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 […]

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 […]

Finding another way

Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are vulnerable to being exploited and forced to work. However, as Kezia M’Clelland writes, Viva and its local partner are prioritising the need for child protection and supporting them in getting an education. Refugees comprise a quarter of Lebanon’s population. This brings pressure on resources and opportunities, and Syrian families […]

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, […]

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 […]

Ending violence in Ugandan schools

A school within CRANE, Viva’s partner network in Uganda, is preventing violence in the classroom and in the wider community – and so changing the culture in a country where many schoolchildren continue to face physical and sexual abuse. Mim Friday reports on how big a problem violence in schools is and the way forward […]