World Vision Frenz

A letter from Mongolian child

2008-03-17T22:30:00.003+08:00

My Mongolian child grown up for one more year! He reached the age of attending school and he can write to me on his own soon.

我的蒙古资助童又长大一岁了！他已经到了入学的年龄，很快，他就可以自己写信给我了。

This is a letter written by the father:

这是资助童父亲代写的一封信：

------------------------------

How are you? We received 45 photos and 2 albums. We are happy for remembering days we spent together even though these were short. We are all well.

你好吗？我们已经收到你寄来的四十五张照片和两本相簿。回忆起当天相聚的时光虽然很短，却也很开心。我们这里大家都过得很好。

We have recently celebrated spring festival White Moon (SC: it is similar to Chinese New Year) and visited our grandparents and relatives. We welcomed spring healthily. May be this festival was called White Moon because herds bear their younglings, snow melts and milk products appear.

我们刚刚庆祝“白月”春节（相似于华人新年），我们探访了公公、婆婆和亲戚朋友。白月的名称可能是因为积雪开始融化，还有牧羊人有很多奶制品的收成。

Our son started kindergarten this year. He learnt many songs and poems there. He became Santa Claus on his kindergarten's New Year carnival. How is the spring in your country? He turned 5 years old on March. We decided to send him to primary school this coming autunmn. He will write a letter by himself when he learns to read and write at school.

我们的孩子今年已经进入幼儿园了。他学了很多首歌和诗歌。他在新年嘉年华时当圣诞老人。你的春节又是怎样的呢？孩子今年五岁了。我们决定让他在秋天时上学去。当他会读书和写字的时候，他就会自己写信给你了。

Xinjiang-China Annual Report 2007

2007-09-12T22:30:00.001+08:00

I am 6 years old now!
我今年6岁了！

I just got too excited when I received the annual report about my sponsored child in Xinjiang, China! We are caring on each other for someone from far, the joy that I receive is indescribable, you will agree with me if you have a sponsored child too.

当我再次受到新疆助养童为我捎来的周年进度报告，我是雀跃万分的！一个来自不同国度、不同生活背景的人，却能彼此互相关怀，那种兴奋，相信只有助养人才可以领会。

After I read the annual progress report, I can imagine that the Hotan communities is progressing well after the trip of Jason Yeo. The peoples' living is getting better, and more children are attending school. I am looking forward that one day, my little girl will write me a letter in mandarin, even if only a few line.

读了这份进度报告，我可以想象得到，继杨嘉贤新疆之旅--和田区域发展探访团之后，这里的人民生活渐渐得以改善，也有越来越多的小孩可以上学。真得很期待，有一天我的小女孩，会亲手写一封用汉语写的信给我，哪怕只有区区的几行字。

Development in Hotan community

Education
教育

World Vision provided more than 2,000 students in 12 schools with equipment, including Chinese language teaching tools, chairs and desks, library books and sports equipment.

为12所学校超过2,000名学生添加教学设备，如汉语教学工具、课桌椅、图书、体育设备等。

World Vision sponsored the construction of 1 primary school and 2 kindergartens. There were about 250 beneficiaries.

援建了1所小学与2所幼稚园，受益人数为250人。

Economic Development
经济发展

To improve the livelihood of the villages, 139 greenhouses were built in 6 villages. There were 695 beneficiaries.

为改善村民的生活条件，宣明会于6个村里援建了139座温棚，受益人数约695人。

To increase the income of the farmers, World Vision helped a village promote the specialty of Hotan - "rose jam", to the local markets, benefiting 15 villagers in terms of the employment and income generating opportunities.

为增加农民收入，宣明会协助1个村的村民向内地市场推广和田特色产品-“玫瑰花酱”；为该村15人提供了就业和增加收入的机会。

Health
卫生健康

World Vision helped clinics for 3,300 villagers in 3 villages to improve their living and hygienic conditions.

为了改善村民的生活条件及卫生环境，宣明会为3,300个村民在3个村落修建了诊所。

World Vision provided toiletries for the villagers, including toilet paper and soap There were about 2,800 beneficiaries.

发放卫生用品予村民，包括卫生纸和香皂。受益人数为2,800人。

HIV and AIDS
艾滋病

To let more people know about HIV and AIDS and the precaution, World Vision launched a series of public campaigns with 16,000 leaflets printed, About 100,000 people benefited from it.

为了让区内更多群丛了解艾滋病，并做好预防艾滋病工作，宣明会于区内开展了一系列宣传活动，并印制了16,000份宣传单。约100,000人受益。

Nalaikh-Mongolia Annual Report 2007

2007-07-20T22:30:00.000+08:00

World Vision Mongolia sent me the progress of Nalaikh ADP and a recent photo of my Mongolian child.

蒙古世界宣明会寄来纳赖的周年进度报告和助养童的最新照片。

This reminded me on the recent visit to Mongolia. I had promised to send him a photo album, but yet to send to him.

这令我想起最近的蒙古探访团。我答应他将会寄一些照片给他，但我还没寄出去。

Over the weekend, I will get the album done and send to him soon.

在这个周末，我将会把照片弄好再寄给他。

A letter from Mongolian child

2007-06-14T22:30:00.000+08:00

Few days after I was back to home country, I received a letter from my Mongolian sponsored child, the letter was written by his parent.

回到自己的国度几天后，我收到了我的蒙古助养童的一封信，这封信是由他的父母亲代笔的。

The letter written :

信里写道：

Dear sponsor,

亲爱的助养人，

How are you? We are very happy for meeting with our son in our country and spend two days with fun, warm conversation with us.

你好吗？能够在我们的国家和你相见，一起度过愉快的两天，一起玩乐、谈天，我们感到很高兴。

Even though our son is 4-years-old, he says to his friends, relatives and grandparents that my Malaysian mother came to meet him and gave him presents. We thank you very much for your present.

虽然我们的孩子只有四岁，他跟他的朋友、亲戚、公公婆婆说他马来西亚的妈妈来探望他，还送了一些礼物给他。谢谢你给他带来的礼物。

We will make our son to draw, read and write well before he starts his primary school.

我们将会教导我们的孩子在上小学之前画画、读书和写作。

Tribute To Sponsors

2007-05-05T22:30:00.000+08:00

Date : 05/05/2007 (Saturday)

Venue : PJ Hilton (kind sponsored by PJ Hilton)

MY FM & Lite FM Support Child Sponsorship

2007-03-26T22:30:00.000+08:00

Radio Announcers Lend Voice to Children in Need

Popular radio announcers, Phoebe Yap of MY FM and Aanont Wathanasin (Non) from Lite FM, are lending their voices to millions of voiceless children around the world as they become the latest two personalities to sign up as World Vision’s Child Sponsorship Ambassadors in Malaysia.

As Ambassadors, Phoebe and Non will help World Vision Malaysia promote and raise awareness for its Child Sponsorship Programme.

Phoebe, who sponsors a World Vision child from China, said of her appointment: “I’ve always admired World Vision and its work among the poor. I have been sharing my experience with my friends and colleagues and now I am glad that I can share this with my listeners on air as well.

“As a public figure, I want to put my influencing power to good use by doing something meaningful. This is a great opportunity and I hope that the little effort I make will be able to change someone’s life positively. ”

Phoebe was actively involved in World Vision Malaysia’s work prior to her appointment.

She volunteered her time and talent by being the master of ceremony for a variety of World Vision events.

Like Phoebe, Lite FM announcer, Non, has been actively supporting World Vision Malaysia’s activities before his appointment as the organisation’s child sponsorship ambassador.

Non, who sponsors a boy from Sinkawang, Indonesia, said : “I have heard about World Vision and how its Child Sponsorship Programme transforms poor communities, helping them to be self reliant. I like the way the organisation works and am actually very humbled by this great responsibility they have given me.

“I just hope that by sharing my experience and knowledge with the public, I will be able to help more children in need.”

World Vision Malaysia is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and part of the organisation’s aim is to find sponsors for 5,000 children living in China, India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and South Africa.

Liew Tong Ngan, executive director of World Vision Malaysia said: “I want to thank Phoebe, Non and the management of MY FM and Lite FM for helping us to promote our Child Sponsorship Programme. I believe that with their help, we will be able to achieve our target by the end of the year.”

Source : http://www.worldvision.com.my

World Vision's Response to the Iraqi Refugee Crisis

2007-03-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

In Amman, Jordan, Hadi, 12, and his siblings sit in front of the one-room apartment they've lived in with their parents for more than three years. The family fled Iraq when their father received a death threat. Hadi attends a non-formal school supported by World Vision through the Jordanian Evangelical Committee for Relief and Development.
[(c) February 2007/Brian Jonson/World Vision]

Ongoing sectarian violence within Iraq has forced 2 million Iraqis to flee to neighboring countries, most leaving their homes, belongings, and livelihoods behind. In Jordan alone, between 500,000 and 700,000 Iraqi refugees struggle to cope without access to health care, jobs, or education for their children.

With anecdotal reports of families resorting to the sex trade, child labor, and other desperate means to survive, World Vision is especially concerned about the welfare of Iraqi children and women who are living as refugees. Reports also suggest that Christians and other religious minorities have fled Iraq in disproportionate numbers, and could be particularly vulnerable to violence and discrimination if forced to return.

Calling International Attention to the Crisis

Most Iraqis who have fled their homeland still lack official refugee status, according to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This means they have few or no rights in their host countries—including public schooling for their children, access to health care, or legal employment to feed their families. As refugee families exhaust any assets they may have had, they face an uncertain future of poverty, discrimination, and disenfranchisement.

As a Christian humanitarian organization, World Vision is calling on the United Nations and the international community to respond urgently in the following ways:

Provide full funding for the UN and nongovernmental organizations like World Vision to provide the additional health care, education, food and supplies, and social programs needed for Iraqi refugees.

Ensure basic protections, religious freedoms, and human rights for Iraqi refugees—especially children.

Ensure that borders in the region are kept open to Iraqi families fleeing life-threatening violence, and that religious minorities and other vulnerable groups are not forced to return.

Supporting Partners on the Ground

World Vision plans to assist the neediest refugees with food, basic household items, health care, and special programs for children who cannot attend school. We have determined that we can help most efficiently at this juncture by supporting local organizations already serving those in need. In addition to providing food and other material assistance, World Vision will make its experienced relief officials available to provide these local groups with training in child protection, program management, and other issues that will increase their capacity to help refugees.

In Jordan, World Vision has partnered with Messengers of Peace, a local Catholic charity, and the Jordanian Evangelical Committee for Relief and Development, a Protestant organization. Regular monitoring and training will be provided to ensure programs meet our international standards.

Providing Basic Necessities

Our response will likely expand as funding and additional partners are secured. At this initial stage, World Vision aims to reach 10,000 refugees in Jordan with the following:

Immediate necessities like food, mattresses, blankets, and other household items

Basic health care, with particular attention paid to children and pregnant or nursing mothers

Safe places for refugee children to play, heal from any war experiences, and continue informal learning activities

World Vision has been working with vulnerable and impoverished families in the Middle East for three decades.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_iraq_200703?OpenDocument&campaign=12653920&cmp=EMC-12653920&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

World: International Water Day, March 22

2007-03-20T22:30:00.000+08:00

During the past 20 years, some 10 million people living in rural communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have gained access to safe drinking water through World Vision’s efforts.

By Bob Odhiambo, Sudan Communications
Contributing reporters, World Vision's International Programs Group

Children enjoy clean, refreshing water from a borehole dug by World Vision in the Tonj area of south Sudan. Photo by Bob Odhiambo.

It takes about 90 seconds, give or take a few, to fill a jerry can with just over five gallons of water from the borehole near the Thiet market in Southern Sudan. Timing, though, depends on who's working the pump.

Often, enthusiastic, bare-chested children swing the pump's lever. They love to jump as they push the handle downward; then lift it up slowly with both hands, before jumping again to produce a gushing stream of clear, clean water.

World Water Day

Squealing, laughing children splashing in clean water are a fitting image for the vital importance of World Water Day, March 22. "Children have no say on where their parents or guardians collect water, yet unclean water affects them the most," says Stephen Maina, World Vision water and sanitation manager in south Sudan. "Seeing them happily playing is always refreshing."

It is a heartbreaking tragedy that easily preventable water-related illnesses kill a child every 15 seconds. Curbing waterborne illness is a key component of helping to reduce child mortality, one of the Millennium Development Goals which World Vision is working tirelessly to support.

Disturbing Facts:

Together, unclean water and poor sanitation are the world's second biggest child-killers.

443 million school days each year are lost to water-related diseases.

1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water; 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.

Sources: UNICEF; UNDP Human Development Report (November) 2006

Waterborne Illnesses

In Southern Sudan, water is collected mostly from ponds, seasonal rivers, and shallow, unprotected open wells. As a result, cases of guinea worm and cholera have taken their toll in the region. "Clean water in south Sudan is a rare, precious product," Maina adds.

Several years ago, the borehole in the Thiet market square was unusable. Because of a lack of technical know-how and resources, villagers weren't able to repair the old diesel-powered pump. When the borehole wasn't operating, village women had to walk for three hours to the nearest water point.

"Priceless" Boreholes

In response to the need, World Vision stepped in to build a manual pump for Thiet. Now, "People are up as early as six in the morning lining up for water,” says Peter Buol, a local. “Sometimes they go up to very late in the night."

Since 1999, World Vision has dug more than 130 boreholes in south Sudan. "One borehole, when properly equipped, can produce water for many years," says Peter Ndisya, the water and sanitation officer in south Sudan.

It takes about $13,000 to sink a borehole and fit a pump, but the benefits are priceless. "It takes much more to deal with guinea worms and cholera in a community, not to mention the man-hours lost in seeking treatment," says Molly Mwangi, World Vision's health manager in south Sudan. "Having clean water is definitely a cleaner, cheaper option."

A Drop in the Bucket

In most cases, borehole water is safe for human consumption, since it does not require any treatment. This year alone, 60 boreholes have been drilled and equipped by World Vision; plans are to drill another 90 boreholes in the coming year in Sudan.

"What we have done remains a drop compared to the need. [Yet] the impact of one borehole … is great. We hope to get good-enough funding to be able to touch more lives," Maina concludes.

Over the past 20 years, about 10 million people living in rural communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have gained access to safe drinking water through World Vision’s integrated and environmentally sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene programs.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_water_200703?OpenDocument&campaign=12653920&cmp=EMC-12653920&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

El Salvador : Diet of Toasted Worms

2007-03-15T22:30:00.000+08:00

Family Narrowly Escapes Becoming Another Hunger Statistic

By Katia Maldonado, El Salvador Communications

The 2006 film How to Eat Fried Worms may have made good comedy, but the subject was once no laughing matter for 4-year-old Fernando and his brothers and sisters.

His mother, Emilia Rodriguez, explains:

"We have had days without anything to eat, when the only thing I could give the children is sugared water. When I go to work, I leave them alone. One day they got some earthworms and toasted them in a fry pan and that was what they ate.

