Children on the Edge works in coalition with local communities in some of the toughest places in the world, transforming the lives of marginalised children by creating protective environments where they can safely live, play, learn and grow.
2022 has been an incredible year of transformation for the children we work with, thanks to continued support of our Children on the Edge community. We invite you to grab a cup of tea and spend some time opening up each month below to find out all about the highlights of our work this year, and just how much your generosity is making a difference.
2022 has been an incredible year of transformation for the children we work with, thanks to continued support of our Children on the Edge community. We invite you to grab a cup of tea and spend some time opening up each month below to find out all about the highlights of our work this year, and just how much your generosity is making a difference.
JANUARY
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At the start of the month, preschools in Uganda were finally allowed to open their doors again after nearly two years of closures. The children we support through 30 Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in Kyaka II refugee camp, and two centres in Jinja were absolutely delighted to be back in class with their friends and teachers again. See just how happy they were in this joyful video.... |
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A brand new community school with six classrooms opened in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, welcoming 300 new students, who all received new books at a colourful opening ceremony.
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In Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, there was much excitement as the students at the learning centres we support were also given brand new school books.
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A two day relief effort in Kachin State, Myanmar ensured that 970 families at risk of starvation received emergency food parcels after border closures and conflict left hundreds of families without food and basic supplies. Also in Kachin, the remote mountain ECD centres we support were able to open again after months of closures, much to the delight of the children. |
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Over 200 people signed up to take on our January virtual challenge - ‘New Years Day to 5K’. We had an inspiring day at the Global Kickstart Conference with our supporters from The Body Shop At Home where we were delighted to announce that in 2021 they raised an astonishing £659,843 for Children on the Edge! What an incredible achievement. The Kickstart Conference gave us the chance to thank everyone for their passion, dedication and amazing fundraising.
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FEBRUARY
Responding quickly to the Russian invasion of Ukriane; we set up an emergency appeal asking for donations to support refugees arriving in Moldova and Romania. The generosity of our community enabled us to act quickly, and our long history working in Eastern Europe meant we were able to connect with partners on the ground and support their work providing shelter, food and supplies to refugee families from Ukraine within days of the conflict starting.
Our supporters helped to provide 319 refugee families with fuel vouchers to heat homes in an unprecedented cold snap in Lebanon. Despite the cold, children at the school we support here went to huge efforts to help their communities through the difficult weather; making repairs to tents and upcycling warm clothes to distribute in the camps.
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In Bangladesh, new uniforms were distributed to 500 children in the Doharazi enclaves. The children particularly like the matching face masks. The local tailor was asked to make them a size too big because the children are all growing so fast!
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We met Nova, an aspiring TV presenter in Bangladesh, who got a serious case of the giggles as she tried to speak in front of the camera when trying to film a video for their ‘Moja kids’ newsletter. We shared how simple digital technology makes learning fun, accessible and exciting, and connects the children with their friends, with far reaching benefits beyond the classroom too. |
We were delighted to introduce our five Storytellers in Uganda - Leila, Desire, Alaisa, Shafic and Lydia. Representing Child Rights Clubs, Child Protection Teams and Early Learning Centres, they began telling us about the issues that matter to them and how they are working to bring about the changes they want to see in their communities in Uganda.
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Members of the Wandago Child Rights Club held dance and drama clubs to teach their friends about avoiding getting involved with gangs and the dangers of early pregnancy. Child Protection Teams from Jinja, Uganda shared their recent successes. When the team in Masese I found out that landlords had been refusing requests to install latrines in peoples homes, they met with community leaders and were able to get landlords agree to to install and fix toilets, so that at least 90% of homes had a working latrine. |
40 teachers graduated from our training programme in Kyaka II, Uganda in a ‘lovely, heartwarming ceremony’ and new shelters were constructed in Kaborogota to provide rain and shade protection for children to learn outside as part of our cluster learning programme.
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In Patna, India, self defence classes for the children who attend our learning centres were popular! Here they are taking place in an outdoor class.
