WeSeeHope Spring Newsletter 2024

NEWSLETTER SPRING 2024

SHADRACK MUTHAMA, WESEEHOPE COUNTRY MANAGER

GETTING TO THE ROOT CAUSE

Welcome to your Spring Newsletter!

Every few months, I visit each of our three partners in Kenya to check in with their teams, monitor their progress and offer them support and guidance.

This takes me right into the heart of some of our major cities and out across the country into rural areas bordering Uganda and Tanzania. In March, I travelled to Busia in the west and Loitokitok in the south to meet with our long-term partner, ANPPCAN Kenya, and their two teams who work in each region.

Together with ANPPCAN, we run both our Child Rights Programme and Village Investors Programme (VIP) in communities where our needs assessments show that children are particularly vulnerable to complex issues such as early marriage, teenage pregnancy or child labour.

Our aim is to provide vital protection for at-risk children whilst also supporting communities to lift themselves out of poverty, which is so often the underlying cause of the challenges children face. For example, through our Child Rights Programme, we are building structures and training volunteers to identify when a child is vulnerable or atrisk and ensuring that they can access the support they need.

Through the VIP, we teach parents and guardians financial and business skills and train them to pool their savings to form a community banking group, called a VIP group. As part of a VIP group, members can access loans to launch their own exciting business and develop a sustainable livelihood.

Side-by-side, these two child rights and economic empowerment initiatives have a holistic and transformative impact on a community and the children living there.

During my trip, I spoke to several parents and guardians training with the VIP who told me they not only have more money to spend on their children’s health, education and wellbeing, but their steady income now means they also have more time to spend at home caring for and supporting their children.

Through the structures of both programmes, communities become safer places for children to live healthy, happy and safe lives that are full of opportunities for their future.

Pictured overleaf are some of the incredible individuals and groups training with both programmes across Kenya. Thank you all for your continued support of our work!

PARTNER UPDATES

THE STRUCTURES OF CHANGE

Here’s a snapshot of some of the incredible work you have made possible over the past few months.

PROTECTING GIRLS’ RIGHTS IN TANZANIA

Tanzania has an extremely high adolescent birth rate: around one in four girls will have given birth or fallen pregnant before their 18th birthday. A direct consequence is a high proportion of girls dropping out of school due to a lack of support.

In a recent update from Fanisi, our partner in Mwanza, they reported that there has been a significant decline in the number of girls dropping out of schools in which we are running our Child Rights Programme. This is due to both a drop in the number of girls falling pregnant and an increase in support for girls who have given birth.

IMPROVING SECURITY IN UGANDA

Children living without the support of a parent or guardian are extremely vulnerable and at a severe risk of neglect and abuse. Through our Child Headed Households Programme, we work with them to develop a livelihood with the support of a trained guardian.

A key step is training them how to nurture their own livestock. Esther is the head of one of 20 households to have recently completed their first year of training with our partner RIDE in the Ntoroko District. In that time, she was given two goats, two more were born, and she has been able to buy a fifth. Not only has she improved her food security, Esther now has a safety net as she can sell one of her animals during difficult times.

NURTURING LEADERS IN MALAWI

Our Village Investors Programme trains parents and guardians to work together to start their own community banking group. Pooling their savings together, the groups build their own capital giving them access to loans they can use to start and grow small businesses.

Meeting each week, every member of a group has their own designated role. From money counters to record keepers, each role serves an important purpose. Pictured here is a recent training session for the chairpeople, those in charge of overseeing the weekly meetings of 12 newly formed groups in central Malawi delivered by our partner MPC Nkhoma.

FORMING SUPPORT GROUPS IN KENYA

Young people living on the streets endure a constant risk of exploitation and abuse. Our Street Work Programme provides crucial interventions to reduce their isolation and open up mentorship, life skills and employment opportunities. For 16-25 year olds, we work with groups of 15-20 to form a peer support and economic empowerment group known as a Street Association.

In January, two new associations took part in training workshops organised by Undugu, our partner in Nairobi. These sessions are the first step in bringing the young people together. With time, they advance to tackle issues ranging from addiction and anger management to income generation and business opportunities.

CHILD RIGHTS PROGRAMME SPOTLIGHT

CREATING COMMUNITY CHILD PROTECTION STRUCTURES

Children living in poverty face a greater risk of neglect and abuse and are more likely to miss out on their fundamental rights. In rural and isolated areas, practices such as child labour and early marriage may be common, which put children in extremely vulnerable situations. With weak infrastructure and limited safety nets, those who are at-risk often cannot access the support and care that they need.

Through our Child Rights Programme, we are changing things. Driven by our needs assessments, we are working across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with seven of our partners in communities where there is a higher

ESTABLISHING

Child Rights Clubs in primary schools and communities for up to 30 children, who use dance and song to teach other children about their rights and responsibilities.

incidence of reported cases of abuse as well as ongoing issues such as teenage pregnancy and increased school dropout rates.

Through the programme, we ensure that vulnerable children have a structure of peers, teachers and safeguarding bodies who stand up for their rights, report cases of abuse and ensure that those who infringe childrens’ rights are brought to justice. With time, communities become safer places for children to grow up in. This involves:

SETTING UP

Child Help Desks, which are safe, child-friendly spaces where children can report cases of abuse to teachers and volunteers who have been trained in how to address them.

FORMING

Child Rights Community Committees made up of leaders, local police, parents and guardians who ensure children’s rights are upheld and that those who infringe them are brought to justice.