"Another day they got some leaves and cooked them with tomato and onion and water and they had it as soup. When they told me about it, I told them off because I was afraid they might get poisoned. But at the same time I felt bad, and I blame myself because I could not give them the food every normal child needs."

A Common Plight

In Emilia's case, her abusive and drunken husband abandoned her and their seven children. That meant the responsibility of feeding, clothing, and housing them fell fully on her shoulders.

Her regular job is to wash and iron clothes for neighbors and bring them water from a nearby spring. Income from both sources nets her about $25 a month. Her eldest son, Marvin, who works in the capital, regularly sends more cash, but it’s still insufficient for the big family.

"Sometimes I desired to die, but God has not allowed it because I think he wants me to stand by my children," Emilia says.

Malnourishment Banished, Outlook Changed

Thankfully, Emilia gave up thoughts of death once she began to participate in a food security program, run by World Vision in conjunction with the World Food Program, set up in her home town.

Every two months the family receives 125 pounds of corn, plus oil, beans, and soy flour fortified with vitamins and minerals.

In addition, Emilia has been taught how to use the foodstuffs to prepare nutritious meals for her family.

"Since I am given food, my children get sick less. Before, their stomachs were bad all the time and people said to me that they were undernourished. I took them very often to the clinic," Emilia recalls.

Things are very different today. In December World Vision conducted a medical check-up for the family and discovered each was in good health and all signs of malnourishment had gone.

Now the organization is helping the family with seeds, tools, and technical assistance so they can establish a thriving vegetable garden and ensure their food needs are met long term.

Emilia is intensely grateful.

"Every time we eat I ask God to bless the people that make this aid possible," she says.

Emilia Rodriguez Alas, 32 (at right) is the mother of (from left): Carlos Alexander, 14; José Omar, 11; Flor del Carmen, 8; Hector de Jesus, 5; Fernando Antonio, 4; and Adamaris Alexandra, 1. Not pictured is Marvin de Jesus, 16.

With the support of the World Food Program, World Vision in El Salvador is partnering with 4,350 families who work in soil conservation in their communities. Such is the case with the Rodriguez family. Photo by Baltazar Ventura.

The Rodriguez family with the food acquired through the Food-for-Work program. From left: Carlos Alexander; Flor del Carmen; Adamaris Alexandra with their mother; Hector de Jesus; and José Omar.

With the support of the World Food Program, World Vision in El Salvador is helping at least 4,350 families who work in soil conservation in their communities. Such is the case with the Rodriguez family. Photo by Baltazar Ventura.

Hunger in El Salvador — How Bad Is It?

Stories of children suffering malnutrition in Latin America seldom hit the headlines, but the World Food Program reports conditions in El Salvador can be especially dire. Check out these grim statistics.

More than 62 percent of farmers have less than 5 acres of land to cultivate.

17 percent of the population cannot afford enough food to reach the recommended minimum intake of 2,100 calories per person per day.

60 percent of the population lack access to health care.

39 percent lack access to clean water.

Marginalization of the poor is made worse by frequent natural disasters — such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and drought.

Hope for the Girl Child

2007-03-08T22:30:00.000+08:00

International Women's Day

Online report highlights lessons learned in our work to improve the status of female children.

"Hope for the Girl Child" is a 2007 World Vision briefing paper to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women for its 51st session. Click to read it (PDF).

"When Kalaivani was born in rural India, her mother, Yashoda, was very worried. This was the third time she’d given birth to a girl. She would now be branded as 'unlucky' for her husband and might be driven out of her home, along with her three daughters. After hours of agonizing, Yashoda felt that the only option was for the newborn baby girl to die."

"Gender Matters," World Vision Magazine, Spring 2007

Yashoda's dilemma regarding the life of her third daughter exemplifies the horrific violence and discrimination millions of people in the world today suffer simply because they are female. Their agony drives World Vision's commitment to abolish gender inequality.

Lessons Learned

"Gender injustice is among the world’s greatest challenges. It drives so many other ills and affects more than half the world," wrote Fatuma Hashi, World Vision's gender and development director, in a forward to the recently published World Vision briefing paper, Hope for the Girl Child.

Published for the 51st United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and on the cusp of International Women's Day, March 8, the report highlights some of the lessons we've learned in our work to improve the status of female children.

Promising practices and recommendations for how to create change to uphold girls' rights to education and to live free from discrimination and violence are also included in the landmark publication.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_women_200703?OpenDocument&campaign=12653920&cmp=EMC-12653920&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Let's talk about child trafficking

2007-03-03T22:30:00.000+08:00

Susu Thatun's work involves protecting children from falling prey to child trafficking.

Susu Thatun is World Vision Australia’s Senior Policy Advisor on Child Protection and Trafficking. Prior to this, Susu spent seven years as Program Manager at the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking. Susu’s work has brought her to Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam working with families whose lives are torn apart by child trafficking.

How did you get involved in this kind of work?

Coming from one of the least developed countries in the world, I have always had a strong passion to work on issues that are faced by some of the world’s most vulnerable people. I have been blessed not only with the opportunity to work in my home country and in Asia but on an issue that affects the lives of so many people.

In your view, why does child trafficking exist?

Child trafficking exists partly because children are often vulnerable and easily exploited, controlled and manipulated. This situation is made worse by crushing poverty. Often there is a lack of adequate protection, from the state, community, even family. And then, there are the traffickers who abuse the situation to profit themselves.

What happens to children that are trafficked?

They end up in extremely abusive and exploitative situations and sometimes hazardous working conditions. These children are often unable to defend themselves or find ways to get out of such abusive environments.

Child trafficking is an “invisible” issue with many Australians, how can we help people understand it’s a very real problem?

It is often difficult to understand a problem when we are not confronted with it or when it doesn’t touch our way of life. Putting faces to the problem can be a very powerful way to provide the public with greater exposure to the reality of the problem. Expose the reality with stories of real people, not in abstract forms. Tell Australians about the work we’re doing to prevent children from falling prey to traffickers.

How can individuals in Australia help?

I guess each of us has a role to play in trying to help solve this issue. It would be presumptuous for me to say how each individual should help since each of us is in a better position to know where his or her strength lies. I will, however, venture to say that we can choose to help at various levels.

You can help at the policy level by raising awareness within Australia or you can help on the ground by continuing to do what many Australians have been doing with child sponsorship programs, which help to minimise the danger of children becoming victims of trafficking.

Rescued from child traffickers who forced her to work in the sex industry, a young girl in Cambodia returns home.

Susu, do you think there’s a solution?

I wish there was one statement that spells out the solution. But it’s not that simple. Trafficking is related to poverty, inequality, weak legislation or enforcement, corruption, abuse of power, discrimination, access to education, employment opportunities, among others.

Individuals, families, communities, governments, aid agencies and international bodies like the UN need to work closely together. One “solution” to the problem is to acknowledge the diversity of issues that underpin the problem and to develop a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to address them.

You have a demanding job, but what’s the best thing about it?

The wonderful thing about my work is that it gives me the opportunity to do real work that makes a difference to individuals. It also allows me the opportunity to work at the policy level that affects a larger community of people.

What is the most confronting thing about your job?

There are quite a few! The knowledge that while negotiations are going on and efforts are being implemented to address the issue, the abuses don’t stop. Knowing that for every single child rescued and returned home, there are many more who need help. Sometimes, bureaucratic red tape gets in the way of timely and effective interventions. These are things that can be very intimidating and frustrating.

What achievement are you most proud of?

Many things actually… I am proud that one of the girls who was raped as a means of breaking her into sex work is no longer afraid of her pimp but stands up to him and tells him that she now has a life and neither he nor anyone was going to make her feel ashamed of who she was. She is now making a living selling snacks.

Who or what inspires you and why?

People struggling to make ends meet, having to fight for what should have been theirs by right and yet finding the smallest of reasons to smile. Then they continue to struggle and move ahead each day without giving up – these people both inspire and shame me. Why? Because I have so much to rise up to and so much to overcome.

Get involved:

Unlock freedom: Sign the global petition against human trafficking.
Find out more about the Stop the Traffik campaign in Australia.

Source : http://www.worldvision.com.au/news/actionnews/viewArticle_enh.asp?sssdmh=dm16.249610&articleID=101

Africa: Displaced Children Abused

2007-03-02T22:40:00.000+08:00

Many children living in camps in Africa’s Great Lakes Region are trapped in a cycle of sexual abuse.

Children like Brenda and her baby sister, whom Brenda is carrying through the Unyama Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Gulu, Northern Uganda, are at high risk of sexual abuse, according to World Vision's new report. Ironically, IDP camps in Uganda were originally set up to protect families and children from northern Uganda's rebel “Lord’s Resistance Army,” which abducted nearly 30,000 children over a nearly 20-year period to serve as child soldiers, porters, and sex slaves. Photo copyright World Vision 2004, by Ross W. Muir.

Many of the millions of children living in camps for refugees and internally displaced persons across Africa's Great Lakes Region endure "gruesome" conditions, a new survey has found.

As many as one out of every two children said they had been a victim of some form of sexual abuse, according to World Vision's new report Their Future in Our Hands (PDF). Exploitation in the camps includes children being forced into sexual acts with adults.

Abundant Threats to Children

"This report looks at the threats to children’s well-being that are taking place in abundance: child labor and forced conscription into armed groups, sexual abuse, and psychological problems,” said World Vision’s vice president for Africa, Professor Wilfred Mlay.

Uganda’s minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees, Tarsis Kabwegyere, presented the report this week in Kampala, Uganda’s capitol.

Terrifying Stories

Researchers surveyed 304 children in camps across Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.

Boys and girls told terrifying stories of being molested by employers, teachers, relatives, neighbors, medical workers, and police officers. In one of the camps where children were living, an adult reportedly staffed her makeshift brothel with young girls.

“Worryingly, the report shows that internally displaced children live a life much worse off than those who cross national borders,” Mlay continued.

“Governments have ‘delegated’ their responsibility for children’s welfare to humanitarian organizations, sometimes with negative consequences for peace processes.”

Spotlight on Gruesome Conditions

Their Future In Our Hands -- a compilation of research by World Vision in Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi -- shines a spotlight on what it calls “the gruesome situation of displaced children in Africa’s Great Lakes Region.”

Many of these children lack adequate medical care, food, shelter, and clean water.

Forgotten Children

Millions of children, displaced in their own countries, are simply forgotten. They suffer physical, sexual, and mental hardship as a result. In most cases, these children are left to live in grinding poverty without any legal framework of appeal or protection from harm.

Africa’s Great Lakes Region has suffered recurring armed conflicts that have ripped communities apart, uprooted children and their families, and thrown children into chaos. The displacement crisis in the region is a formidable humanitarian challenge.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_africa_200703?OpenDocument&campaign=12653920&amp;amp;cmp=EMC-12653920&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Solving the world's drinking problem

2007-03-02T22:30:00.000+08:00

Keeping Our Promise is an 8-part series which looks at how we can change the world by achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Let’s begin with Part 1: Water.

One of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals is to improve access to safe drinking water for the world’s poorest people.

In 2000, the 191 member states of the United Nations created a plan to substantially reduce global poverty. The plan involves achieving eight goals called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Each country – including Australia – promised to take action to help developing countries reach these goals.

What are the goals?

Basically, the Millennium Development Goals aim to tackle issues such as hunger, universal primary education, child mortality, maternal health and the spread of HIV. Learn more about the goals.

Each goal will be explored in detail in the Keeping Our Promise series over the coming months. With so much media attention on water lately, let’s start with Goal 7: to halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015.

The glass is half empty

One in five people in the world has a drinking problem. We’re talking about more than one billion people having problems getting simple, basic, clean drinking water. It is literally a life-and-death situation.

Most of them don’t even have the 20 litres minimum per person per day (about two buckets) needed to drink and wash. According to UNICEF’s State of the World's Children Report 2005, 21% of children in developing countries are severely water-deprived, living without a safe water source within a 15-minute walk from their homes.

Water woes

When people don’t even have enough clean water to drink, they have little left to feed their livestock, water their crops, or even wash themselves. Getting water is a major task.

Every day, women and children in many parts of Africa and Asia walk for several hours over long distances to collect water. This leaves them little time for other productive activities. Children often have to sacrifice going to school just so their families have water to drink.

What makes the matter worse is that all too often families are getting their water from dirty rivers, because there are no other sources. 4,000 children die each day as a result of drinking dirty water and contracting water-borne diseases. Many millions more suffer from constant illness.

When the glass is full

When children and their families have a sustainable supply of clean water, the benefits can be dramatic. Hygiene and sanitation improves, health recovers, school attendance rises and productivity increases. Clearly, access to clean water can have a tremendous impact on poverty reduction.

One of the most visible benefits is health. Clean water not only revives the health of communities, it can even help eradicate diseases, as in the case of Guinea worm infection.

The scar on this child's leg shows where a Guinea worm emerged from under the skin. Clean water has helped to significantly reduce this painful and debilitating infection.

Wiping out Guinea worm

Imagine a worm about one metre long living inside your body. Then it tries to get out by burrowing through your skin! That’s the living nightmare of people suffering from Guinea worm infection.

How does the worm get inside the human body? When people have no choice but to drink dirty water, tiny larvae of the Guinea worm can be ingested. Over time they mature into worms. What follows is long-term suffering and pain.

After years of prevention efforts which include the provision of clean drinking water, the incidence of Guinea worm infection is declining. 20 years ago, more than 3.5 million people suffered from the disease. Today, only 70,000 people are infected – a reduction of 98%.

A historic opportunity to change the world

The world has the resources and know-how to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. All we need is the political will. The Australian government has promised to increase aid to 0.7% of the Gross National Income, but it’s not happening!

The Australian public is the second most generous people in giving to aid, after the Irish. The public is keeping its promise. We must urge the government to step up and fulfil what it pledged to do.

Source : http://www.worldvision.com.au/news/actionnews/viewArticle_enh.asp?sssdmh=dm16.249610&articleID=100

Millennium Development Goals

2007-03-01T22:30:00.000+08:00

In brief

For the first time in history, governments and leaders worldwide have agreed that global poverty is a serious concern for all countries – wealthy and poor – and have signed up to a comprehensive strategy to tackle it.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are globally accepted targets that aim to substantially reduce poverty. The eight Goals offer a blueprint for halving extreme poverty by 2015.

The MDGs acknowledge that a healthy global economy and a safe, prosperous world cannot happen without healthy, educated people whose basic rights are respected.

Steps like sending children to school, keeping them healthy with basic medicines and clean water and protecting their rights will make solving global poverty possible.

What are the Goals?

All 191 Member States of the United Nations have signed the Goals. Significant institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and non-government organisations like World Vision, have also endorsed them.

