Welcome to the Website for Children's Helpers Worldwide!
Children's Helpers Worldwide aims to improve the lives of children who are desperately in need of help, due to poverty or illness. Take a look around our website to see our work, meet the children who benefit, and learn how you could make a difference to the lives of some of the world's most vulnerable children.
28 August 2010: Urgent!
We are appealing for donations for the funeral of an eleven year old girl, known as Little Rock from Cape Town. She suffered severe abuse, survived this, but on Wednesday, was killed on a crash. We need to send the funds to the South African organisation, the Future Factory, by Monday, to make sure it gets there in time. Click here to see a news article with Little Rock's story.
Georgia Bright, who was a volunteer in South Africa, visited Little Rock and her family during her time in Cape Town. In December 2009, she even helped paint the outside of the family's shack, with other volunteers and with Little Rock herself. She is now trying to raise money towards Little Rock's funeral and also plans to help support Little Rock's younger brother in the future. Everyone at CHW hopes people will help her by supporting her efforts to assist this family which has been through so much.
Could you help the children?
Seawind Educare, South Africa
We work in partnership with local organisations, because this means we can work together with people who truly understand the needs of the children. We are sent appeals from the local organisations. Right now we hope to fundraise for the following projects:
Ghana: New Life International Children's Home provides a home for around forty children. It runs a school which is attended by these children, and also by around one hundred and fifty more children from the surrounding villages. CHW funded the building of a new classroom, as the number of pupils was increasing. New Life now needs funds to buy chairs and desks to go in it. New Life also wants to build a vocational training centre, where teenagers at the orphanage and from the surrounding village can learn skills, like sewing, or carpentry, so that they will be able to provide for themselves when they are adults.
Ghana: Sankofa Mbofra Fie runs a school and an orphanage in a small village. Classrooms were built using bamboo, but the education authorities recently said that they will close the school unless a proper building is constructed. Funds are needed to carry on building the school, and also to pay salaries for the teachers. This is a very desperate situation, as children must continue to have an education, but it is being disrupted. Sankofa is also looking for people who want to make regular donations to help pay for food for the children at the orphanage.
Romania: FAST is an organisation with many projects, all of which aim to provide educational services and social assistance to children and families living in critical situations in the marginalised Roma communities around Sacele. FAST wants us to fundraise to help one family which has ten children. If their father can work, then he will ba able to support all his children. It will also be good for the children to see their father working. We want to raise money to build a carpentry workship for him as this will mean that all of his children will be provided for.
South Africa: Seawind Educare is a creche which looks after children from the townships and the Cape Flats - the two most disadvantaged areas in Cape Town. Funds are needed to be able to provide food for the children at the creche and also for stationery and games, etc.
If you were able to fundraise for or donate to any of these projects, you would be making a BIG difference in the lives of some of the children who most need your help. If you want to make a contribution, please go to our "Donate" page. For more info on any of these projects, you can look on our country pages.
Distribution of School Items in Argentina
Jana Liebau and Marie-Lise Despeghel organised collections of items for Florentino Ameghino School, in Argentina. The children were very happy with their new things. There were pens, pencils, crayons, notebooks, colouring sheets, art materials, books and more! A big thank you to everyone who donated items to the collections!
Cecilia, a teacher at the school, sorting through the donated pencils, to give some to every class.
Donation for Carer's Salary in Romania
We were able to give a donation of one thousand two hundred and fifty pounds to the children's home, Casa Mea, in Romania. This will pay the salary of a carer to work with the children there for a year. We hope to raise funds for the salary again next year. The children all come from difficult backgrounds and it is essential that there is the staff to be able to work with them.
The children at Casa Mea.
We were able to give this donation with the help of the following people: Our patron, Steve Parkinson, who held a fundraiser in the UK; Jana Liebau who arranged a charity concert in Germany; all of the bag packing volunteers who helped at our fundraiser in the UK; and Marie-Lise Despeghel who made a contribution. A big thank you to everyone who made it possible to support the children at Casa Mea.
