The Toybox team were privileged to witness seven students from Bury Lawn School, Milton Keynes giving a presentation about the situation of street children in Latin America on Friday 11th December. Also present was the MP for Milton Keynes South West, Dr Phyllis Starkey.

The team, Tom, Esther, Annette, Nicola, Alex, Nathan and Kynan were set the task of designing and developing their own awareness-raising campaign about street children in Latin America.

They gave a heartfelt presentation filled with stats, stories and street children. Having researched the presentation for 6 weeks as part of their global citizenship classes, the students said that they really enjoyed the experience and are keen to continue supporting street children in the future.

Dr Starkey said to the students “You have shown an awareness that we are all members of the human race. We do and should have a sense of responsibility, one for another in our own country and across the world.”

The students were presented with certificates to mark their hard work and participation, presented to them by Dr Starkey.

Andy Stockbirdge, Toybox Chief Executive said “Toybox is delighted that Dr Starkey could join us, and we are very happy to have found another ally in support of the most disadvantaged children living on the street.”

The Toybox Team were really pleased with the time and effort that the Bury Lawn group put in and look forward to seeing them again soon!

Click here for more information about Bury Lawn School

Today – December 1st – is World Aids Day. Around the world, people will be wearing red ribbons to remember those who have died, increase awareness and fight the stigma and discrimination that surround this illness.

Losing a parent is one of the hardest things a child can go through, especially if they live in a poor community where there is no ready support. There are currently 15 million children who have been orphaned as a result of HIV/Aids and 2.1 million who are living with HIV themselves.  Many of these children end up living on the streets.

15 million – it is hard to imagine such a large number of orphans, so I want to introduce you to just one – Samuel, who lives in Guatemala.

“My name is Samuel and I´m 16 years old; I used to live in Quetzaltenango with my parents… My parents loved me very much but they were very sick and they both died when I was five years old…”

They died of Aids related illness. Samuel was left to his grandmother’s care, but she found it hard to cope – especially when Samuel began to develop Aids related illnesses himself.

“I felt weak… The truth is that my grandmother couldn´t take care of me anymore, she didn´t have money to buy the medicine that I had to take”.

He was registered in the National Hospital, but his family didn´t want to take him there because they denied that he was HIV positive.

“The family was hiding the child so that people from the village didn´t talk about them”

Fortunately, Samuel was found by Vida Illimitada (Unlimited Life) – a project supported by Toybox in Guatemala which cares for children living with HIV/Aids. Samuel arrived at the home in a very bad way, with severe tuberculosis. He received intensive care and his health was stabilized with treatment. He is now taking anti-retrovirals (medicine to control the development of Aids) and his health is much better – in fact, he can have an almost normal life.

“I spent a lot of time in the hospital, I didn´t like to go there but I knew it was good for me… I didn´t like to be sick. Now I feel better. I have my medical controls and I´m used to it”.

“Even though it has been difficult for Samuel, he is a young boy with a strong desire to live” says the project director “… he loves drawing and painting, and has excellent skills in this area.”

In the home, children receive formal education, food, spiritual guidance, and recreation. Samuel likes it there, but his family doesn´t visit him. He asks about them every day.

 “To me it has been something great to receive this support…” says Samuel “My family is here, the one that God has given me…”

He stops to wipe a tear from his eye, and then finishes:

“I hope I can achieve my dreams and I can have a life to fulfill them”.

How bad is HIV/Aids in Latin America?

In Latin America there is an HIV/Aids prevalence of 1%. Across Africa the average prevalence is 6% – rising in some areas to as many as 20% of the population are living with the illness. Although the epidemic is less bad in Latin America, it is still a serious and growing concern; as the UK rate of 0.2% shows. According to Mariel Castro, director of the National Aids Program, it is estimated that there are 42,000 people living with HIV/Aids in Guatemala.

There is a need for countries in Latin America to address HIV/Aids before it grows any further. Resources must be put into education, prevention and treatment programmes to ensure that the epidemic is halted in its tracks

“Every day I woke up and had something to eat, had someone to show me love and be friends with. You know, I had something in common with them. We were all orphans, so we were not alone.” – Gyavira, a Ugandan HIV/Aids orphan talking about his childhood in a home.

Comfort for God’s People – Isaiah 40, v 1 to 8

Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:
“In the desert prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.”