Importance of supporting local charities

Photo: MZMikos - Illegal settlement, Belgrad, Serbia

The number of charities is growing and their search for assistance seams to be daily. The largest non-profit organisations still receive the most trust and support, but at the same time they have to allocate a large portion of the donations for their own maintenance and marketing purposes. With this, their support of the international projects may not always be optimal.

This is just one of the reasons why the direct support of local, less visible, non-profit organisations is enormously important. They are witnessing suffering and poverty on a daily basis, visiting illegal settlements and deprived families or are collecting children from the streets. It is they who face situations that seem resistant to change. They try to re-educate families and break the behavioral models with huge effort, consistency and patience, that grows into trust and respect over the years.

And they are the ones who directly experience pain and suffering of under privileged children, who feed them, wash them, heal their wounds, free them from the lice and scabies, or help them with their homework. It is they who try to prevent early forced or semi-forced marriages and pregnancies, or to motivate them to continue their education.

There are so many aspects and levels that children need to be cared for:

• The most essential support – where they not only receive warm food and clothing, but also learn the most essential life aspects such as value of hygiene and health care;

• Support in education that can break their inherited attitude toward life – where families are motivated to send children to a regular school, and the children’s potential is enhanced by various activities that can trigger their talents and interests.

• Reducing the impact of the toxic environment to prevent drifting in crime, premature marriages or reproduction, return to street work - all under pressure from family and friends

• Helping them to retain hope and increase mental and emotional power to break the circle and leave ghettos.

#charity #DoKaFoundation #socialinitiative #children