Donation to Creche in South Africa
We were able to donate part of the money raised at our bag packing fundraiser in Camden, London, to Seawind Educare in Cape Town, South Africa. The director of the creche, Rita Benjamin, bought food for the children, as can be seen in the photo below. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped at the fundraiser and thanks to Rita for sending us photos of all the food she bought for the children!
Food for the children at Seawind Educare, Cape Town.
Updates from Romania!
Following our director, Catherine's, recent visit to Romania, we have quite a bit of news from there.
Link with a New Organisation and a New Appeal!
We are really happy to announce that we have now linked with Fundatia pentru Asistenta Sociala si Tineret (the Foundation for Social Assistance and Youth), or FAST, for short! FAST has a range of projects improving the lives of children and families in the marginalised Roma communities around the area of Sacele.
A family which FAST supports, and which CHW will now start to help too.
FAST's President, Daniel Hristea, has said that he wants CHW to help support a family with ten children, living in abject poverty, by raising the money for their father to have his own carpentry workshop. This means that all ten children will be provided for. It will cost two thousand five hundred pounds. We are launching the TEN FOR TEN campaign, where we hope that two hundred and fifty people will each give ten pounds for this family with ten children. You can get involved by helping to promote our campaign or by giving a donation. See more information on our 'Romania' page or click here to download our campaign flyer.
Distributions of Items to Three Organisations
Many thanks to everyone who donated items for the children we work with in Romania.
A donation of clothes was given to the Atelier Sacelean Association and to FAST. These clothes were then distributed to children from Roma families who are living in extreme poverty. Thanks to everyone who donated children's and babies' clothing.
Thanks to Anne Nadel and Michelle Masters for donating recorders for FAST's music project for children from the Roma communities.
Marie-Lise Despeghel was given a donation of toys and some of these were given to the children's home, Casa Mea.
Thank you to all who donated items. The children were delighted!
The children at Casa Mea with the toys
Donation from the School of Human and Health Sciences at Swansea University
One of our trustees, Emma Hughes, was working in this department at Swansea University, before going off to volunteer for the second time at one of our projects in Ghana; New Life International Children's Home. Before she left, the others in this department held a raffle and a coin collection, and raised two hundred pounds! This will go towards buying desks and chairs to go in the new classroom that we recently fundraised for at New Life. A big thank you to everyone involved for making this donation!
Emma volunteering at New Life International Children's Home in Ghana.
Classroom built in Ghana!
The new classroom for the school run by New Life International Children's Home has now been completed! The school is for the children at the home as well as for children from the nearby villages. This means that there is now more space to accomodate the ever-growing number of children attending the school, allowing them to get a better quality education.
The new classroom!
A big thank you to the Marr-Munning Trust, which gave us a grant of one thousand pounds towards building the classroom, to our patron, Steve Parkinson, for holding a fundraiser for the classroom and to all the indiviuals who gave donations. It is so very much appreciated.
Bag Packing in Camden!
We would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time to pack bags at Sainsbury's in Camden, London. A total of three hundred and eighty-four pounds and thirteen pence was raised! This will be split between our current appeals from Casa Mea in Romania, Seawind Educare in South Africa and New Life Orphanage in Ghana.
Some of the bag packing volunteers!
We are grateful to the following people for giving their time to pack bags:
Agnieszka, Andrew, Henrietta, Jana, Louise, Luveon, Mark, Melissa, Sam, Sarah, Sophie and Yan.
Thanks also to Mara and Emma for their help with preparing for the fundraiser, and to Sophie, Andrew and Jana for helping to bring collection boxes, etc, to and from Sainsbury's and again to Andrew and Jana for helping to count the coins afterwards!
A big thank you to everyone at the Sainsbury's branch in Camden for allowing this fundraiser to go ahead.
Coin Collection for Children in Romania!