Check out our video to see the classes in action! |
We were delighted to be announced as the Winners of the Supporter Engagement Award from The Big Give for our fundraising campaign in December 2021 for early years education in Kyaka II, Uganda which raised over £40,000!
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MARCH
Two devastating fires swept through Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh destroying four schools and hundreds of homes. Work quickly began to set up temporary classrooms so the children affected didn’t miss out on their learning waiting for the schools to be rebuilt.
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Children at our Community Schools in Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh were delighted to receive new bags, school uniforms, and some new brightly coloured flip flops to keep their feet protected as they walk to school.
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On International Women’s Day we celebrated some of the amazing women who make our programmes happen around the world. We shared how they are ‘breaking the bias’; helping to create a world in which every child thrives regardless of their geography, ethnicity, gender, or caste.
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In fundraising news, Emelia and 5-year-old Olivia took on a 10 mile cycle ride along Seaton Seafront. The sisters decided to take on the challenge 'to help people, because everyone should have a chance to go to school.'
They raised £185! |
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We continued to appeal for funds to support Ukrainian refugees and work with our partners in Romania and Moldova to respond to the evolving refugee crisis. Our Chief Operating Officer, Ben visited Romania at the start of the month to find out what was happening on the ground and connect with partners working to support refugees. |
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In Romania, we set up an emergency fund so our partners could respond to the needs of the most marginalised refugees as they emerged, filling in the gaps in the wider aid effort. We furnished a house in Siret, Romania to house a Ukrainian mother and her five children, and made an apartment available in Iasi for a woman who fled Ukraine at eight months pregnant, and could not move on further into Europe. We also funded food provision at a larger transit centre in Iasi. |
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In Moldova, we began supporting our partners here to provide three transit centres for refugees, including a two-house transit centre in Tudora - on the border of Odessa, 25 beds at the Speranta centre in Chișinău, and a larger local hub with over 180 spaces, further inland in Vatici. Along with accommodation and food, refugees received help to plan their onward journeys, as well the option to access emotional support, to support them as they process the trauma they have experienced. |
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Our CEO and Co-Founder Rachel went to Uganda and visited Kyaka II refugee settlement where we support early years education for the youngest refugees. She saw the ‘Cluster Groups’ in action as they began expanding into new communities within the settlement. |
APRIL
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We heard from one of our Lead Storytellers in Uganda - Nansaba Maria Desire, who teaches early years education in Loco. She told us about the techniques she uses in her lessons, and how creative activites help children to learn.
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Philip from Children on the Edge Africa spoke to Theirworld about what stands out about our Cluster education model in Kyaka II, Uganda, and how their input has helped the programme after winning a ‘Theirworld Innovation Award’ in 2021.
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We were delighted to watch 'Major Mick' launch his fundraising challenge for Children on the Edge aboard his famous homemade boat, 'The Tintanic'. 81-year old Mick, a retired army officer, began his almighty challenge to row the seas and rivers of the South coast to raise funds for our work with Ukrainian refugees. Mick wasn't the only person to set off on the water to raise funds for Children on the Edge as Vicky and her dad Graham set off in April on a 10 day rowing challenge, taking on 153 miles off the River Thames from Lechlade to the Thames Barrier. |
April really was a bumper month for fundraising, with people running, selling (and eating) cake, concerts and lots of Easter fun! Read about it all in our April fundraising highlights blog.
In Kyaka II, Uganda, the whole community came out to celebrate as 38 refugee teachers from the DRC graduated, the first time that a teacher’s graduation ceremony has ever taken place in the area. Here, we met John, one of the newly graduated Early Childhood Development teachers in Kyaka II, who told us his journey.
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The District Education Officer said, “This is the first time in the entire district to have an ECD (Early Childhood Development) caregiver’s graduation and indeed Children on the Edge Africa is a game changer. The issue of using untrained teachers should be something of the past.”
The children we support at our Learning Centres in India celebrated Earth Day with a number of activities.
