Future First projects

The Escuela Hogar Infantil Don Orione is a home for 25 young girls, aged 3-16, who have suffered abuse at home (physical, sexual and psychological). The project offers them specialised psychological treatment and support to re-build their life, increase their life skills and involve them in education. They will also have the opportunity to improve family ties in supervised, risk-free surroundings.

This programme will help prevent the girls from developing serious psychological disorders or repeating abusive patterns when they have children themselves. Attending school will help them gain self-respect and employment in the future. HSBC is supporting this project for one year.

The SOS Children's Village in Mar del Plata (400 kilometres/250miles from Buenos Aires) looks after children in an extremely poor area, who suffer from malnutrition and other poverty-linked problems. The site has an SOS school, social centre and youth facility.

HSBC's funding over three years will benefit 120 children, who will receive improved nutrition, access to formal education and support for their families.

HSBC has donated funds towards the 2007/8 running costs of an SOS school in Oberá in the north east of Argentina. SOS has worked in the area for many years and the school has well-qualified teachers and class sizes of 30-40 students. Children attending the school receive education, food and practical workshops to help them gain technical qualifications for future jobs.

The family strengthening programme carried out in Bahia aims to decrease the risk of children being abandoned by helping parents care for them. Children receive essential services such as education, nutrition and healthcare, while parents are offered a variety of courses at an adult training centre to increase their chance of obtaining secure employment and preventing family breakdown. Up to 200 children will receive educational support over one year through HSBC's funding.

The family strengthening programme at Jacarepaguá, 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of Rio de Janeiro, helps prevent child abandonment and strengthens the community in three ways. A day-care centre provides care and early education for children aged three months to four years; community children are supported through music education; vulnerable mothers are trained in employable skills such as IT and handicrafts.

HSBC's part-funding of this project for one year will help up to 354 children.

Up to 153 children will benefit from the family strengthening programme at Juiz de Fora in the province of Minas Gerias (100 kilometres/62 miles north of Rio de Janeiro). The programme works by providing day-care facilities for children with a learning-through-play programme, while mothers are supported with courses such as IT, dance and reading to develop their self-esteem. HSBC will fund this programme for one year.

A project called 'Hands On' is being funded by HSBC for one year. It aims to develop life skills handbooks for educators to hold workshops on improving self-esteem, sex education, social skills and human rights for homeless children, orphans and abused children. The handbooks will also be shared with other organisations so that, although 95 girls will be directly helped under this project, a much larger number will benefit indirectly.

Casa Alianza works to give street children a secure place and the chance to gain education and equip themselves for the future. Working with children aged from 12 to 18, Casa Alianza removes children from abusive and physically dangerous situations and offers them education and care. Up to 120 children will benefit from HSBC's part-funding of this programme over three years, including older children who are supported in their transition into work and helped to learn financial skills.

Orphans, children facing domestic abuse and children living in poverty are helped by this organisation. HSBC's one-year funding will offer medical care to up to 117 children and enable basic education for some of these; boarding education and care for others and scholarships for those who cannot afford to pay for education. HSBC Mexico has previously supported projects with this organisation.

The primary aim of this organisation is to provide customised care to children who live on the street and help them choose alternatives for a better future. Up to 106 adolescent boys, aged from 10 to 17, will be helped to develop their intellectual and social capabilities and receive skills training. Health support, better life skills and access to education will enable the youngsters to reintegrate into society and have a better future.

A mixture of education, life skills, practical work training, counselling and rehabilitation will help 117 children under this project, funded by HSBC for one year. Courses such as carpentry, printing and baking, allied to therapy tailored to each child, will help the children integrate into the workplace and/or continue their studies.

Despite the oil exploration activities taking place in this state, the local communities have suffered from the influx of people who came seeking work and have been left behind in terms of economic conditions. Children in Ciudad Ojeda in Zulia State are at high risk due to their family circumstances.

The family strengthening programme, that HSBC will part fund for one year, aims to help 105 children gain education appropriate to their age and stay on at school after primary level. They will also receive health and nutritional support.