Basically, the Millennium Development Goals aim to:

halve the number of people who suffer from hunger worldwide
provide all children with primary education and improve girls’ access to secondary education
reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five
reduce by three quarters the number of women who die due to childbirth
reduce the incidence of HIV & AIDS, malaria and other major diseases
encourage the principles of sustainable development in poor countries and reverse the loss of environmental resources
halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water and significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020
develop a global partnership for development, based on a fair and open trading and financial system for all countries and reducing the burden of international debt for developing countries

In early 2004, Australia cancelled the debt it was owed by Nicaragua. The money will now be spent on Nicaragua’s essential services such as primary education.

How can they be achieved?

Both poor and wealthy countries must do their bit to achieve the Goals. Action and commitment from leaders has to happen at both international and local levels for poverty to be reduced.

While poor countries have a responsibility to improve their own situation, they do not have the resources to achieve the Goals on their own.

To achieve the Millennium Development Goals, they will need:

increased aid
a more open trading and financial system that is non discriminatory to poorer nations
tariff and quota-free access to markets for their exports
affordable access to pharmaceuticals
debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries.

The World Bank has stated that to meet all the Goals, an extra US$40–70 billion is needed as a combined total from all wealthy countries, roughly doubling current levels of assistance. This sounds a lot, but not when you compare it to the US$1 trillion currently spent on defence worldwide annually. (1)

The costs are achievable if each wealthy country contributes around 0.7 percent of its Gross National Income (GNI) in Overseas Development Assistance.

Who’s achieving them?

Poorer countries have already begun to include the MDGs in their plans for development. Some countries like China and Thailand are meeting several of the Goals. Some of them are even developing ‘Millennium Development Goals–plus’ agendas, and going beyond the Goals.

Others, particularly in Africa and areas of Asia, are lagging behind and are unlikely to reach the goals without a significant injection of resources and effort.

While some wealthy countries have begun acting on the goals, there are many – including Australia – that haven’t even begun to draft action plans to meet the Goals.

What can Australia do?

Australia has committed to the Millennium Development Goals, but it is not currently using the Goals as specific targets in its overseas aid program.

In the 2006–07 Budget, Australia allocated 0.3 percent of GNI for overseas aid. (2) There has been a slow but steady increase since 2003, but the percentage is still well below the internationally agreed figure of 0.7 percent.

By increasing aid to the agreed figure, the Australian government paying its fair share of the cost of achieving the Goals.

In trade, Australia has begun to support policies that promote fairer trading rules and create a more level playing field for poor countries. This is an important step in helping poor nations access the benefits of global trade.

However, more needs to be done.

Debt relief is a way that Australia can support developing countries. Many poor countries face high levels of debt and Australia is owed debts by several poor countries.

Instead of using their limited budgets repaying debts to wealthy countries, they could be spending the money on Millennium Development Goal priorities like health and education.

Source : http://www.worldvision.com.au/wvconnect/content.asp?topicID=16

Mozambique : Tropical Storm Favio Delivers One-Two Punch

2007-02-22T22:30:00.000+08:00

World Vision Aiding 50,000 Displaced Due to Country's Worst Flooding Since 2001

Mozambican children wait for food aid at a makeshift resettlement camp in north-central Mozambique as heavy rains continue. World Vision is delivering emergency aid to some 50,000 of the estimated 120,000 people displaced by the floods. REUTERS/Grant Neuenburg

In the wake of ongoing, heavy rains that resulted in Mozambique’s worst flooding in six years, tropical storm Favio is delivering a one-two punch to the beleaguered southern African nation.

The powerful tropical storm with winds of up to 144 mph, Reuters reported, surged ashore in southern Mozambique on Thursday -- ripping through buildings, knocking over power pylons, and raising fears of new flooding.

Cyclone Favio, the strongest to ever hit Mozambique, Reuters said, was heading toward the Zambezi River valley where it was likely to worsen the floods that have already killed some 40 people and driven some 120,000 from their homes.

World Vision on the Scene

Already this month, World Vision has been delivering emergency aid in the flood-devastated nation -- including emergency food, survival kits, water purifiers, tents, fuel, and mosquito nets -- to more than 50,000 people who have been forced to flee their homes.

"Conditions are appalling throughout Mutarara, one of the worst-affected districts," says Joseph Kamara, World Vision’s humanitarian and emergency affairs coordinator earlier this week. "Most of the roads and farmlands [are] underwater.

"What makes this situation frightening is that things could get even worse,” he added, referring to forecasts calling for continued rain and the anticipated devastation it might bring.

"Islands of People"

World Vision has already provided aid to some 10,000 people in hard-hit Zambezia and Tete provinces, distributing 150 metric tons of World Food Program food in the district of Mutarara alone.

Kamara reported that he saw "islands of people" still scattered across the flooded areas during an aerial assessment of Mutarara this week, before Favio's onset. Because many roads are inaccessible, aid is being delivered by air and boat.

Stepped-up Interventions

With growing concern of possible disease outbreaks, World Vision is stepping up its interventions. To protect displaced families from malaria and other insect-borne diseases, we are delivering 20,000 mosquito nets to temporary accommodation centers in Mutarara over the next few days.

“It looked as if we were going to have an excellent harvest this year," said Mutarara’s District Administrator, Alexandre Faite. “Not anymore."

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_mozambiquecyclone_200702?OpenDocument&campaign=12653919&cmp=EMC-12653919&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Uganda : Still Hope for Peace Deal

2007-02-20T22:00:00.000+08:00

World Vision convenes teleconference between warring parties

By Margaret Alerotek – Communications Officer, Uganda

During the conference call between northern Uganda's warring parties, hosted by World Vision, Mrs. Fortunate Sewankambo, World Vision's communication and advocacy director, expressed that World Vision's strongest desire is that northern Uganda's children would be able to live without fear.[(c) 05/01/2005/Jon Warren/World Vision]

During a recent meeting — moderated by World Vision staff — Uganda's government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group reaffirmed their commitment to end the 20-year war in northern Uganda.

A teleconference, serving as the venue for the meeting, was hosted and organized by World Vision. Mrs. Fortunate Sewankambo, World Vision's communication and advocacy director in Uganda, moderated the call.

Talks Near Collapse

Hopes for an end to the war in Uganda were raised last August, following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between LRA rebels and the Ugandan army.

Yet, ongoing peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government since the ceasefire have been marked by unrest, including frequent walkouts by the LRA, and accusations of violations of the ceasefire agreement by both sides.

The latest disagreement occurred when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir threatened to "get rid of the LRA from Sudan." The LRA says this means it's no longer safe for them to continue peace talks in Juba, southern Sudan and has suggested switching the venue for ongoing discussion to Kenya or South Africa.

Hopes for Peace Revived

During the teleconference, however, both parties agreed that the peace talks are bound to have challenges; that these issues can be overcome.

Although the LRA is reluctant to return to Juba, both parties agreed that the venue should not be an obstacle.

"We are ready to work with [the] LRA to resolve some of the problems barring the peace talks …" said the Uganda Government’s chief negotiator, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda. He said that the government would consider other LRA-suggested venues for the ongoing talks; he is also open to adding more members to the LRA negotiating team.

Speaking from Nairobi, LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayoo stated: “The people should be assured that the LRA will not go back to war, and will do everything in our powers to deliver peace.”

“It is high time for both parties to sit down and iron out issues for a way forward," added the LRA’s peace team leader, Martin Ojul.

Both parties agreed to respect the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement that was signed last year and to keep communication channels open.

World Vision's Goals

World Vision has also voiced desired outcomes for northern Uganda, including:

Immediate resumption of the peace talks
The release of women and children still in captivity
A recommitment to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement
A signed comprehensive peace deal
The resettlement of internally displaced people trapped in more than 100 camps
Full reintegration of child soldiers

Mrs. Sewankambo reasserted World Vision's commitment to Uganda's people, who have known nothing but war for the last 20 years. She added that World Vision's strongest desire is that northern Uganda's children would be able to live without fear.

Both parties expressed appreciation for World Vision's efforts as an active partner in the peace process. They also recognized World Vision's role in providing desperately needed humanitarian assistance to northern Uganda's people.

Both the government of Uganda and the LRA have expressed their desire to continue the talks and return to the negotiations for peace. Another teleconference is expected to be scheduled sometime this month.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_uganda_200702?OpenDocument&campaign=12653919&cmp=EMC-12653919&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Laos : Resistance Movement

2007-02-19T22:35:00.000+08:00

Children Defy Sex Traffickers

Young girls in Laos voice their opposition to child sex traffickers. — Photo by Albert Yu.

Children yelled their defiance toward sex traffickers and held placards condemning their trade at an awareness-raising event in the Laotian village of Naphaekngai, close to the Thai border.

"Don’t believe recruiters. Don’t believe recruiters!" chanted Mahaxay, 13, with her classmates — some holding placards bearing the words "Stop Trafficking."

Identifying Traffickers

The event was the first of its kind organized by the village Child Advocacy Network (CAN) — a group of concerned locals, operating under the auspices of World Vision’s Mekong Delta Regional Trafficking Strategy (MDRTS).

Through song, dance, drama, lectures, and games, organizers taught nearly 150 primary and secondary children how to identify traffickers and how to respond if approached.

A key theme was that although recruiters can be persuasive — promising lots of money and a better life — they are usually frauds. They will pay much less than what they promise and will force children into exploitative situations, such as Thailand’s sex industry and hazardous factories.

"Today, I learned that traffickers will offer a lot of money, but they will cheat people and transfer them to another place than was promised," said Mahaxay after the event.

Lured Away, Never Heard From Again

About 60 young people have been lured from Naphaekngai village, which has a population of about 2,000.

Mrs. Keo, 58, a mother of three children who sits on the 13-member CAN committee, said she got involved to warn village young people of the dangers.

"Many people who migrate are never heard from again," she said.

MDRTS manager Detdavone Ketavong said girls were especially vulnerable to unscrupulous traffickers.

"They are generally less educated so when recruiters come they are more easily convinced. It’s difficult for them to tell between good and bad people," he said.

The MDRTS program is currently operating in 41 villages in Savannakhet Province. In each village World Vision provides training to local committees on trafficking, AIDS prevention, and child rights. Once trained, the committees organize awareness events, monitor traffickers, and file missing person reports.

The Human Toll

Research by World Vision in villages close to the Thai border shows that 44 percent of parents whose children have left them have no idea where their offspring are. Of children who return home; 50 percent say the experience was terrible; 40 percent report being locked up; and 13 percent report being raped.

The United Nations' International Labor Organization estimates more than 1.3 million Asians have been trafficked, more than half the world's total.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_laos_200702?OpenDocument&campaign=12653919&cmp=EMC-12653919&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Cambodia : Children sold for small change

2007-02-19T22:30:00.000+08:00

A Poster Child for Modern-Day Slavery

By Janet Root, Assistant Web Editor
Contributing Writer: Chamnap Nay, Cambodia Communications

After telling about how her aunt had sold her to a sexual predator, her "grandmother cried," says An.

It's shocking to realize. This small, round-cheeked 14-year-old in the pale, pink sleeveless top (we will call her An, though her real name must be withheld to protect her privacy) could be a poster child for modern-day slavery.

Sold by her aunt and brutally raped by a sex predator, An’s experience parallels that of the approximately 2 million children in the world today enslaved in the global sex trade.

"I Thought He'd Kill Me!"

Last year, An recalls, she was invited to visit her aunt's house a few miles from the home she shared with her grandparents in Phnom Penh. During the visit, An's aunt asked her to walk with her to see a friend.

When they arrived at an abandoned house, "My auntie told me that it was her friend’s house," she says. Claiming she needed to go shopping, the older woman told her niece to wait.

"My auntie promised to return, but [hours] later a man with a long beard came rushing toward me. He was very big, and when he pushed me, I had no energy to defend myself." When the man began to rip her clothes, she said "I thought he'd kill me. I wanted to call out … but could not shout."

An was brutally raped three times that night. It was just the beginning of a horrific siege of abuse. "I was imprisoned in that house," she explains. "The man kept doing the same thing to me every night. During the daytime, my legs, arms, and mouth were tied.”

How could a relative sell her own flesh and blood to a sex predator?

Exploitation's Origins

There are no easy answers. But we do know that poverty makes children more susceptible to exploitation. Cambodians are among the world's poorest people; around a third of the population live on less than a $1 a day, and the vast majority go without electricity or running water. In this deeply impoverished Southeast Asian nation, the asking price for a child's body is $50 to $800.

While most of the men who abuse children in the country are local Cambodians, foreigners from wealthy countries searching for sex with children fuel an increased demand for young victims. Traffickers and brothel owners quickly service the demand. So-called sex tourists come to Cambodia, where they know they'll find impoverished, hence vulnerable, children; low-cost prostitution, anonymity, and a likely escape from prosecution.

The result of this toxic equation? An estimated one-third of prostitutes in Cambodia are children. Like An, these youths typically have been abuducted, lured, or deceived into sexual slavery — many of them sold to brothels.

Yet there is hope!

Incremental Progress

Cambodia's government took a promising step to reduce child trafficking five years ago, forming the anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection department. Arrests and prosecutions have increased since then. However, justice for abused children is limited because legal enforcement is lacking.

As part of World Vision's commitment to protecting children, we are addressing this issue. We've joined forces with national governments, U.S. law enforcement agencies, and other organizations to combat child sex tourism through the Child Sex Tourism Prevention Project — a program that has proven effective in Cambodia, as well as Thailand, Costa Rica, and the U.S.

Earlier this year in Cambodia, World Vision spearheaded a conference at which some 100 attendees — from government ministries, law enforcement agencies, embassies, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations — were presented tools and methods to help them safely and effectively expedite the investigation and prosecution of sex offenders.

Such progress is to be applauded, but what about helping girls like An who have already been abused?

"I Was No Longer a Good Girl"

An's physical torment ended one humid, hot afternoon, two months after her ordeal had begun. Her rapist rushed breathlessly into the abandoned house where she had been imprisoned. "He untied my legs and arms and gave me $10 to leave. I jumped up and ran to find a taxi to take me home."

After telling her story to her grandparents, her grandmother cried, An says, adding: "I thought I was no longer a good girl for having my virginity taken away from me."

"Child in Crisis Partners"

Hearing of the small girl's tragic ordeal, one of An's neighbors suggested taking her to the Neavea Thmey Center. A sexual trauma recovery facility operated by World Vision, it is supported by donors who participate in our "Child in Crisis Partners" program.

"Like Entering Heaven"

"After arriving at the center, I felt like I was [entering] heaven … just day[s] before, I was imprisoned in a dark room with my legs and arms tied and had nothing to eat," An explains.

Staff at Neavea Thmey helped An to file a local police report about her abuse, but as is too often the case, An's aunt and the offender had already slipped away.

During the six months she stayed at the center, An made many friends. "The center staff loved me and took care of me like their own daughter," she adds.

In addition, she learned new skills. "I found it enjoyable to learn new skills at the center, especially hairdressing.” An also learned to read and write basic Khmer and English.

