Trust’s client, Cheadle Hulme based International charity Retrak, has announced a ground-breaking agreement to help street children in Brazil, a significant development in the 21-year history of the Manchester-based organisation which has until now concentrated its efforts on child poverty in Africa.
Left: Street children in Brazil
Retrak will use its vast expertise to work in partnership with the Brazilian government and various agencies in a country where it is estimated there are around 24,000 street children.
An initial 12-month deal has been agreed with Retrak who are confident the arrangement will be extended to enable the charity to continue with its global vision to ‘help street children across continents return to a safe and stable home’.
The move into South America is recognition of the enormous progress made in recent years by Retrak which currently operates in five African countries – Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Each year the charity helps around 17,000 children and their Carers.
The Brazil project is the final action by Retrak Chief Executive Diarmuid O’Neill who is leaving the organisation at the end of October 2015. His successor Sir Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, will take over from November after 34 years with the police.
Diarmuid O’Neill said:
“It’s the start of something incredibly exciting and fresh and represents a new chapter for our organisation. Our vision is to create a world where no child is forced to live on the streets and going to South America is the next step in that challenge.
“It’s been my dream for Retrak to work in Brazil and this is the culmination of a strategic plan we put in place in 2009 to have a more global reach, broadening our horizons and working in new countries and continents. The Brazilian government has been hugely impressed by what we’ve achieved in Africa and we’re looking forward to working in partnership with them.
“More than four out of five Brazilians live in urban areas and in some ways urban poverty is harder to tackle than rural poverty. Another difference from Africa is that the nature of violence in Brazil can be pretty shocking and is more widespread among communities and families, particularly in the favelas.”
Retrak has been awarded 250,000 dollars from funds raised by the US version of Red Nose Day, run by NBC to aid anti-poverty groups. Retrak will spread the awarded grant across Brazil and its ongoing work in Africa.
Retrak’s set of guidelines to help street children return home have earned international acclaim and are at present being adopted by a raft of agencies and have issued a public appeal for further donations to extend its work in Brazil and further afield, including in Tanzania which it is hoping to begin soon.
To donate go to www.retrak.org.