Unicef estimates there are 40 million street children in Latin America.
Help Toybox rescue more of them by becoming a child sponsor today!

Why Latin America? This beautiful region attracts little funding because the wealth of a very few disqualifies it for support from many major institutions. Yet, the poor are as poor as those anywhere in the world and street children are the very poorest. As doors open up for Toybox in different countries and cities, we need more sponsors to open doors of hope for the children.

How do we work? Our Red Alert citywide projects aim to reach new children on the streets to bring them to safety before they are targeted by those meaning them harm. We support and invest in a range of projects with children at high risk in their community, children on the streets, working children, children in prisons, training, education, small children’s homes and schools.

“If we had not had this help, we would be just as we were at the beginning, without dreams and with no desire to even breathe.”

Moises, Cochabamba

Doing your bit

Quite simply, without you doing your bit, we can’t do our bit. Of course, whatever we do, it’s the children that count. It’s the children that have to rebuild their lives and go to school and be very brave in overcoming their past. But all children have needs and that’s where we come in – but we can only do this with your support…

Your giving provides the care and love that we want for our own children. Each project varies slightly but includes some or all of these: • healthy food rather than scraps • clean clothes, not rags • medical care, not neglect • cosy beds, instead of the pavement for a pillow • education at school, not the school of the streets • homes, not hovels • and a loving family environment

“Every day I see Caterine smiling at me from under a fridge magnet and I know that one less child needs to be on the streets.”

Ailsa Betts, child sponsor

Become a child sponsor and see the answers to your prayers:
What you receive: • twice-yearly updates • a new photo every year • letters and pictures from your child which means you can really see the change in their life as they grow up

Meet the child ambassadors - making dreams of a new life come true

Your sponsorship helps children off the streets and those still out in the cold Many children on our sponsorship scheme are ambassadors.. they are elected by other children in their projects to be the voice of children still in danger on the street. They represent both the needs of the children in their home or project and those still on the streets and your sponsorship helps support both.

Street children stay alive by their wits, stealing and scavenging, begging and sleeping rough in parks, shop doorways and on dumps. Many survive through prostitution. They are often called the ‘disponibles’ – the disposable ones. But Toybox believes that every child needs the opportunity to experience life in all its fullness and you can be part of this through child sponsorship.

“My dream is to become a paediatrician”

Karina, Cochabamba

It’s easy to join Toybox child sponsorship.
Call 0845 466 0010 or click here to join online using our secure area.

What will happen next? We will send you a special welcome pack with your child’s story and photo. You will receive regular news about our work. You will receive letters twice a year and a new photo every year so you can see the results of your giving!

A gift of life. Why not consider giving a child sponsorship to a friend or relative. Birthdays, weddings, christenings, anniversaries… it’s a lasting, loving, living gift with a very special meaning!

£ All of our sponsorship income is audited so that you can be sure that your gift will be used for the best interests of the street children in Latin America.

When my dad died it was the saddest day of my life. I feel very good in this home though. When I’m older I want to be footballer or a lawyer. Always trust in God because He’s the only one who can rescue you. He has always been with me.

Waldo, Bolivia

A special message from Adrian & Bridget Plass

Have you ever wished you could travel to Latin America and meet the street children yourself? We had the opportunity to do this when we visited Bolivia and Peru earlier this year with Toybox and met children like Shirley. Shirley is ten years old and until quite recently she and her little brother Grover lived on the streets of Cochabamba. Her family had no money and no prospects and had all ended up homeless, hungry and hopeless.

That is until some extraordinary local Christians offered them refuge in their project, Esperanza Viva – “Hope Lives”. Now Shirley is the lively radiant child she was intended to be, gaining in confidence that she has a worth and a future.

But the project receives no formal funding and often struggles to provide even the essentials. So this is where we come in. By sponsoring Shirley and Grover we can lift the financial burden from these committed but also very poor local people; and because the giving is on a regular basis over a period of time, we can ensure that these children have a stable future.

Bring One Home

You may not be able to visit the children yourself but did you know that you can, in a sense, ‘bring one home’ by becoming a child sponsor. It’s a great way of connecting in a more personal way with the work of Toybox. And you will be meeting a very real need as Toybox relies on its child sponsors to bring security, new life, hope and love to thousands of children like Shirley and Grover. If you are one of those people who has been meaning to become a child sponsor for a while, now is the time!

Doors are opening for Toybox to help more children and they need 500 new sponsors this year. So why not take this opportunity to develop an individual sponsorship link? It can make a world of difference to your sponsored child and their community. Your child sponsorship enables us to work with our local partner, Viva Latin America, to provide new hope, choices, education, opportunities, food, clothing, shelter and most of all, love! It means street children can receive all the things we sometimes take for granted for our own children.

Please click here to become a child sponsor today.

Thank you for standing with us. Together we are making the dreams of street children like Shirley and Grover come true.

Miguel

'Miguel' lived on the streets of Guatemala City. He came from a very poor background, with an abusive father and little hope for the future.

When he was just seven years old Miguel was spending most of his time on the streets and eventually stopped going home altogether. He hung around with his new friends on the streets and started drinking and taking drugs.

Thank God, Miguel's mother contacted El Castillo, our partner organistion, because she was worried about him. She realised that she couldn't control him and that he had material needs she was unable to meet. In 2000 Miguel moved into a home for boys, where he quickly settled in and made a lot of friends. He was able to go to school, where he proved to be an intelligent and enthusiastic student.

It's been eight years since Miguel first came into the care of El Castillo, and the time has come for him to be reunited with his family.

It's going to be difficult - his mother is still very poor and also quite ill; Miguel is helping to care for her. She is very happy to have her son with her again. Miguel is working during the week and continuing with his studies at the weekends; he is receiving extra support from our partners, El Castillo to help him with his studying.

It’s great that the family are together again. We believe in families and wherever possible children are reunited with their parents and siblings. The family will continue to receive support from the team in Guatemala as they adapt to life together again.

Marco

Marco’s mother died when he was very young, and his father was an alcoholic. Life with his family was so hard that Marco left home. His life on the streets was a daily struggle to survive.

When Marco was 10 years old, things changed. Someone brought him to a Toybox project, which was able to help him. Life at the home changed things round for Marco. It gave him an opportunity to rebuild his life, to dream and to experience the love that his family could not provide.

Marco is hoping to be an architect when he grows up. He is also one of our ambassadors, speaking on behalf of the other vulnerable children Toybox supports. Without the support received from Toybox and his sponsors Marco’s life could not have been turned around in this miraculous way.