Kids for Kids

Kids for Kids is a British charity (not for profit) that was created in 2001 before the conflict erupted, to help children struggling to survive in remote villages in Darfur, Sudan. It is still the only charity created specifically to help the forgotten children of Darfur. It has been previously listed in the top three UK charities for the International Development Charity of the Year at the UK Charity Awards.[1]

The charity was founded by Patricia Parker MBE to help children who are facing lives of inconceivable hardship in remote villages of Darfur. Kids for Kids provides long term self sustainable projects, identified by the communities themselves—and, uniquely, run by them. Projects are designed to prevent small problems from becoming disasters. "Hospitals can be many miles away, and the few rural hospitals have virtually no equipment" said Parker. "Women go to hospital in labour, on the back of a donkey. Surely we could do better than that?"

The original inspiration for the charity which has transformed the lives of over 384,000 people through simple, commonsense interventions, was a chance meeting with a nine-year-old child who was struggling across the desert in the immense heat of Darfur, to fetch water for his brothers and sisters. It was a walk that took him seven hours, and then he faced the long walk back. The water he collected would also be used to keep three little goats alive—their milk was the children's only source of protein, minerals and vitamins. Parker realised the symbiotic relationship between water and goats and decided to do something to help. "Aid agencies were in Darfur in 2001, and since then emergency aid has poured in to the region, but there is little, if any lasting benefit for families struggling to survive out of sight of the world" she said. "My idea was that I would ask ordinary people like me, to help, one goat at a time! If governments and INGOs couldn't do it—we would!"

About Kids for Kids

Kids for Kids supports grass roots projects that communities identify as the most effective way of enabling them to help themselves. "We don't believe in charity" said Parker "our aim is to empower women to take charge of their own lives, long term". First priority is water and for the first time in a long while the Water Environment and Sanitation Department in North Darfur is in a position to drill as many hand pumps as Kids for Kids has money for. "A hand pump can be named after a donor" says Parker. Many Kids for Kids pumps are treasured as a living memorial for someone who has died, or to celebrate something special. In some areas, where hand pumps prove that there is plentiful water, they can be converted to submersible solar powered pumps which will help many people. Kids for Kids also trains midwives because there is no health care in villages. When there is obstructed labour, a common complication in a region where FGM (female genital mutilation) is widespread, rope delivery is the only form of help. The charity trains first aid workers who treat simple wounds, teach hygiene and even build latrines and provides veterinary care to all the animals in each village. Additionally, Kids for Kids trains people in farming techniques and water harvesting, provides donkeys—the only transport in a region where there are no roads—donkey ploughs, carts and water carts, farm tools and seeds, blankets, mosquito nets and other household essentials—and, most importantly, the provides and repairs hand pumps. Long term improvement of the environment, the planting of trees, is another priority, and forms another source of income for families. An extensive tree planting campaign has been funded since 2006, with a Demonstration Garden in the main Tree Nursery in El Fasher, where trees planted back in 2006 are now tall enough to give shade and where people come to picnic at weekends. Kids for Kids has also funded a new Midwives Training School in El Fasher where they fund the training of 40 village midwives each year. But the Key project is a Goat Loan. The poorest 15 percent of families in each Kids for Kids village is lent six goats to provide milk immediately for the children and to enable mothers to have a livelihood as the little flock multiplies. At the end of two years six goats are passed on to another poor family, and so on. Eventually the whole community benefits from this simple, life changing, loan. It has been called the best Microfinance project ever. To ensure that the projects are sustainable and there is clear accountability, the management of the projects is carried out by village committees which are trained in book keeping—but, most importantly, they are accountable to their own communities. This has ensured that the projects have survived even during the worst periods of violence.

Kids for Kids works directly with villagers—with the help of one of the most respected veterinary doctors in Darfur—Dr Salim Ahmed Salim. Dr Salim has been appointed Kids for Kids Programme Manager and, with Project Manager Hassan Mihisi works on projects which include hand pumps, first aid workers, midwives and blankets and mosquito nets as well as tree projects and the new Kindergarten Projects which commenced with the first in Abu Nahla, a remote village northeast of the regional capital, El Fasher. Various communities have said that the Kids for Kids simple integrated projects—the loan of goats and donkeys, training of midwives and para-vets and much more—are enabling them to stay in their homes.[2]

In February 2005 Patricia Parker and her son were abducted by rebels in Darfur but subsequently released unharmed.[3] At one point during the abduction the leader of the rebels shouted: ‘Don’t you understand that I could have you killed at any moment?’ but Parker kept smiling and I said: ‘Of course I do—but I also know about Sudanese hospitality and I know that I am perfectly safe’. They were released the following morning.[4] Kids for Kids went on to adopt this village, Kulkul, and is now providing a range of sustainable projects to the families and helping them out of poverty.

