The Clues:
NOTE: The lettering below will seem odd, but the repetitions and skipping are on purpose!
a. ChildFund is implementing a major, USAID-funded community health initiative in this country located at the western-most point of the African continent.
c. The movie Slumdog Millionaire is set in this country, where ChildFund has worked for 60 years. (“Who wants to be a millionaire?”)
c. To offer children psychosocial support after the 2004 tsunami devastated parts of this Asian archipelago, and again in 2010 when Mount Merapi erupted, ChildFund created Child-Centered Spaces and supported other child protection efforts.
d. In April, ChildFund Experience of a Lifetime Facebook promotion winner David Levis will visit this country west of Kenya, where he will meet five of his sponsored children.
e. This expansive South American country boasts one of the world’s 10 largest economies and the southern hemisphere’s most-visited city, Rio de Janiero — and ranks eighth in social inequality, with 16 million people living below the poverty line.
e. ChildFund is the only international development organization working in the desperately poor Zavala district in this southern African country, which was hit in early 2012 by two deadly storms within two weeks.
h. Guide Mothers in this South American country to Colombia’s south serve as models for parents, teaching them hygiene, healthy food preparation and more.
h. The Roving Caregivers program in one of these two island nations just off the coast of Venezuela supports the development of children under 5, preparing them for a bright start in primary school.
i. In the only European country ChildFund serves, children and families still suffer from the long-term effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in neighboring Ukraine.
i. To improve health among the rural poor in this Central American nation, whose national bird is the scarlet macaw, ChildFund trains traditional birth attendants and other community members to provide basic care and educate about healthy practices.
l. In the uncertain political environment of this war-torn Asian country, children are often neglected, abandoned and abused. ChildFund has helped communities create Child Well-Being Committees to increase awareness of children’s rights.
n. ChildFund International’s headquarters are located in this country, where ChildFund has assisted chidren and families since the 1950s.
n. Youth are involved in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management programs in this disaster-prone, 7,000-island nation in Asia, which in the 1980s was most famous for Imelda Marcos’ shoe collection.
o. ChildFund’s agricultural programs, including a banana farm, provide income-generating skills to youth in this country, which is also home to Victoria Falls.
r. In Asia’s first new country of the 21st century, more than half its population is under age 18.
r. After 14 years of civil war that finally ended in 2003, this country is slowly rebuilding. ChildFund recently partnered with TOMS Shoes to give new shoes to hundreds of children, making it possible for many of them to attend school.
s. This country, which is experiencing severe drought, shares borders with Uganda and Ethiopia, where ChildFund also serves children.
t. Sixty percent of the population of this South American country live below the poverty line, especially indigenous people, who are often marginalized.
v. High dropout rates in secondary grades and youth unemployment and under-employment are major issues in this island nation, which lies just south of India.