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We also heard about what our partners in India have been doing to help raise the aspirations of Dalit women and girls in Patna and how they are helping to tackle caste discrimination by supporting Dalit communities in Patna to access government services and medical care.
MAY
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We met Muayad, a student at the school we support in Zahle, Lebanon, who told us: “I love learning and am so happy to be learning how to read and write. My father cannot read very well, so I am excited to be able to do this”.
Thanks to your support, Muayad and his family received fuel vouchers earlier this year to help them keep warm during the freezing winter months. Muayad's father told us they were very glad to receive the vouchers as they had resorted to burning "whatever they could for warmth. Clothes. Carpets. Everything. There was simply no money for fuel. We were so glad to be able to finally warm the house”. |
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Rachel and Ben returned from Moldova and Romania where they visited our partners, met Ukrainian refugee families and saw first hand how the situation on the ground is changing, three months on from the start of the conflict in Ukraine. They visited the Speranta centre in Moldova, where playing UNO is a popular game amongst refugee families. By this time they had shifted from supporting refugees in transit, to hosting people like Anastasia, who are staying on a long term basis. We went back to our roots in Romania around this time, and began supporting a group of children without parental care who arrived from Ukraine after their group home was bombed. |
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In Patna India, 107 teenage girls completed a two week self defence course. As well as learning the physical methods of self defence, the course has helped boost the girls' confidence teaching them mentally how to handle potentially violent situations. The course was so successful that it has inspired the Women's Group we support in India to request their own training. |
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We heard from Lydia, one of our Lead Storytellers in Uganda and chairperson of Masese I Child Protection Team. She sent us an update about her team's work in their community and how they have been working to help get children back to school after lockdown.
Lydia introduced Nakimuli Scovia who lives in Masese I with her three children. She was supported by the Child Protection Team, to expand her business, helping her become self-reliant and able to feed her family and send her children to school. |
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Our learners in Bangladesh celebrated Eid in Kutupalong camp. Programme Manager Sudeb told us that: "Ramadan and Eid in Bangladesh are always bright" but after two years of restrictions because of the pandemic "This time the joy of Ramadan will be celebrated in full."
Teachers in Cox’s Bazar also told us that they enjoyed the Eid holiday, with plans to get delicious food and iftar items and make the celebrations colourful.
Credit: Theirworld / Maro Mamba Media
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We received some amazing photos showcasing our Cluster Learning programme for Congolese refugee children in Kyaka II settlement in Uganda. The programme is enabling thousands of refugee children access to quality early years education. We put these together into a photo essay to show how the programme works and the impact it has. |
JUNE
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Our CEO and Co-founder, Rachel Bentley, was awarded an OBE for services to the protection and education of marginalised children worldwide.
The honour is in recognition of over thirty years of work since Rachel co-founded Children on the Edge with the late Dame Anita Roddick in 1990, and has been awarded as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Our Chair of Trustees, Stuart Gallimore, who says, “This award is going to one of life’s unsung heroes, one of those who has made a massive difference to those touched by the work of the charity she so ably leads, massively respected by those in her field yet unknown to many. That is surely what the awards process is all about.” |
We celebrated World Refugee Day on the 20th June with a special event in Chichester and shared a video about our work with refugees around the world.
The 30th issue of the 'Moja Kids' newsletter was screened across the Learning Centres in Bangladesh. Moja Kids has always been a highlight for the children but since lockdown lifted, the excitement around these video newsletters has become infectious, with many parents reporting how their children practise their talents at home in order to be able to participate.
Presenter Nuba summed up why Moja Kids is so important to the children, saying; “We fly with inspiration, not with wings. We make our way to the dream with courage. The stories of our friends inspire us.” |
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Helen Pattinson, our trustee and Co-Founder at Montezuma's Chocolates explained how the company embraced ‘Pennies’ to support Children on the Edge through microdonations, raising vital funds for our work. Watch the video below to hear it:
JULY
In India, we saw how the campaigns and activities of the Child Parliaments you support are having a huge, positive impact in their communities. Puja told us about the ways her life had changed since joining her local Child Parliament.