This approach fits the core of World Vision's work to tackle the causes of poverty, helping to reduce a child's vulnerability to enslavement. Educational opportunities are one of the best means to alleviate poverty, which puts young people like An at risk of being exploited.

New Beginnings

Since completing her stay at the Trauma Recovery Center, World Vision staff members have continued to follow up on An’s progress. They've also provided her and her family with a bicycle, food supplements, and two months of rent and school expenses so An has a head-start on her education, something the family could not afford before.

"I send my appreciation to World Vision for providing care to girls like An," says her grandfather, who acknowledges his granddaughter is much happier since returning home.

"I want to learn more," An concludes, "so I can qualify to work for a big company or start my own business."

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_cambodia_200702?OpenDocument&campaign=12653919&cmp=EMC-12653919&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

A letter from Africa sponsored child

2007-02-16T22:30:00.000+08:00

非洲助养童为我捎来的一封信

Dear sponsor

亲爱的资助人

She lives in Orlando East on area which is well now in Johnnesburg South Africa. She attends school in one of the local primary schools which are just a walking distance from the houses that most of the children attend school.

她住在东奥兰多。她在本地的一所小学上课，家里和学校在步行的距离里，很多小孩也在这里上学。

Her area speak ten different languages and she can speak four. Others he still learn from her friends at school.

她的区域讲十种不同语言，而她能讲四种。她仍然学会朋友的学校朋友学习其他语言。

When she complete school, she want to be a doctor or a social worker. She is doing very well.

在她完成学业之后，她希望可以成为一位医生或社区服务员。她现在过得很好。

Written by Project Worker

写于发展计划工作人员

Jakarta : Waterborne Illnesses Among Children Soar

2007-02-09T22:30:00.000+08:00

As Flood Waters Recede, Waterborne Illnesses Among Children Soar

More than 50,000 flood victims this week have received World Vision emergency relief supplies.

By Hendro Suwito, Indonesia Communications Manager

A child in Semper Barat, north Jakarta, whose family was displaced by last weekend's flooding. World Vision staff in Indonesia report that scores of children became ill while seeking temporary shelter with their families in buildings that had poor sanitation facilities. World Vision has distributed relief supplies this week — including food, baby kits, and clean-up tool kits — to an estimated 50,000 flood victims.

This week, World Vision's emergency team in Indonesia has successfully provided relief support to some 50,000 people affected by deadly floodwaters, which inundated Jakarta last weekend.

More than 100 World Vision personnel have distributed supplies, including food items, family kits, tarps, water tanks, clean water, mineral water, and cleaning kits to tens of thousands of people in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods in north and east Jakarta.

Substantial rains fell across Jakarta, Thursday — triggering renewed flooding in previously flooded parts of the city — yet the worst of the floodwaters in Indonesia's capital city have significantly receded.

Waterborne Illnesses Escalate

As the waters recede, however, a new threat looms: Scores of small children have been rushed to area hospitals, suffering from waterborne illnesses in the wake of the disaster.

Indonesia's Department of Health reports 53 people have been killed in the flooding; nearly 85,000 others are suffering a variety of illnesses as a result. Scores of adults have been referred to hospitals as well.

World Vision's Director in Indonesia, Trihadi Saptoadi, has observed numbers of ill children while surveying the damages in Semper Barat, north Jakarta. “One of them has just been rushed to the hospital due to severe diarrhea."

Clean water is scarce, he added, making children especially prone to waterborne illnesses. As a result, many children were suffering from diarrhea, dehydration, fever, and other diseases.

Massive Cleanup

A massive cleanup operation is underway to clear the garbage, sludge, and rubble that have accumulated in the flood's aftermath. Meanwhile, rotting garbage and refuse have created noxious fumes in many areas.

“We are distributing around 10,000 sets of cleaning kits to flood victims to rapidly improve the cleanliness of the earlier flooded areas,” reported World Vision's relief coordinator in Indonesia, Jimmy Nadapdap.

Poorest Most Affected

“My son is suffering from fever,” said Yani, embracing her frail boy, Bachrul Ihrom, 10 months. “I just took him to the emergency health post near here,” she said, extending a bony hand to show a bottle of antibiotics she'd received from a health worker. “I’ve been staying at this shelter since Friday [Feb 2].”

Yani lives in Semper Barat, north Jakarta. She fled with her family to a nearby mosque when more than three feet of water overwhelmed her simple home. Her family is representative of the hundreds of thousands of flood victims in this waterlogged city — many of them the poorest of the poor.

Most of the flood victims live on the margins of society, in shacks along the riverbanks or in crowded, dirty slums. Most have had their minimal possessions destroyed; others have had their homes swept away by raging floodwaters.

While distributing aid to flood-devastated communities, World Vision is also assisting scores of staff members needing food and non-food support. Another team is also distributing food and non-food supplies to those suffering from more moderate flooding in the city.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_indonesia_200702?OpenDocument&campaign=12653919&cmp=EMC-12653919&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Amazing Grace

2007-02-07T22:30:00.000+08:00

Wilberforce Film Brings Modern Day Slavery to Light

World Vision and the Amazing Change Campaign increase awareness of historical and contemporary forms of slavery, and demand action.

"Amazing Grace" tells the story of William Wilberforce, an 18th century British Parliament Member, who set out to abolish England's African slave trade. For World Vision and other organizations, this film is a rallying cry to combat modern day slavery.

“Amazing Grace” at long last brings the story of one of the world’s most revered abolitionists to the big screen. But, more than this, the film serves as a rallying call to combat slavery that still exists today.

The First Abolitionist

"Amazing Grace" tells the emotional and inspiring story of William Wilberforce, an 18th century British Parliament Member, who set out to abolish the African slave trade in his own country. This visually stunning film shows the political, spiritual, and personal struggles of the abolitionist movement, and the defining moments in Wilberforce’s life that compel him to advocate for those suffering under slavery.

The film also highlights the role of a faith community, known as the Clapham Sect, which grounded Wilberforce in his activism. In particular, the film profiles the friendship between Prime Minister William Pitt and his mentor, John Newton, the slave-trader-turned-songwriter, who wrote the world’s most popular hymn, "Amazing Grace."

Slavery Still Exists

While Wilberforce's work set in motion a movement that ended the African slave trade, slavery continues to exist in other forms today.

Having an especially destructive impact on children, modern day slavery is found around the world:

Approximately two million children are enslaved in the commercial sex trade. Exploiting poverty, this form of slavery is woven into the local economy of many countries.
Nearly 300,000 children are forced to serve in bloody armed conflicts around the world. "Kill or be killed" is what these children face on a daily basis.
An estimated 250 million children work in exploitative labor conditions around the world. From manufacturing sweatshops to domestic service, without choice, these children serve as slaves to industry and the wealthy.

Since most forms of exploitation have their roots in poverty, the core of World Vision's work to tackle the causes of poverty actually reduces a child’s vulnerability to slavery.

As a child-focused Christian humanitarian organization, World Vision is committed to combating these forms of slavery. Since most forms of exploitation have their roots in poverty, the core of World Vision's work to tackle the causes of poverty can actually reduce a child’s vulnerability to exploitation and slavery.

In addition, we work to provide care for those who already have been victimized, such as in our center for girls who have escaped the sex trade in Cambodia and our center for rehabilitating former child soldiers in northern Uganda.

Our advocacy work in the United States and around the world is focused on changing hearts, minds, attitudes, and government policies, such as we saw with Wilberforce. For example:

World Vision’s Child Sex Tourism Prevention Project is working both in the United States and in five developing countries to combat the sexual abuse of children by American men traveling abroad.
Also, our Pawns of Politics campaign is working to bring peace to northern Uganda and recovery for the children who have served in that country’s civil war.

“Having seen modern day slavery with my own eyes in Africa and Asia, I hope that this film inspires Americans and others around the world to fight slavery with the same passion and energy that the world experienced with Wilberforce,” World Vision President Rich Stearns commented after after seeing "Amazing Grace" at a premier event. “I especially hope that the Church will, once again, play a major role in this modern movement.”

The Amazing Change Campaign

In addition to World Vision’s ongoing advocacy around these issues, the organization is part of The Amazing Change, a campaign to mobilize greater awareness of historical and contemporary forms of slavery and promote public action.

The Amazing Change Web site provides learning opportunities and hosts a petition for online signatures from people around the country who will publicly speak out against modern day slavery.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_grace_200702?OpenDocument&campaign=12653919&cmp=EMC-12653919&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Pakistan : New National Education Policy

2007-01-29T22:30:00.000+08:00

Pakistan: World Vision Leads Way to Help Form New National Education Policy

By Ali Moussadiq - Pakistan Communications

Zakia Bibi, a fourth grade student from northern Pakistan, fractured her knee in the 2005 earthquake that rocked northern Pakistan. One of the key recommendations World Vision and other NGOs made at a recent national roundtable to inform the country's new National Education Policy, is that Pakistan must improve learning opportunities for girls if it is to adapt to the nation’s changing needs.

At Pakistan's first education policy roundtable — which World Vision organized — 12 local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) recently gave strategic input that will be included in the final draft of the country's new National Education Policy.

World Vision in Pakistan's education specialists will submit the white paper to the Pakistani government, which includes the recommendation that Pakistan must improve learning opportunities for girls if it is to adapt to the nation’s changing needs.

"This white paper is a critical step toward a modern legal framework," said World Vision Technical Manager Abdul Rab. The white paper addresses other concerns as well.

"Our recommendations bring attention to the education needs in remote areas of the country. Consultations held in big cities cannot address our specific problems."

Ongoing Education During Crises

One of the major concerns shared by representatives from the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), which was devastated by an October 2005 earthquake, related to ongoing education for children during times of disaster.

"For the first time, the roundtable discussions took this topic into consideration. It is important to envision scenarios that would allow children to continue their instruction, even if another disaster hits," Rab explained.

Participants emphasized the need for special training for staff and adolescents about emergency preparedness, alongside the introduction of disaster management exercises in national curricula.

Increasing Educational Resources

One NGO panel recommendation targeted the introduction of early childhood education. In the absence of public preschool facilities, less than five per cent of the NWFP population can currently afford to send their children to private preschool institutions.

"We also recognize the importance of building teachers’ capacity," Rab emphasized. "The new education policy should introduce a child-friendly approach and teaching techniques, and provision of psycho-social support by the teachers."

The NGOs also recommended the increase of overall allocation for the education sector — from four percent to six percent of the gross national product.

Pakistani government representatives present at the roundtable seemed to especially appreciate stakeholders’ input from quake-affected areas.

"The inclusion of NGOs’ recommendations in the final draft of the education policy will be a great achievement," said Nasim Ejaz Khattak, general manager of the National Commission for Human Development.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_pakistan_200702?OpenDocument&campaign=12653919&cmp=EMC-12653919&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Bangladesh : Wheel of Fortune

2007-01-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

AIDS Quiz Gets Crowds Buzzing

Transportation workers in India try their hand at "Chorki." Photo by Humaun Kabir Salu.

The “Chorki Quiz” has become famous among prostitutes, drug addicts, students and transport workers in Khulna city, Bangladesh.

Wherever they gather — railway stations, the river quay, bus stations or campuses — a World Vision volunteer can be found with a spinning “Chorki board” — entertaining the crowds that gather, and delivering life-saving messages about AIDS at the same time.

The Bengali word “Chorki” refers to a round-shaped board that spins like a wheel and is attached to a wooden stand. On the board are a series of multi-choice questions about AIDS. Questions can be removed from the board and are replaced regularly.

Once competitors are lined up to participate, they spin the wheel in turn. When it stops at one of the questions the competitor must chose the correct answer.

What gets the crowd clapping and cheering are the small prizes awarded to contestants who get the right answers. Prizes include shampoo, packets of soap, key rings, pens, combs and notebooks — the tougher the question answered, the better the prize.

Rickshaw-puller and self-confessed drug addict Mohammad Jewel Hossain says he got excited about Chorki when he saw winners getting prizes. But he wryly admits he failed to win a prize for himself on his first attempt, because his knowledge of AIDS was lacking.

A Bad Person’s Disease?

“Before my participation in the quiz I heard a little about HIV and AIDS. I thought it was a bad disease suffered by bad people only,” he says.

“After participation in the quiz I received more information on HIV and AIDS. Now I know how it spreads and how it could be prevented.”

Student Protap Biswas is equally taken with the game: “Shyness on talking about HIV and AIDS has been moved from us,” he says.

The Chorki Quiz idea occurred to World Vision Project Manager Provash Biswas during a festival in Khulna, when he saw how the game worked.

He decided the game could easily be adapted to teach people about AIDS and says interest has been enormous.

“At the beginning we thought we would organize such competitions among students only. Later we realized that they could be an effective way of building awareness among other target groups — transport drivers, drug addicts and sex workers,” he says.

AIDS prevalence has remained low in Bangladesh despite high rates in neighboring India. However, UNAIDS warns the densely populated country could face an explosion of cases unless there is much greater awareness of prevention, particularly among high-risk groups.

Could you win at Chorki?

Find out how would you fare in a typical quiz game …

Easy Questions

Name two ways AIDS can be transmitted.
Name two ways of preventing HIV and AIDS.

Medium-Difficulty Questions

Is HIV and AIDS the same thing?
Name two kinds of people who are at high risk of contracting AIDS?
What does it mean to be HIV positive?

Hard Questions

What does HIV stand for?
What does AIDS stand for?
What does STI stand for?
What was theme of the last World AIDS Day?

Get answers to tough questions about AIDS. Visit World Vision's AIDS Web site.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_bangladesh_200701?OpenDocument&campaign=12653918&cmp=EMC-12653918&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

Happy New Year 2007

2007-01-22T22:30:00.001+08:00

AIDS : $1 Billion up in Smoke?

2007-01-22T22:30:00.000+08:00

Critical AIDS and Poverty Assistance Funding in Jeopardy

At a health clinic in Zambia, Irene and her 8-month-old daughter, Gertrude, wait for confirmation about Irene's HIV status. Critical funding to help care for familes affected by AIDS in countries like Zambia may be in jeapordy.

In 2006, World Vision, the ONE Campaign and other nongovernmental organizations advocated for Congress to increase funding for the fight against extreme global poverty and AIDS. With the support of citizen advocates, these groups helped secure approval for a billion dollar increase in international poverty assistance funding for 2007.

But this critical funding increase may now be in jeopardy.

New Congress Not Inclined to Increase Funding

In December 2006, the 109th Congress failed to pass the international assistance funding bill for 2007. Because of budget constraints, the new Congressional leaders of the 110th Congress have indicated that they are in favor of maintaining 2006 funding levels through 2007, not increasing them.

This would mean that Congress would not increase funding to fight extreme poverty and assist orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS in 2007, as it had previously voted.

