MANILA and QUEZON CITY, Philippines, Dec. 18 Children International will train its extensive volunteer network to help UNICEF support and comfort children suffering stress from recent typhoons in the Philippines.
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The U.S.-based humanitarian organization which helps more than 335,000 poor children around the world, with about 100,000 of those in the Philippines, will activate 250 youth and adult community-based volunteers in metropolitan Manila to provide psychosocial support to 14,000 children and teens living in communities ravaged by a series of typhoons.
Youth from Children International's Youth Health Corps, a network of 2,000 trained teens that use peer-to-peer education to teach the value of living a healthy lifestyle, will undergo training from UNICEF to serve children who have survived a major stressful event. Once they are trained, the Youth Health Corps members will handle play-therapy for children and their peers.
Children International's President and CEO Jim Cook said, "Many of the children who survived this typhoon season are still suffering fallout from the shock of having their lives completely devastated by the typhoon-related flooding. Training our Youth Health Corps and volunteers poised to act during an emergency will better serve the needs of our smallest and most helpless survivors."
The training is part of an initiative from UNICEF to promote the use of child-friendly spaces, child-to-child interaction and play-therapy to provide a safe outlet for children after experiencing a stressful event.
Children International currently has nearly 10,000 community volunteers and parents who help implement daily activities on the ground in 11 countries around the world.
About Children International:
Established in 1936, Children International is a nonprofit organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International's programs benefit more than 335,000 sponsored children and their families in 11 countries around the world including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Zambia, Honduras, India, the Philippines and the United States. For more information about Children International, visit www.children.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Dolores Quinn Kitchin Public Relations Children International Direct: (816) 943-3730 Cell: (816) 718-0711 http://twitter.com/Children_Intl
SOURCE Children International
