Samantha’s story

Meet Samantha: a remarkable young woman who is achieving her dreams thanks to a programme run by Viva and CRANE, our partner network in Uganda. Discover how she is also now helping other girls to follow their passions too. The opportunities for a Ugandan girl accessing education are threatened by many factors, poverty and death […]

“I’ve learned how to support my baby”

BY ELEANOR SIMPSON With the support of Viva and its partner network, CRANE, teenage mothers in Kampala, Uganda, are now able to return to school whilst free child care is provided for their babies. They also receive training, which provides them with knowledge about how to best take care of their young children. The family […]

A dream fulfilled

BY ANNAH MARY TUSIIME Rachel’s is a story of a life that was forever changed. She was raised by a single mother who farmed other people’s gardens for a living and, with the little she had, she supported Rachel until Senior 4 (aged 15 years). Unable to find any lasting work within her community, Rachel’s […]

New Beginnings and Fresh Starts

BY VICTORIA PRICE Health educators through Viva’s partner network, CRANE, in Uganda, are being equipped with life-saving knowledge on maternal and child health, which they are passing on to local communities through their peer-to-peer activities. Eighteen peer educators in two districts in Kampala have now reached over 1,000 parents and their children. With increased maternal […]

Seven more years for Uganda girls’ education project

BY ANDREW DUBOCK Following on from our four-year girls’ catch-up education programme in Kampala, Viva and its Uganda-based partner network CRANE have secured a new seven-year contract with the British government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to continue to build on and increase this crucial work. By 2024, it will directly benefit almost 10,000 girls, […]

Encouraging Learning for Deaf Children

BY VICTORIA PRICE A new textbook has been launched by Viva’s partner network CRANE in Uganda, which creates brand new learning opportunities for deaf primary school-aged students in Kampala, through the creative use of pictures, videos and sign language tools. According to UNICEF, approximately 2.5 million children in Uganda live with some form of disability, […]

Floating Churches & Firm Foundations

BY JUSTINE DEMMER Justine Demmer, Viva’s Network Consultant for Asia, gives us a glimpse into a recent trip to Cambodia where she visited a floating church, and the children who call it home. I step outside of our accommodation in Siem Riep, North-Western Cambodia to find an open wagon drawn by a motorcycle. Our child […]

Teaching Teachers to Play

BY JANET GAUKROGER Janet Gaukroger has been working with our partner network CRANE in Uganda for over 10 years. On her most recent visit last month, she helped lead a learning retreat for ten young women who are training to be early childhood teachers. She tells of her experience meeting the group of soon-to-be teachers […]

Challenging a Culture of Online Abuse

The scourge of online sexual exploitation continues to attack children in nefarious ways. Philippine Children’s Ministries Network (PCMN), Viva’s partner network in the Philippines, is about to embark on a programme to combat digital abuse in Dasmariñas City, near Manila – focusing on the potential of youth advocates. Dasmariñas City has the highest number of […]