Anti-Poverty Advocates Dismayed

Irish rocker and U2 frontman, Bono, a well-known advocate for the global poor, visited Capitol Hill on December 14 to meet with Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate, urging them to make AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa a priority for the 110th Congress.

Bono was discouraged by his conversations with Congressional leadership: “I'm alarmed we could not get a commitment from the Democratic leadership to prevent the loss of $1 billion in the continuing resolution to fight AIDS, malaria and extreme poverty.

"I don't know who's to blame," he went on to say. "But the million people who were expecting bed nets don't care who's to blame. They just know that a promise made by the United States to keep their families safe is in danger of being broken .... "

World Vision senior policy advisor Robert Zachritz also expressed disappointment: "Congress is in a difficult situation, but that is no excuse for the poorest of the poor to be hurt the most. The White House, House and Senate all supported $1 billion more for AIDS and malaria in 2007. It would be a tragedy to see these good intentions wiped out due to a budget technicality."

World Vision Responds

To express their concern, World Vision, DATA and some 90 other organizations have signed a letter to the chairpersons and ranking members of the Senate and House appropriations committees, Sens. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Reps. David R. Obey (D-WI) and Jerry Lewis (R-CA), respectively.

The letter outlines some major successes in the battle against global AIDS and stresses the implications of not increasing funding for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis programs.

For instance, the authors of the letter contend that, for every $100 million taken away:

11,000 people with AIDS will not be treated.
630,000 bed nets to fight malaria will not be purchased.
50,000 treatments for malaria will not be provided.
370,000 HIV tests will not be administered.
80,000 treatments for tuberculosis will not be provided.

The missive concludes: "Continuing these critical programs with level funding will have a serious impact on our ability to turn the tide against these diseases. Without additional resources, we will not be able to keep pace with the pandemic."

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_aids_200701?Open&wvsrc=enews&lpos=rightnav&lid=aids200701

Romania : Hope for Orphans

2007-01-21T22:30:00.000+08:00

Colorado Couple Trades Retirement for Destitute and Abandoned Youngsters

Magdalena's Story

The plight of Romanian orphans leaving institutions with few prospects except drifting into a life of crime, prostitution and drugs prompted a Colorado couple to abandon their immediate retirement plans to help out.

Magdalena practices the art of sewing. Arts and crafts are an important tool used to help youth in transition. Photo by Laura Runcanu.

Magdalena was abandoned at birth and spent her early life, until the age of 19, at three different Romanian orphanages.

When she left her last orphanage she appeared to be a normal, attractive young woman. But World Vision staff who got to know her discovered her emotional and intellectual development had been stunted. Lacking financial resources, positive adult influence, and discernment, girls like Magdalena can easily find themselves ensnared in forced labor or prostitution rings.

Fortunately Magdalena benefited from World Vision’s Youth in Transition program. Teens in the program meet with families and take part in outings, arts and crafts and other activities to develop their social and teamwork skills.

Some, like Magdalena, are able to enter World Vision’s Life Skills Center, which provides a temporary home and “springboard” into adult life for teenage girls.

Under the center’s guidance, Magdalena quickly accomplished an important goal. She found a job in a shoe factory and earned her first-ever salary.

Alas, one other goal in her life has remained elusive. Her biggest dream was to find her mother, for whom she searched desperately. When she finally found her, the mother threatened to call the police and shut the door in Magdalena’s face.

But, to this day Magdalena refuses to say a bad word about her mother.

“My mom is beautiful,” was the only remark Magdalena’s friends heard from her after she returned from the encounter.

Meanwhile, Magdalena has a strong Christian faith. Growing up in an orphanage meant she had never been baptized, so she decided this was something she wanted to do. She asked two World Vision staff members to be her godparents — Carmen Cocoi and Vali Sabau.

“I’m so happy that Carmen and Vali are my godparents,” she exulted, after the baptism. “I feel close to them.”

Trading in Retirement To Help Others

Bob and Kitty Ehret recently returned from two years in Cluj, a Romanian city situated near the picturesque Transylvanian Alps. Kitty, 59, worked with World Vision’s Youth in Transition program which helps special needs orphans re-integrate into regular society, while Bob, a former executive at 62, acted as a consultant to World Vision management.

Kitty discovered that, although the Ceausecu regime — notorious for its mistreatment of orphans — has long since come to an end, life for most children forced to live in state-run institutions remains extremely grim, and teenagers who leave orphanages are poorly equipped to cope with life outside an institution.

She vividly remembers the day two young girls arrived at a World Vision residential center after leaving their orphanage. Each carried a plastic bag with a toothbrush and one change of clothes — all they had with which to begin a new life.

Many of the children Kitty dealt with were intellectually handicapped, a condition she attributes to neglect rather than an unfortunate accident of birth.

“It’s not that there was anything wrong with their brain, it’s just that they never had any stimulation. We now know through studies that the brain does not develop if there is no stimulation,” she maintains.

Learning Basic Life Skills

Kitty Ehert (on the far right, in the dark jacket) poses with the Youth in Transition team.

Kitty, a former nurse, says she spent much of her time teaching basic skills to children benefiting from the program.

“We talked about when you should wash hands, about not sneezing out loud, how to clean clothes, and how to eat properly, even on a low income,” she says.

She also taught Bible stories and took them for outings to places like ice cream parlors and pizza restaurants.

Kitty says one of the most heartbreaking experiences came during a class on sexuality, when she discovered that attitudes towards orphans in some segments of Romanian society remain very backward, and that many of the girls had been abused. Girls traveling by train from their orphanage to vocational school were sometimes pushed into the toilets by train conductors, even sexually assaulted and raped.

“They were abused in every way you can imagine — so much so they thought it was the norm. I was so angry and sick for about 10 days afterwards.”

Despite, or perhaps because of, these experiences, Kitty says the children were often extremely affectionate. During one class she recalls the enthusiasm of orphans to make valentine cards — a completely novel concept for them. Rather than confine their expressions of affection to a boyfriend of girlfriend, they showered cards on all their friends, teachers and World Vision staff.

“I fell in love with a lot of them. It’s hard not to love them — they are very lovable,” she says.

Kitty first became interested in the work in Cluj after making a trip there with the Evergreen chapter of Women of Vision—a World Vision program that brings women in the U.S. together to tackle poverty. Before departing for Romania on her most recent trip, she undertook three months of intensive language study.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_romania_200701?Open&wvsrc=enews&lpos=rightnav&lid=romania200701

Lebanon : No Time to Heal

2007-01-20T22:30:00.000+08:00

World Vision Assists 150,000, but Continued Instability Threatens Lebanon's Healing Process

By Brian Jonson, Lebanon Communications Manager

Hussein, 2, finds safe refuge in the arms of his grandfather. Though his family survived the heavy bombing in and around Marjeyoun, southern Lebanon, his mother says of her son: “He has now become very shy and reclusive, avoiding contact with other people." Photo by Jessy Chahine.

Just hours after the conflict ignited between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon on July 12, World Vision staff and volunteers risked their lives to provide urgently needed relief supplies to displaced, terrified families and their children.

During the month-long fighting that ensued, eight of nine of World Vision Lebanon project areas -- called "Area Development Programs" (ADPs) -- either sustained damage or played host to hundreds of displaced families from other communities.

In spite of the mounting crisis, including frequent air strikes and the targeting of heavy equipment and work vehicles, local staff -- supported by our Global Rapid Response Team -- continued to expand relief operations to all areas of the country, delivering food, clean water, hygiene kits, cooking implements, fuel and medical supplies to assist some 150,000 war-devastated people -- many of them children.

War's Heavy Toll

Nearly 1,200 Lebanese killed
30 percent or 360 of those killed were children
More than 4,000 people injured
More than 15,000 buildings in Beirut destroyed
Approximately 1 million people (25 percent of the population) displaced

(Source: Lebanon government)

Assessments carried out by our World Vision staff since the August 14 ceasefire revealed the heavy damage to World Vision's sponsored children and their families:

More than 60 percent of children's homes in the Marjeyoun ADP (southern Lebanon) were damaged, destroyed or condemned.
Primary wage earners of approximately 2,000 of the 12,000 World Vision sponsored children in Lebanon lost their sources of income.

Child-Focused Aid

In spite of the country's unstable conditions even since the ceasefire, our staff also stepped-up rehabilitation efforts for families, particularly for traumatized children.

A visit from Elvo the Clown helped hundreds of children smile again; Elvo also taught them how to protect themselves from the hidden dangers of landmines or unexploded ordnance in their neighborhoods.

Thanks to a generous $170,000 donation from Johnson & Johnson, local workers are now building two Child-Friendly Spaces so children can enjoy structured activities and find healing from any trauma and loss they’ve experienced. Some 1,400 children also will receive school supplies and clothing.

Clean Water, Winterization Projects

World Vision is also assisting nearly 100,000 people living in war-damaged homes to survive winter conditions. More than 15,000 families in Marjeyoun, Bint Jbeil, Zahlé, Baalbeck and West Bekaa ADPs are receiving blankets, linens, fuel vouchers, plastic sheeting, heaters and cooking stoves. The distributions are funded through the $4.8 million Lebanese Emergency Winter Intervention project.

In addition, World Vision has been able to provide clean water to more than 112,000 villagers in Marjeyoun and Bint Jbeil (south Lebanon). A $1.8 million grant through the Lebanon Emergency Response and Assistance Project (LERAP), funded by the United States government, has facilitated the distribution of water purification tablets, new pipes, pump generators for wells, fuel and water tanks.

Workers have also fed 700 families displaced for three months in Beirut.

Instability Continues

As well as endangering lives, Lebanon's continuing instability is jeopardizing progress in the region. Since the ceasefire, several bombings and grenade attacks, skirmishes between supporters of the two major political parties and the assassination of Christian industry minister Pierre Gemayel on November 21 have all fed unrest.

Leaders on both sides have called on their supporters to avoid violence, but many people are concerned about a possible return to civil conflict. Negotiations to find a compromise continue.

World Vision's staff in Lebanon continues to monitor the volatile situation to help ensure the safety of families and children in our nine program areas who are in desperate need of healing from the deep wounds of war.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_lebanon_200701?Open&wvsrc=enews&lpos=rightnav&lid=lebanon200701

Afghanistan : Life Saver

2007-01-19T22:30:00.000+08:00

Young Woman Battles Nation’s Biggest Killer

As a midwife in the town of Jibril, Zahara sees some 50 women each day. Photo by Mary Kate MacIsaac.

Tales of suicide bombers and battles with Taliban insurgents continue to dominate the news from Afghanistan, but there remains a far more pervasive threat to human life in the troubled nation.

Afghanistan has the second-worst infant mortality rate in the world. One in six newborns die before their first birthday, and 6 out of every 100 mothers die during childbirth. Cultural constraints mean it is rare for male doctors to assist women giving birth and there are few midwives, especially in rural areas.

But one young woman helping reverse the trend is Zahara Zamani.

While a refugee in Iran, Zahara, 22, says she dreamed of becoming a health professional.

“Sometimes I would see people with health problems, especially women,” she recalls. “I wanted to help.”

A Life-Changing Tragedy

Later, following her return to Afghanistan, she remembers one case that especially touched her — a pregnant neighbor suffering from anemia who went into labor. Her child died almost immediately. Meanwhile the mother experienced massive hemorrhaging and died the next day.

“She was at home with her family. They didn’t understand what was happening. They weren’t educated about anemia. They didn’t take her to the hospital,” Zahara says sadly.

The experience spurred her to complete a World Vision-supported midwife training program based in Herat, western Afghanistan.

Following graduation in 2005, she returned to Jibril, in the Herat Province, where she took a job with a health clinic that serves 40,000 people in the village and neighboring communities.

It’s a busy job. Over 120 patients visit the clinic daily; about 50 of them are women seeking Zahara’s advice and expertise. Many travel several miles by foot or donkey to reach help.

Among those who are delighted Zahara has brought her newfound skills to Jibril is Dr. Abdul Wali Alami, director of the clinic.

He recalls the situation before Zahara began working there — women suffering childbirth complications seldom had the support they needed.

“They would cut the umbilical cord with a dirty knife. The women didn’t know about pre-natal or post-natal care. They had no information about it,” he says.

Today, Zahara spends much of her time counseling about pregnancy care, believing that education is the key to reversing Afghanistan’s dire maternal and infant mortality rates.

Since 2004, 82 midwives have graduated from the midwife training program and are at work throughout western Afghanistan. Another 60 students are now in training. It’s expected the midwives’ efforts to educate and assist women through their pregnancies will ultimately slash death rates.

Zahara has become a significant agent of change in the Afghanistan of tomorrow.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_afghanistan_200701?OpenDocument&campaign=12653918&cmp=EMC-12653918&ppi=27753753&wvport=pr&wvsrc=enews

My third sponsored Child - Year 2007

2007-01-15T22:30:00.000+08:00

This is my third child. She is having 2 brothers, parents are separated and she lives with mother. Her mother is unemployed, therefore the family dipped into difficult living.

这是我的第三个助养童。她有两位哥哥，父母离异，现在和母亲同住。母亲失业，使到他们一家陷入困苦中。

I wish his family's conditions will be improving with the help from World Vision.

我希望他们一家的状况可以在世界宣明会的帮助下渐渐好起来。

Background
背景

More than half a million people in Soweto in South Africa live below the poverty line. My sponsored child lives in an area of Soweto called Orlando East is about 455 hectares with a total of about 15,280 rather small houses.

在南非索维托，有超过50万人的生活是在贫穷线以下。我赞助的儿童，就住在索维托区一个叫东欧尔兰多的地方，这个地方的面积是大约455公顷，共有大约15,280所小型民房。

Needs
需要

Overcrowding is a major problem. Unemployment has led to "survival crime", as well as child neglect and abandonment. The greatest need is employment. Skills training, literacy programs and small business skills are needed for the families to become self-supporting.

人口过于拥挤，是这里的最大问题。失业率问题延生了“为了生活形成的罪案”，以及受到忽略或遗弃的儿童。这里最需要的，是能够使家庭自力更生的技术训练、掌握读写能力和经营小生意的方法。

Goals
目标

This World Vision project will ensure basic schooling for all the children; raise AIDS/HIV+ awareness by helping the parents and grandparents to intervene in the lives of children before they become sexually active; and set up a micro / revolving loan scheme to enable families to start small businesses to improve family income.

这项世界宣明会的计划，能够确保所有儿女接受基础教育；提升家长和祖父母对爱滋病的认识和性觉醒；以便提供正确的性观念和对爱滋病的教育予孩子；以及设立一个微型/循环信贷计划，以便各个家庭能够投资小生意提高一家的收入。

HIV/AIDS Hope Initiative

2007-01-05T22:30:00.000+08:00

HIV/AIDS is more than a pandemic

It is a disaster destroying families and robbing children of their future.

It thrives on poverty and attacks the most vulnerable. The HIV/AIDS Hope Initiative aims to address this global crisis through Prevention, Care and Advocacy.

