PROGRESS UP TO NOVEMBER, 2003

1. We have visited 65 families in the district of Porvenir and have selected 45 from these that are really in need of support from the project ie children who are not currently in school because their parents do not have enough money to send them. Within these 45 families there are 97 children who we aim to support. With each family visited we have carried out an initial interview to find out details of the members of the family, educational background, current economic situation and employment, and suitability for running a micro enterprise. This will be followed by revisits from the social workers to assess the families in more detail and to begin to assess their problems.
2. We have divided the families into 4 groups of 11 and allocated two social workers to each group. These social workers will be responsible for their group of families in the following ways for the duration of the project:
• Frequently visiting and building a good relationship with the families.
• Assessing their problems and working towards their resolution
• Working with the schools to ensure that the children are attending school and discussing their progress with both the children and the teachers and parents.
• Organizing monthly workshops for the parents and children on a variety of topics from values to health and family planning.
1. We have continued our contact with the schools in the district to discuss the project’s progress and the next stage. In December we can reserve places in the schools for all of the children, ready to finalize the arrangements in January and February. This gives us time to prepare all the paper work necessary, including obtaining birth certificates for some children who do not have one.

We also discussed with the schools the possibility of volunteers coming to help in the schools as teacher’s assistants and English teachers. This suggestion was warmly received and we hope to have some volunteers ready to start in the new school year.

2. We have discovered the possibility of exoneration from some of the school fees due to the condition of extreme poverty in which many of the families live. This is something that will be explored further in the coming weeks and could mean more money for new children.
3. We are looking into the cheapest source of school uniforms for the children. There is the possibility of bulk buying from a factory, and also that of ordering them to be made by some of the mothers thus keeping the money in the community.