HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Every year we celebrate Christmas by getting together with family and friends, eating great food, giving presents and having fun. This year Minu and I wanted to include in our Christmas celebrations some of the most vulnerable people in the world- a few of the 1 billion children at risk.
To most of us December 25th means presents, roast turkey, stockings over the fireplace, and big family gatherings. To so many children around the world it is just another day they have to survive. We have an opportunity to change that.
One out of every five people on earth is a child at risk: at risk of malnutrition, forced labour, disease, drug addiction, abandonment.
The death or desertion of a parent, or other breakdown of the family unit, is one of the biggest contributors to child vulnerability, as the child is often left with no family or community support. Forced into poverty they are then exposed to the dangers of drug and alcohol dependency, street gangs and violence, malnutrition, disease, trafficking, abuse, and exploitation.
Most of these children struggle just to survive. They have never experienced a party or celebration of any sort. Never received a gift, had plentiful food or a break from the daily grind of survival. They work, they survive. Or not.
Viva is a great organisation that exists to make a difference to children at risk by helping the many projects that support them work better together. Each year Viva invites 20,000 children to a Christmas party. At each party every child receives food, love, a gift and the chance to have fun and forget about the daily fight for survival. For many this is their first contact with a project that can work with them through the year to transform their life chances. For all of them it is at least a few hours when they can just be children.
As Minu and I celebrate Christmas this year we want to include a few of these children in our celebrations by financially supporting some of these parties.
So, we are asking you to donate £10 or whatever you feel able to help a very vulnerable child experience Christmas.
Happy Christmas
Minu and David
PS. You might never have heard of Viva as it is one of the worlds best kept secrets. It is a specialist in helping those who work with vulnerable children work better by working together. It works with big organisations like Tearfund, World Vision and Compassion as well as countless small groups. Last year it reached 1.1 million children at risk and trained 4,800 workers to serve them. David is a trustee.
