Save the Youth Madagascar: An affiliate of The Family Africa

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The activities this past month have been very varied, due to so many needs around us as well as many ongoing projects.

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Leilani and some of our friends have started to do paint murals on the walls of the dormitories of the orphanage CBA, to make them inspiring and cheer up the children. These young people are really sweet and have a heart to help the poor children and we really enjoy their partnership.

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Due to the cold weather, the coldest winter since we have been here, we kept on distributing winter clothes around us, as well as blankets to the young minors of the jail, who don’t have any warm clothes and are suffering from the cold at night as the temperature get close to zero at times.

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The children of the CBA orphanage continue to go to the dentist and it will probably take some time as they are about 60 of them, who never had a dentist checkup in their lives !

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We have been able to buy monthly food sucid:image004.jpg@01D1E80A.27FBDEB0pplies to the CBA orphanage, allowing us at the same time to cook them a very nice meal, of which they are always very thankful. This does not cover all their needs, of course, but it helps a lot and brings variety and improvement to their diet.

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Our work continues with the minors of the jail, who are living in very difficult conditions, especially during the winter. Every month, we are able to bring them food for their body as well as for their soul. This month, the story was about a young prisoner exiled in Siberia, and the different lessons of love, applying God’s Word to our lives and forgiveness. Some of the young people are quite rough, but we trust the Lord that the seeds we plant into their hearts will one day yield lasting fruit.

The construction work of the 2 schools is progressing, slowly but surely. It is amazing the obstacles that we find on our way here, each time we do some construction projects : the last ones being sand mixed with mud, the contractor forgetting to include many important details, like the cost of materials for doors and windows, as well as the ceiling, etc…. We always wonder if there will be more each time we meet him.

Through the fundraising and materials collecting, we have been able to meet new friends and donors. We met our last donor at another’s donor’s place where we were collecting iron rods. He just donated enough funds to build school tables and benches for 200 children who will be attending one of the schools we are helping

Source: The Family Africa

Digital Literacy more than just about access – A Belgian Case Study

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Early 2016 the Gezinsbond assigned an independent market research agency (Market Probe) to conduct standardized face to face interviews with members of families living in Belgium, to get a clear view on their existing digital skills. 1015 persons, claiming to be the most responsible for administrative tasks in their household, responded to our questions.

When talking about the digital divide, the first question is about having access to the digital world. According to our study about 14% of the population does not yet have access to a computer or to internet – this group finds itself completely excluded from the digital society. The study also shows that there is another, more deeper dimension to the digital divide: regardless of having access to internet it looks at the skills people need to move around in this digital world. This dimension of the digital gap is more complex as people are always skilled in some digital or financial operations but not in others: they can send emails or perform online payments, but don’t know how to submit an online official document or install a virus scan. The level of skills is very individually colored and nuanced. The study enables us to identify certain patterns that can help us finding the right answers on how to fill both dimensions of the digital gap.

Click here to download the complete study

WFO in Beirut to Present the Sustainable Development Goals

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Dr. Deisi Kusztra, WFO President and Mr. Isidro de Brito, WFO Vice President for Legal and Administrative Affairs are in Beirut, Lebanon, to hold a series of workshops, meetings and visits to present and explain the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The workshops and events are being organized in partnerhsip with Takaful for child welfare, a civil non profit institution concerned in childhood which services covers Lebanon (cities, villages, Palestinian gatherings and camps), Palestine (Gaza strip and west bank).

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Planned Activities:

● Workshop with National and Local NGOs

● Field Visits:

MinistryofSocialAffairs Ministry of Health
Children Cancer Center
Children Skill Center ­ Bee Center Palestinian Refugee Camp
Syrian Refugee Camp
Local NGOs

Conceptual Framework:

1. Theme: Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development ­ Mobilizing for Action.

2. Vision:

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development entered into force as a plan of action for people, planet, peace, prosperity and partnership, ensuring that no one is left behind, and to provide economic prosperity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Its effective implementation and results depends on a collaborative interaction between all stakeholders, mobilizing citizens of the world to break barriers, to raise awareness, to let people know about the Sustainable Development Goals and to include its activities on everybody, everyday lives.

3. Objectives:

Provide substantive information on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Targets.

Discuss the positive impact of the Sustainable Development Goals implementation at national and local level.

Provide participants with expert analysis on means to include and implement the SDGs on theirs everyday work.

Discusss trategies tointegratetheworkof NGO’s into a SDGs policy­making perspective and citizens mobilization at national and local level.

4. Expected Results:

Reach among participants an understanding about the SDGs.

Reach among participants a consensus on the benefits of supporting the inclusion and the implementation of the SDGs concepts and actions in theirs everyday work.

Introduce the concept of multi­stakeholders­Local Authorities, Community and Family ­ perspective of social public policies in the context of Sustainable Development promoting citizens mobilization.

