Slide 1: Introduction
Today I am going to tell you a little more about CAFOD’s work, and CAFOD’s dream for a better world, and I am going to show you how you can be a part of CAFOD’s Dream Team so that we can all work together to help make dreams come true!
Slide 2: What are your dreams for the future?
I’d like to start by asking you a question. What do you dream of being when you grow up? Turn to the person next to you and tell them what your dreams are for the future and listen to their dreams too. Would anyone like to share their dream with the group?
[Or you can ask children to raise their hand]
How exciting! A room full of hopes and dreams!
In the run-up to the Olympics next year in London, athletes around the world are also hoping to achieve their dreams. It’s an exciting time. However, there are lots of children living around the world who are unable to live out their dreams, lots of children who are finding it difficult to get by and survive today, and for whom the future seems unsure and a daunting place.
Slide 3: CAFOD’s dream
At CAFOD, we dream of a world where everyone has a fair share and is able to live their life to the full, where people can dream of a peaceful and happy future. CAFOD exists because sadly that dream is not a reality.
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So we work in over 40 countries around the world to make this dream come alive, you can see them here coloured in on the map. We work in Latin America, Africa and Asia, helping the world’s poorest people in lots of different ways.
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And we work with lots of families and children your age, all around the world to achieve their dreams of a better life.
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CAFOD dreams of a world where everyone everywhere has a fair share of God’s world and are able to live life to the full, so they too can look forward to a bright future.CAFOD dreams of a world whereeveryone has ...
access to safe clean drinking water,
can live in peace,
have medical care when they need it,
a safe home to live in and
are able to go to school to get an education.
These may seem like simple dreams, and we can sometimes take them for granted. We will all go home to our houses tonight, will have a meal, and a peaceful sleep, and will come back to school tomorrow. But these are big dreams for some children.
Slide 4: World statistics
So what does a fair and just world look like?
Let’ see what our world looks like today.
[Ask for three volunteers to come up to the front]
There are 6.7 billion people who share our world.
Let’s imagine that this shape here is all of the people living in the UK. Here we are, all 62 million of us.
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So this dot here is the UK population, everyone who lives in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Now, in our world there are 882 million people who do not have safe, clean drinking water.
[Give one volunteer a bottle of water, or a glass to hold up]
So let’s look at that number compared to all the people in the UK. Just imagine how many people this is – over 14 times the amount of people who live in the UK.
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There are 1 billion people who live in unsafe housing in slums.
[Give one volunteer a pillow, a teddy bear or folded paper over their heads to show a roof]
One billion people. This is a really huge number and is hard to imagine in our heads, but let’s look at how many people live in slums and compare the size to the amount of people living in the UK– that’s 16 times the amount of people who live in the UK.
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776 million people in our world are not able to read or write.
[Give one volunteer a book to hold up]
That number is 12 times the number of people living in the UK. There are so many children who will not go to school this year.
Slide 5: What stops some children going to school?
Do these facts seem fair to you?
Let’s look at one of these unfair facts in more detail.
We just saw that 776 million people in our world are not able to read or write.
There are lots of reasons why some children are not able to go to school and get an education. Can anyone think of any reasons why children might not be able to go to school?
Let’s have a look at some of the reasons and see if they match the ones that you came up with.
[click 1] Reason 1 – No teachers
Sometimes there are no teachers in the area to work in the schools. There could be many reasons for this. Sometimes there is not enough money to pay for teachers, or there are not enough people who are trained to be teachers in the area.
[click 2] Reason 2 – Can’t afford uniform
Some schools won’t let children come to class if they can’t pay the cost of lessons, or if they cannot afford to buy the uniform to wear, or buy books and pencils to use.
Sometimes families cannot afford to pay these costs for fees, uniforms and equipment.
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Some children live in rural areas and the school might be too far away for children to walk every day to get to. In some places there may be no school buses, or any transport at all, and children have to walk many miles to get to school.
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Sadly, sometimes there may be fighting or a war in the area and it might be unsafe for children to go to school.
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Some children have to work in order to bring home money for the family. Helping out with the family business, or working on the land, or working for somebody else to earn money means that there is no time for some children to go to school.
Slide 6: Kelvin in Tanzania
This is Kelvin, just one of the 72 million children who won’t be at school this term. Kelvin is 11 years old, the same age as some of you who are in Year 6, and he lives in Tanzania with his grandmother.
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Kelvin says:
“You have to go to school if you want a decent life.”
Kelvin dreams of being able to finish school. Primary schools in Tanzania often ask parents to pay money towards their costs, and sometimes families cannot afford to pay the fees.
Kelvin is often sent home from school because his grandmother cannot afford the money the schools asks for.
Kelvin’s grandmother works really hard to look after Kelvin since his mother died 7 years ago. She works many jobs, peeling potatoes, and washing clothes to earn money. But sometimes there is not enough money spare to help to pay for Kelvin’s school fees.
Slide 7: UHAI club
Kelvin is now part of a club that CAFOD supports called ‘UHAI’ [pronounced ooo-hi-ee] which means ‘life’ in Swahili. The club is for lots of children similar to Kelvin, whose families are struggling to earn money and pay for things like food, healthcare and schools. The club aims to give children a good start in life. Kelvin is able to have nutritious meals here, medical care when he needs it, and the club is also helping support him and children like him through school.
Kelvin has also made some good friends here, other children who have lost their parents.
Kelvin says:
“I like going to UHAI club to meet friends and play football. I don’t have any other place to play with friends like this. I hope UHAI can help me with a new uniform and shoes again this year. I have a dream of becoming a pilot if I can go to school.”
Slide 8: Join the team!
So, we have seen how CAFOD has helped Kelvin in Tanzania. But do you remember at the beginning of the presentation how many millions of people do not have clean water, safe housing and can go to school?
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CAFOD’s dream of a world where everyone has safe drinking water, peace, a safe home, medical care and are able to get to school is a very difficult dream to work towards.
That’s why we believe that we can only help these dreams come true if we really work together – we can’t do this by ourselves. If you share the same dream as CAFOD why not join us and be part of the dream team! Only if we work hard together we can help to make dreams come true.
Slide 10: Make a dream pledge
As you have heard, there are lots of reasons why some children are unable to live out their dreams. Poverty and unfairness stop millions of children from doing things we take for granted, like going to school, having a safe place to live or clean water to drink.
At CAFOD we dream of a more fair and just world. Can you be a part of CAFOD’s Dream Team and share your dream for a more fair and just world? At the end of assembly I am going to give out some dream pledge sheets. I would like you to write your dreams for a more fair and just world on the front and display them in the hall, or take them home for your fridge, or keep them with you keep to remember children like Kelvin in Tanzania, and the dreams of children like him.
Slide 11: Prayer
Let us say a prayer together.
God of our hopes, God of our dreams,
be close to us today and always!
Bless us this day with happiness and peace
so that we can dream our dreams
for a fair and just world.
Amen.
Slide 12: Join us!
You can help children achieve their dreams – by being part of the CAFOD Dream Team and learning about, praying for and raising money for children living in some of the world’s poorest countries you can make a real difference and help children to achieve their dreams.
However you decide to fundraise – whether you do Dream Team activities like a singing concert, sponsored walk or football tournament, to making Dream cakes or doing chores at home to earn money, what you raise could really make a difference to the lives of children living in poverty.
Be part of the Dream Teamand dream big for a more fair and just world.
Slide 13: Thank you
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