LOVE THE ONE
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Mission Statement
Our vision is simple, we want to be part of creating a world where children’s rights are not just documented in a charter but are realised in practical ways to allow freedom for every child to reach their full potential. To realise this vision we focus on three crucial areas: HEALTH: From community clinics to specialised hospital care, from babies to teenagers, health care for all children is our aim. EDUCATION: From the early years to teenagers, we want to see all children have the opportunity to have an enjoyable, transformative education. CHILD CARE: All children need love, a safe place to grow and be protected from harm. We want to see children not only survive but to thrive so that they can reach their full potential in life.
About This Cause
Love the One exists to provide poor, orphaned and abused children with free holistic medical care, education and child care primarily in developing countries. Our primary focus is India where we base ourselves in the state of Odisha nearby the city of Berhampur. Doctors Mary Cusack and Cat Morris are the co-founders and Directors of Love the One. Both are UK trained Paediatricians, have specialised in Tropical Medicine, and are passionate about child health! They moved to live in India in 2007. Mary and Cat both live and work in a full time capacity out in India, overseeing directly all the work of Love the One and currently are also the clinical paediatricians for Love the One. They are supported by an excellent Indian team who together run the charity projects. International volunteers also offer support on short and longer term placements. The charity projects include – HEALTH Birth to five The majority of children who die from preventable causes in India are under 5 years of age and so this is a crucial age group to target when trying to tackle child poverty and child health. We offer free top to toe baby checks for all the new born babies, a check up many have never had due to being born at home with no access to a health professional. Through our early baby checks we screen and pick up many babies born with congenital problems, especially cardiac, neurological and orthopaedic problems and we can quickly get the newborns assessed and referred for the specialist surgery they need. School Health Partnering with schools that cater for kids that are poor or marginalised or visiting children living in institutions means that our clinic teams get to see the neediest kids and give them a thorough check up in their familiar surroundings. For many, this is the first time that they have seen a doctor and so many serious undiagnosed problems are picked up such as children with club foot, serious heart conditions or significant disability. Mobile Clinics Love the One run mobile clinics to both urban slum and poor rural communities to provide free health care to children in need. Many children have never seen a health care professional. Therefore the team are very thorough in not only treating the child's acute illness, but also checking them and their siblings from top to toe, and getting to know each family. Special Children We meet a number of very special children with very complex needs and often they have no place to go for help. In rural and marginalised areas, the incidence of disability is significantly higher due to less than adequate medical care in the antenatal, perinatal and postnatal period. We passionately believe at Love the One that every child has value and that every child has rights, which has led to us opening our first Children's Centre for children with special needs in March 2015. This is a safe space for families to come with their children. We have a child centered, multidisciplinary approach as our team work alongside the family, to help them help their children through practical provision, child centred care and family support. Therapy Weeks We run special therapy weeks, where parents often come from hundreds of kilometres away and have a chance to have some rest and respite with us as we help care for them and their children. Specialised Hospital Care Some children need more help that is beyond the scope of our community medical work at Love the One, such as a specialised operation. Tertiary care in India is expensive and unaffordable for families who earn a tiny daily wage. In addition to this barrier, often a family would have to travel many hours from their village to a city in another state, with a different language. Love the One provides complete support to the child and family throughout the process and in the post operative phase until recovery is complete. Love the One has helped children that have needed major heart surgery, neurosurgical help, orthopaedic operations and cancer care. This is costly but we don't want to ever turn away a child for lack of finances. Nutrition Program "Malnutrition is more common in India than in Sub-Saharan Africa. One in every three malnourished children in the world lives in India.” [UNICEF report on Nutrition] Malnutrition in early childhood has serious, long-term consequences because it impedes motor, sensory, cognitive, social and emotional development. Malnourished children are less likely to perform well in school and more likely to grow into malnourished adults, at greater risk of disease and early death. 