Keeping children at the centre of everything
“What I found in Viva was what's in my heart. What I saw in Viva was that our passions (for children) are aligned."
Wanskhem (or Wans) is a theologian, youth worker and trainer who has been working with some of the most vulnerable children, including street-connected children, since 2008. He came in contact with Viva in 2019 and is one of seven Viva Coordinators for Viva India, based in the city of Shillong. In 2022, a Viva steering group was dissolved in favour of a new collaboration known as the 'Civil Society Forum'. Wans says “We, all of us, are members of the Forum. So we came together, including the chairperson of the Child Rights Commission in Meghalaya, the DCPO, and the officer from District Welfare, doctors, teachers, leaders in the localities, college teachers in the social work department, stakeholders working in different organisations, pastors and few of the leaders. So when we came together, we started with the question, what can we do together? So then, and I just sprang up, let's do together what we are doing separately.”
Examples of how the group learns from and supports each other are plentiful, and two that Wans particularly remembers show the benefits of being part of Viva, with its global reach. In one instance, Wans was approached about the Good Treatment Campaign, which helps children speak up about their rights to be treated well. This originated in South America and was run by Viva India in previous years. Wans recalls, "Forum members decided to have a campaign of safe spaces for children. They asked Viva to be part of it through sharing of the Good Treatment Campaign resources. I trained them on how to use the (GTC) material, and they delivered the programme."
Signing a child rights declaration.
Photo credit: Viva India
Similarly, the Shillong Civil Society Forum members desired to start Child Rights Clubs in schools and communities. Wans asked Viva for help and received Child Ambassador materials that originated in South America and underwent further development in Uganda. Wans trained around 55 child leaders, three children from each Club and loves that his input impacts many children: "There have been very exciting results… In one locality, the Child Rights Club did a survey and came to know a child was brilliant but couldn't continue her studies due to poverty. The children held a meeting and came to a resolution that they had to help the child. They went and met potential donors, collected money among themselves, and sponsored the child for her education. So the girl managed to join school again." In another Club, children helped report an abuse case to a government helpline, and in another, children wrote to their local community leader asking for a playground to reduce abuse, which was common because many children were idle. Wans recalls one particular boy who encouraged him that this work is important and impactful on children: "I was excited to visit one Club when a child of around nine years came up to me and asked, 'what is needed so I can be the secretary of the Club in future?’”
Another child directly helped is a young girl who was struggling in school. Her mother was referred to Wans, being told someone from a church who could help. Wans recalls that he was invited to help the girl “with the emotional and psychological challenges that she had in school. So we had a talk and then I had two or three sessions with the girl. And then that is how the girl again continues her studies. And she is attending her final exams this month. And it's exciting.” Other examples of how the Forum collaborate can be found in the video below.
Wans has big dreams. The Forum’s members are busy running Christmas parties and the Good Treatment Campaign. He hopes that the Forum can continue to “keep children at the centre of everything … as they unite more like-minded people who are willing to help children flourish in life. I want to enable more expansion. I want an impact in other children. There are organisations and churches that say, 'We want to do something. The only thing is we don't know how to.' I want to connect them with other leaders, catalysing the work. They don't know where to start. I want to tell them, 'We (Viva) are here. We can help. Here are resources to equip you.' I want to do this for the community."