BY KANICE HO The COVID-19 pandemic has changed affected only the physical, but the emotional health of the world. A World Happiness Survey was conducted in September and found that in Hong Kong, the happiness score for people between the ages of 12 and 18 was 5.87 out of 10. The score for this group […]
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Carmen’s message of encouragement to Viva’s Latin America partner networks
Viva’s Latin America and Caribbean Director, Carmen Alvarez has these encouraging words for our partner networks: Let me first thank you for your commitment to the partner network in your country, we know that we face difficult times and that the pandemic has brought uncertainty, frustration, sadness and in the worst cases, depression. The world […]
To Be Known and Accepted
TBK (To Be Known) is the name of Doorsteps Youth’s group exploring the Christian way of life which, like many of our groups, has adapted to run via Zoom. We wanted to provide continuity and support for young people through the stresses of lockdown. One silver lining of moving our youth work online has been […]
Creativity & Wellbeing
In this blog post we start with the dragons, but sadly they’re not as prevalent as they should be. The rest goes on to talk about how useful play is. GK Chesterton writes: Fairy tales are more than true – not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons […]
The Power of Local People
BY STEPHANIE FARRANT A recent article from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) exposes the problems of humanitarian aid that is largely not set up to respond through local actors. The article so aptly highlights that ‘The humanitarian sector has grappled for decades with how best to support and fund local responders. Implementing this ‘localisation’ agenda […]
Cambodia’s Local Hero
I want to herald all of our Network Country Specialists in Asia. Obviously the past few months have been very difficult: a lack of funding, Covid-19 causing all sorts of unforeseen challenges, food shortages for the at-risk children we serve, parents who are out of work, the risk of family abuse rocketing and the other […]
The Relay of Life
Over the past few months, in my work, personal life and in the media, I have been noticing occasions that remind me of a relay race. Circumstance has forced some people to pass the relay baton on to others and others to take up the baton. For me this is exciting, it encourages us to […]
Safeguarding Children From Afar during a Pandemic
Local churches in some of the poorest cities around the world are on the frontline of the pandemic in the Global South. Coming together in pioneering, city-wide networks, they are reaching increasingly vulnerable children and families – despite being socially distant.