Children on the Edge
  • DONATE
  • WHO WE ARE
    • A Child Rights Approach
    • Meet the team
    • Contact Us
    • Media
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Bangladesh: Education for Rohingya refugee children
    • India: Education for 'untouchable' Dalit children
    • Uganda: Transforming slum communities
    • Uganda: Early Years Education for Congolese refugee children
    • Kachin State Myanmar: Support for displaced children
    • Bangladesh: Community Schools for slum dwelling children
    • Lebanon: Education for Syrian refugee children
    • India-Nepal border: Education for children in brothel communities
  • SUPPORT US
    • Receive our news updates
    • Trusts & Foundations
    • Fundraise for us
    • Take on a challenge >
      • 12,000 Steps Virtual Event
      • London Marathon
      • Brighton Marathon
      • Ride London >
        • Ride London Application Form
      • Chichester Half Marathon Event
      • Great South Run
    • Organise an Event
    • Fundraise at Work
    • Clubs & Faith Groups
    • Schools
    • Volunteer
    • Shop
  • Latest stories




​
​LATEST STORIES

DONATE

Rohingya refugee children find new ways to connect beyond the camps

28/8/2019

 
Picture
become a donor
Through both printed and digital child- led publications, Children on the Edge are working to ensure Rohingya refugee children have a voice.

​“Nobody knows about us” has been a frequent remark coming from discussions with many of the 7,500 children we support in the Kutupalong camp, Bangladesh.

Read More

World Refugee Day 2019 - Hearing from the children we work with

20/6/2019

 
Picture
MAKE A ONE OFF DONATION
On the 20th June each year, the world commemorates the strength, courage, and resilience of millions of refugees. Around the world more than 50 million people have fled their homes, and over half of these are children.

The refugee children we work with in Lebanon, Bangladesh and Myanmar all show great strength, courage and resilience every day, surviving in some of the toughest places around the world. On World Refugee Day 2019, we wanted to take the time to share some of their thoughts and experiences. 

Read More

A great start for Children’s Parliaments in Patna

20/1/2019

 
Picture
BECOME A DONOR
Despite the caste system being outlawed, Dalit children in India are shunned by society and suffer from exclusion, discrimination and exploitation. Through 30 Learning Centres, Children on the Edge are supporting these children to break the cycle of caste discrimination.

An important part of this education is helping children understand their rights. This is not only reflected in the curriculum, but recently through the establishment of ten ‘Children’s Parliaments’, where children learn about their rights and responsibilities, develop leadership, and learn the political system and election process of their country.

Read More

Kilometre-long chain of children call for greater protection in India

27/4/2018

 
Picture
BECOME A DONOR
Children from the Learning Centres we support in Bihar State, India joined with hundreds of their local friends this week, to demonstrate in Patna about the need for greater protection.

Recent cases in the media, highlighting incidents of child rape and murder, prompted the children to come out in force and call for a safer environment. They also chose to highlight issues like dowry, the halting of higher education for girls and the need for greater gender equality.

The children lined the roadsides, carrying placards and singing motivational songs. In a striking expression of their solidarity, 500 children from eight different schools, held hands in a kilometre long human chain, appealing to adults to pay more attention to safeguarding children and their rights.

Sr Veena who leads the work in the urban slums of Patna said, “We need to sensitise and educate adults to create a child-safe environment. The purpose of the human chain was to call upon all our neighbours in the wider community to be alert to issues of child protection and children’s rights”.

Veena and her team have ongoing gender equality programmes as part of their work with Dalit children in the slums of Patna. They have seen significant change in the attitudes towards girls, and made many steps towards their protection and encouragement. ​

Stay in touch with stories like this and consider making a donation by clicking the links below.
RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER
MAKE A DONATION

Loco Child Rights Club clean up the community

19/2/2018

 
Picture
BECOME A DONOR
Children from the Child Rights Club we support in Loco slum, Uganda have recently organised a clean up day in their area, inspiring the adults to join in and attracting other children to the club.

30 children from the Club, based in the Ugandan Railways Primary School and supported by Children on the Edge Africa, came up with the idea when they created their Club’s work plan at the start of the year.

