Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to all of our supporters. Thank you for another great year, thanks to you, the lives of over 250 children have been changed. Thank you so much for making this possible. There is still time to give a child living in Ethiopia, a life changing gift. Please support our Christmas Appeal by donating any of the below items: Medical care and Treatment: €10 School uniform and school supplies for one child: €20 Vocational training for one month for one child: €30 Books for library: €50 Make your gift online now : http://www.idonate.ie/690_youth-release.html   Happy Christmas

Who's on your Christmas list?

Who's on your Christmas list?   The hustle and bustle of Christmas has begun, with us all making our lists. This year add some one to your list who has very little and make a difference in the life of a child living in Dire Dawa Ethiopia. For as little as €10 you can give a child a life changing gift. Please support our Christmas Appeal by donating any of the below items: Medical care and Treatment: €10 School uniform and school supplies for one child: €20 Vocational training for one month for one child: €30 Books for library: €50 Make your gift online now : http://www.idonate.ie/690_youth-release.html   Without the support of people like you, the children we work with might never have the opportunity to go to school, to get life skills training or simply go to the doctor. Thanks to your generosity and kindness, I know these children will have a great Christmas.

Missing....YOU....Become a Sponsor Today!   Thank you to every one who has supported our sponsor a child program this year. Thanks to you, over 40 children have been able to learn a skill and are better able to support themselves and their families. Over half of these children previously lived on the street, thanks to their sponsors they now have a roof over their heads and food on the table, they will never have to sleep on the side of the street. Unfortunately, without sponsorship many children and youth remain living in these conditions unable to break the cycle of poverty....You can help change that.                                                          Children like Betelhem are looking for sponsors so that they can learn a skill such as hair dressing, mechanic, carpenter, or metal work. Betelhem, was forced to leave her home as her stepfather was an abusive alcoholic. She lived with her uncle in another city for five years, when her mother remarried but a similar situation arose. Again, she left her home and slept at the local police station for a number of days. She is currently one of the children receiving support through the YR Vocational Training program.She is training to become a mechanic and is also attending night school so she can get her high school diploma. Thanks to the help of the social workers at the youth center, she was able to talk to her mother and return home.Her mother expresses her feeling that the project benefited her daughter in many ways like full educational support, free medical care, psychological counseling and nutrition support. As she said 'if the project is not in position to provide such services to my daughter, she can’t survive from misery of life (life in street) and go to school like other children'. Betelhem is one of many children on the YR Vocational Training program. You can support one of these children by donating €30 monthly for 12 months or one payment of €360. You can support a child here: http://youthrelease.com/sponsorformadobe.php Thank you for your support!

Christmas Day Swim For those more adventurous supporters, we will be having our Annual Christmas Day Swim. We will be following with more details but if you are interested please email youthrelease@gmail.com or download the form here:  http://issuu.com/youthrelease/docs/youth_release_swim_pdf  Where ever you are, you can do the swim and get as many supporters as you can! Thank you all!

Looking for a different kind of Christmas present? We've got you covered. Why not make a donation in honor of a loved one. You can make donation of any amount or pick from the options above. You can download our Christmas Card here: http://issuu.com/youthrelease/docs/publication3 and let your loved one know a donation has been made in their honor. Thank you to all who have supported our Christmas Appeal, we are excited for what the year ahead brings.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween   October has been an extremely busy month for all of us at Youth Release. On October 10th we went the Dublin City University expo. We had great fun and met some awesome people including Mr Enda Kenny who stopped by for a chat. Unfortunately his people dragged him away before we had a chance to snap a photo op, but hey there is always next time. Thank you so much to everyone who came along and thanks to Fr Joe Jones who made it all happen and for inviting us to take part.                                         Thank you so much to everyone who came out to Diceys on October 16th for the annual Youth Release table quiz. We had a great night and raised essential funds for the programs running  at the youth center. Thanks for all your support and for coming out!   Meet Elias Elias is 15 and is one of the adolescents who is starting his Vocational Training this month. Elias is an orphan, he lost both of his parents due to HIV/AIDS and has spent the last number of years working and living on the street. Thanks to the Vocational Training program he is now training to be a mechanic and receives shelter and food. After his training is completed Elias will never have to live or work on the street and can use his skill to better his future. Elias is just one of many, thanks to the Youth Release Ironman Team who are sponsoring 33 children through this program and also to all of our sponsors who are supporting these adolescents! If you would like to learn more visit:http://youthrelease.com/childsponsor.php

Thanks so much to Stephanie Gilmore who ran in the the Blackmores Sydney Marathon raising essential funds for Youth Release! Stef raised an amazing e860.00! Thank you to everyone who supported Stef! Thank you so much! We had a blast at the DCU Volunteering expo on October 10th. Thanks to everyone who stopped for a chat. For more info on all our volunteer opportunities please email laurapower@youthrelease.com Thanks to all who came!

Happy Birthday to us

Wow, it's hard to believe the youth center is open 2 years this month! Where has the time gone? We have had another amazing successful year, even if we do say so ourselves :) There are over 300 children that are involved in the programs at the youth center, all of the children are from the local community Gende Tesfa and are receiving education and health support, counseling, skills training, and recreational support. Meet our team: If it wasn't for the local staff and volunteers, the youth center would not function. There is a project coordinator, 2 social works, a librarian, a guard, four part time teachers, health educator and support staff. Abbi is the project coordinator and makes sure that everything at the center is running smoothly, he ensures that all the children have what they need and that they are attending the programs. Yohannes and Meisra are the two social workers, they provide counseling services to 176 children along with home visits and follow ups.  Misra is the librarian, she makes sure that all the kids have the books they need and that they each have equal study time! The four tutorial teachers are providing classes for 243, children in the community are invited to attend these classes even if they are not part of the programs. The social workers meet with the school to access how the children are progressing. If it wasn't for this amazing staff none of the work would be possible. They are absolutely fantastic!   Vocational Training: Meet Sammy, Sammy is a local business owner just outside Gende Tesfa. Sammy owns a carpentry shop and has been training young men for a number of years. Sammy is one of the business owners in Dire Dawa who is part of the vocational training program. He currently has 5 boys that he is training from the Youth Release program. Not only is he providing training for these boys, but he also has given 3 of them a place to stay and a small wage so they can get by. When we spoke to Sammy he told us, he was so excited to help and can't wait to continue supporting and being part of this program. The three boys that Sammy has taken in all previously lived on the street, begging, and trying to earn an income anyway possible. Now they are being trained in a skill they can use, they have shelter, food and in a few months they will be able to get their own place and start work full time! Programs at the Youth centre: The success of the programs would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our 15 local staff. Despite water shortages in the area, the staff still ensure that shower services are available for the children each week. The children are also involved in a number of recreational and club activities. A drama club was started to help teach children about their rights and well being. The children write and direct the drama themselves which develops team work and encourages the children to share their experiences. Of course there are many more programs at the youth centre, we just wanted to highlight a few. None of this would be possible without our fantastic volunteers, both local and international. If you are interested in volunteering with Youth Release please send an email to laurapower@youthrelease.com and we will send you an information pack. We would also like to thank everyone who has supporting our vocational training program- there are over 23 children going through the program and are all set to graduate over the coming months. Thank you to everyone who has supported the activities at the youth centre and for helping us make the programs possible. If you would like to help us continue this work please visit www.youthrelease.com We are always looking for people to help with our fundraising efforts so if you have an idea just let us know!  Thank you once again for all your support- here's to another great year!