2013-05-23T15:21:59-04:00 Dr Miriam Stoppard http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=dr-miriam-stoppard Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Dr Miriam Stoppard Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2055351 2012-11-01T19:00:00-04:00 2013-01-01T05:12:01-05:00

Dr Miriam Stoppard http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-miriam-stoppard/
I'm never met Mariana and she could well reject me. But I underestimate Mariana. As I step from the truck she rushes towards me, arms outstretched and leaps into my arms. She hugs me and laughs, I hug her and cry. It's a very emotional moment for me.

We've driven by truck across the city of Cartagena in Colombia, South America. I'm here to visit Mariana, a little girl of five years old, who lives in a very poor community 20km (12miles) outside of Cartagena along unmade roads and often rutted tracks. I've been sponsoring Mariana since she was a baby through Plan UK and I'm very excited at the prospect of meeting her for the first time.

Over the years I've collected photos of Mariana and letters which her mother has written to me (in Spanish and translated for me) and I reckon mum has been collecting my letters for Mariana. In her tiny house with earth floors her mum serves drinks and a big bowl of fruit which I'm duty bound to consume.

We then head off to Mariana's school where her classmates and their parents are waiting to greet us. Her teacher gives us a slide show about Mariana, all the class sing a song, Mariana does an animated solo and it's time to say goodbye. Mariana has given me an unforgettable experience.

She's one of seven children - all girls - that I sponsor with Plan UK in different parts of the world. Thirty years ago I joined Plan and I have sponsored almost 30 children since then. With Plan you not only change the life of a needy child but also her family and her community. Your sponsorship goes towards clean water, schools, school meals, books, health education and clinics. It's wraparound care and I like that. But mainly it's about transforming children's lives. Breaking the poverty cycle. Opening up their options, widening their horizons and giving them a chance for a better life.

Meeting Mariana, who told me with great self-confidence that she wanted to be a doctor, I realised her care has to be continuous. I have to be there for her for the long haul, even after I'm gone.

Mariana is my reason for being in Colombia but there's much more I mean to see.

In Pozon, another very poor community near Cartagena, I visit a centre for teenage mums. None are over 18, the youngest is 16. They meet up for companionship but also for teaching on nutrition, ante-natal care, hygiene, home care, breastfeeding and baby care. They start the day with "Breakfast with Love" and are taught how to cook healthy meals in the kitchen.

These mums are industrious, expertly sewing baby clothes as we chat. They're very good mothers and breastfeed their babies on demand throughout the morning. As a result the babies are contented and hardly cry.

After my meeting with Mariana the high spot of my visit to Colombia turns out to be a school in Camino De Luz another deprived community outside of Cartagena. This is a school with a difference because it provides wraparound care for pre-school children and it's the brainchild of Plan. It's a regular part of daily life to over 100 children coming from neighbouring communities. When we arrive playtime is in full swing and we're greeted by crowds of joyous children clamouring for attention.

What this school does is a revelation. Lessons, it turns out, are remarkably similar to those my grandchildren have in the UK but there are some special elements. In one classroom children are having a lesson in self-expression and creativity - dancing, laughing, banging things together, singing and scampering about.

There's a tiny library where children can go and "read" and there are two four-year-olds looking at books (one, Where the Wild Things Are!) when I go in. A great scheme has sprouted from this tiny library. It's called the Moving Bag of Books. Each child takes home a bag of books for their parents to read and to look at together. (In Colombia homes don't have books and parents don't read to children.) The next morning the bag of books moves on to another child. Schools in the UK could well imitate this simple scheme.

The kids here are well nourished. They get three meals plus milk and fruit during the hours of 9am-3pm at school. They have to. There may be little food at home.

My trip ends with a glorious event in Bogota, a celebration of the United Nation's first ever 'Day of the Girl' which is being marked all over the world. In London the Millennium Eye was pink for the whole day as were the pyramids in Egypt and the Empire State building in New York.

We are treated to a stunning concert by Ilona, the Rihanna of Colombia who's joined on stage by girls from all over the country whom Plan has plucked from poverty and changed their lives through education. These girls are irresistible, full of spirit and hope. A ten-year-old tells the huge audience gathered to celebrate girls, that to her, respect feels like love. Any 10 year old in the UK would say the same.

I started my trip with Mariana, who is embarking on her transformational journey out of poverty. On the Day of the Girl I see Colombian girls transformed. I've come full circle.

To find out more about Plan UK visit www.plan-uk.org or call 0300 777 9779]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1099146 2011-11-17T19:30:00-05:00 2012-01-17T05:12:01-05:00

Dr Miriam Stoppard http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-miriam-stoppard/
It's not a throwback to the 1990s pop scene; rather it's a pragmatic concept that can inspire long term change in families, communities and nations. Over the last 30 years, I've sponsored 21 girls through the international children's charity Plan UK, because the organisation concentrates on the Because I am a Girl campaign, and puts young girls at the heart of its work.

