Early Encounter means 2 children saved from the streets EVERY DAY!

“I’m a numbers man, and these numbers are really something - 712 children are no longer on the streets of Latin America as a result of Viva and the networks this year. That’s nearly two kids every day!” Brian Wilkinson, our Chief Operating Officer and main numbers man, has just recently returned from an Early Encounter programme visit in Peru. He particularly recalls one centre in Lima…

When we arrived, the hall was filled with young girls and boys, cradled babies, mothers, fathers and even grandparents. Many parents were still arriving even after the event had already started, some sweaty and tired from having to hurry from their jobs out on the streets. However, their faces were lit up with smiles, despite the fatigue, knowing that in just a few minutes they would all take part in the celebration of something very special: their child was going to be given the opportunity to go to school for the first time in their lives!

In one corner of the room there was a table, covered with multi-coloured bags stuffed full of school materials – in fact the exact items, as I was told by a colleague, that these same children would normally be selling on the streets of the very congested Lima, home to more than 10 million people.
Not having books and stationary and uniforms is one of the reasons that so many children miss out on education in Lima. And if they don’t go to school they are more likely to end up playing, working and maybe eventually living on the streets, which is why our Early Encounter project with the networks is working so hard to try and catch children before they end up trapped in that life.


So at this event 30 children were presented with these bags of school equipment, and it was a wonderful sight to see the smiles as they collected their gifts. Those children are now attending a local school that is part of the network, one that is specifically aimed at teaching and supporting Lima’s child street workers. “We witness such a development of talent and skills,” Doña Nelly, one of the teachers of the programme, explained to me. “When we encourage them to continue, children do start to realise that change is possible.”


But there is more to this celebration than meets the eye… Helping street children in Latin America is not as simple as just giving them a bag of school supplies or offering them a place to stay so they don’t sleep on the streets – in fact the majority of the kids aren’t actually homeless. They are normally children who get up at the crack of dawn to trawl the streets, selling anything and everything to passers-by, but, who then return home to their parents at night. And although these parents were all smiling and proud, allowing their children to go to school is actually a real compromise for them, as young girls and boys normally have much greater selling power. Letting them go to school means that the family’s income might take a serious hit. That’s why Early Encounter focuses so much on working with the whole family, teaching parents how to care and provide for their children without putting their futures at risk.




Handing out school packs.



This ethos was really clear throughout the day, especially towards the end of the ceremony when the City Council’s Social Development Officer got up to speak. “Children must live their childhood!” pronounced Maria Isabel Gonzalez. She told the entire room, “Treat your children well, don’t be afraid to hug them every day, and understand that play is far more important than working.” Then one particular mother, also a local shoe-shiner, gathered up the courage to step out in front of all of us, grab the microphone and interrupt the meeting, just to show her true appreciation for what the network has done both for her and her daughter. I was so struck by the sincerity in her voice, and by the gratitude I saw in every parent’s face, that this ceremony will always be a lasting memory of my visit.