Family Vows to Overcome Typhoon Troubles

Cousins Judith and Judiza Sevilla thought it was just going to be a quick shower; little did they know it was the beginning of Typhoon Bopha.

“We slept through it thinking that it was just another storm and it would soon be over,” said 20-year old Judith.

But after an hour, the gushing winds and continuous rain woke them up at their home in Monkayo, a bustling municipality in the north of Compostela Valley province in eastern Mindanao island, about 750 miles southeast of the capital Manila.

“The wind was very strong and the rain was very loud. I knew it was far from the usual,” said Judiza, 18.

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PlanNyt er ude

Vinterens PlanNyt er landet hos vores PlanFaddere.

I magasinet kan du læse om Jacklyn fra vores kampagne. Du kan se billeder af verden, der gik i pink for pigerne og blive klogere på vores pigeprojekter.

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How 'For-Profit' Strategies Can Benefit NGOs

On November 28th, Plan International USA acquired the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) and agreed to combine assets to boost existing programs, especially in gender mainstreaming and youth development. This move, according to Plan International USA's President/CEO Tessie San Martin, will not only maximize the impact of Plan’s projects, but it will also strengthen Plan’s resiliency to the global economic volatility.

San Martin explained the challenges of the acquisition to Devex and how this merger is different from a pure commercial merger. Because the partnership involves a nonprofit, there are clauses and provisions that involve money.

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Rebuilding After Typhoon Bopha

“Please, if there is someone out there, please help us. We need food, clothing and shelter,” says Christolo, 41, as he gets to work rebuilding his house in Sibahay village, Boston municipality, a few days after parts of the Philippines were ravaged by Typhoon Bopha.

“Our five-year-old daughter, Maria, is getting sick because we don't have enough food. We're just eating the coconuts and bananas left by the typhoon. We are tired and no aid has arrived,” he adds, before resuming his hammering and sawing.´


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Tough Times for Young Mothers in the Wake of Bopha

After Typhoon Bopha, known locally in the Philippines as Pablo, relief supplies have been slow to get to affected communities in Mindanao and villagers in some parts have taken to blocking the roads to beg passers-by for food, clothing and shelter.

All along the coast, children beg on the side of the road with hands outstretched. "It’s a difficult time to be a mother with a young baby," says 21-year-old Adora Quirante, mother of six-month-old Aj from San Antonio in Cateel municipality.

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Children Stuggle to Deal with Typhoon Aftermath

“At night when I sleep, I suddenly wake. In my dreams, I visit the nightmare of the people I saw being hurt,” says 12-year-old Alyza Grace. 

Alyza making the attempt to come to terms with what Typhoon Bopha did to her community in Davao Oriental which is located about 590 miles southeast of Manila.

When Bopha ripped through the Philippines earlier this month with winds of up to 162 mph, it unleashed the kind of destruction not seen in those parts for 100 years. Entire communities were destroyed and more than 1,000 people have been confirmed dead.

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Children need shelter and protection after Typhoon Bopha

Plan is helping families piece their lives back together after Typhoon Bopha coursed across the Philippines. About 300,000 people in Davao Oriental on Mindanao have been affected by the typhoon, known locally as Pablo, which ripped through communities with winds of up to 160 mph.

“This typhoon has come right at the end of the Pacific Storm Season, but there are days when it is still raining. Of the houses that are still standing in affected communities, the majority don't have roofs, so homes are open to the elements and it’s harder for families to recover,” says Carin van de Hor, Country Director of Plan Philippines.

Some people are beginning to rebuild their homes, but not everyone has the money or resources to do this. Plan is distributing tarpaulins to families in need so that they can at least cover the gaping holes where their roofs used to be.

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Jul i Kenya

I Danmark er de fleste af os ved at være klar til at gå på juleferie og holde jul i familiens skød. Vi glæder os til and, flæskesteg, ris a la mande, julesange og gaver. Men hvordan holder man jul, når man bor i et fattigt u-land? Det har vi spurgt Tom Okeyo om. Han arbejder hos Plan i Bondo i Kenya, hvor Plan Danmark har mange projekter.

I Kenyas kristne familier starter julen den 23. december og slutter den 26. december. Hvis der er råd til det, mødes familier fra nær og fjern til hyggeligt samvær og god mad. Et festmåltid kan bestå af fisk eller kylling, chapati (fladbrød), grøntager og frugtjuice. En del familier vælger fx at slagte deres høne i forbindelse med julen.

