Children on the Edge explained

Children on the Edge is a non-profit charitable organisation dedicated to working on behalf of some of the most marginalised children around the world. The organisation is based in Chichester and was founded by the owner of The Body Shop, Dame Anita Roddick, (DBE) in 1990 following her visit to several Romanian orphanages.[1] It was co-founded by Rachel Bentley, who has led the organisation to this day.[2] [3]

Prior to joining the E.U, the closing of Romania's state institutions forced many abandoned children to return to violent family homes or to live on the streets. Roddick's organisation helped to shelter them by setting up three orphanages. Once children were released from the orphanage, the organisation helped to shelter and reintegrate them into society.[4]

Children on the Edge started off in Romanian orphanages,[5] [6] but has since expanded to cover many other countries throughout Eastern Europe and Asia, including Bangladesh, Burma, India, Thailand, and Uganda. The charity exists to help children who are living on the edge of their societies around the world. They focus on some of the most marginalised children, who are overlooked by governments, larger organisations, the media and the international community.

History

1990 - 1999

After Anita Roddick visited Romania for the first time in 1990,[7] The Body Shop until 1996 undertook refurbishment of three orphanages, provided medical help, and organised annual play schemes.[8] At this time the organisation were entitled "The Body Shop Romania Relief Appeal".

By 1999, the organisation had established the "Big Brothers Big Sisters" programme in Romania for children without parental care.[9] They also provided mobile sanitation units in Albania for refugees from the Kosovan crisis.[10] [11]

2000 - 2009

The following year, they worked on rebuilding a school in Kosovo, which was destroyed during Kosovan crisis. Much of the experience in Europe contributed to the organisation being invited by UNICEF to implement a Child Friendly Space in a post conflict environment in Viqueque, East Timor.[12]

From 2002 to 2005 they continued to refurbish schools in Kosovo, established semi-independent living apartments for orphaned children in Romania and also opened two Special Needs Day care centres in Romania to help prevent these children being forced into state institutions.[13] [14]

In 2004, Children on the Edge registered as an independent charity and, using the model they had developed in East Timor, established a Child and Community Centre in Aceh, Indonesia helping children and their community rebuild their lives after the traumas of the Asian Tsunami.[15]

Throughout 2006 and 2007 they began work on the Thailand/Burma border, helping Burmese refugees and migrants fleeing persecution from a brutal military regime within their homeland. This started out with the provision of nurseries, which were set up in Ei Htu Hta Refugee camp on the banks of the Salween river.[16]

In 2008, they began the following projects:[17] Apartment Schools in Malaysia for Chin refugees from Myanmar;[18] created a scholarships programme in India for Chin refugee children from Myanmar;[19] and developed standards of care in Thai Boarding Houses for Karen refugees from Myanmar.[20]

Their first trip to Bangladesh was undertaken in 2009, which marked the beginning of their work with the unregistered Rohingya community in the makeshift Kutupalong camp,[21] providing low profile education for their children.[22] [23] Concurrently they began supporting nine Learning Centres for slum dwelling children in neighbouring Cox's Bazar.[24] [25] [26] [27]

2010 - 2019

After the 2010 Haitian earthquake, they started supporting a sports and education programme children in the slums of Port au Prince, Haiti.[28] [29]

In 2012, they established a Child Friendly Space, agricultural training programme and a voluntary Child Protection Team in Soweto Slum, Jinja, Uganda.[30] [31] [32] [33]

To continue their work with children displaced by conflict, the following year Children on the Edge started providing Early Childhood Development and support for children displaced by war and living in the remote IDP camps of Kachin State, Myanmar.[34] [35] [36]

In 2014, they began supporting an education programme for ‘untouchable’ Dalit children in Bihar State, India.[37] At this time they also began to provide support for children in brothel communities on the India/Nepal border.[38] Again working with refugee children, 2014 was also the year they started investing in tent schools for Syrian children living in the informal settlements of Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.[39] [40] [41]

Work in Uganda had been progressing over the last two years and in 2015 "Children on the Edge Africa" was registered in Uganda. The new Ugandan team was expanding the work of Child Protection Team in Soweto to further slum areas surrounding Jinja[42] [43]

In 2017, the Rohingya genocide triggered over 700,000 more Rohingya refugees to flee to Bangladesh, into the areas on the border where the charity was providing education. They responded with a brief humanitarian relief programme and expanded education work in the camps for 7,500 children.[44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50]

The following year, they also established ten Learning Centres for Rohingya refugee children in the Doharazi Enclaves, Bangladesh.[51]