"The training made me realise the importance of education and going to school regularly. I learnt to be clean and tidy, and I also started keeping my home clean. I started to take care of my sisters too, and I take them with me now to the learning centre to study". Her Child Parliament has been instrumental in her community leading hygiene campaigns about the importance of hand washing and helping many children get their caste certificates, which helps them to access services and benefits.
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We loved watching the footage of ‘Sports Day’ in Jinja, where the children from the Early Childhood Development centres we support in Loco and Wandago had a blast racing in sacks, playing musical chairs and filling up bottles with sand with their teammates.
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Also in Jinja, we met Shafic, one of our Lead Storytellers and chairperson of the Masese I Child Rights Club. He sent us a video update sharing some of the things he had been up to recently, and also introduced his new goat, Nakabege!
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Five minutes of fame! Our CEO and co-founder, Rachel, featured on BBC’s Countryfile to talk about our work supporting refugees from Ukraine in Moldova and Romania. The programme also celebrated our fantastic fundraiser, ‘Major Mick’ who is rowing miles and miles in his homemade tin boat the ‘Tintanic II’ to raise funds for our Ukraine Appeal. |
Children in Kutupalong camp, Bangladesh shared photos to wish a happy Eid-ul-Adha. Here, we support 75 learning centres, offering education to thousands of Rohingya refugee children.
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The players of People’s Postcode Lottery continued to support our work with refugees in Lebanon and Kyaka II, Uganda with a third year of generous funding. Their support is ensuring we can provide safe spaces and quality education for children forcibly displaced by conflict in Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. |
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Focus groups took place with parents and children in our 14 newly refurbished classrooms in Kyaka II refugee settlement, where over 5000 children are accessing early years education and support. They showed just how happy the children are and how well they are learning thanks to the new buildings and high quality teaching.
Five-year-old Mapendo Miriel who went back to a new classroom in Buliti Zone in January said, "I love my new school, especially the bricks which look like chocolate and the colours". One parent told us, "Before, our children did not know anything about schooling, we were all disinterested, but now every morning, the children ask to be taken to school. They cry and demand to go to school whenever they are unable to go [due to sickness]”. |
AUGUST
In Kachin State, Myanmar, 400 children at our Early Childhood Development Centres received ‘crocs’ and raincoats to help them cope with heavier than usual rain and flooding in the remote mountain camps where they live.
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We also met Borhan and Ritu Dey…
Nine-year-old Borhan attends one of our community schools in Cox's Bazar Bangladesh and Ritu Dey is his class teacher. Borhan loves going to school, and especially loves watching cartoons in digital lessons. Borhan regularly uses the things he learns at school to help his family at the market.
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Borhan's teacher, Ritu Dey is 27. She says that the free community schools are vital for children in the area, and open up many opportunities for them. Ritu said that the children benefit hugely from their lessons, both in school and at home and that she constantly learns new things whilst teaching the children too.
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Our Cluster Learning programme in Uganda has been scaled up from the original pilot size and is now supporting around 3,000 children with Early Childhood Education and care. It was recognised this month with an iF Design Social Impact Prize. We were delighted to be selected as one of 12 winners selected for ‘making a difference and improving our society’. Thank you to everyone who has supported this programme in Kyaka II including the players of People's Postcode Lottery who help fund our work with refugee children in Uganda and Lebanon. |
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Ben returned from his latest trip to Romania where we are supporting 43 children who fled Ukraine when their group home was bombed. We recruited a social worker and a psychologist to work with the children and are providing extra food to supplement what the authorities are providing, this includes fruit, milk and sweets for special occasions. We also refurbished parts of the building, including an activity room. The drop in centre we have been supporting in Iasi moved locations and is supporting hundreds of Ukrainian refugees with essential supplies several times a week.
