MARCH NEWSLETTER

BACK TO SCHOOL

March was a busy time for Team Kiya! We assisted 100 children make the big step of going back to school after 2 years of no education.

For many this was a hard journey but we are really glad to say that all our students had a positive re integration and are loving the continued after school support where we are organising team building games and exercises, academic support and emotional well being discussions.

The team have also been preparing a Sex Education, Anti Bullying and integration programme for children with disabilities and it has been approved by our first Secondary School! We will launch this month and look forward to sharing the progress of this with you over the coming months.

To have access to education and the opportunity to learn is not a norm to many children globally and we are proud to be supporting and implementing the learning journey of so many young people. After all. What would society be without educated minds?

Happy first day of spring to you all and thank you for your ongoing belief and interest in our work.

Suzy and the team x

MAMA COCHA

Exciting news this month! Thanks to our generous supporters, we managed to raise enough funds and bought our first Outreach motorbike! The team are very excited as it’s been hard to get to some of our patients who are off the beaten track. We hope to raise enough for 2 more by the end of the year so each team member can have a bike and use it for their work.

Our therapists continue working hard to ensure all our young patients get the support they need every week.

Emerson, a two-year-old boy who has psychomotor retardation due to a viral disease that has yet to be discovered with medical tests that have been carried out exhaustively in the hospital. He is one of the 26 patients currently being supported by the team.
He suffers from high fevers that cause him to have fits and delay his progress which is frustrating for his family. We are still awaiting the results of the diagnosis so that he can start receiving medical support alongside the therapeutic treatment to enhance his progress.

Emerson’s Father, Edison, who is a fisherman and his wife, María, are very dedicated to the treatment of their child.

Maria and Edison say: “When we realised that our child needed help, we panicked, because we didn’t have any support or know who could help us daily with therapies and we feel like God sent help when Kiya knocked on the door, for that we are very grateful! Thanks to the teams dedication and guidance to the whole family, thanks to Mama Cocha, I only ask that you continue to support us until the end, that you never leave. “

Emerson’s family have also benefited from donations of food and nappies through the life box programme; their eldest son of 13, participated in the sex education programme and the second brother participates in the back to school project.

María also attends the support group workshops led by our Psychologist, Henry, it has helped her to listen to the experiences of other young mothers like her.

SPONSOR A CHILD

We are trying to increase our monthly sponsors to ensure our programmes and children’s futures are sustainable and to avoid us relying on big grants, we are once again, pushing our sponsorship programme.

Just 75p a week makes a big difference!

£3 a month = materials for 1 child to join the Back To School Programme each month
£10 a month = Transport and therapy costs for one patient to receive weekly therapy
£20 a month = A weekly therapy session with our Psychologist
£50 a month = A medical assessment with a specialist for 1 child

Do you feel you can support Kiya?

THE LAGOS KIDS

Yelson is the eldest sibling of the largos family who has taken on the responsibility of caring for the welfare and integrity of all his siblings. He made the decision to become the ‘Father’ figure to his younger family members 2 years ago.

Aged just 25 years old he has had to put aside his own projects for the benefit of his younger and disabled siblings on many occasions.
However, with more help from Kiya to take care of them and continue paying for their education, food and welbeing, Yelson tells us that his plans for 2022 are more concrete and real.

He says that he has neglected his physique a lot, so he will do more sports to stay healthy, he will look for more opportunities in other workplaces, he does not want to continue in the same job with little salary, he knows that he deserves more income and that is why he will look for new opportunities and for of course, he will continue studying this year to finish his higher technical studies that he had postponed.

He also wants to meet many people who help him with his projects, as well as to know many places and because traveling abroad is a great desire, like all his brothers and sisters.

We are very proud of Yelson, his commitment to care for his siblings and trying to become the best he can be is a true inspiration!

We have filled all 3 for THE BIG HALF LONDON MARATHON in September but still have a few places for the TRES PICOS CHALLENGE in Spain. If you fancy an adventure under Spanish skies, get in touch for more details!

AMAZON SMILE

If you have the Amazon app, it’s a super simple process to set up with AmazonSmile.

Here’s what you do:
Go into your app and in the top left-hand corner, find the dropdown menu and select “See All Programmes”. Scroll down and click onto “Amazon Smile” and it’s an easy set up from there! From then on, when you shop, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the order price to Kiya Survivors at NO extra cost to you!

That’s it from us this month!

Thanks for all of your support.

– Suzy and the Kiya Team x