Season’s Greetings

Season’s Greetings

Wishing you…
every happiness this Holiday Season. Your commitment has brought needed assistance and hope to orphaned children and sex workers. During this season of reflection and gratitude, on behalf of ALIF and the children and families we serve, I want to say:

Thank you!

Their smiles are a reflection of your compassion!

Nasir Al-Amin

(Presentation) Unity Program’s Future Leaders

ABRAHAM'S VISION & THE UNITY PROGRAM
I want to convey a sincere appreciation to Abraham’s Vision and the students of the Unity Program for affording me the opportunity on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 to speak on ALIF’s work with orphans and sex workers in Ethiopia. Globally, we as an international community face a global crisis in terms of our vulnerable children and other marginalized populations. With these crises in mind, it is always invigorating to speak with future leaders who will be the vanguards in redressing the plight of the poor and underserved.

Serving Humanity One Life at a Time,
Nasir Al-Amin

Interview: Tigist Salomon, sex worker in Ethiopia

Source: The Center for Public Integrity
By: Marina Walker Guevara

Article: Tigist Salomon, sex worker in Ethiopia

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

"During the day I am a member of the association and at night I am a commercial sex worker in the streets. I am not sure how old I am, but I think I am around 27," says Tigist Salomon as she introduces herself. Her carefully braided hair is pulled to the side revealing a pair of small earrings, her only adornment. Makeup is reserved for the night.

Where did you grow up?
I lived in an orphanage. With my friends, we escaped to try to find our parents. Along the way, I lost my friends and because of lack of other opportunities, I became a commercial sex worker.

Did you ever have a different job?
I tried a lot of different jobs, including shoe shiner. But I didn't succeed. Then I started commercial sex work.

How much money do you make?
If you stay with the man the entire night you can charge up to 50 birr [roughly $6.]. If it's for a short period of time, 20 birr. Sometimes men refuse to pay, they deceive me. I have a maximum of three clients per night.

What risks do you face in the street?
We face many problems. I was raped and became pregnant. My daughter is 9 years old.

I am very much afraid of HIV and I always go to VCT [voluntary counseling and testing]. I have to do it for my daughter; I have to live for her. Last time I got tested was six months ago.

Do men use condoms?
Men try to convince me that they don't need to use condoms. They say, 'I am confident of myself that I don't need to use condoms.' I always say no. If you go to a man's car he might use force to try to have sex without condom.

Who are your clients?
I don't know the profession of the clients, but they have cars. I believe they are gentlemen.

Is it safer to work at a hotel?
I would like to work at a hotel instead of in the street, but there are many commercial sex workers in the hotels. There's a lot of competition.

How did you get involved with ISAPSO?
The association looked for me in the streets and invited me to be a member. I have learned a lot of things about HIV. I like the collaboration with other women in my same situation. We work together, we defend each other. I like that very much. We are trying now to sell finished food — lunches, for example. If I get enough money here, why should I go to the streets? I don't like it there.

So you want to leave sex work?
I really want to leave sex work. She [my daughter] sees me when I put on my makeup and get ready to go out. I am worried about how that can affect her morals. One day she found a condom in my bag and asked me about it and why I was leaving the house with a condom.

Click here to read the full article!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.

In pictures: Mozambican orphans with cameras

Source:BBC News
Photo:BBC News

"Children orphaned by Aids and aged between 11 and 18, living in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, were given cameras to document their lives."

Click here to view this photo journel!

In the best interests of the child: harmonising laws in Eastern and Southern Africa

Source: Eldis (www.eldis.org)

Article: In the best interests of the child: harmonising laws in Eastern and Southern Africa

The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

Harmonising child rights laws in Eastern and Southern Africa
Authors: ; African Child Policy Forum; UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional
Publisher: African Child Policy Forum, 2007
Full text of document

This report reviews and analyses how far 19 Eastern and Southern African countries have gone in harmonising and implementing the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC, or 'the African Charter').

The report gives an overview of states' performance in all the general principles of the CRC and the African Charter. Issues addressed range from whether states have an overarching definition of a child to looking at provisions protecting children from violence and exploitation, and children's participation. It shows the progress that is underway, but also identifies the gaps that remain between aspiration and practice. This report identifies specific issues that need immediate attention and recommendations that need to be considered in order to address the gaps and challenges.