With over 2,400 Child Rights Club members in primary schools across Kenya Tazania and Uganda, these children are champions for the rights of others. Organising and delivering

SPREAD AWARENESS

outreach activities throughout their community, the members make sure vulnerable children have a network who stand up for and protect their rights. The members of the clubs:

IDENTIFY VULNERABLE CHILDREN

Members of Child Rights Clubs also start their own Income Generating Activity (IGA) to raise vital funds for the club. Often this involves setting up a

REFER THEM FOR SUPPORT

food garden or rearing poultry, giving them assets they can sell in order to support vulnerable children in their community, such as paying for:

THE CHILD RIGHTS PROGRAMME IN SENGEREMA, NORTHERN TANZANIA

PROTECTING CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION

31% of children do not complete their primary education in Tanzania.

This figure rises to around 57% of young people either not enrolling or dropping out of secondary school and links to 25% of children aged 5-17 engaging in child labour (The World Bank).

Whilst primary school is free in Tanzania, there are informal fees to pay for “compulsory” items such as uniforms, books, pens and exam fees, creating significant barriers to education for children living in extreme poverty.

In Sengerema, a rural district along the shores of Lake Victoria, we have been working with local NGO Fanisi Tanzania for the past two years, collectively running our Child Rights Programme and more recently our Village Investors

Programme (VIP). Through this partnership, we are working together to address the underlying causes of child rights’ violations and ensure that children in Sengerema can grow up in a safe and nurturing environment.

Since 2022, we have been running Child Rights Clubs in 10 different schools, one of which is at the Insung’anholo Primary School. Meeting each week, the 30 members of the club are learning about their rights and responsibilities through a variety of interactive activities such as storytelling and games.

Becoming changemakers in their community, they have already made a remarkable impact. In recent months,

the members of the club identified 16 children who had not enrolled for the school year in January. Unfortunately, the new school year has meant that the club has not been able to get their food garden up and running and so have not had a source of income to use to get these children back into school.

Recognising this situation, the Child Rights Community Committee approached the Tumain Jema VIP Group - a community banking group training with the VIP - to use money they had

THE TUMAIN JEMA VIP GROUP

The Tumain Jema VIP Group started training in community banking and business skills in 2023. Made up of 30 parents and guardians, the members of the group are steadily growing their incomes enabling them to provide for 112 of their own children as well as 32 vulnerable children in their community from two separate schools.

saved to fund the informal costs that have prevented these children from enrolling at school.

Pictured below are several members of the group distributing school materials and uniforms to the 16 children identified by the Child Rights Club. The children are all between the ages of 8 and 12, most of whom have been orphaned and are now living with elderly grandparents. This support has meant that all of them are now back in school full-time.

FUNDRAISING UPDATES

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO...

Here’s the latest updates from several of our fantastic supporters over the past few months.

THE INCREDIBLE ICONEERS

Last year, some of our amazing friends over at Icon Solutions took on the South Coast Challenge as part of our Walk For Change campaign. Completing breath-taking distances between 25100km, the team raised an incredible £3,975 to support our work.

This year, they have their sights on the Cotswolds and Thames Bridges Challenges as well as the South Coast Challenge once more over the summer! Icon has been a valued long-term corporate partner of ours and we can’t thank their entire team enough for all the support they have given to us over the years.

KING’S COLLEGE SCHOOL’S SEP STUDENTS

A big shout out to all of the fourth form students from King’s College School Wimbledon, who have just kick-started our Social Entrepreneurs Project (SEP).

Through the SEP, we have challenged them to turn £10 of ‘seed capital’ into a profit for WeSeeHope in an enterprising business idea. We have been running the SEP with King’s for many years and are always blown away by the creativity shown by students, starting businesses ranging from hand painted tiles to 3D printed luggage tags! We can’t wait to see what they come up with this year. A huge good luck to all involved!

THE UTLEY FOUNDATION

Thank you so much to The Utley Foundation who have generously committed to fund the launch of the VIP in eight communities in northern Uganda from February 2024 to January 2027 with a grant of £28,000.

This will train 1,000 parents and guardians living in poverty in community banking, business and financial skills, helping them to launch their own enterprise. As a result, an estimated 2,300 vulnerable and underprivileged children will benefit from better access to education, protection of their rights and opportunities for their future.

We’re incredibly grateful to The Utley Foundation who have donated over £48,000 to support our work since 2016.

OUR LATEST 1010 CHAMPIONS

The post-pandemic world of hybrid working and working from home presents numerous challenges as companies continue to adapt. It is more important than ever for managers to find new ways to keep their teams engaged and motivated.

Our 1010 Challenge is an innovative solution and was recently taken on by one of our wonderful corporate partners, Chatham Financial, to integrate their latest cohort of interns.

Read our latest blog post to find out more about the 1010, the impact it had for the team at Chatham, and what it could offer your business!

OPPORTUNITIES TO SUPPORT

WHAT’S COMING UP?

Discover new ways that you can generate funds that help to create sustainable change…

TAKE ON YOUR OWN FUNDRAISING CHALLENGE

If you’re interested in raising funds to support our work, head to our website to find out more about the exciting events and challenges you could take part in throughout this year.

DON’T MISS OUT ON THE 2024 HOPE CLASSIC RALLY

Join us on Friday 28th June to drive an iconic classic car on a stunning route through Hampshire and the South Downs, followed by a sumptuous dinner, auction and overnight stay at the historic hotel, The Elvetham.

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