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Emma’s letter to Santa

Ginger McClelland and her husband Scott have four inspiring grandchildren: Halle, Ben, Mary, and Emma. When Ginger and Scott received their Gifts of Hope catalogue in the mail, they had the perfect idea of what to give their grandchildren for Christmas: 3 baby chicks!

The gift of 3 baby chicks when given to those who need them is the gift of income and skills building. When those chicks become hens, women sell the eggs and breed the chickens, to help support their families. Girls learn livestock management skills that will stay with them their whole lives.

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New memories and a new school in Ghana

In September of this year, a group of Plan donors took a journey to see Plan’s program work in action. On their trip to Ghana, the group visited the primary school that their generous donations helped to build.

Anna Maria Reiff and Rob Moffat were part of that group. We caught up with them both to talk about their life-changing experiences in Ghana.

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Education for Girls in Cambodia

Earlier this year UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon made the point that the opportunity to receive an edcuation is more often a right than a reality for "too many women and girls".

Twenty-year-old Len Leng was very nearly one of those who missed out on an education. Had she bowed to her demands of her impoverished parents, her education – like that of most Cambodian girls would have ended after primary school.

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Cycling to Success

In the tiny commmunity of Bricama, 8 miles from the regional capital of Bafata, Guinea-Bissau, 13-year-old Odete Sana wheels her bike out of the thatch hut where she lives and takes it for a short spin.

Typically, she stores it at her father's house on the other side of the highway. She prefers that it be stored at her father's house because it is stronger and if there should there be a fire, she's afraid her bicycle might get burned.

Thanks to the vintage, baby-blue bicycle she was awarded by Plan for outstanding achievement at school, Odete is now part of a tiny, yet growing, minority of girls in the region who can now continue their education into senior high school after completing primary school.

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Familier flygter fortsat fra Nordmali

Tusindvis af børn og deres familier flygter lige nu fra deres hjem i det nordlige Mali. En skæbne som efter alt at dømme kommer til at ramme endnu flere familier i det nye år.

Malis regering og militær planlægger nemlig en militær intervention for at bekæmpe de ekstreme islamister, der siden april har taget kontrollen over Nordmali. Oprørerne har indført en ekstrem form for Sharia lovgivning, som inkluderer offentlig afstraffelse. Samtidig er der store problemer med at beskytte børnene, idet der rapporteres om vold med døden til følge, seksuelt misbrug og rekruttering af børnesoldater.

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Plan International Receives Microsoft Commitment to Support Innovation in Education

On December 1st, Microsoft and Plan International USA signed a strategic alliance to support bringing digital access to youth and educators in developing countries. Through this strategic partnership, Microsoft’s commitment of up to $75M will help to ensure students gain the critical technological skills necessary to access opportunity, find employment, and contribute to their economies.

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Mat weaving is the key to empowerment

For women in the Tabareybarey refugee camp, making money can be the key to their survival.

Life in a refugee camp is a far cry from life in a village. Refugees from the poorest village would ultimately prefer to return home to life in the camp. A refugee camp is the last resort, a place for shelter when the violence and oppression forces people to leave their homes. Tabareybarey is such a haven for the people leaving northern Mali.

Plan Niger, one of the leading organizations involved in camp management, has initiated several activities to promote income-generating activities for women and adolescent girls in the community.

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Gordon Brown backs Plan's campaign for girls' education

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is now United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, has backed Plan's campaign for girls' education. Following campaigning by thousands of Plan supporters there have been a series of political commitments and actions announced.

A global campaign was launched after 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban. Plan joined the campaign in support of Malala's stand for girls' education. And our 'Raise your hand' campaign calls for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to lead action by world leaders to make girls' education a priority. The Malala campaign achieved over two million signatures, doubling the original target. Over 560,000 people have supported our Raise your hand campaign so far.

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End child labour in India – sign the petition now

On 20 December the Indian parliament is voting on a bill to abolish child labour under 14 years of age and ensure all children can go to school.

From making Christmas decorations to rolling cigarettes, millions of children across India are forced into labour and suffer the consequences.

In India’s cigarette-rolling industry alone, 1.7 million children – mostly girls – are made to work up to 14 hours per day in hazardous conditions. They miss out on school and suffer health problems. Tuberculosis, asthma, body pain and postural problems are most common.

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25 sponsored children and 25 letters every month

Everyone should know someone like Mr. Bear. He’s kind, generous and dedicated to his work and family. He’s also been sponsoring children with Plan Canada for over 30 years, and recently, he chose to sponsor an additional five children, bringing him to a total of 25 sponsored children.