In 2013, in response to the appeal of hundreds of women in Darfur, Kids for Kids opened its first Kindergarten at Abu Nahla. This was one of the first brick buildings in the village and includes latrines, a veranda (shade and an extra classroom) a water tank and fruit trees. Kids for Kids worked closely with the State Ministry of Education which is funding the teacher. The Director of the State Ministry of Education said that it is the first school of its kind in Darfur. There are currently 9 Kindergartens in villages in Darfur that are fully equipped including toys both for indoor and outdoor use. Other schools are in Abu Digeise (supported by Joanna Lumley OBE) Azagarfa (supported by City of London School), Um Ga'al, Kindro, Hillat Hamid, Siwailinga, Golo C and Sakori. Um Ga'al is the village where the little nine-year-old lived whose Walk for Water inspired Patricia Parker to found the charity. Communities know education is the route out of poverty and every village is now asking for a Kindergarten.

Today in Darfur there are 92 Kids for Kids villages where children are facing a better future. Earlier this year Kids for Kids adopted five new villages where it has committed to providing the package of basic projects aimed at improving lives long term. Indirect benefits such as tomatoes and okra now flourish where once there was nothing but sand. However this year, 2018, families in Darfur are facing famine because of the failed harvest. Combined with soaring inflation and the drastic devaluation of the Sudanese pound to a third of its value, the loss of their subsistence crop puts everyone at risk. Every village is asking for help. Countless mothers have been left on their own, struggling to find food for their children and animals, as fathers and older sons have left home in a desperate search for ways to feed their families. Although our aim is always to provide sustainable help so that we are helping create a better future for children, we cannot stand by and do nothing when there is such an emergency. We are therefore providing an Urgent Need Package to 3,000 families that have been worst-hit by the famine. launching an appeal that will enable us to provide seed and fodder right now. This package costs £88 and includes 90 kilos of flour, supplementary food for animals, and a goat that will provide life saving nutrition to the children. We will also provide a sack of seed, at £15, so they have something to plant for next year. If funds allow, we will help even more families.

Chairman Patricia Parker MBE said “Darfur is out of the news. Children are malnourished in every village except for Kids for Kids villages. Our goats and donkeys and all our other initiatives are helping — but there is urgent need to help more children who are living in extreme poverty. I have photographs of children whose hair has turned preternaturally blonde because of lack of protein. If that is the outward sign, what about bones, teeth and even brain cells? Kids for Kids needs help now if we are to help children before it is too late."

Notable Supporters and Patrons

Kids for Kids has been mentioned with approval in debates in the House of Lords[5] and other notable supporters include Ruth Rendell, Alastair Stewart, Miriam Margolyes, Timothy West, and Javier Solana who donated half his Carnegie-Wateler Peace Prize money to them in 2007.[6]

Kids for Kids Patrons include Julie Etchingham, Joanna Lumley OBE FRGS, Lord Cope of Berkeley PC, Eamonn Holmes OBE, Sir William Patey KCMG , H.E. Mr Irfan Siddiq OBE H.M. Ambassador to Sudan, H.E. Dr Hassan Abdin, H.E. Mr Michael Aron, H.E. Mr Abdullahi Al Azreg, H.E. Mr Mohammed A. Eltom, and H.E. Mr Omer M. A. Siddiq

Kids for Kids in the News
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References
  1. "Page not found - Charity Awards 2015". charityawards.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2007-05-09.
  2. http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-13566123,00.html
  3. "Embassy of Sudan in Kenya". sudanembassynrb.org.
  4. http://www.kidsforkids.org.uk/pdfs/times.pdf Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Profile in The Times November 16, 2006
  5. "Lords Hansard text for 13 Jul 2004 (240713-01)". parliament.uk.
  6. "Welcome to Kids for Kids The charity that helps children in Darfur, Sudan". kidsforkids.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2007-09-07.
  7. Not only People are Dying in Darfur Mail & Guardian online 18-Oct-2004
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