After they decided they wanted to have a day to spruce the area, Children on the Edge provided some equipment, and the Loco Child Protection Team also bought shovels along, with a few of the team members helping out on the day. The area was swept and tidied, with rubbish being gathered and burnt.

​
Ashwin Ndlovu, who is currently out in Uganda supporting the development of the team’s Monitoring and Evaluation said ‘They were so organised and enthusiastic. They all put on their child rights T-shirts, and the girl that was leading it was brilliant. She was very confident, and went around to people’s houses, talking to adults about children’s rights and what the Child Rights Club does”.

One member of the Child Rights Club lives in a neighbouring community, but he came to Loco to help his team members clean their community and share information with parents about child rights. He said “I don’t live here, but I came to help as children have the right to live in a clean environment”. A few more children followed along, asking how they could join as they were inspired by what the other children were sharing.

After the cleaning was done, they went back to the Primary School for some porridge and a workshop led by the children themselves. They sat outside and talked about how to stay safe from abuse, chatting about situations they have been through and what they find difficult.

They talked freely with our social worker Babra, and the patron of the Child Rights Club, saying that they find it harder to talk to their teachers. One girl said ‘My Stepmother gives me all the clothes and I do the laundry by myself. She doesn’t ask her own children to do this, and I have to wait until the other children finish their meal each day and eat the leftovers”.

​The children were glad to be able to talk, and also shared some positive comments about the project. They talked about how much they like to play in the new Loco playground outside the Early Childhood Development Centre, when all they used to do was go to Jinja town to pick up scrap.


Watch this space to see what new ideas the Child Rights Club comes up with this year, and find out more about the wider project here.
RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER
TAKE ON A CHALLENGE

‘We sleep in the rubbish’ - Children are leading the way, identifying needs in Katooke slum

22/1/2018

 
Picture
BECOME A DONOR
After our pilot ‘Child Protection Team’ model saw the transformation of their community in Masese II slum, Uganda, we have scaled up the work to three new communities in Jinja area. Over the last few years, these new teams have made great progress in creating a safe environment for children, through workshops, training, small business loans and support of families.

Children on the Edge exists for those children who live on the edge of their societies. We continually search out those children who are forgotten, those who are surviving without support in extreme circumstances. For this reason we are expanding again in Uganda this year, sharing our successful Child Protection Model in more slum areas around Jinja, and further afield.

Katooke slum is a small slum community of just over 1,200 people. It is situated next to the football stadium in Kampala, and the main income of its residents comes from picking and selling scrap from the huge rubbish site that dominates the area.

We were asked to get involved here, due to reports of a high number of abandoned children. The Chairperson, who recently arranged a televised documentary about the area said “People here have lost hope and they no longer care about life. This affects how they care for their children”.

Our team in Uganda (Children on the Edge Africa) have begun assessing the needs in Katooke, starting out with talking to the children. We put children at the heart of all we do, and see them not as passive recipients of aid, but as agents of change in their own futures. It is essential that when we begin work in a new area, it is the children themselves who tell us about any problems they are facing.

​Last week, we organised a needs assessment with a large group of children from Katooke. We split them into two groups according to age, with 25 participants in the younger group (age 8-12) and 30 in the older group (age 13-15).
Picture
Younger group drawing out their local area using local materials to identify key places.
The younger group drew out their local area using materials such as grass, stones, sticks and plastic tins to identify key places.

​The older group collected sticks, stones and rubbish from the area and created a circle on the ground to represent the community. Both groups were identifying areas they felt were safe or unsafe, and describing why.

What we thought was a case of 50 abandoned children, turned out to be a lot more complex. Many of the children are here voluntarily, although they have often run away from home because of abuse.

​Around 20 of the older boys described how they actually sleep in the rubbish, and with no affordable school and no health centre, children here are very much left to fend for themselves.

Sleeping outside makes children feel fearful, and they are prone to mosquito bites and malaria, with no nets to protect them. Most of the children (aged between 7-17) have to pick rubbish in order to eat, and most eat only once a day.

There are no latrines, and very poor drainage systems. As the community is on a steep hill, those living at the bottom of the hill are flooded by water that is severely contaminated with faeces, causing widespread illness.

