In July, ten young people joined a group of theologians and strategic thinkers from 18 different countries at a global forum in Kigali, Rwanda. They…

A young man in Bangladesh is raising up tomorrow’s leaders on a diet of homegrown food and business skills.

Across the world young people are rising up. They are demanding action on the environmental destruction, poverty and injustice that threaten their…

Sport is an excellent way to reach young people, especially when they are discontented. Towards the end of 2018 the Foundation for Forgiveness and…

Youth unemployment is a huge problem in Nigeria. Half of the country’s population is under the age of 30, and the public sector cannot absorb the…

Project aims The LEADS groups in Sri Lanka used a written survey with school children. A random sample of children was selected from several different schools by choosing every fifth child in the school registers. This was in an area known to be at high risk from sexual abuse. Parents were informed about the survey and children could choose not to complete the survey if they felt uncomfortable. They were told that the individual results would be confidential from teachers and parents, and the ...

by Bhima Sangha and CWC with Paul Stephenson. The story of the BHIMA SANGHA children, a union of working children in Karnataka, is a fascinating one of how children are organising themselves to make changes to improve their situations. The development of this union has been facilitated by the organisation ‘Concerned for Working Children’ (CWC).

Young people have talent and creativity, but they also need support and opportunity

One of Tearfund’s corporate priority areas is church and community transformation. This means churches that improve the holistic well-being of their…

Caring for children.   It is very easy to value children more for what they can become, rather than for what they are in themselves. Children may be seen as a bit of a burden from the time they are born, until the time when they can be useful. This is how children were viewed in the time of Jesus. What Jesus said about children and his attitude to them was, therefore, very revolutionary in his time.

Jesus and children The stories of Jesus’ relationship with children show his positive attitude towards them. He refused to accept the attitudes of his society towards children, which regarded them as insignificant and unimportant. Just as he was willing to touch the leper and the unclean woman, so he was willing to pick up a child to teach the disciples a lesson and to gather children around him as being important in themselves.

Simple acts of kindness can result in a chain of events that bring great blessing to many

Jesus was concerned about children and their needs. He enjoyed their company and loved to spend time with them.

by Philippa Miner.

Cally Magalhães’ creative approach is transforming the lives of young offenders in Brazil.

Child researchers from Bhima Sangha visited parents of members and asked them their views about their children’s involvement…

These two pages have been compiled from Child-to-Child Activity Sheet No 6.5. Child-to-Child Activity Sheets are a resource for teachers, and health and community workers. They are designed to help children understand how to improve health in other children, their families, and their communities. Topics chosen are important for community health and suit the age, interests and experience of children. The text, ideas and activities may be freely adapted to suit local conditions.

The Child-to Child programme aims to help children to help each other. Children can be helped to discover the world in which they live and to realise that they are a group with a definite role to play in the community. The Child-to Child Trust provides teaching materials and ideas which encourage children and their teachers to learn about health living, through the use of questionnaires, discussions, stories and games. Together the children are encouraged to carry out practical projects, such ...

Cynthia lives with her parents in the San Ramón neighbourhood of Siguatepeque, in Honduras. She is 22, works as a financial assistant and attends the…

How to use public debates to raise awareness and call for change

Children are everywhere. Whether you are running mobile clinics, holding training sessions, encouraging community meetings, meeting people – all around will be children. Sometimes irritating, sometimes distracting, but always curious to see something new. In our last issue, we were reminded of how rapidly the number of children in the world is increasing. In many low-income countries, children under 15 now make up half the entire population! Whatever kind of work we are involved in, we need to ...

One in every three people in the world is a child. In Third World countries this rises to nearly one in every two people. This issue provides an important reminder of how often the potential of young people is ignored – to our cost. In many countries, children may be used as cheap labour, often exploited and working in poor conditions for low pay, damaging both their health and self-esteem.

The M’lup Russey Organisation is transforming the way vulnerable children and young people are cared for in Cambodia.

The Salvation Army recently held a consultation on developing the capacity of young people. It proved a key opportunity to share learning from around the world.

As a result of routine vaccination programmes, polio has been largely eradicated in most parts of the world. But polio is found in some places. It’s…

In Brazil, children go to prison from the age of 12. Tragically, most of them are back in prison within a month of being released. After many years…

Motivating young people to take environmental action

An inspiring group of young people in Nigeria are thinking up environmentally friendly business ideas.

My community of Santa Catarina Pinula in Guatemala City has been greatly affected by the spread of urban neighbourhoods. This growth has clearly…

by Duberney Rojas Seguro Medellín, in Colombia, is a city in desperate need of conflict resolution. It has suffered from two decades of armed conflict between criminal gangs, socialist guerrillas and paramilitary groups. Murders are common. This conflict has directly impacted on the lives of a generation of children and young people who have been born and have grown up in this context of violence. Many of the armed groups are formed of young people of both sexes, between 14 and 25 years ...

Working with street children - Community values In many cities and towns streets are increasingly becoming homes for countless children.

