Happy Child rescues street and ‘at risk’ children in Belo Horizonte, South Eastern Brazil. We have an emergency reception centre, five safe homes and a farm community which provide a secure base for their rehabilitation and re-integration back in to family and community. Founded in 1993, today Happy Child is one of the leading and most experienced charities helping street children in Brazil. During this time Happy Child’s effective 12 Step Programme has helped over 6,000 street children in all the five key areas:
- Prevention
- Rescue
- Homes and Rehabilitation
- Education and Training
- Family – Re-integration, Fostering and Adoption
Happy Child currently has over 48 trained and dedicated staff providing the short-term and long-term care for 100 children. Our mission is the whole transformation of street children and their families – physical, social, emotional, educational and spiritual. In 2007 we are opening a new centre Recife, North Eastern Brazil. This is one of the poorest regions of the country where problems with street children are enormous.
We are a Christian charity working with in partnership with government agencies, voluntary groups, churches and individuals. We aim to meet the immediate needs of street children by supporting their families and communities. In this way we are targeting the key issues which drive children on to the streets.