Findings from the report include:

* despite important steps, children's rights are still not prioritised in Eastern and Southern Africa. Large numbers of countries have become party to the CRC and the African Charter, but child-centred bills have been pending for significant periods in some signatory countries, including Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa

* there is a complex patchwork of existing legislation relating to child rights across Eastern and Southern Africa which poses a significant barrier to the effective harmonisation of laws and legal protection of children. However, nine out of the nineteen countries surveyed have undertaken comprehensive reviews of their legal systems

* there is a need for clarity on the definition of a child

* discrimination against groups of children still exists under the law, particularly on grounds of parentage, as well as sex, ethnicity and disability

* the majority of the countries surveyed do not have adequate registration systems, including registration of birth, and in Ethiopia there is no formal birth registration system at all. This has consequences for many children's rights, such as their legal identity and proof of lineage

* while there has been progress in developing appropriate measures for children, there are still significant gaps in dealing with children in the criminal justice system

* children's participation is generally low in the countries studied, and that there is a need for change in cultural and societal attitudes towards children, as well as legal and policy developments

In conclusion the CRC and the African Charter are bringing about a paradigm shift in understanding and attitudes towards child rights. The challenge is to translate the provisions in the charters into concrete improvements in children's day-to-day lives. Specific issues that need immediate attention by the countries in this review include:

* harmonising the definition of a child

* ensuring that the guiding principle in child-related laws and policies is 'the best interests of the child'

* implementing appropriate justice systems for children, including raising the age of criminal responsibility and using child-focused procedures and systems for children in conflict with the law, and child victims and witnesses

* guaranteeing legal protection for children against violence, abuse and exploitation, including sanctions for corporal punishment in any setting

* providing free, compulsory and high quality primary education for all

The countries covered by the report are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Click here to be redirected to the Eldis site as well as this full text document!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.

2015 Education Goals: Progress Not Fast Enough

Source: AllAfrica.org

Article: Africa: Halfway to 2015 Education Goals, Progress Not Fast Enough

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

~Critics say donors at a recent high-level meeting failed to make firm funding commitments for improving education, particularly in impoverished, fragile and war-torn countries, making it highly unlikely the world will meet ambitious education goals by the 2015 deadline.

~While developing countries agreed to allocate 10 percent of budgets to education, donor countries could not agree to include a specific percentage of budgets for education aid, instead pledging "to work to maintain and increase levels of funding to education" and to prioritise low-income, fragile and emergency and conflict-affected states.

Progress

~Still, both recently-released reports note significant progress in education since 2000, including a 36-percent jump in primary school enrolment in sub-Saharan Africa and a five percent annual increase in domestic spending on education in Africa and South Asia.

~Fourteen countries abolished primary school fees between 2000 and 2006

~However, 774 million adults cannot read or write, 18 million more teachers are needed, and early childhood - the first of the EFA goals - has been completely neglected. Quality of education still suffers.

~"The question is not 'is there progress?' but 'what is the pace of progress?'" said the Global Monitoring Report's Burnett

Click here to read the full article!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.

New Light on Sex Trade

Source:PlusNews
Photo:Eva-Lotta Jansson

Article:SWAZILAND: Risky business: report sheds new light on sex trade

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

Selling sex for extra income
An increasing number of factory workers were also resorting to sex work, or "night duty", to make ends meet because they were underpaid,

"These are industrial workers; these are working women, they are not prostitutes. If they are forced into prostitution it is because they are not paid enough to support their families. The price they pay is HIV infection

The rising number of women resorting to sex work has been attributed to worsening economic and humanitarian conditions in the country.

Instances of violence against women engaged in commercial sex were also documented. "Some were taken to bushes and threatened with death by customers who refused to pay, whilst others were injured on duty," said Thwala-Tembe.

The survey distinguished between working women who engaged in sex for cash - usually in parked cars or at the homes of clients whose spouses were absent - and women who had multiple sex partners as part of economic arrangements. Such women would be homeless if they could not spend the night with one partner, and hungry if they were not given meals by a second sex partner.

Their highest-paying clients were members of parliament, religious officials, lecturers at the University of Swaziland campus adjacent to the Matsapha industrial estate, police officers, businesspeople and well-heeled tourists.

A session with a sex worker costs a typical client R50 (US$7), but can escalate to R1,000 ($146) for some pastors. Member of parliament and other wealthy clients reportedly paid nearly R3,000 (US$439) per session.

Click here to read the full article!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.

2008 Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE)

by: Nasir Al-Amin

I want to share with you all a great opportunity to make a commitment to serve humanity by volunteering for the 2008 Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE)!

Brief Information:
On January 28th, 2008, the Department of Homeless Services will conduct the sixth annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE 2008). Teams of volunteers will canvass streets, parks, and subways to count the number of people living unsheltered in NYC. This important information will be used to help homeless people leave the streets for a better life.

Click here for Volunteer Information!

Click here to register!

Please share this great opportunity with your friends, family, and community groups! Through our collective efforts we can contribute to the creation of better services for the homeless!

