Twelve child vendors who participated in the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) Juniors “Buddy Up” programme have secured funding for their education in 2019.

S.V.S.G. Juniors Vice President, Franzisca Sione, said the funds came from various donors.

“Earlier this year we conducted the Buddy up programme which aimed at encouraging child vendors to prioritise education first and so after that particular programme, we tried to find funding for their education,” he said.

"We managed to acquire various donors, the majority were from overseas countries like New Zealand and some were individuals that simply wanted to help.

“They all shared the same goal of wanting to provide child vendors that do not have financial support to pay for their education.

“Some felt the need give opportunities for these children to have a better and successful future and also they wanted to make sure that the funding will not be misused.”

Some of the vendors are attending Vaigaga Primary school.

“We have chosen the schools that are closer to home for the recipients of the sponsorship so that they can easily access the services provided by schools,” he said.

“We are currently conducting surveys through our SVSG junior members or village representatives and issues such as a high number of uneducated kids in rural villages are voiced by participants.

“We tried to tackle this problem with our latest workshop which is the Buddy up programme but as we have witnessed it is a big problem and so we are in the process of planning in order to better address this issue.”