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SEPTEMBER
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The month we reported about how, earlier this year, we were invited by the Bangladesh government to set up model learning centres for Rohingya refugee children arriving on Bhasan Char Island.
For the last 10 years, Children on the Edge have had a reputation for delivering quality education for Rohingya refugee children from Myanmar in the border camps in Bangladesh. We support 75 learning centres in Kutupalong camp, providing education for over 7,000 children. |
10 new model classrooms are now up and running on the Bhasan Char island, supporting 500 children with vital education and support, employing our digital education programme and working to combat the feeling of isolation.
We heard how our partners in India are making great progress in tackling child marriage. The average age of marriage for girls in the areas where we work has now increased from 14 to at least 17 years old.
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We met Namusisi who started at one of our ECD centres in Uganda when she was 4. When she joined, all she could do was scribble, but she now loves learning at the centre so much that she can now copy words on her own.
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Staff in Lebanon were busy painting and preparing the school for the students to return for the new term.
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OCTOBER
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There were celebrations in Bangladesh as the children published their 50th issue of Moja Kids, their online digital newsletter. "Taking part in Moja Kids was a golden memory for me. In the Moja kids videos, there is someone like me and she tells her biography, and then I relate it to me. Then I remember my past and feel I am not alone in this world and in this society. Moja kids videos inspire me a lot.” |
We met Leila, one of our lead storytellers in Uganda. She sent us a video update about how her Child Rights Club have been helping to clean up their community in Jinja.
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On International Day of the Girl, we shared Hibba's story about how she has broken down cultural barriers and crossed country borders to realise her rights to an education as a Syrian refugee in Lebanon. Across all of our programmes, we work to include, empower and encourage girls, helping them to access quality education, reach their full potential and become changemakers in their communities. |
This month we met a brand new Lead Storyteller - 11-year-old Tabitha from Loco Child Rights Club in Uganda. In her first broadcast, she told us about the things she’d like to see change in her community and how her Child Rights Club is going to help make these changes happen.
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It was a big month for fundraising as we launched The Big October Cake Bake. Hundreds of supporters across the country made, ate and bought cake to raise vital funds for our work.
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When Suzi Russell and her daughter Primrose grew an enormous pumpkin ready to auction off and raise some money to support Children on the Edge. They certainly didn’t expect for it to go missing, sparking a pumpkin hunt and making the local news! Luckily, the missing pumpkin was safely returned and raised over £100.
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At the end of the month we reflected on one of our co-founders, the late Dame Anita Roddick. On what would have been her 80th birthday, The Body Shop launched a new global campaign inspired by Anita to amplify youth voices in public life and help them #BeSeenBeHeard.
Our Co-founder and CEO Rachel Bentley OBE told us how Anita took the time to listen to her and give her a voice, when she was just 24 years old. “Anita knew that when you are young you have the energy and the ideas. At a time when I wasn’t being listened to, Anita listened." This support not only inspired Rachel to encourage a new generation of changemakers, but sparked the start of Children on the Edge and we have been dedicated to ensuring that children all around the world are seen and heard ever since. |
Anita and Rachel in the early days
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NOVEMBER
The theme of this years' World Children's Day on November 2oth was all about ‘inclusion, for every child’.
We ensure that children are included and given space to participate across all our programmes, so they can realise their rights, and thrive. We shared how our digital education programme in Bangladesh is making learning possible for thousands of Rohingya refugee children.
In Kutupalong refugee camp, around one million Rohingya refugees live in crowded conditions, unable to leave. Children here are only permitted to learn the Burmese curriculum, in a language they do not understand. In our classrooms, children can watch video lessons, that we have created, in their own language. Subjects are brought to life and children can actually learn. The children tell us it’s their favourite thing about school - watch Jahan Tara's interview where she describes her story and how she feels about the video lessons.
We ensure that children are included and given space to participate across all our programmes, so they can realise their rights, and thrive. We shared how our digital education programme in Bangladesh is making learning possible for thousands of Rohingya refugee children.