Does money matter? The effects of cash transfers on child health and development

Source: Eldis (www.eldis.org)

Article:Does money matter? The effects of cash transfers on child health and development in rural Ecuador

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

Relatively modest cash transfers to poor women leads to substantial improvements in child health
Authors: C. Paxson; N. Schady
Publisher: World Bank, 2007
Full text of document

This World Bank paper examines how a government-run cash transfer programme targeted to poor mothers in rural Ecuador influenced the health and development of their children. Unlike other transfer programmes that have been implemented in Latin America, the receipt of the cash transfers was not conditioned on specific parental actions. The programme therefore makes it possible to assess whether conditionality is necessary for programmes to have beneficial effects on children.

The paper finds that the cash transfer programme had a positive effect on the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of children, and the treatment effects were substantially larger for the poorer children than for less poor children. The programme also appeared to improve children’s nutrition and increased that chance that they were treated for helminth infections (infections caused by parasitic worms). However, children were not more likely to visit health clinics for growth monitoring, and the mental health and parenting of their mothers did not improve. The paper concludes that unconditional transfers will improve the welfare of poor families regardless of how the money is spent and may also improve child health and development.

Click here to be redirected to the Eldis site as well as this full text document!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.

Child labour organisations in Eastern Africa: still in the making

Source: Eldis (www.eldis.org)

Article: Child labour organisations in Eastern Africa: still in the making

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

An examination of child labour organiations in Ethiopia and Rwanda
Authors: G. Nimbona; K. Lieten
Publisher: Foundation for International Research on Working Children , 2007
Full text of document

Do child labour organisations make sense as a best practice? This report is one in a series of studies based on the fieldwork carried out for a project on Child Labour Unions in 3 continents (Africa, Asia and Latin America), conducted by the Amsterdam Foundation for International Research on Working Children (IREWOC).

The research for this paper focuses primarily on organisations that are run by working children and youths themselves, in an attempt to assess their presumed positive effects on the development of these children. It touches upon the challenges that new associations, such as the African Movement of Working Children and Youth (AMWCY) in Ethiopia and Rwanda, are facing. Views were collected through participatory consultation with children themselves.

The authors’ findings include that the degree of organisation of working children in Ethiopia and Rwanda is still low. In Ethiopia, the multi-purpose community development project has not yet established base groups according to the AMWCY philosophy and methods. In Rwanda, such groups exist but are stagnated by a lack of activity and monitoring. The AMWCY partners select from the methods only those attributes that they find easy to put into practice; the right for light and limited work is, for example, not defended for children under 14. There is no attempt at “alternative education” and children are prepared for primary education and formal education only.

Click here to be redirected to the Eldis site as well as this full text document!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.

Impact of cash transfer programmes on child nutritional status and some implications

Source: Eldis (www.eldis.org)

Article: A review of the impact of cash transfer programmes on child nutritional status and some implications for Save the Children UK programmes

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

Regular and large cash transfers help improve children’s nutrition in Latin America and Africa
Authors: D. Sridharm; A. Duffield
Publisher: Save the Children Fund , 2006
Full text of document

This paper, produced by Save the Children reviews eight cash transfer programmes in Latin America and Africa, and discusses the effectiveness of each in improving the nutritional status of children. It finds that cash transfers to targeted households have the potential to improve children’s diet and nutritional status. The positive impacts exceed those reported from other typical community-based nutrition programmes.

The cash transfer programme in Mexico called PROGRESA was found to be particularly successful. There are several factors contributing towards this success including: a large cash transfer constituting approximately one-third of households income; regular transfers made to women; transparent and objective targeting; and the provision of free healthcare. Cash transfer programmes are less successful if they make up a smaller proportion of household income and beneficiaries are paid less regularly.

The paper concludes that there should be no rules about how cash transfer programmes are designed since everything depends on the context. It sets out several questions that might be useful for programme staff and policy makers to consider when they design such a scheme. These relate to the size of the transfer scheme required and the costs of adequate diet and healthcare, the proportion of households needing the transfer, and ways of making targeting systems transparent and accurate.

Click here to be redirected to the Eldis site as well as this full text document!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.

Parenting an HIV Positive Child

Source: AllAfrica.org & The Monitor
by: Jackline A. Olanya

Article:Uganda: Parenting an HIV Positive Child

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

~For starters, parents and guardians of HIV positive children should gather as much information as possible about HIV/Aids.

~Ensure that you keep abreast on any new information and research as it unfolds

~The key lies in early revelation. Start talking to children early.

~If you are to protect your child's delicate emotions, learn to ask about them.

~Ask your child what he/she wants to become when they grow up. That will give a sense of future and be motivational. Also, build on their skills and talents.

~There is also need to show your love and affection. Studies have proven that infants can die and children fail to thrive when deprived of physical touch.

~Also, ensure balanced diets and any infection or disease needs prompt treatment.

Click here to read the full article!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.