Prevention

WV focuses on educating three groups to reduce the spread of HIV:

uninfected children
pregnant & lactating mothers
high risk groups

Zaw Hmun is WV Myanmar’s Community Development Facilitator. He tirelessly educates people about HIV, especially those in high risk groups.

Care

WV aims to create a culture of care/concern for people and children living with HIV/AIDS by:

providing for basic needs
counseling and organising support groups
fighting stigma

Angie is WV South Africa’s HIV/AIDS Coordinator. She is HIV positive, and inspires her community with her love and care for the affected/infected.

Advocacy

WV advocates for public policy/programmes that:

prevent new infections
provide care for those living with/affected by HIV/AIDS

World Vision AIDS Cycle Relay was held to mobilise political and public response to the AIDS crisis.

It involved cyclists from around the world riding 3,000km across six Southern African countries.

Source : http://www.worldvison.com.my

HIV/AIDS: wiping out a generation

2007-01-04T22:30:00.000+08:00

HIV/AIDS is the pandemic of our century. Since it was discovered, over 28 million have been killed.

The disease continues to spread rapidly. By 2010, the epicentre of the outbreak is expected to move from Africa to Asia.

Today, over 34 million are infected with HIV. Over 60% are from Sub-Saharan Africa.

They are real people with names, families and stories. People just like us.

90% of the time, AIDS strikes the middle-aged (20 - 40 years old), wiping out a generation of providers and nurturers for children.

Every minute, 10 people contract HIV

Every 14 seconds, one child loses her parent(s) to AIDS.

The Domino Effect:

Father gets AIDS, gives it to mother, who gives it to the children she bears.

Father dies, household income dries up and family becomes homeless.

Orphans drop out of school because they need to work / care for invalid parents and their siblings.

Source : http://www.worldvison.com.my

Korean Superstar Rain

2007-01-03T22:30:00.000+08:00

Korean superstar Rain is coming to Malaysia on 27 January 2006 for his “Rain’s Coming 06/07 World Tour” concert and will take the opportunity presented by his concert to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, its prevention and other essentials among Malaysians.

Rain was appointed HIV/AIDS ambassador by World Vision Korea in December 2006. As World Vision’s ambassador, Rain will help the non-profit organisation promote its HIV/AIDS prevention activities with the objective of building a world free of the HIV epidemic.

A well known artist in Asia, Rain will use his star power to appeal for help on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS through his song titled “Friends”, composed specially for this purpose. Pictures of children will be shown on a screen in the background during the rendition of the song.

Local World Vision offices will set up booths at concert venues where charity items like wrist-bands will be sold and the proceeds donated to World Vision’s HIV/AIDS – focused fund known as The HOPE Fund.

“I agreed to take up this challenge when I realized that HIV/AIDS has done so much damage in our society.

“Eight thousands children are orphaned by HIV/AIDS everyday and over 14 million children have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS every year. Devastation caused by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa during 1990’s could be repeated here in Asia unless we intervene swiftly,” said Rain.

Liew Tong Ngan, executive director of World Vision Malaysia said, “I’m confident that Rain will speak up and speak out to raise HIV/AIDS awareness during the concert tour. As the ambassador, he will be able to convey a strong message on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care as well as to appeal for support to help children affected by HIV/AIDS.

“Rain would be a strong advocate for our HIV/AIDS prevention programmes. Part of the proceeds from concert ticket sales would be channeled towards HIV/AIDS projects in Asia,” he added.

Source : http://www.worldvision.com.my

Seasons Greeting for 2007

2006-12-28T22:00:00.000+08:00

Asia Tsunami: Two Years Later

2006-12-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

New World Vision Report Details Tsunami Recovery Accomplishments, Challenges

A tsunami survivor in the Krabi village of Baan Tatonglang, Thailand, shows brightly colored scarves she is preparing for sale, with the help of microeconomic development resources provided by World Vision.

Almost immediately after a giant tsunami slammed the coastlines of 12 South Asian countries on December 26, 2004, World Vision's teams were responding, rushing to provide desperately needed aid to devastated survivors.

In the two years since that horrific event, thanks to our compassionate donors' gifts, we've been able to undertake the largest, most challenging aid response in our 50-plus years of work in disaster relief -- rebuilding hope for tens of thousands of people in four tsunami-devastated countries: Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Reconstruction Highlights

Since December 2004, our donors' generosity has blessed us to be able to fund hundreds of vital recovery projects in the amount of $213 million. (For a detailed report about our tsunami-recovery accomplishments as well as some of the complex challenges, see, Asia Tsunami Response: "New Beginnings" -- 2006 Progress Report (PDF).Here are some of our tsunami-recovery achievements:

Construction of nearly 13,000 planned homes, while also providing transitional accommodation and support services to thousands of households.
Construction of more than 90 schools and 40 preschools, as well as construction of health clinics, community halls, child-care centers, livelihood centers, teacher accommodations, community offices, warehouses, bridges, canals, roads and large-scale water and sanitation projects.
Employment opportunities and vocational training for tens of thousands of people, through distributing fishing boats and equipment, canoes, water pumps, welding plants, computers, gem cutters, vegetable carts, diving kits, sewing machines, food processors and carpentry equipment.
Construction of 201 Child Friendly Spaces to serve 13,000 children.
In 2006, we provided monthly food supplements to some 60,000 people in Aceh and 38,000 children in Sri Lanka; more than 1,500 pregnant and lactating women have also benefited from food provisions.
Health interventions for 440,000 people as well as educational support for 2,000 teachers and 40,000 children.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_tsunami_200612?Open&lpos=rightnav&lid=tsunami200612

Sudan : Love in Darfur

2006-12-22T22:30:00.000+08:00

Elderly Escapee Cares for 12 War Orphans

Escapee Kahdija Saleh with some of the orphans she cares for in Darfur. Photo by Mohamad Almahady.

A militia terror campaign employing shootings, rape and burning of villages has forced 2.5 million people from their homes in Darfur.

Seventy-year-old Khadija Saleh is glad just to be alive.

Her zest for life has nothing to do with living a retiree's dreams of leisure, but it does have everything to do with a deep sense of gratitude that inspires a noble purpose — mothering 12 orphans, victims of ongoing civil war in Sudan.

Khadija and her brood are among some 10,000 new arrivals at the World Vision-supported Otash camp for internally displaced people in Darfur. All have escaped with their lives in the face of the region’s escalating violence.

Thankful that her own nuclear family survived a recent militia attack, Khadija says she feels compelled to care for children not so fortunate.

“Society must take care of these children. Any of them would still have parents, if fate had not claimed them,” she says.

She vows she will not give up on “her” children despite being forced to camp in a rough shelter in harsh, windswept conditions. She adds she is now the only mother they know.

A Chilling Day Dawns for Khadija’s Family

Such dedication comes in the face of enormous personal adversity.

Khadija says for decades, she lived in peace with her family in a village about 185 miles south of the regional capital, Nyala. But recently things went terribly wrong.

“One day before dawn, fate struck our village when armed militia attacked us on a clear mission to kill,” she says.

“We had no time to organize our departure. Me, my husband and our six children ran for dear life in different directions. I later learned that more than 20 people lost their lives that morning.”

For two months Khadija did not know where any of her family members were. Every day she agonized, wondering if they had all died in the attack.

Yet the old woman's despair changed to joy as she witnessed her six adult children find their way, one by one, into Otash camp.

The Displaced Face Many Challenges

Today, Khadija says her greatest challenge is ensuring the well being of the smallest ones in her care. They suffer recurrent coughs due to frequent dust storms and are susceptible to diseases in the camp, especially malaria.

Aid organizations provide food, clothes and blankets, but with scores of new arrivals turning up every day at the camp there is often a critical shortage of basic supplies.

World Vision has set up a medical clinic within the camp, which is currently treating more than 100 patients every day.

Clinic coordinator Dr. Sair Mohammed concurs with Khadija that the displaced face many health challenges.

“Patients suffer from diarrhea, malaria and other preventable illnesses,” he says.

In addition to the medical aid, World Vision supplies food to more than 53,000 people at Otash camp.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_sudan_200612?opendocument&campaign=12653917&amp;cmp=EMC-12653917&ppi=27753753&enver=p1

East Timor : Development programs reopen

2006-12-15T22:30:00.000+08:00

When chaos broke out in East Timor in April, over 150,000 people fled their homes. For many, returning to their former lives is daunting, with houses and property ransacked, community facilities destroyed and tensions still running high in many areas.

World Vision continues to work with the World Food Program to provide relief supplies for families displaced by the violence. Increasingly, though, the emphasis is now on rebuilding and re-opening facilities and projects that will help them to return home.

World Vision's community work in East Timor ranges from agriculture improvement and child health in rural areas, through to schooling for street children in Dili.

One important program interrupted by the violence was World Vision’s Youth Training Program, which provided skills and support for young people out of school and facing very high statistics of unemployment.

The program began in mid 2004 and has already shown excellent results. Despite the country’s employment situation, around 95% of the 156 students who graduated from the course went on to attend interviews, and 65% to find a job.

As well, students were encouraged to take on positions of leadership and responsibility in their communities, instead of joining the violent factions and gangs that many young people were drawn to.

When fighting broke out, students at the Youth Training Program were among those fleeing Dili. However, many of the young people involved in the program rose to the challenge of helping their communities, through concerts and peace-building sports events for other young people living inside the camps.

The program closed temporarily but was able to reopen in mid July. Since then, the young people have involved themselves, not only in the training, but also in extra-curricular activities arranged through the program such as band practice and peace-building initiatives. Many have received on-the-job training through an internship program supported by local businesses.

Reopening the program has allowed opportunities to work with young people on issues that affect them and can too easily lead to violence – unemployment, boredom, lack of education, involvement or voice in their communities.

With over 100,000 people still living in temporary accommodation and camps, delivering emergency relief and healthcare is an ongoing priority for World Vision in East Timor.

At the same time, restoring long-term development initiatives like the Youth Training Program is essential for the stability and growth of East Timor in the future.

Source : http://www.wvasiapacific.org/content/view/149/76/

Gifts of Hope @ One-Utama

2006-12-10T22:30:00.000+08:00

(09//12/2006 - 10/12/2006)

I was participating in two days roadshow in One-Utama, promoting Gifts of Hope and Child Sponsorship Program.

The first day - Saturday, response was so so; but the second day - Sunday, response was better. We have total three and seven child sponsors respectively in our duty shift, beside the donation collected for Gifts of Hope. The most encouraging was, a man, registered up for three children; and another couple registered up one each, and taken a few Child Sponsorship forms to their colleagues.

(Note : The Gifts of Hope still carry on in Bangsar Shopping Centre until 26/12/2006.)

Kingdom of Cambodia

2006-12-07T22:50:00.000+08:00

Preahreacheanachakr Kampuchea

Introduction

Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, descendants of the Angkor Empire that extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. Attacks by the Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the empire ushering in a long period of decline. The king placed the country under French protection in 1863. Cambodia became part of French Indochina in 1887. Following Japanese occupation in World War II, Cambodia gained full independence from France in 1953.

In April 1975, after a five-year struggle, Communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh and evacuated all cities and towns. At least 1.5 million Cambodians died from execution, forced hardships, or starvation during the Khmer Rouge regime under POL POT. A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, began a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off almost 13 years of civil war. The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated democratic elections and a ceasefire, which was not fully respected by the Khmer Rouge.

UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy under a coalition government. Factional fighting in 1997 ended the first coalition government, but a second round of national elections in 1998 led to the formation of another coalition government and renewed political stability. The remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge surrendered in early 1999. Some of the remaining leaders are awaiting trial by a UN-sponsored tribunal for crimes against humanity. Elections in July 2003 were relatively peaceful, but it took one year of negotiations between contending political parties before a coalition government was formed.

Environment - current issues

Illegal logging activities throughout the country and strip mining for gems in the western region along the border with Thailand have resulted in habitat loss and declining biodiversity (in particular, destruction of mangrove swamps threatens natural fisheries); soil erosion; in rural areas, most of the population does not have access to potable water; declining fish stocks because of illegal fishing and overfishing

Economy Overview

In 1999, the first full year of peace in 30 years, the government made progress on economic reforms.

The US and Cambodia signed a Bilateral Textile Agreement, which gave Cambodia a guaranteed quota of US textile imports and established a bonus for improving working conditions and enforcing Cambodian labor laws and international labor standards in the industry. From 2001 to 2004, the economy grew at an average rate of 6.4%, driven largely by an expansion in the garment sector and tourism. With the January 2005 expiration of a WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, Cambodia-based textile producers were forced to compete directly with lower-priced producing countries such as China and India. Although initial 2005 GDP growth estimates were less than 3%, better-than-expected garment sector performance led the IMF to forecast 6% growth in 2005. Faced with the possibility that its vibrant garment industry, with more than 200,000 jobs, could be in serious danger, the Cambodian government has committed itself to a policy of continued support for high labor standards in an attempt to maintain favor with buyers. The tourism industry continues to grow rapidly, with foreign visitors surpassing 1 million for the year by September 2005.

In 2005, exploitable oil and natural gas deposits were found beneath Cambodia's territorial waters, representing a new revenue stream for the government once commercial extraction begins in the coming years. The long-term development of the economy remains a daunting challenge. The Cambodian government continues to work with bilateral and multilateral donors, including the World Bank and IMF, to address the country's many pressing needs. In December 2004, official donors pledged $504 million in aid for 2005 on the condition that the Cambodian government implement steps to reduce corruption. The major economic challenge for Cambodia over the next decade will be fashioning an economic environment in which the private sector can create enough jobs to handle Cambodia's demographic imbalance.

More than 50% of the population is 20 years or younger. The population lacks education and productive skills, particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside, which suffers from an almost total lack of basic infrastructure. Fully 75% of the population remains engaged in subsistence farming.

Last Update 30 November 2006

Source : https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cb.html

Post Conflict Problem in Cambodia

2006-12-07T22:45:00.000+08:00

Three decades of war in Cambodia have left scars in many forms throughout the country. Unfortunately, one of the most lasting legacies of the conflicts continues to claim new victims daily. Land mines, laid by the Khmer Rouge, the Heng Samrin and Hun Sen regimes, the Vietnamese, the KPNLF, and the Sihanoukists litter the countryside. In most cases, even the soldiers who planted the mines did not record where they were placed. Now, Cambodia has the one of the highest rates of physical disability of any country in the world. While census data for Cambodia is sketchy, it is generally accepted that more than 40,000 Cambodians have suffered amputations as a result of mine injuries since 1979. That represents an average of nearly forty victims a week for a period of twenty years.

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) estimates that there may be as many as four to six million mines and unexploded ordinances in Cambodia. In 1998, there were 1,249 known new casualties.