In Kutupalong refugee camp, around one million Rohingya refugees live in crowded conditions, unable to leave. Children here are only permitted to learn the Burmese curriculum, in a language they do not understand. In our classrooms, children can watch video lessons, that we have created, in their own language. Subjects are brought to life and children can actually learn. The children tell us it’s their favourite thing about school - watch Jahan Tara's interview where she describes her story and how she feels about the video lessons.
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We interviewed Rebeka, our Monitoring and Evaluation Officer in Bangladesh this month. Part of her role is to record the impact of our refugee education programme in Kutupalong camp. Read the full interview >> "Seeing the smiles on the faces of these kids warms my heart. |
Our Autumn Raffle was an incredible success, raising £11,865. In other fundraising news, so many of our wonderful supporters have made the miles count this month.
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Amber and Jeremy ran the London Marathon, Nick conquered a pilgrimage walk and Cara and Mylo completed an epic step challenge. Read more about our wonderful fundraisers this autumn >>
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DECEMBER
We continued to celebrate and share information about our digital lessons in Bangladesh as we launched our Big Give Christmas Challenge to raise funds to support this work. In just three days we not only hit, but exceeded our £52,000 target! Every donation will help to make a huge difference for Rohingya refugee children. Thank you to everyone who took part.
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We interviewed Monitoring and Evaluation Officer - Rebeka Khatoum and Asia Regional Manager - John Littleton about how the digital programme makes a difference:
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We were also joined by a panel of programme staff from Bangladesh and the UK to find out more about our digital education, on a Facebook live virtual event:
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We were delighted this month to 'give a little wonder' with The Body Shop this festive season, funding over 195,000 days of education for refugee children. Every time a gift is bought from The Body Shop this year, it will be creating brighter futures for refugee children around the globe. The Body Shop will be donating to Children on the Edge from the sale of every pre-filled gift, hoping to raise up to £100,000. |
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We met Abdul, who attends one of our learning centres in Kutupalong. When he first joined he struggled to learn, he was finding it hard to concentrate and was unable to forget the incredibly traumatic journey that his family experienced when they fled from Myanmar. But with a lot of support from his teachers and extra help in his lessons Abdul is beginning to thrive. He especially enjoys watching the video lessons and his teachers have said that they've really helped him improve his learning and behaviour. |
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In India, the learning centres we support have been so successful this year that 443 children have transitioned into government or private schools. In areas where the situation is improving for education access, we have closed centres and relocated to nine new communities where there is greater need. These new learning centres will support some of the most marginalised Musahar children in the Patna area and the team is currently enrolling new students. |
In Kyaka II, Uganda, construction work on toilet blocks and water tanks were completed at 14 of our preschools for young Congolese refugee children. The children now have clean, safe and accessible latrines and hand washing facilities. Teacher Muwonge Godard Patrick said, "The water sources are far away, the water was dirty and classrooms were in a very bad state. Since Children on the Edge Africa came, life has changed, our enrollment has increased from 150 to 230, and we now have access to clean and safe water, good toilets, trained teachers, and a safe learning environment. May God bless your work.” |
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We provided an update on the progress made on the programmes we support for Ukrainian refugees in Romania and Moldova, with our first video (above) and a new blog. These reflect how all the new activities are making a difference for refugee families as they are forced to adjust to staying in border countries for a longer time than expected.
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THANK YOU
Children on the Edge is in a strong position to serve the needs of the most marginalised and vulnerable children around the world.
This is only possible because of the ongoing generosity of supporters, from one-off donors, to those who give every month, businesses of all sizes, trusts and institutional funders as well as those who give their time in the office or at events.
We deeply appreciate every single one of you. Thank you.
Children on the Edge is in a strong position to serve the needs of the most marginalised and vulnerable children around the world.
This is only possible because of the ongoing generosity of supporters, from one-off donors, to those who give every month, businesses of all sizes, trusts and institutional funders as well as those who give their time in the office or at events.
We deeply appreciate every single one of you. Thank you.
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