Mr. Bear’s sponsored children span the globe in the Americas, Asia and Africa. He’s even posted a map in his office to keep track. Each child’s name and picture is posted on the map, and red string pinpoints their exact location around the world.

When we met with Mr. Bear, we discovered he wasn’t alone in his generous undertaking – in fact, he had a lot of help from one special person – his assistant, Rosemary.

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Before she's ready for motherhood

Ayatollah is only 15 years old as she talks about her marriage to an old man that she has always had known as her neighbor. This is her story.

"I loved going to school and playing with my friends, but when my father said that girls do not need to go to school, I found myself herding cattle from sunrise to sunset as well as performing other household chores," says Ayatollah.

"One day, when I was playing outside, my father accompanied by an old man who is a contractor and our next door neighbor, came over to me and warned me to stop playing like a child as I had reached an age suitable for marriage."

"Two days later and to my disbelief, my mother told me that my father had married me off to the same old man in order to save the family from poverty," she recalls.

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School canteen helps refugee children

Life in a refugee camp is neither shiny nor appealing, despite the tenacity and courage of some of the members of these communities who have dedicated their lives to supporting the efforts of the humanitarian organizations who provide them with community assistance.

This is the case of Agaichatou Hamadou Kina, a mother of five children from Gao in Mali. She found herself in the Tabareybarey refugee camp following the armed conflict in northern Mali.

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Plan's catch-up classes bring joy to children in the Damba refugee camp

From his picture, Ibrahim seems to be a regular teenage boy. He aspires to study and become a doctor. He enjoys sports and being with his family.

What you can’t see in the photo is that Ibrahim lives in the Damba refugee camp in Burkina Faso, set up to receive Tuaregs fleeing violence in northern Mali almost 8 months ago. His education has been on hold while his family and thousands of others wait for peace so they can return to their homes.

However, the political turmoil that is happening in Mali is not a challenge that will be quickly solved. The lives of refugee children, the next generation, cannot be stalled because of war and violence.

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A Girl’s Right to Learn Without Fear: Ending gender-based violence in school

Today, Plan Canada launches a new report: A Girl’s Right to Learn Without Fear. In partnership with the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program, and in collaboration with the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Native Women’s Association of Canada, and White Ribbon Campaign, the report finds that gender-based violence is a critical factor threatening the education of girls in countries all over the world.

School-related gender-based violence refers to acts of sexual, physical or psychological violence inflicted on children in and around schools because of their sex or gender.

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The right to be heard - and to an education

On 9 October 2012, 14 year old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head because she is a girl and dared to defend every girl’s right to education. 10th December 2012 is Human Rights Day - its focus this year the right to be heard in public life and included in political decision-making. Malala paid a heavy price for trying to be heard. The attack on her sparked a wave of protests and condemnation across the world. The protests revealed a generation no longer willing to tolerate the gap between the promise of opportunity for all and reality.
 
For decades we have assumed the inevitability of the forward march of education, the inexorable year-on-year, continent-by-continent progress towards universal education. But if there is one reality that exposes our failure to deliver, it is that there are 61 million young children like Malala who will not go to school today or any other day. Written off at five and six years old, they will never come close to realizing their true potential.

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A class effort: Sixth grade students fundraise for change

The sixth grade students in Madame Cusma’s class at Milne Valley Middle School are an exceptional bunch. Last year, they raised money to help build a well for a class in Rwanda… we told you, they’re exceptional!

It all started when one of Madame Cusma’s sixth graders, Eva, saw a Gifts of Hope catalogue.

“We were learning about water in class and I found it sad and upsetting that not everyone who needs it has it,” said Eva. “I think water should be a right, not a privilege.”

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MetroXpress i Nairobi: Jul i slummen

MetroXpress har besøgt vores projekter i Nairobis slum og har hver måned i 2012 bragt en artikel derfra.

I årets sidste artikel i december kan du læse, hvad børnene i slummen ønsker sig i julegave. Det kan fx være en rask mor, et familiebesøg i London eller et par nye sko.

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Plan Canada makes the grade

Great news! Plan Canada has been named one of Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures. Every year, the national program honours best-in-class organizations across Canada for having a workplace culture that helps heighten employee performance and sustain a competitive edge.

The program is presented by Waterstone Human Capital, and recognizes organizations in four different categories. Plan Canada was named in the Broader Public Sector category.

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Filippinerne ramt af tyfon

En alvorlig tyfon har ramt børn og familier i Filippinerne. Mindst 275 mennesker har mistet livet, mens 339 er kommet til skade. Indtil videre har 170.000 børn og voksne været tvunget til at forlade deres hjem.