Using a model built up in the Jinja slum areas, and experience developed in Kachin State, Myanmar, in 2019 they began to replicate their Early Childhood Development work by supporting Congolese refugee communities in Kyaka II, Uganda to provide high quality early years education for their children.[52] [53]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Anita Roddick, Pioneer Whose Dreams Turned the High Street Green, Dies at 64. 26 February 2008. 11 September 2007. Glendinning. Lee. The Guardian.
  2. News: Ryan . Nick . Visionary Volunteer . 29 October 2019 . Etc Magazine . June 2010 . 58–59.
  3. News: Gladwell . Hattie . Charity Tuesday: How this charity helps give hope to forgotten children around the world . 29 October 2019 . Metro . Associated Newspapers Ltd . 23 May 2017.
  4. News: Healthy Boy Rescued from Psychiatric Ward. 26 February 2008. 9 December 2003. Cuffe. Jenny. BBC News .
  5. Web site: The Mission Continues. 26 February 2008. 27 December 2006. Society Guardian.
  6. Web site: Our History . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  7. News: Frien . Alexandra . Children's first steps to recovery after horrors of ethnic cleansing . 28 October 2019 . The Times.
  8. News: Gaines . Sara . The mission continues . 28 October 2019 . The Guardian . 27 December 2006.
  9. Web site: Independent Appeal: How Ceausescu's orphans were given a new start in life . The Independent . 11 December 2011. 28 October 2019.
  10. Web site: A new life for the children . The Argus . 28 October 2019.
  11. Web site: Throwback Thursday - mobile shower units for refugees in Kosovo . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  12. Web site: East Timor: Child and Community Centre . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  13. Web site: Romania: Supporting Young People Leaving State Care . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  14. Web site: Romania: Early Intervention for Children with Special Needs . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  15. Web site: Indonesia: Child and Community Centre . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  16. Web site: Burma: Nursery Schools for internally displaced children . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  17. Web site: Archived Projects . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  18. Web site: Malaysia: Apartment Schools for Migrant Children . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  19. Web site: India: School Scholarships . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  20. Web site: Thailand: Boarding Houses for Unaccompanied Children . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  21. Web site: Standing in the gap – Low-profile education for forgotten Rohingya refugee children . Promising Practices for Refugee Education . Save the Children, UNHCR and Pearson . 28 October 2019.
  22. News: Helping Burmese children on the edge. Ryan. Nick. 2010. The Telegraph.
  23. News: Independent Appeal: The children who hunger for food and knowledge. Buncombe. Andrew. 8 December 2010. The Independent.
  24. News: The school giving beach beggars a ray of hope. Buncombe. Andrew. 16 December 2010. The Independent.
  25. News: Philp . Catherine . Secret schools in Bangladesh give Rohingya children a vital lesson in hope . 28 October 2019 . The Times . 18 December 2017.
  26. News: Ryan . Nick . Helping Burmese children on the edge . 29 October 2019 . The Telegraph . 12 October 2010.
  27. News: Ryan . Nick . Beyond the Border . 29 October 2019 . The National . 30 October 2010.
  28. Web site: Sport in the slumbs . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  29. News: Sengupta . Kim . Dead man walking and the world's worst slum . 28 October 2019 . The Independent . 3 December 2010.
  30. News: Smitheram . Esther . How one charity is working to prevent child sacrifice in Uganda . 28 October 2019 . The Guardian . 4 March 2015.
  31. Web site: Latest stories . Children on the Edge . 2012-10-26 . 28 October 2019.
  32. Web site: Latest stories . Children on the Edge . 2016-08-16 . 28 October 2019.
  33. Book: Luwangula, PhD . R . External Evaluation of the Children on the Edge Africa Child Protection Team Model in Jinja . 2017 . Department of Social Work and Social Administration. Makerere University . Uganda .
  34. Web site: Bringing fun and learning to traumatised young children in Myanmar camps . TheirWorld . 28 October 2019.
  35. Web site: Support for Displaced Kachin children in Burma . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  36. Web site: Global Education Monitoring Report 2019 - Migration, displacement and education - Building Bridges, Not Walls . United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) . 29 October 2019 . United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, Place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France . 9 . 2018.
  37. Web site: Education for Dalit children . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  38. Web site: Education for children in brothel communities on India Nepal border . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  39. News: Chichester churches link to help Syrian refugees . 28 October 2019 . Chichester Observer . 16 January 2016.
  40. News: Two very different families with the same goal - to see their children educated . 28 October 2019 . Their World . 15 May 2018.
  41. Web site: Education for Syrian refugee children in Lebanon . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  42. News: Campbell . Sheena . Improving the lives of children living in the Ugandan slums . 28 October 2019 . Observer Series . 9 May 2015.
  43. News: Von Dacre . J.S . Children Being Killed for Human Sacrifices in Uganda . 29 October 2019 . Inside Over . IL GIORNALE ON LINE S.R.L. . 12 August 2019.
  44. News: Philp . Catherine . Rohingya in crisis in Kutupalong, the world's biggest refugee camp . 28 October 2019 . The Times . 8 December 2017.
  45. News: Morton . Sam . Chichester charity working to 'return a full childhood' to Rohingya refugees . 28 October 2019 . Chichester Observer . 27 August 2017.
  46. News: Philp . Catherine . In Desperate Need 'Children on the Edge is a charity committed to the long-term rehabilitation of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. It deserves our support this Christmas' . 29 October 2019 . The Times . 26 December 2017.
  47. News: Maxwell . Daniel . Long denied education, Rohingya children start school in exile . 29 October 2019 . Asian Correspondent . January 2017.
  48. News: Hunter . Elaine . Safe spaces help young Rohingya refugee children recover from trauma . 29 October 2019 . Their World . Relief Web . 16 February 2018.
  49. News: Rogers . Kelli . A city-sized refugee camp with even bigger child protection challenges . 29 October 2019 . Devex . 12 October 2017.
  50. Web site: Smitheram . Esther . Providing Education In Protracted Crisis - Children On The Edge For The World Humanitarian Day . HundrED . 19 August 2019 . 29 October 2019.
  51. Web site: Latest stories . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  52. Web site: Early Childhood Development for Congolese Refugee Children . Children on the Edge . 28 October 2019.
  53. News: Smitheram . Esther . For World Teachers' Day, Children On The Edge Shares The Trials Of Teaching In A Mega Camp . 29 October 2019 . HundrED . 5 October 2010.

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