report helped us make that case for children.
Counting Pennies: the Cost and Economic Impact of Violence Against Children
Counting Pennies Report: 2017
This year ChildFund released another hugely important and groundbreaking piece of research. The ‘Counting Pennies’ report seeks, for the first time, to quantify the actual amount of month spent by governments in tackling violence and exploitation of children. It found that in 2015, total ODA (Overseas Development Assistance) spending was $174 billion and of that, less than 0.6 percent was allocated to ending violence against children. This amounts to less than $0.65 per child in aid-receiving countries to end this scourge that affects more than one billion children every year.
What Counting pennies tells us is that we are not doing enough. It tells us that governmental spend internationally does not yet reflect the global priority that child protection became, when it was explicitly enshrined in SDG 16.2. It cannot be overstated how important it is to understand these failings because they help direct our advocacy efforts, and in turn, will help ChildFund and other child-focused fight for children, ensuring that policies are put in place and that initiatives to protect children are adequately funded.
Violence against Girls and Young Women
Child marriage is a pervasive, culturally-accepted practice in many parts of the developing world that gravely harms girls and young women. It robs them of their opportunity…their very right..to a full education, and of the right to determine their own futures. It causes untold physical and emotional damage. While there can be nothing to excuse this abhorrent practice, it behoves us to understand what empowers it. Time and time again in development we come back to one overriding, inescapable imperative – Poverty.
Poverty is one of the key drivers that fuels this harmful and degrading practice. Challenging ingrained, structural sexism in these communities through education and policy is not enough. In order to create the conditions for sustainable change it is also important to make logical arguments that appeal to common sense. If policy makers, particularly those in the developing world, come to fully understand the detrimental economic impact of damaging cultural practices, hand in hand with understanding why they are morally or ethically abhorrent, then it creates an overwhelming and compelling case for change. Similarly, to help the more privileged citizens of the developed world understand why overseas development aid is so important, we need to demonstrate that development aid is not about well meaning compassion but rather, is equally dependent on making sound logical (financial), as well as ethical and moral decisions. A recent joint report by the International centre for Research on Women and the World Bank underscores the economic cost of child marriage to development countries https://www.devex.com/news/child-marriage-set-to-cost-developing-countries-billions-of-dollars-by-2030-90554
Research like ChildFund’s 2014 ‘Cost of Violence’ report and the 2017 ‘Counting Pennies’ report, as well as other reports that quantify the cost of inaction, play an absolutely vital role in expanding public knowledge about the work of international development – and by extension, the work of NGO’s like ChildFund. They help citizens understand why the Irish government, through Irish Aid, supports the work of international development by providing ODA (Overseas Development Assistance). Understanding the financial cost of our failure to adequately tackle vital social problems, helps us to make a powerful and overwhelming case for action.
ChildFund Ireland
Children play together on the playground at a ChildFund-supported early childhood development center in Fentale District, Ethiopia. May 8, 2017. Photo Jake Lyell for ChildFund
Dublin, June 23rd, 2017 (first Published on Anne Goddard Blog, Huntington Post 07/11/2016)
With summer comes the real work of children: play. The simple act of playing, whether an organized game or spur-of-the-moment frolic, sets free in children the capacity to grow and imagine, the chance to reach for new places and possibilities. While we know so much about the benefits of play in children’s development, for many children in developing countries time for play is all too often an elusive luxury, and the children who already lack so much are deprived of one of the things they need most.
Play is a critical building block during childhood. Psychologists tell us that play is essential for brain development. It promotes connections between nerve cells, helps develop motor skills and coordination, and lays the groundwork during youth for sound decision-making well into adulthood. Play stimulates creativity and innovation, stoking new ideas and enhancing life skills, such as self-discipline, problem solving and time management. And play creates a strong foundation for social skills, the capacity for teamwork, empathy and tolerance. While formal schooling provides important structures for learning, play is just as vital for the cognitive, physical, emotional and social wellbeing of young people.
And yet, tens of millions of children around the world are regularly deprived of opportunities for play. In many developing countries, the time for play is often displaced by the chores and responsibilities that are so familiar to children growing up in poverty. Many children are forced to abandon their education, even at a young age, to tend to the family farm or herd, tote water from far distances, or assume a range of domestic roles that are more traditionally carried out by adults – cooking, laundry, or even day care for their younger siblings. Many children are forced into hazardous jobs that not only present risks to their health and safety, but require long, arduous hours of work every day from early morning until late in the evening.
Child-parent relationships, so important to health development, also suffer. Children who must assume a high level of independence at an early age do not have the regular interactions with their parents, contact that enhances their wellbeing and creates valuable inter-generational bonds. As part of ChildFund International’s work in many developing communities around the world, we emphasize the importance of these relationships and help to educate parents about how they can and should be interacting – read: playing – with their children.
In some countries, we have a roving caregiver program that sends extension workers into the home to teach parents basic parenting skills but also the different ways that they can play with their children. I recall a mother in Guatemala boasting about the progress she was seeing in her son as a result of her playing with him. She made a point of contrasting his superior motor skills to those of her older children with whom she did not play. Yes, play works, and parents have an indispensable role in making it a part of their children’s routine.
And so do the schools. Many primary schools include dedicated time for singing, often long, elaborate songs that punctuate the academic days with a sense of fun and merriment. Organized sports and games and time on playgrounds also add elements of play to the school day.
As important as play is within children’s everyday lives, it is especially critical during times of crisis. In the aftermath of natural disasters or other large-scale catastrophes – Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the Ebola quarantines in West Africa come to mind – ChildFund regularly sets up “child-centered spaces,” safe zones where we can not only tend to children’s basic health and nutritional needs, but also ensure that they are in an environment that is conducive to play. Part of that play often includes allowing children to express what they have endured through drawing. Their artwork helps give us a window into their wellbeing and the changes in their drawings over time helps us gauge the extent to which they are healing.
The late Chilean poet Pablo Neruda observed that “a child who does not play is not a child.” That there is no regular time for play – no time for kids to reap the benefits of games or physical activity or pretend time – is tragic. We have but a single childhood, and denying these children that one time in their lives to grow and develop and simply be children has profound consequences not only for them personally but also for our work to disrupt the cycle of poverty in developing nations.
Anne Goddard
