LIFE BOX AND OUTREACH
Seeing a child and their family turn the corner and become a family after months of therapy and support to help them learn to love their children, to see them actually accepting and loving them. It’s a special thing.
Suzy Butler, Founder of Kiya Survivors
LIFE BOX
When COVID-19 lockdowns meant we had to close the doors of Mama Cocha, our focus shifted and we began supporting our children in the area with essential items to help them cope with the strict lockdowns that Peru had in place in March 2020.
Most of our families were in dire economical situations as their income was reliant upon hand to mouth earnings through fishing and tourism and they are struggling to provide even the most basic of needs such as water, nappies and medical supplies.
We launched the LIFE BOX appeal to raise urgent funds to ensure our children and families were provided for over this uncertain and difficult time.
We continue to run the LIFE BOX Programme alongside our Outreach Programme in Mancora, ensuring that the families still affected by the pandemic receive the support they need to rebuild their lives. The life boxes now include medical supplies and equipment to some of our families.
PROYECTO DE VIDA (LIFE PROJECT)
We are identifying the families still in need of our Life Boxes through the Outreach Programme.
The Outreach Program was initiated in 2009. It is now run through the Mama Cocha Centre by our Psychologist and Project Manager.
Its aim is to offer in-house support to families with children or young people living in hard to reach areas or in vulnerable situations affected by:
- Disability
- Single parent family
- Poverty
- Illness
Once our team identifies a family in need of support, we create with them a program called Proyecto de Vida (Life Project), which is designed to improve their quality of life.
This involves several stages and areas:
- An assessment of needs and risks of the family situation
- Counseling/psychotherapy
- Provision of Physiotherapy/Speech Therapy
- Education about health, education and their rights in society
- Education about hygiene and practical advice on how to improve their homes within their possibilities
- Education and practical advice on how to look after their children and how to discipline them
- Practical advice on food and nutrition, always within their realms of possibility
- Provision of basic household items to improve their quality of living such as mattresses/beds/cooker/clothes/warm blankets etc
- Facilitating contact and acting as a representative for the family with local schools, clinics or other institutions relevant to the families’ individual situation and needs.
- Items identified that the family need in their life box: Nappies, food items, vitamins, milk etc.