Thank you so much to all who gave to our Match Appeal last Christmas!

Ten months on, we wanted to share one way in which Viva has been tackling the issue of domestic violence and abuse in Central America.

In Costa Rica, Viva has trained 39 church pastors, teachers and child carers in Child Protection. The Viva course lasted four months and involved raising awareness about the issue of violence and abuse, training participants to make a child protection policy and come up with a plan to ensure it is implemented.

Last Christmas, you might remember hearing about Hellen, one of our network members who runs a child daycare centre in Purral. In the video below, she shares how this training has helped the children she cares for.

Thank you again for helping to make this work possible.

Coming up, this year’s Christmas Match Appeal will focus on bringing hope and new freedom to girls. In countries such as India, Uganda and the Philippines, inequality against girls can put them at risk of abuse and limit their life choices.

Watch this space to find out how this Christmas we’re working to make girls equal. We hope you can help!