United Children's Network

There are too many high school students who are behind in their academic studies and are at high risk for dropping out of school entirely. We believe that many unhealthy behaviors - teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, a lack of deference to the law - occur at least in part due to the academic challenges these students are facing. We hope that by reducing the academic difficulties of these students at an early age, we can reduce the number of teenagers later engaging in unhealthy activities.

Children Helping Children

A voluntary, non-profit agency, founded in 1989 to help needy students in public schools.

� Tutoring...
Children who are left behind in the basic academic areas of reading and math have a difficult time catching up with their classmates. With one-on-one tutoring, problem areas can be looked at and resolved before they become too large.

� We Inform...
We will improve guest lectures and show films relevant to sexuality, drugs use, pregnancy, and peer pressure, followed by discussion time to deal with questions teens may have about these issues.

International Programs

"It makes us feel good to make a difference.

But more often it takes a group of like-minded individuals to remind us of the good

we can bring to our world when we work together".

-Anna Nevenic

Mission:

The Mission of UCN is to bring women in the under developed countries information and services necessary for making decisions about their reproduction and health. Our approach is to strengthen the technical and financial capacity of local organizations in developing countries to provide reproductive health services and ensure reproductive rights. All of the projects we support will include components to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. The only way to fight the poverty and hunger is by empowering women to control their own bodies and the reproductive rights. Whether or not women are literate, they are more than motivated to regulate birth - for their own survival and their family's health.

A woman dies every minute due to complications from pregnancy and child birth. Women and girls are targets of atrocities such as infanticide, sex trafficking, rape and domestic violence.

We lose six million humans every year just because they are females.

There are more enslaved peple now than there were during the 1800s. About 27 million people live in slavery. Every year, about 800,000 people are trafficked internationally and approximately 80% of them are women and children.

HIV/AIDS is a new global problem. Every country is affected by it and Zambia has not been spared. In fact the entire sub-Sahara Africa is engulfed in this web resulting into a mortality rate unprecedented. The number of orphans resulting from the AIDS pandemic rose from 20,000 in 1990 to over 600,000 in the year 2000 (Zambian Statistics). It is with this background that Bethel Orphanage and Nursing Home was established officially on 16th April, 2001 to provide a family environment where love, security and dedicated guidance is offered to such disadvantaged children.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a significant threat to development progress in Africa. It is a contributing factor to poverty, since the death of a father - the source of a family's income - may leave a wife and numerous children destitute. In the 1990s a joint Government of Ethiopia and UNICEF report predicted that there would be 150,000 AIDS orphans in Ethiopia by 2000, which shocked people at the time. However, according to current UNAIDS statistics, the cumulative total of Ethiopian AIDS orphans in 2001 was 990,000. It is expected that millions of Ethiopian men, women and children will die of AIDS during the next decade.

An increasing number of children in Zambia are being orphaned as a direct result of HIV/AIDS . It is currently estimated that there are 330 - 500 HIV/AIDS related deaths in Zambia per day. Touched by the despair of the children left behind, Faith Liyena a young christian nurse, made it her first priority to offer hope to these children. After careful planning and consideration.

United Children's Network plans to help this organization provide services to more children.

California:
5951 Montecito Drive, #5
Palm Springs, CA 92264
Phone: (760) 321-4111

Email: annaactnow@yahoo.com

please make your tax deductible chaeck payable to United Children's Network and mail

5951 Montecito Drive, #5
Palm Springs, CA 92264
Phone: (760) 321-4111

Tax Exempt ID #94-3053334

Anna Nevenic Biography

A social, political, and peace activist
Non-Profit Founder, United Children's Network
Registered Nurse
Author
Bachelor of Science in Political Science, San Francisco State University

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has".