The rubbish pit where the children work is full of broken plastic, wood and other sharp materials that they cut themselves on. All these objects are obviously dirty, so many fall sick as a result of the work.

Sarah Ndlovu our Grants Officer is currently in Uganda, developing our Monitoring and Evaluation, she said “We saw children as young as three picking scrap and weighing it to sell (1 kilo of rubbish, gets only 800 shillings – about 17p). Child abuse levels are also very high with 45% of adults admitting to beating their children”

Over the next few months, the Children on the Edge Africa team will be building relationships and trust in the Katooke community, and looking to work with the existing Child Protection Committee to ensure that the very best services are given to children.

​Our social worker, Babra, will also be delivering a series of child protection workshops. Click the buttons below to find out more about our work and keep in touch with all that’s going on.
OUR WORK IN UGANDA
RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER

Working children are leading the way in Bangladesh

4/12/2017

 
Picture
DONATE TO THIS WORK
This year has seen a real leap forward for our child councils in the Bangladesh Learning Centres for working children. The councils give an opportunity for children to learn about their rights, be a part of shaping the life of the schools and to have a voice in their own communities and futures.

Not only are the children representing their friends opinions in the running of the schools, but they look out for each other, and help those children who are struggling, or who have experienced problems outside of school.

This year their role has stepped up, and they have been sharing the knowledge they have gained at school about growing healthy food and the importance of sanitation in their own communities. This has led to their parents installing clean latrines and planting out new vegetable plots.
Picture
​Rashid is the current secretary of the child council, he says “I have learnt many things from the council. Before I didn’t know what it means to be a child, but I’ve come to know that every child has many rights. If any child is deprived from their rights they cannot grow up properly.

I have passed on this message to many of my relatives and friends! Every month we do our child council meeting and share our opinions, discuss many things. We can talk about what is on our minds. This is very helpful to us and I enjoy it a lot
”. ​


We support nine Learning Centres in the slum areas of Cox’s Bazar, ensuring that working children who cannot attend mainstream school can access flexible education and have a chance to rest and play with their friends.

RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER
FUNDRAISE FOR US

‘Many of my friends stopped going to school, but I didn’t do this, and will never do this’ - Safiya speaks out about child marriage

9/10/2017

 
Picture
"I have decided to advocate against early marriage in my slum. If my neighbours don’t hear me I will bring my teacher to explain it to them, early marriage is a risk for health and life".


DONATE TO THIS WORK
Safiya is studying at Grade 3 level in one of our Community Schools for Working Children in Bangladesh, not only this but she is also challenging the norms of child marriage in her community.
​

The Schools we support here in Cox’s Bazar provide a free education in the afternoons for working children, and ensure equal access for girls. Here they have a few hours to learn, rest and play with their friends. All the students follow a BRAC curriculum and are prepared to access government schools at a later stage to continue their education beyond Grade 3.

Safiya is a member of the child council and, in the recent newsletter that they publish, she talked about her feelings on child marriage.

​“Early marriage is a deep worry in our slums. Most of the parents commonly do it, and my grandmother is also interested in giving me away in marriage. I have heard from my teacher that early marriage is a risk to girl’s health and even their lives. Girls who have these health problems can’t be happy. Several times I have tried to explain this to my grandmother, I even talked about an example of one of my friends who married early and is now suffering.


In my slum many of people say ‘Why are you studying?’ I look older than I am, so they think I should feel the same as them and stop going to school. Because of these types of comments many of my friends stopped going to school, but I didn’t do this and will never do this, whatever people said”.
The schools help to protect girls like Safiya by giving them a route to stay in education. Teachers are trained to talk with children and their parents about the benefits of staying in school, and the risks associated with child marriage. Through the child council, children are learning even more about their safety, their rights and how to raise their voices.