While the Khmer Rouge were the worst offenders, deliberately targeting the civilian population with mines and booby traps, all sides have shown blatant disregard for the long-term consequences of the use of mines. Furthermore, the blame extends beyond the warring factions. Their patrons... the Chinese, the Soviets, the Americans, and a host of smaller nations... continued to supply the weapons with callous indifference to the effects of their actions. The CMAC reports that mines found in Cambodia have been manufactured in the US, China, Vietnam, the former USSR and East Germany, the former Czechoslovakia, India, Chile, South and North Korea, Thailand, Iran, Iraq, South Africa, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Poland.

Regretably, the CMAC itself became embroiled in controversy earlier this year, when it was revealed that large amounts of land in southwestern Cambodia, cleared of mines at a cost of more than $1 million, was turned over to government officials, wealthy businessmen, and army generals. (Associated Press, 2/24/2000).

While it is believed that no military groups are still deploying mines, the devices are still being used in new and horrible ways: Civilians have used mines to protect property and settle disputes; poachers are reportedly using mines to hunt tigers, which are prized for use in medicines in neighboring Vietnam; and in once incident in 1998, police surrounded a forest with mines in order to capture a murder suspect who had hidden there. He emerged from the forest and stepped on a mine, and was then shot to death by police.

At the current rate of progress, it may take as many as 100 years to clear all the mines in Cambodia, and the UN estimates that with current technology, it will take nearly 1,100 years to clear all the mines in the world.

Disclamer : Date of this information is unknown.

Source : http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/mines.htm

Interactive Session With Jerry

2006-11-27T22:30:00.000+08:00

Today I went to an interactive session with Jerry Yan at PJ Hilton. Jerry and us shared about our experience on child sponsorship program. He has visited Mongolia in October, and soon he will visit to Phillipines and Thailand.

Picture with Phoebe, MY FM DJ

Jerry's Postcard - a souvenir from World Vision

Cambodia : A Child in a Brothel

2006-11-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

Kalliyan on Her Life as a Victim of the Illegal Sex Industry — and Her Recovery

Kalliyan (not her real name) is a 14-year-old from Battambong in Cambodia, near the border with Thailand. Like most Cambodian teens, she’s shy, a little nervous about voicing an opinion, and looking for guidance from the adults in the room.

Maybe that partially explains why it was possible for traffickers to lure her away from her home into the sex trade of Phnom Penh.

The End of Innocence

When she was 13, Kalliyan was promised a good job in Phnom Penh — well-paid and safe. With few opportunities for a young girl from a poor family in Battambong, both she and her family wanted to believe what they were told.

But Kalliyan was sold into a brothel where girls like her and even younger were offered to foreign visitors drawn to Cambodia’s illegal child sex industry. The brothel also attracted local men who sought teens and pre-teens, often under the mistaken belief the young girls would therefore be free of sexually transmitted diseases.

Up to 20 clients a day forced themselves upon Kalliyan. One of them left her HIV-positive.

Kalliyan was rescued during a police raid and brought to a recovery center operated by World Vision. She says she was filled with happiness the moment she arrived. “I was so surprised that I didn’t need to do anything I didn’t want [to do]. I was free to study and make friends.”

Finally Feeling Safe

When asked what she likes best about living at the center, Kalliyan doesn’t hesitate. “Being happy,” she says. “Being safe.”

Kalliyan spends each morning learning traditional weaving, and afternoons in classes learning to read and write. After 4 pm, her time is her own, and she usually joins three other girls, her closest friends. Talking and laughing, they knit friendship bands together, or make simple floor mats they can sell to set aside a little spending money.

They never talk about what happened to them. It took some time for Kalliyan to open up even to the staff, attending two counseling sessions each week where she cried or sat in silence. In an attempt to reach her through art therapy, the staff encouraged her to draw, but she refused.

Sorn Navy, a counselor at the recovery center, began to work closely with Kalliyan, gradually overcoming her reluctance to tell her story.

“Afterwards,” says Kalliyan, “I felt fresh and clear.” And for Sorn Navy, it was now possible to help Kalliyan deal with the psychological trauma of her experiences.

What's Ahead for Kalliyan?

With only a month to go until her year at the center is up, Kalliyan has started to think about what she will do next. She likes weaving, and has progressed from simple cotton scarves to more complicated traditional designs in Cambodian silk.

She thinks that with a loom she will be able to support herself as a weaver, and also hopes to learn some tailoring skills so she can make clothes from the fabric she weaves.

She wants to return to her family, although she will miss her friends and her “mothers” — the house-parents, medical staff and counselors at the center. She is neither excited nor nervous about leaving, she says, and she is nearly ready.

Her practical plans show a streak of independence that implies she has learned some confidence in her time at the center. But security is high on her list of priorities.

“I would set up my loom next to my family’s house, where they can see me and I can see them. I could be safe there, weaving all day long.”

At left, Kalliyan (not her real name), formerly a trafficked child who is now HIV-positive, speaks with a World Vision case worker. Despite her experiences she wants to go home to her community, knowing that World Vision will help with the integration process. Photo by Katie Chalk.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_brothel_200611?Open&lpos=mainnav&lid=brothel200611

Gifts of Hope 2006/2007

2006-11-11T22:45:00.000+08:00

The alternative gift catalogue, creative gifts for all occassions!

Surprise a loved one with an original, life-changing gift - a warm jacket for a child to meet the deep freeze of a Mongolian winter; a prosthetic limb for a Bosnian war victim; a sewing machine to help a girl with disabilities acquire an income-generating skill; or a contribution to our newly-unveiled HOPE Fund to support HIV/AIDS-related education and care programmes. The list goes on...

These gifts won't be gathering dust on a shelf somewhere. They will be changing lives around the world.

In the event that the gifts you have selected are over-funded, we will send an equally needed gift to those in need. Due to logistical considerations, it is not possible to make GIft Catalogue purchases specifically for your sponosred child.

How your gifts are delivered?

World Vision will do more than deliver your gifts. Where necessary, we will ensure their impact is maximised by providing training as well.

We will deliver your gifts as soon as possible. However, some gifts are seasonal and delivery will take time.

Thank you for ordering a life-changing gift!

How to order?

Print the order form from http://wvfrenz.blogspot.com/2006/11/gifts-of-hope-2006-2007.html and fax to +603 7880 6424.

or

Come and visit our Roadshow to find our more about this alternative Gift Catalogue that changes lives around the world!

18 - 19 November 2006
Lower Ground Floor, Great Eastern Mall, KL

25 - 26 November 2006
Ground Floor, Hartamas Shopping Centre, KL

25 November - 26 December 2006
Ground Floor, East Wing, Bangsar Shopping Complex, KL

09 - 10 December 2006
1 Utama Shopping Centre (New Wing), PJ

Mode of payment

1. Credit Card
2. Cheque / Wang Pos payable to World Vision Malaysia Berhad

(Payment by cheque please post to World Vision office.)

Questions? Please contacts

106 & 108, Ground Floor, Block A, Kelana Centre Point,
Jalan SS 7/19, Kelana Jaya, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel : +603 7880 6414
Fax : +603 7880 6424
Email : admin@worldvision.com.my
Website : http://www.worldvision.com.my

The Alternative Gift Catalogue 2006/2007

2006-11-11T22:40:00.000+08:00

The GOH is an alternative gift catalogue that allows you to choose and send a gift on behalf of a friend, family or loved ones to a poor community located in other parts of the world.

Update on Gifts of Hope 2005/2006

2006-11-11T22:35:00.000+08:00

Order Form 2006/2007

2006-11-11T22:30:00.000+08:00

Child Labor

2006-11-09T22:30:00.000+08:00

More than 200 million children work for a living around the world (ages 5-17) and 126 million work in hazardous conditions including working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or with dangerous machinery.

What is child labor?

Some of the worst forms of child labor include:

hazardous manual labor
sexual exploitation and child pornography
indentured servitude (bonded labor)
forcible recruitment for armed conflict

Where does it occur?

Practically every country. It is estimated that there are at least:

122.3 million child workers (age 5 to 14) in the Asia Pacific region
49.3 million child workers (age 5 to 14) in sub-Saharan Africa
5.7 million child workers (age 5 to 14) in Latin America and the Caribbean

Who are the most vulnerable?

The poorest are extremely vulnerable to this exploitation. Children are less aware of their rights, and they accept repetitive and hazardous work willingly because they are more obedient and may not have other options.

What are the causes of child labor?

Child labor is a result of unjust systems and structures within a society.
Some of the causes are:

poverty and gross inequality
unjust income distribution
unjust land distribution
political instability
discrimination
migration
crime and failure to enforce the law
traditional cultural practices
employer’s desire for cheap and flexible labor
gender inequity
adult unemployment
inadequate social protection
poor and inadequate education
desire for consumer goods
crisis situations like national disasters and economic recession
HIV/AIDS
armed conflict

What is the impact on the lives of children?

loss of the child’s education and future opportunities
loss of basic and fundamental human rights
lifelong physical or psychological damage to child
perpetuates the cycle of poverty
lack of education and vocational skills potentially depresses national economic development

What is World Vision doing?

World Vision’s experience in working in countries around the world amongst marginalized people has revealed that children will continue to work unless there are other sufficient alternatives. World Vision supports a sustainable, comprehensive approach, which incorporates Prevention, Removal and Rehabilitation.

Our programs strive to prevent child labor by:

working with parents to improve the family's income, so they don't have to send children out to work
supporting the education system to keep children in school by providing school supplies, teacher training, and facility improvements
providing scholarships for poorer children enabling them to stay in school
raising awareness in communities awareness regarding the importance of education

Our programs strive to remove and rehabilitate children forced into child labor by:

Persuading formal sector employers to improve conditions and shorten hours
Providing educational and skills training opportunities
Coordinating with other agencies for family tracing and reunification

As a Christian organization, World Vision seeks to protect the rights of children from exploitive labor, and increase the ability and opportunities for every child to reach their full potential, which reflects the love of Jesus Christ for the children of the world.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/wvususfo.nsf/stable/globalissues_childprotection_childlabor

Sexual Exploitation of Children

2006-11-08T22:30:00.000+08:00

An estimated two million children are enslaved in the global commercial sex trade. Most are girls, but a significant number are boys. An untold number of others are sexually abused noncommercially. Most cases are not reported.

What are the manifestations of child sexual exploitation?

Commercial

prostitution
sex tourism
child pornography
trafficking and sale of children for sexual purposes

Noncommercial

sexual abuse of girls or boys by family and community members
forced marriage
children as young as 11 are known to work in brothels, and some children between 10 and 12 years old living in out-of-home care have been used to make pornographic films
girls as young as 13 (mainly from Asia and eastern Europe) are trafficked as ‘mail-order’ brides
worldwide, 40-47% of sexual assaults are perpetrated against girls age 15 or younger

Where does it occur?

In all countries, rich countries and poor. According to studies

Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Brazil have some of the highest rates of commercial sexual exploitation of children
in Mexico, more than 16,000 children are involved in prostitution
in many different locations, including on the street, in brothels, in private homes, and in tourist facilities, such as hotels.

Who are the most vulnerable?

girls and boys under age 18
children living in poverty
street children
runaways
children in vulnerable or marginalized situations
children of all social and economic status

What are the causes?

poverty and unemployment
drug and alcohol abuse
government /law enforcement
corruption
expansion of organized crime – trafficking of children
low status of girls in many countries
illiteracy and lack of education
inadequate or non-enforced laws
lack of political will to end the practice
pornography and the promotion of sex tours on the internet

How does sexual exploitation impact the lives of children?

long-lasting physical, social, spiritual, and psychological damage
disease (including HIV/AIDS)
violence/abuse, drug addiction
unwanted pregnancy and forced abortions
malnutrition
social ostracism

What is World Vision doing?

Throughout World Vision’s vast network of Area Development Programs (ADPs), there are programs designed to prevent children from being abused or drawn into the sex trade and to help those who have already been victimized. Our work focuses on prevention measures such as:

alleviating poverty which often makes children vulnerable to exploitation
awareness raising activities designed to protect children from all forms of abuse and prevent children from being drawn or forced into the sex trade
skills training and income generation programs to reduce the prevalence of children being sold into or lured into the sex trade.

Protecting children before as well as after exploitation is a priority – this includes:

protecting child victims from criminalization
enabling child victims and their families to access legal and social services
urging the prosecution of exploiters
assessing the physical and emotional condition of children who have been abused and providing adequate medical attention and psychosocial support
sensitizing communities for child reintegration and follow-up on children who have been reintegrated
providing educational and skills training opportunities

World Vision has joined forces with national governments, law enforcement agencies and other organizations to combat child sex tourism. U.S. citizens are among those from several wealthy countries who exploit children trapped in the commercial sex trade and fuel a demand for younger children.

With financial support from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, World Vision is tackling this problem through deterrence messaging, assisting law enforcement agencies, and prevention programs. Visit www.stopchildtourism.org to learn more.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/wvususfo.nsf/stable/globalissues_childprotection_sexexploit

Children in Armed Conflict

2006-11-07T22:30:00.000+08:00

In the last decade, 2 million children have died as a direct result of armed conflict. At least 6 million children have been permanently disabled or seriously injured and more than 1 million children have been orphaned or separated from their families due to armed conflict.

Children forced into military service are used for purposes

cooks
spies
porters
front-line combatants
messengers
suicide bombers
sex slaves (especially girls)
mine sweepers

How many children are affected?

during the 1990s, around 20 million children were forced by conflict or human rights violations to leave their homes
since 1990, conflicts have directly killed as many as 3.6 million people; tragically, more than 45% of these are likely to have been children
300,000 children – boys and girls under the age of 18 – are today involved in more than 20 conflicts worldwide, some of them only 7 years old
at least 10 countries continue to use children on the frontlines
15,000 to 20,000 people are killed or injured by landmines each year, nearly one third of these are children

Where does it occur?

Practically every continent but most prevalent in Africa and Asia. Many countries in Europe and the Americas still accept children into their armed forces.

from 2001 to 2004 over 15 countries in Africa involved children in active conflict
in the Asia Pacific region, children are still being recruited for on-going conflicts in seven different countries
in six countries and territories in the Middle East and North Africa children are used in conflict and some in suicide missions

Who are the most vulnerable to recruitment?

children separated from their parent or caregiver
children living alone without a supportive adult
children living on the streets
children from minority groups
children who are isolated or have poor social skills
children living in or near conflict zones

What are the driving factors?

abduction and enticement by armed groups
government complicity
abundance of small arms and light weapons
absence of work and education

What is the impact on the lives of children?

Children affected by war experience devastating events such as the violent death of a parent or close relative, the separation from family, the witnessing of loved ones being killed or tortured, or the forced participation of violent acts.

Experiences of this magnitude can lead to

general poor health
serious battle wounds
loss of hearing or eye sight
loss of limbs
physical abuse or deprivation
drug addiction
sexual abuse and exploitation
serious psychological and social problems
transmitted infections (including HIV/AIDS)
unwanted pregnancy (dangerous for girls who are often malnourished, physically immature, and living in unsanitary conditions)
malnutrition and disease
death

Girls and boys associated with armed groups and fighting forces are at a higher risk to be impacted by the above and in addition often face

the uncertain future and a loss of hope
rejection by family and community
loss of identity outside the armed group
loss of childhood

What is World Vision doing to help?

