News

FUNDRAISING

Members of EatSleepSurf surfed and biked from Banda Aceh to Bali to raise money Chance International.

Lisa Wehbe ran the 2009 British 10k London run with the aim to raise awareness and money for Chance International through sponsorship and says "Training for this 10k has not been a completely selfless act - every time I put my running shoes on, I am filled with the rewarding feeling that I am doing something positive for this great cause, and of course I'm getting pretty fit too! I also hope that others will feel encouraged to complete their own sponsorship events for Chance International. Try a run, walk, swim, bike ride or anything you can think of!"

NEWS OF THE CHILDREN

Mawardah, Lam Assam Village, Banda Aceh Region, Indonesia, Aged 14

Dear friends, actually our life has always been very very hard. We are poor and my father works for his children's schooling, it was common for us to have to ask for help from people just so we could eat. Our life is really terrible, sometimes we have money to go to school but there are many times when we don't and we have to stay at home and work in the brick factory, perhaps if there was not the brick factory we would not have been able to go to school at all. It is the only thing that keeps us alive.

Please click here to read the rest of Mawardah's story.

Lisminiar, Lam Assam Village, Banda Aceh Region, Indonesia, Aged 10

This is Lismaniar. She is one of 5 children in her family. Her parents work in the brick factory, did not go to secondary school and are unable to help her with her homework. She attends every class, even those which are above her level, but always with her younger sister in her arms.

When we first spoke to her in 2008 asking what she wanted to do when she grew up, she said she had no dreams. This year she asked Natascha Barrymore whether she thought that if she studied hard enough, she could become a doctor.

Child by Child

The mother of a 7 year old deaf and dumb girl asked if we would accept her in our program, as she cannot attend school because of her special needs. One of our policies is never to refuse a child, so of course she has been accepted. She has formed an attachment to Natascha over the last couple of weeks and needs a lot of reassurance and encouragement. Natascha makes a huge effort to give as much one to one time as possible in the school. Even though her mother asked to send her, it is a struggle to get her out of the brick factory. Natascha now goes and collects her from there every day and says "her little face lights up with a cheeky grin each time I come. When she first came last week she could not hold a pen, she had never been taught. Last class she wrote her first A and B alone. her first letters."