A big thank you to everyone who took part in our latest coin collection to support the Atelier Sacelean Association, in Romania. Together, we raised four hundred and sixty three pounds and sixty six pence! The Atelier Sacelean Association runs projects for children at a local hospital, has established an education centre and helps individual families living in poverty.
CHW Appeals Assistant, Marie-Lise, reading with a sick child at the hospital
Thank you to everyone who collected their coins, and also to those who came to our cash-in and coffee event. Thanks to those who ran coin collections. This includes Marie-Lise Despeghel, who ran a collections at her work, American Express, at Telecom House and Amex House, in Brighton, Mara Gheorghe, who ran a collection at University College London and Emma Hughes who ran a collection in Swansea, Wales. Special mention should go to Sue and Steve and Jonathan and Paula who donated massive jars of coins to Emma's collection!
Some of the people who came to the 'cash-in and coffee' event in London: Andrew, Sarah, Anna, Jana and Mara
Updates from South Africa!
We have quite a lot of exciting news from our projects in South Africa.
Sports Programme
We would like to thank everyone who took part in our coin collection to support sports programmes run by the local organisation, The Future Factory. We raised four hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Thanks to all those who donated in the UK, to those who gave to the collection run by Jana Liebau in Germany, and to those who contributed to the collection run by Marie-Lise Despeghel at her office: American Express, in Brighton. The donation is being used to buy soccer balls. Sport is good for children's health and offers so many other benefits too. The children learn teamwork skills, gain confidence and it keeps them off the streets, and away from the temptation of crime, which is a big problem in South Africa.
Diverse sports programmes are run for children and teenagers, most of whom come from townships or the Cape Flats - the most deprived areas in Cape Town
Clothes Distribution
Thank you to everyone who donated clothes for the children. They were given to individual families and to children attending projects supported by The Future Factory.
Children at Seawind Educare with some of the clothes (and a football from our sports appeal!)
Creating New Links!
During her visit to South Africa, CHW's director, Catherine, was able to introduce the directors of the two local organisations we support: Anne Siroky of The Future Factory, and Rita Benjamin of Seawind Educare. The Future Factory takes on different projects, and has now decided to support Rita's creche! One of the first things Anne did was arrange for the children to have bouncy castle at a party thrown for them by the creche. The children, who come from the poorest parts of Cape Town, had so much fun!
Children at Seawind Educare, having fun on a bouncy castle, arranged by the Future Factory
As well as these projects, aimed at allowing the children to have fun, the Future Factory also helps distribute food, and will give food for the children at Seawind Educare as often as possible. The Martin family, whom Catherine stayed with, are involved with the Future Factory, and Mrs Martin helps collect food, storing it at her house, for the director, Anne, to distribute. The following picture shows her with just some of the food she collected, which was given to Seawind Educare.
Mrs Martin with loaves of bread to distribute. These, and many other food items, were given to Seawind Educare through the Future Factory.
CHW has a Logo!
CHW now has a logo, which you can see at the top of each page on this website. The logo was designed by Anne Mascellani. She is a graphic designer and gave up her time to volunteer for us and develop this logo. You can see more about her work on her own website: avangardesign.com. Our website looks much better now, and it is great that CHW has a logo. Thank you so much for all your work, Anne!
Donation to Sankofa Mbofra Fie, Ghana
We have been able to give a donation of three hundred pounds to Sankofa Mbofra Fie in Ghana. This was raised through fundraising efforts by Ben Siegelman and also from a fundraising dinner held by Louise Lam.
We would like to thank the manager of the Dragon City Chinese Restaurant in Alperton, London, for allowing this fundraiser to go ahead.
Sankofa Mbofra Fie runs a school and an orphanage. The school consists of bamboo classrooms, and the director, David, is trying to get the funds to complete a proper school building. The donation will go towards building work, if possible, and towards the salaries of the teachers at the school and food for the children.
Teacher and pupils at the school run by Sankofa Mbofra Fie.