Plan uddeler rent drikkevand, mad og medicin til de ramte familier. Samtidig assisterer vi med psykosocial støtte og undervisningsmaterialer.

Plans landedirektør i Filippinerne, Carin van der Hor, siger:

”Vores næste fokus er at beskytte børnene og deres forældre og sørge for, at de hurtigt kan vende tilbage til en normal hverdag. Vi støtter også lokalsamfundene i at forberede sig på naturkatastrofer som denne. Katastrofeberedskab kan udgøre hele forskellen, når det værste sker,” siger hun.

Derfor arbejder Plan med børn, lokalsamfund og myndigheder, så de lærer at identificere risikoen for en katastrofe og styrke deres modstandsdygtighed.

Plan swings into action as parents go in search of missing children

275 people have been killed as a result of the powerful typhoon that slammed the Philippines in the early morning of Tuesday 4 December, while 339 people have been confirmed injured. The number of people displaced currently sits at almost 170,000 people across 372 evacuation centres as officials fear more bodies may be found as rescuers reach hard-hit areas that have been isolated by landslides, floods and downed communications. Many children are also currently missing, after flash flooding hit vehicles they were attempting to evacuate in.

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Plan supports families in storm-hit Philippines

Plan is on the ground in the Philippines assessing its impact and supporting families, following landfall by Typhoon Bhopa.

Typhoon Bopha battered the island of Mindanao yesterday (Tuesday) with winds of up to 130mph.

The deathtoll has risen to 238 as huge amounts of rain triggered mudslides in remote villages.

“There are also hundreds of people missing,” says Plan’s country director in the Philippines, Carin Van Der Hor. “As many as 250 or 300 depending on who you speak to.”

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Philippines hit by Typhoon Bopha

Plan staff and emergency relief supplies are on standby in areas likely to be affected by a powerful typhoon that has just hit the southern Philippines.

Typhoon Bopha – known locally as Pablo – struck the island of Mindanao early this morning, with heavy rain and winds of 130 mph. It is now expected to sweep across southern and central provinces.

The storm comes just as the people of Mindanao are recovering from typhoon Sedong, which left 1,245 dead and more than US$47 million in damage one year ago.

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Plan International USA Acquires the Centre for Development and Population Activities

Plan International USA and the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) have entered into a formal asset acquisition agreement. In this innovative transaction, CEDPA will join talents and projects with Plan to strengthen existing programs and more effectively protect and promote the rights of women and children around the world.

CEDPA, an international NGO based in Washington, D.C., was one of the first organizations to focus specifically on issues relating to the development and advancement of women. For more than 37 years, CEDPA has transformed the lives of millions of women and girls, making them successful partners in the development of their countries by giving them the tools to improve their lives, and the lives of their family and community members. Program focus includes girls’ education and youth development, increasing access to lifesaving reproductive health and HIV/AIDS services, and strengthening women’s leadership.

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UK Parliamentarians call for action on child marriage

A group of UK parliamentarians is calling for action to help end child marriage. It recommends the minimum legal age for marriage should be raised to 18 across the globe, including in the UK, and that all religious marriages should be registered. The group is urging governments around the world to help prevent millions of girls becoming child brides. 

Our Because I am a Girl campaign aims to support four million girls to stay in education and fulfil their potential. Early marriage can end girls’ chances of completing their education – and can put them at greater risk of isolation, violence and death in childbirth. You can help us keep up the pressure on the UK government to lead action to end child marriage by signing our Take the Vow petition.

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Catch-up lessons keep displaced Malian pupils on track

Minthi, 13, is one of hundreds of children who are getting their education back on track after being forced to flee violence in northern Mali, thanks to Plan-supported ‘catch-up’ lessons.

Eight months ago, Minthi arrived in Segou, southern Mali, with her family, leaving conflict behind. She registered at the local school but doesn’t speak the local language and soon fell behind in her studies, despite tremendous effort.

The school facilities were crowded with many other new students just like Minthi, and she considered dropping out.

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World AIDS Day: A global discussion

There are over 34.2 million people currently living with HIV around the globe. A global pandemic, HIV has claimed more than 25 million lives over the past three decades.

On December 1 of each year, the world celebrates World AIDS Day – a day devoted to increasing awareness of HIV and AIDS issues globally.

“Getting to Zero” is the slogan linked to World AIDS Day and the global fight against HIV and AIDS. It symbolizes the world’s commitment in achieving the following three targets: zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths.

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