Tai Po Fire Emergency Response
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Erik has just turned two and he loves strawberries. His mum Daisy and his grandmother Nancy grow them in the garden just behind their house, along with an impressive line-up of other fruits and vegetables. It means Erik and his seven-year-old sister Valeria get a variety of vegetables in every meal – a healthy diet that’s different from the highly processed, carbohydrate- and sugar- heavy diet common in their community on the outskirts of Riobamba, Ecuador.
How to make healthy food and why it matters for children is one of the many things that Daisy has learned through “Growing Up with Our Children”, a programme which the local government runs in partnership with the Child Sponsorship programme by World Vision. With support from sponsors like Erik’s, World Vision provides training, resources and other support for the government facilitators who run the programme with local families. Daisy also takes Erik to the regular playgroup, where there are fun activities like finger painting, and information sessions for parents about healthy parent-child relationships, positive parenting, child health and nutrition and more. The programme is having a huge impact on families in the neighbourhood, where issues like domestic violence, child neglect and abuse, poverty and child malnutrition are widespread.
Ecuador is a country with some of the highest rates of malnutrition in South America. The crops that families produce are sold to distributors who trade them in Quito, the coastal regions and beyond, earning the families a small income, which many use to buy cheaper, processed, and less nutritious foods. Deeply entrenched social norms that promote family and community unity also accept violence against women and children, and lower levels of education, particularly in rural areas, perpetuates a cycle of teenage pregnancy and poverty, which compounds the effects of gender inequality for girls. Recent research found 18,000 children were born to children in Ecuador in 2023, and 10,000 were born to children aged 10-14 – a situation that continues the cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
The Riobamba Area Programme opened in 2021 and is funded by World Vision Hong Kong. It supports some 2,000 registered children. Child sponsorship is working to help local communities tackle the challenges that hold children back. Area Programmes in the Riobamba area are partnering with the local government and a university to train parents and children on good nutrition and how to use locally available, affordable vegetables to make nutritious meals for children. Children are also learning about their rights, why education is so important for their future, how to stay safe and protect other children, and how to make their voice heard in their communities, while parents are learning about positive parenting, healthy relationships and having access to psychological support and counselling. The programme gives children the opportunity to join in activities like art and dance classes and football training squads that wouldn’t otherwise be available in their community. Through Youth Ready, older children are also learning leadership skills, forming advocacy networks to promote children’s protection and well-being.
Growing Up with Our Children
Andrea Proaño, Arlene Bax & Elissa WebsterErik has just turned two and he loves strawberries. His mum Daisy and his grandmother Nancy grow them in the garden just behind their house, along with an impressive line-up of other fruits and vegetables. It means Erik and his seven-year-old sister Valeria get a variety of vegetables in every meal – a healthy diet that’s different from the highly processed, carbohydrate- and sugar- heavy diet common in their community on the outskirts of Riobamba, Ecuador.
How to make healthy food and why it matters for children is one of the many things that Daisy has learned through “Growing Up with Our Children”, a programme which the local government runs in partnership with the Child Sponsorship programme by World Vision. With support from sponsors like Erik’s, World Vision provides training, resources and other support for the government facilitators who run the programme with local families. Daisy also takes Erik to the regular playgroup, where there are fun activities like finger painting, and information sessions for parents about healthy parent-child relationships, positive parenting, child health and nutrition and more. The programme is having a huge impact on families in the neighbourhood, where issues like domestic violence, child neglect and abuse, poverty and child malnutrition are widespread.
Ecuador is a country with some of the highest rates of malnutrition in South America. The crops that families produce are sold to distributors who trade them in Quito, the coastal regions and beyond, earning the families a small income, which many use to buy cheaper, processed, and less nutritious foods. Deeply entrenched social norms that promote family and community unity also accept violence against women and children, and lower levels of education, particularly in rural areas, perpetuates a cycle of teenage pregnancy and poverty, which compounds the effects of gender inequality for girls. Recent research found 18,000 children were born to children in Ecuador in 2023, and 10,000 were born to children aged 10-14 – a situation that continues the cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
The Riobamba Area Programme opened in 2021 and is funded by World Vision Hong Kong. It supports some 2,000 registered children. Child sponsorship is working to help local communities tackle the challenges that hold children back. Area Programmes in the Riobamba area are partnering with the local government and a university to train parents and children on good nutrition and how to use locally available, affordable vegetables to make nutritious meals for children. Children are also learning about their rights, why education is so important for their future, how to stay safe and protect other children, and how to make their voice heard in their communities, while parents are learning about positive parenting, healthy relationships and having access to psychological support and counselling. The programme gives children the opportunity to join in activities like art and dance classes and football training squads that wouldn’t otherwise be available in their community. Through Youth Ready, older children are also learning leadership skills, forming advocacy networks to promote children’s protection and well-being.