Safiya is one of the first to begin speaking out about this issue, she says “If I leave the school my grandmother will marry me off, which I don’t like at my early age. I have decided to advocate against early marriage in my slum. If my neighbours don’t hear me I will bring my teacher to explain it to them, early marriage is a risk for health and life. Everybody pray for me so I can do it”.
RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER
MAKE A DONATION

Child council 'Play-days' create colour and fun in their schools and communities

10/1/2017

 
Children on the Edge supports children to realise their rights, be free to express their views if they would like to, and influence decisions in matters effecting them. It’s a central part of the Convention of the Rights of the Child and not just a theory, but something that enables their active participation.

​In Bangladesh where we support Community Schools for Working Children, we have established child councils to represent the voices of their friends and contribute to decisions about the running of the schools. They have not only been growing in confidence and self expression, but they are actively involved in making their environment creative and colourful and ensuring that play is a central part of the life of the schools.


To do this they have organised a regular ‘Play-day’. Each Thursday the child council members divide into different groups and arrange various creative activities, fun and games. As well as this, they spend time making their environment clean and beautiful, both at home and at school. This involves cleaning, gardening and making decorations for classrooms.

One representative from a child council said “Most of the time we are busy helping our parents with our domestic and outside work, after study we have very limited scope to play. We feel bored. Thursday brings different feelings for us”. Another said “I become independent on this day. I mix with all teachers and my friends freely. I can take something to play as my choice. I get more joy on this day.”

The teachers also see the benefit of having play as a priority in the week.  Asma says “Playing day is a big gathering for us all together. Students are chirping, playing and dancing. We just love it. Having this day means that children gets refreshment, become self-motivated to attend school regularly and study too. It also benefits their friendships and the sports competitions boost their confidence in doing their best”.

​
The day not only improves wellbeing, relationships, confidence and motivation, but it has an impact in the wider community. Nazia is 10 years old and lives in Kutubdiapara slum. She has a brother and three sisters. Her father is a mechanic and her mother sometimes makes pickle to sell at the market.

Nazia says “I recently made a vegetable garden at home with my mother. I have planted radish, brinjal, vegetable leaf and tomato. Every week this brings money to support my family. I have been encouraged in how to do this from my school activities. There is a flower and vegetable garden which I have created there with my friends. This made me realise I can do it in my home and I share it with my mother.

My mother said because I am younger I am lots of hard work, but she was happy to see my interest in the garden and helped me to make it. Now I have a nice vegetable garden and my mother is saying all the time; “Education is a big thing!”. I am very happy. I have done something for my family”.

Cleaning at home and at school has changed the mindset of the children and also made a difference in the areas where they live. Talking to one group of parents (Imam, Habibullah, Senuara, Rina and Parvin) who live in Amtolirchara area, they described how the children have changed the area:

“In our community there is a Mukti school and our children study there. Every two months we attend a parent’s meeting where we learn many things to do with looking after children and hygiene. We try to maintain it, but most of the community people are using an open toilet. It is polluting to the environment and our lives. Our children do a day where they play but also learn about having a clean environment. Sometimes they say to us how in their learning books there is a good latrine and ask why are we are not making one? Our children feel uncomfortable using the open one. We were unaware about this before, so now many of us in our community are using the sanitised latrine. Our children and the school have changed many of our views.”

Mamun Rashid who oversees the child councils says “We asked the child councils to tell us what was in their minds and what they wanted to do. They said they wanted to live clean and try and make their environment nice, they were motivated to do all of this themselves. They have become courageous”.

The Community schools currently provide education for 900 working children, enabling them to learn, rest and play with their friends for a few hours each day. 

You can find out more by going to our project page and support this work by making a donation, signing up as a regular donor or taking on a challenge! 

A year on from forced evacuation - Syrian refugee children have made their ideas a reality

15/12/2016

 
Picture
Last December, the Lebanese military entered one of the refugee camps where we were supporting work with Syrian refugee children. They ordered an evacuation, giving camp dwellers a week to take down their tents and leave. They did this in many camps along the sightline of the Lebanese Syrian border-point because of a potential terrorist presence. This meant there was no alternative camp for refugees to move to in the area, so we supported our partners to find new land and build their own camp for refugees.

During this eviction period, as families were trying to come up with plans for where to move, our local partners took all the children that were being evicted on a field trip. They thought it would do them good to be distracted, especially as they sensed many of them were feeling anxious about the military returning. When the military showed up the first time they intentionally intimidated the Syrians: they came in their full attire, brought their tanks and weapons, and threatened to run over the tents with their  tanks if the Syrians weren’t gone in a week.

