Sister Veena draws her inspiration from Jesus, who walked from village to village proclaiming good news to the poor, the outcast, and the neglected. She leads an organisation in Patna, India that protects children in vulnerable situations, particularly those of travelling migrant workers, many of whom have drug and gambling addictions. Becoming part of Viva’s […]
Category: Asia
Running for a reason
Last month, 12 runners completed their runs in the 渣打香港馬拉松 Standard Chartered HK Marathon in Hong Kong – drumming up more than HKD 100,000 for Viva’s work with vulnerable children. We’re really grateful for those who took part and those who supported with sponsorship and in other ways too. Here, two of the runners share […]
Creative blessings
A simple gesture can make the world of difference! Children at a school in Marawi City in the Philippines who were displaced by conflict hold beautifully decorated notebooks produced by children in Hong Kong. The Filipino children have received the notebooks as gifts from Fe Foronda, National Director of PCMN – Viva’s partner network in […]
Life off the highway
Intrepid fundraising cyclist Gary Kamaal – who, by day, is Viva’s Senior Network Consultant in India – reflects on how he was spurred on by what he saw whilst riding for over 1,000 km from Delhi to Kathmandu in support of Viva’s girls’ anti-trafficking programme. As we left the hustle and bustle of Agra and […]
Christmas Parties: come as you are
BY ANDREW DUBOCK There were no exclusive, red-carpet gatherings. Or invitation-only events with strict dress codes. They weren’t about celebrating celebrities or those at the top of the social ladder. No, these parties were much more special than that. They welcomed those usually forgotten about, left behind and pushed away from the spotlight. They were […]
Beauty for ashes
Named after an inspirational women’s leader from the past, a slum in the Indian city of Patna is home today to a new band of girls who are being empowered by Viva to change their futures, as Fran Hall writes. Dalit Noun: A member of the lowest caste in the traditional Indian caste system. Literal […]
World champion fights to protect children in the Philippines
BY ANDREW DUBOCK Newly-crowned Ju-Jitsu world champion Meggie Ochoa is lending her support to the programme run by Viva’s partner network PCMN to eliminate online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines. Meggie is the first-ever Filipino – and Asian – to win a gold medal at the Ju-Jitsu International Federation World Championships. She also […]
Responding to child trafficking in Nepal
Earlier this year, Viva’s partner network CarNet Nepal co-hosted a three-day conference aimed at envisioning pastors from 48 churches in the Nuwakot district to respond to the issues of human trafficking in their communities. As many as 10,000 Nepali women and girls are trafficked across the border to India each year with an estimated 100,000-200,000 […]
Light and life for Filipino children
Thousands of children in the Philippines are affected by the murky world of online sexual exploitation. Andrew Dubock travels to the country to find the light and hope that our partner network is offering. A teddy bear. A symbol of childhood, of innocence, of security. However, for Angela, a 12-year-old from the Philippines, her favourite […]
Increasing quality and credibility
BY ANNA BARKER “Not all church leaders are trained about how to manage organisations. We work on a programme called QIS where we go right through the entire organisation – their sustainability, governance, registration and compliance – so that they don’t have any gaps and are absolutely compliant with the laws of the country.” (Gary […]