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The World Family Organization’s Agenda 2030 for Local Authorities, NGOs, Communities and Families Initiative is designed to introduce the SDGs to governments and non­governmental organizations who are dealing with emerging critical SDGs implementation issues by enhancing knowledge transfer and collaborative learning, enabling all stakeholders to include the concepts of SDGs on theirs everyday activities and to build awareness­raising social networks structures to strengthen local level citizens mobilization.

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The Family Africa

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What a wonderful Youth Day with about 50 plus volunteers cele­brating Youth Day with us at our centre. Volunteers from Cosmo Christian Centre, ranging in age from 12 to 18 yrs spent 8 hours with us. We divided them into different teams, cooking, gardening, clean­ing the playground and playing with the children. They all did an amazing job keeping the kids occupied and happy all day and serving them a lovely meal. We also had time to conduct a interactive HIV awareness programme with them so that they would understand the nature and devastating impact of HIV in South Africa. Our brief from the youth leaders was to help these teens, who come from privileged backgrounds, understand what it is like to live in a squatter camp so part of the programme was to take groups right into the heart of the squatter camp and do a home visit for one of our support group mem­bers. When they was the conditions she lived in with no electricity, running water or even windows for security reasons – a half blind sick woman enduring terrible conditions – many of them were moved to tears. (We did not take photos of the shack and the lady because we felt it would be intrusive.) The teens went away with a different per­spective on their lives, which has made them feel more appreciative of what they have. We look forward to seeing them again in the not too distant future.

The Family Africa Blanket Drive is going well with blan­kets pouring in.
This week YFM Radio Presenters, staff and friends brought over 100 lovely blankets to distribute to our Free Day Care Centre and our orphan group. Everyone was thrilled.

Don’t forget Mandela Day

Mandela Day is Monday, July 18th.
Where ever you are spend 67 minutes reaching out to others to celebrate his life.
*: The Family Africa is a NGO and WFO Member that brings real hope for the future to thousands of people from previously disadvantaged groups in South Africa.

The organization’s work follow a holistic approach to welfare involving the mind, body and spirit. To this end we work on three levels:

1. Short Term: Immediate relief through feeding schemes, provision of clothing and blankets and response to local disasters.

2. Medium term: Education and training including basic skills training, HIV/AIDS awareness programmes in primary and secondary schools and the production of materials to assist prevention and promote attitude change.

3. Long Term: Spiritual, emotional and psychological support.

The Movement for Community-Led Development

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Who we are: As individuals and organizations committed to the successful implementation of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we call for enhancing the power and capacity of communities to take charge of their own development.

Watch our brief introductory video.

A Human Right. Every human being has the inalienable right to participate in governance. For most of those living in hunger and poverty, this means governance within walking distance. People deserve this right to know that their voice and energies can make a difference. People in power must view people as “active citizens,” not beneficiaries, and “solutions,” rather than “problems.”

SDG #16 calls for building participatory, effective, accountable institutions “at all levels” – which must start at the level closest to the people. This must become a high priority.

A Gender-focused, Transformative Process. Community-led development is more than participatory projects. It requires a long-term process that empowers citizens and local authorities to transform entrenched patriarchal mindsets and take effective action.

Key Global Challenges. Four of the biggest challenges in the SDGs – to halt stunting, empower women, achieve inclusive economic growth and build climate change resilience – all require integrated  and community-led solutions at the local level.

An end in itself. Community-led development is more than an effective and sustainable means to achieve development goals. As expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 29, “Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.” Participatory local governance is the only pathway through which most people will have this opportunity.

We therefore commit to work in alignment to achieve the following near-term goals:

  • Raise the profile of community-led development in SDG-implementation discourse – starting with ourselves. We will develop a shared language for the practices, interventions and policies that enhance community-led development and we will project this language in our internal and external communications.
  • Do the analysis. We will work in every context to ensure that the systems thinking being carried out by policy makers includes a bottom-up analysis – starting from people — as well as an accurate understanding of the community-level programs and institutions required.
  • Generate, gather and disseminate evidence. We will build the evidence base for the importance of community-led development, and what works to enhance it.
  • Share best practices. Empowering community-led development is a science, and we will document and share what works.
  • Build the movement. Community-led development has strong relevance to good governance, peace and security, and humanitarian response, as well as to urban and rural social and economic development. We will reach out to all those working to enhance community-led development in all these communities.
  • Advocate for an enabling policy environment and funding. Communities face an uphill battle, and are often starved for the information, skills, voice, and human and financial resources they need to fulfill their aspirations. We will develop and work together to support local, national and global advocacy efforts to remove the obstacles and strengthen support for community-led development.
  • Take it to scale. Within activities already underway, there are enormous opportunities to work together to mobilize communities and unleash the greatest and most under-recognized resource for development – people power, and particularly the leadership of women and youth.