46% of India’s children are malnourished. At Love the One, we are passionate about seeing this situation change. Every child attending either an EPIC Centre or The Bridge school receives a nutritious midday meal and morning & afternoon snacks, 5 days a week. They also receive regular deworming medicine and nutritional supplements. We closely monitor each child's weight and height, and love watching them start to grow so well after a few months in our centres. Their improved nutrition drastically reduces their number of illnesses they pick up, and speeds up their recovery when they are sick. Health Training We want to see a standard of excellence in how babies and children are treated across India, especially in rural areas. Love the One conduct a number of training courses for health and allied health professionals in the areas of Neonatal Life Support, Early Newborn Care, Paediatric Life Support and Paediatric Care. Love the One want to encourage and equip those, through teaching courses and friendship, who are working for the neediest populations and work alongside health professionals and facilities that share this vision to improve the lives of babies, children and young people. EDUCATION Early Learning Early Intervention is key for our children who are at high risk of neglect and abuse. Research has shown that the most effective way to maximise a child's development and potential in 'at risk' families is to intervene early. To allow a child to be nurtured in a safe, stimulating environment and to begin their learning through play. Our EPIC Centres are aimed to give marginalised children a great head start in life, through play based pre-school learning. Special Educational Needs "Every child has the right to special education and care if they have a disability, so that they can live a full life." [Article 23, UN Convention on the Rights of a Child] There are many children in India, often living in difficult circumstances, who have special educational needs. At Love the One we want to provide, not just for their medical needs, but to help each child reach their full potential through bespoke learning and community based rehabilitation (CBR). In March 2015 we opened our first Children's Centre! This is a great place for these children to come and have fun, learn and receive extra therapy that they need to reach their full potential. For more local children, the centre is open on a daily basis to come for sessions of play and learning, and where appropriate we encourage some of these children to be integrated into our mainstream EPIC centres. The Bridge School We meet many children on a daily basis who are not in school due to poverty, chaotic family life or having to be engaged in child labour. 1 in 5 children between the ages of 6-14 years do not attend school in India, the majority being girls. We want to make a difference for children, no matter what age we meet them or what situation they are in. The Love the One school have classes ranging from LKG to Standard 4, with 65 children attending the school. Many of the new children graduate from the EPIC centres. Inspired Youth The iYouth team provides fun clubs for young people that are a combination of fun, games, days out and positive teaching, as well as spending time just getting to know each young person and giving them a chance to enjoy life. The team also come alongside the carers of young people in institutions to empower and encourage them as they do their best to look after large numbers of children and young people. We offer a Caring with Excellence training course to help teach and skill up how to best care for marginalised and vulnerable children and young people. CHILD CARE We are passionate about children not just surviving, but totally thriving and having the best chance in life at reaching their full potential. We also want to equip many other people in India, working alongside vulnerable and marginalised children, to be able to understand each child they are working with, and be able to care for them with excellence. Parenting Courses We are passionate about equipping those who care for children to be able to help the children they look after to reach their full potential. Our parenting course gives parents and carers of children in all different types of childcare settings the understanding and tools to best look after the children in their care. 'EPIC' Centres – An integrated model of care. (EPIC - Early Paediatric Interventional Care) The EPIC Centres are an approach that Love the One has pioneered in communities where access to good health care is difficult. Our first EPIC centre opened in 2014 and we now have 5 and a vision for many more. An EPIC Centre is based around a simple crèche and pre-school model for the 0-5 years old comprising of all the key elements a child needs to thrive. • Opportunity of early learning though play in a creative and child friendly environment. • They are given nutritious food to prevent malnutrition early on and allow for good growth and development. • As well as bi-annual top-to-toe health check ups, if they are unwell they are able to receive prompt excellent health care • Most importantly of all the children are loved and nurtured in haven which is safe. They are able to regain their childhoods, reach milestones and thrive. We are seeing youngsters radically transform as they graduate into primary school, being enrolled into school as happy, healthy, well developed youngsters.