Fundraising for Casa Mea, Romania
We would like to thank the Coordinator of CHW Germany, Jana Liebau, and all those who helped her, in arranging a Charity Concert, in Rostock, Germany. The money raised will go towards paying the salary of a carer at the children's home, Casa Mea, in Romania.
Children at Casa Mea, holding up a "Children's Helpers Worldwide" sign!
Comings and Goings
We would like to welcome three new people to CHW!
Mara Gheorghe has become our UCL representative; Louise Lam has become a CHW Fundraising Volunteer and Andrew Borland has joined our board of trustees. We are so happy that Mara, Louise and Andrew are dedicating their time and efforts to supporting our projects to help the children.
Sophie Williams will no longer be trustee of CHW, but will continue to support our work in other ways. We would like to thank her for the time she spent as one of CHW's trustees.
Progress on building a classroom at New Life International Children's Home, Ghana
New Life International Orphanage runs a school for the children that live there and also for children from the surrounding villages. More and more children have been attending the school, and to be able to continue to give the children a good quality education, building a new classroom is necessary. We would like to thank all those who supported this project. We had donations from individuals, a grant for one thousand pounds from the Marr-Munning Trust, and a very large donation which was raised by CHW's Patron, Steve Parkinson. The building work has been overseen by Derrick Fletcher Gaisie and Jacqueline Hinson, who run the Home. Thanks to Derrick for sending us photos so we could keep you all updated!
The classroom should be completed soon. We will keep you updated on its progress.
Painting at the Sacele Hospital, Romania
Director of the Atelier Sacelean Association, Cristina Birsan spent part of a donation we gave her organisation on buying paint for volunteers to decorate the babies' ward. The babies are left in their cots for long periods of time, staring at the walls, but now they will have something more stimulating to look at.
Further news from this project:
The rest of CHW's donation was spent on pyjamas, slippers and blankets for the ill children, as well as cleaning products for the hospital. CHW was also able to collect clothes and give them to the Atelier Sacelean Association three times over the past year. The clothes were distributed to babies and children at the hospital and to families living in the nearby Roma settlement. Thank you to everyone who helped fundraise and who donated clothes.
New Patron!
We are delighted to announce that Steve Parkinson has become a patron for CHW! Steve is the Managing Director for Kiss and Magic, two of the UK's most successful music media brands, spanning radio, tv and online. He is also on the board and the patron of other children's charities. His support is invaluable. He has said that he is pleased to support CHW especially because "fundraisers can see the tangible results the team deliver. If you raise ten quid for an orphanage, the ten quid is spent on the orphanage." You can see more info about Steve on our "About us" page.
Our Patron, Steve Parkinson
In the past Steve has supported our projects installing a water tank and New Life International Orphanage, Ghana, and building a playground there. He has just held a fundraiser that has enabled us to reach our target to complete the building of a classroom at the school run by the orphanage. We are so happy that he is now our patron, as he has done so much to help improve the lives of the children.
Volunteer Trip to Romania!
We were able to arrange a volunteer trip to Romania. Two volunteers, Jess Waite and Marie-Lise Despeghel (who is now our Appeals Assistant) came with CHW trustee Anna Booth and director, Catherine Franks to work at the hospital project run by the Atelier Sacelean Association and in the children's home, Casa Mea.
From left to right: Anna, Catherine, Marie-Lise and Jess, with all the children at Casa Mea
We were able to give clothes for the Atelier Sacelean Association to distribute to disadvantaged children for the second time this year. We would like to thank everyone who donated children's and babies' clothes.
Also, CHW trustee Anna Booth, has arranged for Cristina Birsan, the director of the Atelier Sacelean Association, to have free legal advice for her organisation. This is useful for if she wants to draw up or enter contracts or make applications for various things. Anna has a training contract with a large international law firm, and Cristina can contact the lawyers at the Bucherest firm whenever she needs. We would like to say a big thank you to Anna for arranging this, and to the lawyers in the London headquarters and in Bucharest for allowing this pro bono work to go ahead.