Our partners gathered the children and took them to land owned by a local convent, which has some beautiful grounds. Here they could run around, wade in the lake, and enjoy the fall leaves and vineyards. The trip was incredibly successful and the children were talking about it for weeks after, showing their parents photos, with their minds distracted from their current situation.

They also used the trip to start conversations about how, together, they could shape their future home so that it has some of the beautiful elements of the gardens they visited. It was a great opportunity to talk to them about the power they have to care for their environment, cultivate it, and enjoy it. They also to discussed how their choices ​make a difference,  how even small, simple things can have big impact. This could be avoiding littering, or starting a small garden next to their tents.

When the new camp began to be built, teachers and students were encouraged to be a part of the moving process: brainstorming ideas and dreams for the future plot of land, involving the adults and older children in the building. One teacher described how “I really like that we teach the children to make conclusions instead of pointing everything out to them.” The conclusions the children reached about the new camp, was that they would love some gardens, they wanted a clean, safe area and most of all, a playground!

A year later and all this is a reality. The new camp is the only settlement in the area with tents spaced strategically to allow access for services. Other camps tend to end up as a maze like sprawl of tents , there is electricity for light and safety and all the residents are part of a cooperative where they influence the running of the day to day life.

Nuna Matar, who heads up the work in the camp says of the new playground “The children are using it to the full! For the children, having their own  space where adults have no business being in has proven to be very beneficial”. Alongside the provision of education in the camp, creating a child friendly environment with colour and play as a central part of life is crucial for children who have experienced trauma to gain a sense of security and normalcy.

​
You can support this work over Christmas by giving to our Season of Hope Appeal or perhaps in the new year take on a fundraising challenge! ​
<<Previous
Forward>>
    SIGN UP
    ​FOR OUR
    ​E-UPDATES

    Categories

    All
    Ambassadors
    Bangladesh
    Burma/Myanmar
    Chichester
    Chichester Half Marathon
    Child Participation
    Child Sacrifice
    Early Childhood Development
    Fundraising
    General
    History
    Hope
    India
    Kachin
    Kyaka II Uganda
    Lebanon
    Refugees
    Rohingya
    Schools
    The Body Shop At Home
    #ThrowbackThursday
    Uganda
    UK
    Volunteer

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011



    RSS Feed

How we help

Protecting Child Rights
Current Projects
Our History
Annual Report 

Get Involved

Regular Giving
Fundraise for us
Take on a Challenge
Corporate Partners
Volunteering
Grant Giving Organisations

News

Latest News
​Receive our news updates
Media

DONATE

How we spend your money
Donate now

More

Jobs
Contact Us
Resources
Chichester Half Marathon

Shop

Meet the team
​Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Logo which says 'Registered with Fundraising Regulator'

Registered charity no. 1101441
REGISTERED COMPANY No. 4996130 

​Children on the Edge, 5 The Victoria, 25 St Pancras, Chichester,  West Sussex, PO19 7LT, UK.
  • DONATE
  • WHO WE ARE
    • A Child Rights Approach
    • Meet the team
    • Contact Us
    • Media
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Bangladesh: Education for Rohingya refugee children
    • India: Education for 'untouchable' Dalit children
    • Uganda: Transforming slum communities
    • Uganda: Early Years Education for Congolese refugee children
    • Kachin State Myanmar: Support for displaced children
    • Bangladesh: Community Schools for slum dwelling children
    • Lebanon: Education for Syrian refugee children
    • India-Nepal border: Education for children in brothel communities
  • SUPPORT US
    • Receive our news updates
    • Trusts & Foundations
    • Fundraise for us
    • Take on a challenge >
      • 12,000 Steps Virtual Event
      • London Marathon
      • Brighton Marathon
      • Ride London >
        • Ride London Application Form
      • Chichester Half Marathon Event
      • Great South Run
    • Organise an Event
    • Fundraise at Work
    • Clubs & Faith Groups
    • Schools
    • Volunteer
    • Shop
  • Latest stories