So why girls? Firstly, they are the worst affected by poverty. They are more likely than boys to suffer from malnutrition, die before the age of five and be trafficked.

In a poor family in a developing country, parents are more likely to pay for their boys, rather than their girls, to go to school. Often females are viewed as financial assets - to be sent to work to earn money or to be married off for dowries.

Boys receive more investment as they're considered as future breadwinners. Meanwhile girls who aren't yet teenagers can end up wives and mothers, facing hugely increased risks of dying in pregnancy and childbirth. Too often, they face violence, hunger and are simply not given the right to decide their own future.

If we disrupt this pattern, we can unlock amazing potential and upset the cycle of poverty. The saying goes that if you educate a girl, you educate a nation. If girls are supported to gain skills and stay in education, and if they receive support from government and their communities, they are much more likely to realise their rights and to help reduce poverty in the long term.

An educated girl is more likely to be healthy and literate and to be generous about passing on the skills and advantages she's gained to her extended family. An educated girl is also more likely to invest her income back into her family, her community and her country. Even from a strictly economic angle, concentrating on girls makes sense.

Besides continuing development work, we also need to pay special attention to girls in disaster situations - such as the current food crisis in Kenya and across East Africa. Plan UK's research shows that girls are some of the hardest hit - they may never have been taught the skills to deal with an emergency and they're often the last to eat what little food exists.

Furthermore, they are particularly at risk of sexual abuse during such times of upheaval. I've heard tales of girls attacked on their way to refugee camps and tackling the dangers of sharing sleeping, bathing and toilet facilities with men in the tumult of emergency shelters.

Plan works to equip girls around the world with the skills they need to best survive in these kinds of situations. Plan staff members teach girls first aid, how to swim and climb, and how to develop early warning systems for disasters like floods, food crises and earthquakes.

Girl power is thriving and can have a transformational effect on communities by reducing poverty and championing human rights. But we need men and boys on board, as well as women, to help shift the barriers that girls face every day and which prevent them fulfilling their potential. Communities need to work together to shape a more equal and just society, that can facilitate lasting and positive change.

So with this year's BBC Children in Need appeal upon us, shining a light on child poverty and raising vital funds in the UK, let's not forget the needs of girls abroad.

There's no better time to sponsor a girl through Plan, visit www.plan-uk.org]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1069318 2011-11-01T19:00:00-04:00 2012-01-01T05:12:01-05:00

Dr Miriam Stoppard http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-miriam-stoppard/ Midge Ure brought us the Live Aid concerts and we saw millions starving to death in Ethiopia in Michael Buerk's news reports, countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Southern Sudan are still suffering. East Africa is now being described by the UN as the "world's worst unfolding humanitarian crisis".

The crisis has been caused by long-term poverty in the region coupled with the most severe drought seen in this part of the world for over 60 years. The result - 10 million people throughout the region being in need of food, water and emergency healthcare.

As someone who has sponsored children through Plan UK over the last 30 years, including seven-year-old Eunice in Kenya, I've been particularly aware of what's happening in East Africa and how sponsorship is supporting children and families in the region.

Sarah Mace, who works in Plan's Disaster Management Unit looking after East Africa, has recently been out to Kenya. She says that you can feel the impact of the drought everywhere. In some areas in East Africa, it hasn't rained for three years. The food crisis has devastated livestock and put food prices beyond the reach of the majority of families. While large scale farms in Kenya bring in revenue, it's estimated that around 60% of all agricultural income comes from small-scale farmers. And it is in these communities that the impact of the drought is being felt the most.

Plan is continuing its school feeding programme in Tharaka, Kitui, Machakos and Kwale seven days a week - not just for the school children, but for their younger siblings. This has been effective and children are coming back to school and to their homes.

The charity discovered that some children have been pulled out of school to help generate an income for the family.

The crisis is also making children more vulnerable to exploitation. Children are involved in child labour; making charcoal and working in construction. It's also reported that they are involved in performing sex acts at 30 pence a time, in order to eat.

In East Africa, Plan's work is on-going to help children affected by the drought. The need is not going to go away. The charity is part of DEC, providing emergency aid in the region. And its sponsorship programme enables Plan to invest in longer term, more sustainable, child-centred solutions including education, health and children's rights.

It also funds initiatives to help reduce the risk and impact of disasters such as building school kitchens, bringing clean water closer to communities, helping farmers irrigate their land and develop drought-resistant crops such as mangoes and citrus fruits.

I am supporting Plan UK's East Africa Sponsorship campaign to find an additional 494 sponsors for children in Kenya - see the video - because I believe that through sponsorship we can help lift children out of poverty, give them opportunities for a better future and work with communities to help them prepare for emergencies and minimise the worst affects.

From the regular updates I receive about Eunice, the seven-year-old girl I sponsor through Plan, I know that Plan is building new classrooms and equipping others so younger children don't have to travel such long distances to school and that health campaigns are being run to create awareness about cleanliness in the home and at school. There's also a focus on improving farming and savings skills to help families increase their food production and grow their income.]]>