A Time To Celebrate

Our partner organisations and child partners came together to celebrate all that has been achieved together over the last nine years through the child sponsorship program.

The celebration was full of colour and thankfulness. Thankful for the opportunity to transform their communities, child partners and their families danced and celebrated with joy.

These child partners are so grateful for the part you, our Child Sponsors, have played in helping positive change continue well into the future of these children’s lives.

In the photo below child partners are role playing all they learned as a part of the project.

One child partner said, “I have come to know about child rights, negative impacts of child marriage, child labour and child abuse. I’m now aware of the number to call if an incidence of child abuse occurs in the community. I would like to thank project staff and our Australian friends for taking care of us and serving our wellbeing”.

Two different project areas gathered together so child partners could receive their graduation awards.

Please join us in prayer for these child partners and their families as they continue transforming their communities even through the challenges of a pandemic, and for generations to come.

Graduation celebrations have been in full swing for the incredible children of Cambodia. What a beautiful expression of what your support has made possible!

How inspiring it is to see the confidence of these child partners, and former child partners, as they host ceremonies, perform songs, dances, and dramas for the community and our Christian partners, even through a pandemic. Your support has equipped these children to play a key role in the ongoing development of their community. What an incredible legacy you have made possible!

Each ceremony included a “handing over” of child-focused work to the community, with a Certificate of Recognition presented to each Children’s Club by our partner. Each child also received a ‘congratulations’ card from their sponsor! Your support means that your sponsored child’s community is skilled and strong enough to take over the existing development activities and even start new ones.

Many children participated in dances and shows at each ceremony to show what they had learnt from the program. According to our partner staff, “The celebration was full of fun! The children were so excited knowing that this was made for them. Some children had prepared for a month before their different shows.”

In the photo above, sponsored children were able to look through project activities that they participated in over the last 9 years. A little gesture to recognise their big efforts and hard work! Thank you for your part in this story!

Our partners in Nepal have had to be very creative this year with graduation celebrations due to pandemic restrictions! So, they found a way to honour the child partners, while keeping them safe and obeying restrictions … Every single sponsored child was visited in their homes and given a graduation pack!

Inside their special graduation pack was a congratulations card, a thank-you certificate, a progress card and a personal diary. (The writing on the paper is their name!) Because of your wonderful support, your sponsored child understands their value and their unique role in the development of their community!

Graduation celebrations honour what your sponsored child has achieved, as well as what they are yet to achieve! Your faithfulness has given these children and their communities the skills and knowledge to support themselves, and continue to lift themselves out of poverty. Your impact will continue for generations!

Our partnership with our Christian Partner in the Philippines has been special, spanning 25 years. Child Partners and project staff came together to celebrate all they have achieved in the last 9 years as our wonderful partnership with them comes to a close.

In the photo below, the project Area Manager played a special message from the Baptist World Aid team in Australia to the graduating Child Partners. At the time of the ceremony there was a power outage, so they were unable to play the video on a screen. Project staff were however able to play the sound through a microphone and translate the message in their local dialect.

The graduations took place as a number of small COVID-safe ceremonies with project staff opening in prayer. Each Child Partner received a Certificate of Recognition to celebrate the change they’ve achieved over years of project participation.

Through the project, staff and Child Partners have had the opportunity to build their faith and the future wellbeing of their community. They joined together in prayer and thanksgiving over the Accomplishment Report, outlining the impact the project has had on the lives of children, families and wider community over the last 9 years.

Thank you for your incredible faith-filled partnership alongside the project staff and Child Partners in the Philippines!

The inspiring sound of children with an incredible story to tell. Here a graduating Child Club is performing a song about the dangers of early marriage… thanks to your generous support, these children are continuing to use creative ways of appealing to parents and leaders (who may not yet have heard their message) to stop child marriage. What an incredible legacy… thank you!

The Master of Ceremonies of the graduation talks about the benefits of being a Child Club member – from gaining confidence, to learning different income generating activities, and using lobbying skills to bring change in the community! The fact that she has the confidence to speak at an event attended by many people – including political leaders – is a testament to the confidence she has gained through the project. Thank you for helping to build leaders!

Heartfelt thanks! Here the children are thanking our Christian partners, SAO Uganda, for the new skills they taught them through Child Club… in song! They are singing about learning to care for the environment and the benefits of planting trees in their schools and homes – shade, fruit for eating, and even firewood! They are also thankful for the help that they and their parents have received to increase family crop yields… which has given them enough food to eat at home! And that’s why WE are grateful for YOU!