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The gift that keeps on giving

30/11/2018

 
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BUY YOURS FOR £5
This Christmas give someone a Children on the Edge inspired gift and help bring hope, life, colour and fun to forgotten children around the world. ​
Help a refugee child learn and play

Our generous friends at Montezuma’s have donated bars of their beautiful chocolate so that you can give two gifts in one. For a donation of £5 or more, you a will receive a Children on the Edge gift card packaged with a delicious 100g bar of Montezuma’s Chocolate*.  

When you buy this charity gift to give away, you can help provide education for child in a refugee camp, helping them have a safe space to learn and play. Perfect for a stocking filler or a secret santa gift.

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Read about the work we support with refugee children in Bangladesh, Lebanon and Myanmar.
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* Thanks to the generosity of Montezuma’s they have donated Chocolate bars to Children on the Edge, so that all your donation goes to the work of Children on the Edge. ​
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Can the Syrian families we work with begin to return home?

12/11/2018

 
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Last month Human Rights Watch published a report identifying how, despite the messages being put out about a welcome back, residents are being blocked from returning because of the destruction of their property and rights.

Their Middle East Director Lama Fakih said that “Russia and Syria are calling on people to return to attract reconstruction funding, but as always with the Syrian government, reality is much different. In demolishing their homes and restricting access to their property, the Syrian government is signalling that despite official rhetoric inviting Syrians ‘home,’ they do not want refugees or displaced persons back.” 

Nuna Matar leads the work we support for Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. She says, “The welcome home is not rhetoric, there have been some genuine changes in policy and they are making it as easy as possible for Syrians to return, but the destruction of people’s homes is a real issue”.

Nuna describes how the Lebanese government have removed a number of fees and taxes and provided free buses and luggage allowance across the border. The Syrian government are also encouraging large scale return, as they have no young men left to rebuild or work.

​Whereas in the past if an individual returned they would be put in jail and then sent to the army; at present the government will at least give a returning young man six months to set up their home and settle their family.


She says “There are around 500 people returning each day, which sounds like a lot but when you think there’s over a million refugees in Lebanon, it’s a slow return. There are a few people we know that have gone back, but not many yet”.


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We have been supporting Nuna’s organisation for the last four years to provide education for around 500 Syrian refugee children in the Bekaa Valley. As the situation evolves, the team are looking to prepare the children for different eventualities.

​A major part of this is centralising the three tent schools we currently support in three different refugee camps into one brand new school building (see image above). This will have room to educate around 350 children, with space for an office and a lot of room outside to play.


This new school set up will not only provide better facilities, but will enable children to become accustomed to a larger, more structured learning environment, to prepare them for entry into mainstream school if they return to Syria.

Making visits across the border and into Syria, Nuna has observed the desecration of the villages that people are being expected to return to. “Their homes are completely destroyed, there are no jobs, no people, no services, so although they are being encouraged to return, it is more complicated than that”.


​Watch this space to see the development of these plans and click the buttons below to get involved.
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Over 90% of our small business loan recipients in Uganda now feed their children better and send them to school

9/11/2018

 
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For the last 18 months, since the success of our pilot education loans in Masese II, the Child Protection Teams (CPTs) we support in Uganda have been expanding the scheme in Loco, Masese I and Masese III.

Education loans are small business loans given via the CPTs to the most vulnerable households, enabling them to create a source of income which covers the costs of providing for their children and sending them to school.

After the most needy households are identified, people are invited to attend a series of training workshops, which include a focus on saving, small business training and opportunities to form self help groups.

These ‘education loans’ have gone from strength to strength, with an external evaluation in September 2017 stating how loans have ”boosted the economic capacity of respective households to meet their needs such as education, food [and] medical care…”

To receive the loan, a prospective business owner will make a business plan and write an application with support from the CPT. They are given a timeframe within which to pay it back, by which time they have a thriving business, a child in school and a good knowledge of how to manage their own finances.

The external report included feedback from many recipients including a mother from Masese III who said “I thank God for bringing Children on the Edge, because I was really struggling but they gave me 200,000 Ugandan shillings and I am now able to educate my children, buy books, feed my children and even pay rent. Although there has been a problem with hunger in the community, my situation has not been as bad as it would have been without Children on the Edge support. That capital helped me to start a small business where I sell tomatoes and silver fish”.

Repaid loans are then available to be passed on to someone else in need. With recipients paying a little interest, the loan pot can gradually grow, in order to help an increasing number of households. The repayment of the loan with a little interest also teaches business and budgeting skills, rather than dependency, and makes the fund itself sustainable.

A community evaluation of the ‘Most Significant Changes’ in the area, facilitated in January 2018 showed how the development of a ‘savings culture’ had significantly improved the financial status of those involved. Robina from Masese II described how “I was able to start saving as well as reserve some money to send my five children to school, provide them with basic needs and scholastic materials. So basically I am happy because my children are back to school and I can provide for the family needs as a single parent.”

The workshops introduce the benefits of saving and give hints and tips on how to put money aside, even through times of financial stress. Each person attending has a trial period of demonstrating they can save money and budget, before they are given their first loan.

Over 90 people are currently participating in the loan scheme, nearly half of whom are supporting five or more children. Not only have over half these people increased their savings, but an incredible 92% have reported that they are now able to feed their children twice a day. 93% are also now able to send their children to school, maintaining regular attendance.