Supporting young people to be agents of change in their communities

Parents living with HIV and AIDS often worry about what will happen to their children when they die. If the child is young, or the family is separated in a time of crisis, memories can fade and important information is often lost. The child can grow up confused about their background and identity.

Young people promoting peace in Honduras

Children play because it is fun, but play is also key to their learning and development. Play helps them to learn new skills, communicate, gain confidence, relate to other people and find out about themselves and the world. All children – both girls and boys – need the same opportunities for play and interaction with family members and friends. Listening to and responding to young children is one of the most important things that adults and older children can do. When we do this well, children ...

How to help young people make wise choices when they are ready to leave home

by Saraswathi, Gangadhara, Vanaja, Manju, Chandrawathi, Praveena and Pramoda. At first we tried to remember the history of Bhima Sangha by discussing together. At times we forgot things or got confused. But it was useful to look back and identify both the good things and times when things went wrong.

by Karl Dorning.  The lack of job opportunities in their home communities and the need to earn income have caused considerable migration from Myanmar (Burma) to Thailand. In some communities over half the young people migrate. However, there are many risks which migrants to Thailand face. These include drug trafficking, HIV/AIDS, prostitution, arrest and deportation. Knowledge about the risks of migration is widespread, yet migration continues. 

In an extra contribution to our mini-series of reflections on Jubilee by young theologians, we hear from an artist about the importance of renewal in…

Child-to-Child Material. These Activity sheets are produced by Child-to-Child as a resource for teachers, and health and community workers. They are designed as a resource for those wishing to introduce the Child-to-Child approach. They help children understand how to improve health in themselves, in other children, their families and their communities. They can be reproduced and adapted to suit local conditions. There are 27 activity sheets available which are grouped under various ...

Health Promotion in Our Schools by H Hawes Published by Child to Child, 1997 ISBN 0 946182 10 8

A selection of books, websites and training materials for young people and youth workers

The Global Forum on Church and Poverty inspired me to begin to see Nigeria in the light of Jubilee. This, in turn, prompted me to start to fully…

The cover of the new Footsteps magazine is full of hope. It features nine young people from all corners of the globe and makes me curious to know the…

During our gathering of young theologians in July, our visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial deeply impacted us to reflect on the different aspects…

by Phil Hoyle.   Oasis Esteem is a Christian sex and relationships education programme run throughout the UK by the charity Oasis Trust. Oasis Esteem provides resources and training for volunteers to go into secondary schools and youth work settings and to run classes educating young people about sex and relationships.

by Dr Apolos Landa.  

Promoting children’s schooling is a key concern of our government. However, in the rural areas, parents often struggle with school fees because of their low income. We would like to share the experience of parents from Aklampa, Glazoué in the Republic of Benin. In Aklampa, we encouraged parents to work together to achieve what they could not manage alone. They formed community savings groups known as tontines. These were led by one person responsible for collecting the money. They made ...

by Kristin and Susan Jack.

by Isabel Carter.   Young people need a ‘safe’ place to discuss challenging issues. Sometimes they ask teachers or parents. Usually they simply talk to each other, which often spreads wrong information and rumours.

Tips for developing a successful sports programme

An old man was speaking to the village elders about AIDS and told them a story… One day a young mother, Philomena, was talking to other ladies in the village while they weaved baskets. She told them how her new baby was fascinated by the fire that burnt day and night in the middle of the floor in her home. He loved to see the sparks fly into the air and would try to crawl towards the dancing flames. Only that morning he had tried to pick up a glowing ember and cried when she pulled him ...

by Tag McEntegart. The PAX Project was a small peace-building education project started by CARE International in 1996 as part of its reconstruction work in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia after the conflict there. The PAX Project’s central concern was to promote and re-establish healthy, peaceful and reconciled communities throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina.

by David Kabiswa.

by Glenn Miles. In community development, listening to people is seen to be an essential part of the process. However, even when participatory methods mean that the views of women, farmers, the elderly and the disabled, as well as community leaders, are heard, children are seldom consulted.

by Paul Stephenson. ‘It was really wonderful. No-one has ever done it like that before. Now we know what the good and the bad things are in our community and we decided on what we can do to make it better.’

“We know someone who is a teacher and a health worker. She looks after two children. One is four and one is two. She keeps them safe. She carries the little one and picks him up when he cries. She protects the bigger one from accidents. Yesterday, when the little girl went too near the stove, she scolded her. Today she helped her to cross the road and taught her how to watch for the cars.

By Etotu Daniel In May 2016, Etotu Daniel attended Uganda Gathering. The conference focused on how the church can respond to the challenges of…

by Felina Albornoz, Paulina Rivas and Hermógenes Lizarazu Part of the Mosoj Yan programme in Cochabamba, Bolivia, is a ‘Motivation Centre’ which works with young female street dwellers. These people have acute health needs as they live in unhealthy and unhygienic conditions and suffer from frequent infections and an unbalanced diet.

The advantages and disadvantages of living in a digital age