Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In March I will be leaving the UK to volunteer at a children’s home in La Paz, Bolivia for 3 months.

The organisation gives housing, food, education, health, social and psychological care to girls who come from the streets.  It offers them love and it teaches them to find a place in society. Many of the girls consume drugs and the home helps to combat these addictions. 

Street children in Bolivia are a major problem and receive very little governmental help.  Most is left up to volunteers and NGOs.  Here are some facts.

• There are over 2,500 children living on the streets of major cities such as La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.
• UNICEF estimates that 800,000 children work in Bolivia.
• 75% of street children are 12 years old, 25% aged three to 11.
• UNICEF also states 60% of street children left home due to physical violence.
• 20% left home because there wasn't enough to eat and 20% were abandoned by their parents.
• 80% of these children inhale "clefa" [glue] and some adolescents are alcoholics.

The children’s centre is run by a local NGO which depends on volunteers to keep their services going.  All the benefits of this volunteer programme go straight to the local community where it is needed most.  

I will be working with this charity through the charity Inter-Cultural Youth Exchange (ICYE).  This is a well established charity that has been noted for its volunteer-exchange programmes by the UN and EU. Because ICYE is based on an exchange system, a small amount of the money I raise will help a Bolivian volunteer work at a charity in the UK or one of the 34 countries ICYE is associated with.  

To enable this to happen I have been working for the last few months, but I would really appreciate some help.  

If you think this is a worthy cause and you can spare a few pennies then I would be incredibly grateful!

Donate your old mobile phone
If you haven’t got money to spare can I have your old mobile phone? By selling old phones to a recycle company I can raise extra money. All I ask is that your phone works (scratches and things are ok, but the screen can not be cracked) and that the phone has a battery. You can keep the charger, sim cards and memory cards.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Inter-Cultural Youth Exchange (Icye-Uk) Ltd gets your money faster and, if you’re a taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

To find out more about ICYE and the good it does go to 
http://www.icye.org.uk/

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Henny x x x x x