Girls Conference 2014

Living Your Dreams Initiative Child Support: Our Core Program Service Areas and Our Strategies

CHILD SUPPORT 

CORE PROGRAM SERVICE AREAS & OUR STRATEGIES

Education 

1. Strategies for increasing school enrolment and retention.

2. Addressing social exclusion and advocating for especially girl child education

3. Promoting vocational training in marketable skills for children outside the formal education system

4 Promoting school health education and hygiene linked to WASH

Food and nutrition 

1. Promoting nutrition education and counseling in schools and communities

2.Improving food production, storage and utilization by households

3. Strategies to promote infant and young child feeding

4. Strengthening and promoting sustainable community food banks

5. Mechanisms for strengthening referrals and linkages for managing cases of moderate to severe malnutrition

Health

1. Strategies for community health promotion with a specific focus on vulnerable children and households

2. Strengthen health education at community and household level focusing on but not limited to nutrition, hygiene, immunization, primary prevention, psychosocial health etc.

3. Enhanced advocacy for improved staffing and supply of essential drugs to existing community health facilities

4. Strategies to promote and strengthen the provision of adolescent friendly health services

5. Promote access by caregivers, households and children to available health services

6. Promoting access to HIV prevention services for children and care givers including linkages and referrals with community health centers

7. Enhancing access to treatment care and support for HIV positive children and care givers

New realities emerge as we celebrate the International Day for the African Child 2014

NEW REALITIES:

MATRIX SHOWING THE KEY ELEMENTS OF A PARADIGM SHIFT IN RESEARCH AND WORK WITH AND FOR STREET CHILDREN

Shifting from ideas that:	Through ideas of:	To the following consequences:
		Theory	Research	Practice
Street children are homeless and abandoned victims	Space	Street children create meanings for using street spaces and form supportive networks	A variety of triangulated methods is required to research street children’s lives	Use the street as a space for programming; build on existing strengths and networks
Street children’s lives are chaotic; they will become delinquents	Time	Street children have changing careers on the street, and their increasing age is an important factor	Longitudinal studies are vital	Age-sensitive, long term programming  with follow-up to ensure the development of potential
Adults know best; adult control and supervision is necessary to ensure children’s welfare	Social construction of meaning	Children are active agents in their own lives; they construct meanings and are subjects of rights	Children-centered participatory research is not only a necessity, it is also a right for children	Take a rights based, children-centered approach; children should be involved as partners in all aspects of programming.

(Reproduced from Ennew and Swart-Kruger, 2003)

Reflections

Dreams Child Protection Programme - A living your dreams initiative

Dreams Child Protection Programme is a total child development ministry of Living Your Dreams Initiative that releases children from various kinds of vulnerabilities and enable them to enjoy childhood with a loving family in which they are respected, cherished and their safety, wellbeing, peace and dignity are paramount. 

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We believe that if children can be allowed to enjoy their childhood, with a loving family in which they are respected, cherished and their safety, wellbeing and dignity is paramount; we will no doubt have a functional society.

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Dreams Child Development Program is a total package that helps children to be free from the shackles of spiritual, emotional, intellectual, economic, social and physical poverty and grow to become confident, competent, caring, responsible purpose-driven fulfilled adults

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Our mission is encapsulated in an acronym called the I.D.E.A.S Plan

I- Improve and Establish Ultimate Relationship,

D- Discover, Develop and Deploy Servant Leaders,

E- Enhance the Lifestyle of the Poor,

A-Assist and Give Love and Hope to the Sick

S-Strategically Educate and Train the Next Generation)

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This is how we plan to affect children, families and tackle the global giants we have identified in our society. Over the years, our service intervention started with relationship skills for families and young adults to children in the institutionalized care to children in abandoned rural communities to abandoned boys and girls on the streets.

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Our programme also provides services in areas we call – stop bad marriages from happening, parenting and counselling for broken young adults and those going through marital stress and not left unattended to. 

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Our services had always being in accordance with global best practice in growing healthy individuals who will lead functional families in order to have a healthy society and  child protection and development. 

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This initiative is carefully run by a team of passionate programme directors and caregivers who supervise programmes and projects of the with the I.D.E.A.S plan of Firm Missions in mind.

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OUR CORE PROGRAMS

1.     Dreams Shelter – Abandoned children on the street programme (Street Children Programmes)

2.     Vulnerable Children in rural Community Programmes

3.     Stand Up For Children (Children mentorship and Sponsorship Programs, advocacies, focus group discussions, town hall meetings and listening groups).

4.     Abused Children at home.

5.     Capacity development on functional family skills, child protection and development.

Take a child off the streets... www.livingyourdreamsng.org

www.livingyourdreamsng.org