​Find out more about the difference these loans make in people’s lives by reading Lydia and Irene’s stories. Just click their images below:
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Children on the Edge education project selected as part of the 2019 HundrED Global Collection

4/11/2018

 
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Through 150 classrooms, we provide education for 7,500 Rohingya refugee children in the Kutupalong camp, Bangladesh. This project has been announced by global education nonprofit HundrED, as ‘one of 100 most inspiring K12 innovations across the world’.

HundrED aims to share best practice ideas and K12 innovations across borders, to help improve the future of education globally. To achieve this, a team of researchers investigated innovations from around the world to determine 100 projects that are already changing the face of education.

Over 1,000 innovations were identified through research, events and recommendations and then a shortlist were evaluated by HundrED’s academy, made up of educational experts, educators and students from 28 countries.

Projects were assessed on their innovativeness, impact and scalability. HundrED’s researchers focused on finding out whether innovations produced tangible results, whether they addressed a need in an new and meaningful way, and whether the idea could grow or be adapted to help others elsewhere in the world.

Saku Tuominen, CEO of HundrED, said: “Spreading innovations such as Children on the Edge’s community-led refugee education model across borders can be a gamechanger for education, worldwide. We will continue to encourage as many stakeholders as possible including schools, educators, administrators, students and organisations to get involved so that we can work towards a positive future.”

To share the K12 innovations, HundrED has created an online platform so that educators around the world can trial and review selected innovations using the resources for free. To explore the global innovations, please visit: www.hundred.org.

​Find out more about the our work with Rohingya refugee children, and read about the the 100 2019 selected innovations at http://hundred.org/hundrED2019
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"My grandchildren have a provider, who has stepped into their father’s shoes since he’s gone" - Irene finds hope for her grandchildren through small business loan.

1/11/2018

 
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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR EDUCATION LOANS IN UGANDA
Currently, the most popular type of venture from our loan scheme are vegetable businesses, with over a quarter of all loan participants starting up stalls. One of these business owners is Irene, who is 60 years old and a grandmother responsible for three orphaned children.

She used to live alone after her two children grew up and left to start their own families. She mainly survived on the support her son Godfrey provided, though once in a while she did casual work like laundry or helping in people’s fields to earn some extra income. Through this time, she always had an idea of starting up a vegetable business, but had limited funds which weren’t sufficient enough even for her basic needs.

Tragically, her son Godfrey died, and Irene took on his children, as their mother had divorced Godfrey and disappeared a few years before. At this time, Irene realised that she had not only had the responsibility of taking care of these children, but with her son gone, she was the only earner.

Despite her interest in starting up a vegetable business, she was still limited by a lack of capital. During this crisis she began to talk with Joyce, who had started her own business through the Children on the Edge education loan programme. She introduced Irene to the local Child Protection Team, who in turn introduced her to the loans officer.

After an assessment, Irene was was given a loan of 200,000 Ugandan shillings, which she used to start up the long wished for vegetable stall beside her house. Edwin Wanabe, Programme Director for Children on the Edge Africa said “Irene’s business is doing well. It is from this that she is able to provide for her grandchildren’s basic needs and education. She is very grateful for the great support given to her. She often expresses her joy by telling our loan’s officer how she has hope that, through the business, her grandchildren have a provider, who has stepped into their father’s shoes since he’s gone”. ​

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Education loan boosts struggling banana business

1/11/2018

 
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READ MORE ABOUT OUR EDUCATION LOANS IN UGANDA
Lydia is a member of Masese I Child Protection Team (CPT), who had a thriving banana (Matooke) business, which her family relied on. Sadly her situation took a turn for the worse, when her husband was involved in a serious accident which left him bedridden, leaving Lydia as the only earner.

For a time all her profits had to go towards his medical treatment, which suffocated the business and caused Lydia to begin to lose hope. Through talks with her fellow CPT members, our social worker and the loans officer, she was encouraged to apply for a loan to invest into her collapsing trade.

The loan soon reawakened her profits, enabling her to not only pay her husband’s treatment costs, but also take care of the household needs and pay school fees for her children.
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Lydia said “I am extremely happy that amidst the challenges that befall me, I still picked up courage and invested the loan money in my struggling Matooke business, which was almost collapsing. This enabled me grow my business from buying two bunches to four, and I am really grateful because this has uplifted my household income”.

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​Children on the Edge, 5 The Victoria, 25 St Pancras, Chichester,  West Sussex, PO19 7LT, UK | 01243 538530 | communications@childrenontheedge.org 
  • DONATE
    • The Big Give 2022
  • COUNTRIES
    • Country Overview
    • BANGLADESH >
      • Kutupalong
      • Cox's Bazar & Doharazi
    • INDIA
    • LEBANON
    • MYANMAR
    • UGANDA >
      • Jinja
      • Kyaka II
    • UKRAINE
  • ABOUT US
    • WHO WE ARE
    • Contact Us
    • 2022 Highlights
    • Annual Report
    • Awards
    • Meet the team
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  • OUR WORK
    • OUR WORK Overview
    • Working on 'the Edge'
    • Safe Spaces
    • Child Rights
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    • Cluster Learning In Uganda
    • Supporting Slum Communities
    • Tackling Caste Discrimination
    • Ending Child Sacrifice
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