World Vision strives to address not only the immediate needs but also the long-term needs of all children affected by war, which includes prevention, demobilization, and reintegration of child soldiers.

Specific interventions include

assessing the physical and emotional condition of children who have been released and providing adequate medical attention and psychosocial support
providing places (“child-friendly spaces) where children can meet with other children to experience their grief and loss together (Child-friendly spaces includes routine activities, structured play, and creative arts activities.)
coordinating with other agencies for family tracing and reunification
awareness raising for communities about the need to protect children from exploitation
sensitizing communities for children reintegration and follow-up on children who have been reintegrated
providing educational and skills training opportunities
addressing the specific needs for girls who have been affected by armed conflict (i.e. sexual abuse and the consequences including pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases)

World Vision believes that the protection of all children from armed conflict is essential, and addresses this concern through

humanitarian assistance to children and their families during and after conflict
child-focused community development
peacebuilding activities for children and adults
advocacy to prevent the enticement and abduction of children by armed groups

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/wvususfo.nsf/stable/globalissues_childprotection_conflict

名人助养者心声 - 林文龙

2006-11-06T22:30:00.002+08:00

“我曾跟宣明會到雲南探訪，看到農村孩子很有潛質，卻因為貧窮而未能得到適當的培育，真的很可惜！我希望更多人像我和可盈一樣成為助養者，讓貧困孩子可以得到基本所需，健康成長，發展潛能，實現夢想。請立即回應！”

Source : http://www.worldvision.org.hk

名人助养者心声 - 古巨基

2006-11-06T22:30:00.001+08:00

“我最近收到蒙古助養孩子迦薩的近照，看到他長大了很多，知道他除了努力讀書外，還在發展摔跤及音樂天賦，我真的很開心。你也參加宣明會「助養兒童計劃」，讓更多孩子可以實現自己的夢想。”

Source : http://www.worldvision.org.hk

NATO bombs kill scores of Afghan civilians - officials

2006-10-27T22:30:00.000+08:00

By Terry Friel

KABUL (Reuters) - NATO warplanes killed at least 50 civilians, mostly women and children, in bombing in southern Afghanistan during a major Islamic holiday, local leaders said on Thursday.

The incident happened on Tuesday, the middle of the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month, in Panjwai, an area where the alliance said it had killed hundreds of insurgents in a two-week offensive last month.

A helicopter belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force flies over Kabul as the sun sets October 26, 2006. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood)
NATO says it killed 48 insurgents during heavy fighting in the area in Kandahar province, but had also received credible reports several civilians were killed in the operation.

The defence ministry has sent a team to investigate and President Hamid Karzai on Thursday appointed a special team of local elders to look at the case.

"It was late at night -- that might be the reason they didn't know where to bomb," said provincial assembly member Agha Lalai.

Visiting the wounded in hospital, tribal elder Naik Mohammad said 60 civilians had died. Villagers also said 60 died, dozens were wounded and 25 houses razed in 4-5 hours of bombing.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, on Thursday urged a speedy and thorough investigation.

"(UNAMA) is very concerned by reports that a great number of civilians may have died during the conduct of military operations," it said in a statement in Kabul.

"The safety and welfare of civilians must always come first and any civilian casualties are unacceptable, without exception."

BLOODY YEAR

This is Afghanistan's bloodiest year since the Taliban's Islamist government was ousted in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

More than 3,000 people have been killed, mainly militants, but including many civilians and more than 150 foreign soldiers.

The Taliban and other insurgents have regrouped, helped by a booming illegal opium trade and growing frustration at the slow pace of reconstruction and the lack of jobs or a real economy.

In an Eid message, Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar vowed to step up attacks and a senior guerrilla told the BBC the group will increasingly use suicide bombers -- up to six at a time.

"So far you see just individual suicide attacks, but in the future you might see as many as six people committing the attacks simultaneously," Hajji Mullah Wahid Ullah, described as a Taliban adviser, told the BBC.

Although still not as common as in Iraq, suicide bombings have increased dramatically this year, killing more than 200 people so far compared with 50-60 through all of 2005.

Germany stepped up security at its embassy in Kabul and missions across the Middle East after a scandal over pictures apparently showing German soldiers playing with a human skull, which some analysts say could boost support for the Taliban.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry said the action "goes against Islamic values and Afghan traditions" and demanded tough punishment for thos responsible..

The pictures, which have drawn comparisons with photos of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail, were published this week in the Gernman newspaper Bild.

"This act can be used as a catalyst for the Taliban to promote their profile and to increase the number of people who join them," Nadir Nadiry, a human rights commission member, said.

Source : http://thestar.com.my

南亞地震救援

2006-10-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

巴基斯坦地震一周年

2005年10月8日於巴基斯坦發生的7.6級大地震奪去了超過73,000人的生命。數以萬計的生還者度過了他們生命中最寒冷的一個冬天。現時，他們已返回殘破不堪的家園，努力重建新生活。

一年後，全賴香港市民的慷慨幫助，令接近50萬名生還者得以重過新生活。您們的支持，讓宣明會可以迅速回應災民的需要，向他們派發糧食、藥物及帳篷，並於受災地區開展長期的災後重建工作，如復修基本設施及學校等。

地震雖已過去，但重建工作仍長路漫漫。宣明會將繼續與地震生還者並肩同行重建之路。我們將與當地的政府組織緊密合作，務求善用捐助者的一分一毫，幫助災民重過正常生活。

世界宣明會於過去一年竭力回應地震災民的需要

派發帳篷、棉被、毛毯、衣服、煮食器具及生包等救援物資予284,000名災民
向逾95,000 名居民派發3.7公噸糧食
提供數百頭牲畜、並種子、農具及肥料等予7,000名村民
重建道路、灌溉系統、食水及生設施，共12,000名災民受惠
4,700 名兒童透過兒童中心得到援助；當中17個兒童中心已搬遷至災民移居的社區，每週幫助約2,700名兒童
兒童接受木工、建築、水管修理、裁縫、刺繡及紡織等職業培訓
繼續為受災社區在教育、重建謀生能力、糧食保障、保護兒童及災難應變等方面提供援助

生命重燃希望

居住在巴拉科特的七歲小男孩阿拉齊回想起去年大地震的可怕情景，心裏仍猶有餘悸。地震發生時，阿拉齊正在上課，頃刻之間，整座學校倒塌。阿拉齊僥倖生還，但他摯愛的哥哥及朋友都在這次災難中喪生。

「以前，他是一個逗人喜愛及樂於關心別人的孩子，現在，他變得沈默寡言，更不願意回校上課，因為他懼怕地震會再次發生。」阿拉齊媽媽嘉爾低聲說。

地震不但奪去了嘉爾心愛的兒子，而且更令她痛失家園。「房子就在我的眼前塌下，我們所有的財物全都被山泥活埋。」嘉爾憶述說。

阿拉齊一家人在地震後不久便被安排入住臨時帳篷，而宣明會亦為這個家庭提供工具，讓他們可以重建一個永久居所。

「這是我們在地震以後得到的最大幫助，我們終於可以返回屬於自己的居所。」嘉爾說。

阿拉齊的爸爸亦已重投小學教師的工作，每月賺取約港幣515元。每當孩子嚷要喝牛奶或吃牛油時，阿拉齊父母既痛心又無奈。他們的山羊在地震中死掉，單靠微薄的收入根本無法負擔購買乳品食物。

宣明會向村民派發465頭水牛，而阿拉齊的家庭是其中受惠者。孩子的健康不但得到改善，而且阿拉齊一家人亦很高興可以透過售賣牛奶，每天賺取約港幣8元的額外收入。

除了向受災村民提供救援物資外，宣明會亦透過在兒童中心舉辦不同的活動，幫助數以千計像阿拉齊的孩子治療災後的心靈創傷。

邁向光明前路

居住在巴基斯坦偏遠的西北邊境，四十九歲的馬力克‧亞文是一位自給自足的農夫。去年十月，馬力克正於卡拉奇任保安員。地震發生後，他立即趕回家鄉，幸好，他的妻子及五個小孩全都安然無恙，但房子卻被嚴重摧毀。

馬力克十分高興從宣明會收到一些鐵皮，讓他們可以重建一個永久居所。「我利用這些鐵皮來遮蓋新房子的屋頂。」馬力克說。

宣明會在馬力克的社區亦開展了一個重建災民生活的項目，向村民派發水牛及山羊，並同時籌辦了道路重建等計劃。

道路復修前，社區中的道路只足夠供騾子及驢行走。現在，貨車也能在傾斜的道路上安全行駛。

「新的道路能夠為約10,000名居民帶來更便利的交通。」Siron Valley總顧問嘉林‧積朗尼說。另有四個社區亦因道路重建計劃而受惠。

重建工作亦為這個缺乏發展的地區提供就業機會，並協助社區增設一些重要的基本設施。熟練與非熟練工人均可以工作換取食物及工資。馬力克便協助在毀壞最嚴重的一段道路鋪設混凝土地基，以每日港幣32元的工資工作了四天。

「以前，我的生活很匱乏。現在，我可以購買新衣服及鞋子給我的孩子，他們也因為得到較佳的食物而感到興奮。」馬力克說。

Source : http://www.worldvision.org.hk

A photo from my Mongolian child

2006-10-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

I was so exciting when I received an envelope from Mongolia, I knew it is from my sponsored child. His father sent me a photo of their family, and some message about him.

当我收到从蒙古寄来的信件，我感到非常兴奋。我就知道这是我的蒙古助养童寄来给我的。他的父亲寄了他们的照片给我，还有一些关于孩子的信息。

The joy of it, is that, somebody is remembering you from far away, and you do not know that person.

在遥远的地方，有一个人记挂着你，那种感觉不是言语所能形容的。

Asia first regional 2007 Child Sponsorship Ambassador!

2006-10-20T22:30:00.000+08:00

Hurray, Jerry Yan (言承旭) or well known as one of the F4, is appointed by eight World Vision offices in Asia, including Malaysia, as their first regional 2007 Child Sponsorship Ambassador.

His most famous movie is "流星花园”and he also sang for "Lilo & Stitch" - Can't Help Falling In Love (a Disney carton movie).

Also, Jerry is one of nearly three million sponsors of World Vision around the world.

Darfur: Violence Escalates

2006-10-02T22:30:00.000+08:00

A crowd of more than 180 women and children, most of them displaced by the conflict in Darfur, wait their turn for free health care at a World Vision clinic in Nyala, Sudan. Photo by Jon Warren.

War, Malnutrition Make Sudan the World’s “Most Dangerous Place for Children”

The crisis in Darfur has grown increasingly complex and dangerous. A peace agreement between the government and one of the rebel groups was signed in May, but since then violence has escalated.

World Vision continues to provide a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict, but staff members worry that the deteriorating security situation could impede the help they are providing. They are especially concerned for the children.

Attacks on villages in recent months have sent thousands streaming into overcrowded relief camps to seek sanctuary. They arrive shell-shocked, sick and famished.

World Vision has been distributing monthly food rations to 300,000 people in more than 20 camps and areas affected by conflict.

“Having gone hungry for many days, we were afraid that our children would die of hunger,” said grateful aid recipient Salua Salih Adam.

Anxiety and Tears

One of largest camps for displaced people in South Darfur is Otash camp. Thousands of families are living in tiny makeshift huts. Dan Teng’o, a World Vision worker, described the camp as “suffused with extreme anxiety” as more and more people continue to arrive. He wrote that new arrivals are destitute and desperate, and the faces of children were “washed out by tears.”

A Reuters AlertNet poll in July asked aid experts and journalists to name the world’s most dangerous place for children. The number one choice was Sudan, with many naming the region of Darfur.

According to UNICEF, some 1.8 million children have been affected by the conflict in Darfur. They are especially vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and violence.

Beyond Desperate

“Medical and human needs in Darfur are already beyond desperate, especially among women and children,” said Henry Duba, World Vision’s emergency health specialist in Darfur. “Any further worsening of security would mean a decline in the capacity of aid organizations to respond and a consequent deterioration in the humanitarian situation.”

Security concerns in the humanitarian community were heightened when 12 aid workers were killed in July and August. The scheduled departure of African Union peacekeepers on September 30 added to fears, but the troops are now staying until the end of 2006.

Some 3.6 million in Darfur are affected by the conflict, yet vast areas are almost completely inaccessible to aid agencies due to violence and insecurity. In North Darfur, 350,000 people have been stranded for months without food aid.

In response to God’s call to care for the poor, World Vision has provided humanitarian aid in Darfur since 2004. The United Nations estimates nearly 2 million people are living in temporary camps and 200,000 people have died in the three-year conflict.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_darfur_200610?Open&lid=darfur200610&lpos=main

Uganda: No More Child Soldiers?

2006-10-01T22:30:00.000+08:00

Emmanuel, 12, was kidnapped by the LRA six years ago. He is now back home after receiving help at World Vision’s Children of War Rehabilitation Center in Gulu. Photo by Margaret Alerotek.

Lives Hang in the Balance as LRA Peace Talks Falter

Peace talks in Uganda have been on-again, off-again, and meanwhile more than 1.5 million lives hang in the balance.

The talks have raised hopes that the end of war may be near and thousands of abducted children will return home.

In August, a rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) agreed to a truce that would end one of Africa’s longest-running wars. For the past 20 years, the LRA, led by Joseph Kony, has abducted children and forced them to serve as soldiers and sex slaves.

The International Criminal Court wants to try the LRA leaders on murder, rape and forcibly enlisting children. The government of Uganda has hinted it will offer amnesty to LRA leaders if that would mean an end to the war.

United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said, “This is the best chance we have ever had for peace in northern Uganda.” He is urging the UN Security Council to forego seeking the arrest of LRA leaders in order to best support the peace process.

Over the years, the rebels have kidnapped an estimated 25,000 children, maybe more. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of children have slept in shelters in city centers to avoid abduction when rebels attack outlying villages by night. On top of this, about 1.5 million people have fled their homes because of the conflict and are living in squalid, overcrowded displacement camps.

Peace Talks on Brink of Collapse

This July, peace talks between the rebels and the Ugandan government restarted and a ceasefire was signed August 26. But rebels missed a key deadline to gather all their leaders and fighters at two assembly points in southern Sudan.

Near the end of September, rebels walked out of peace talks because of a military buildup of the Ugandan army. In early October, the Ugandan army resumed an offensive against the rebels. Talks have stalled. Kony keeps insisting that war crimes indictments against him and other LRA leaders be dropped.

At this time, the peace talks appear on the brink of failing.

Nongovernmental organizations in the United States say that in the face of a possible breakdown in the talks, the United States must end its silence.

“The talks are breaking down, in part, because of the U.S. and other third party observers aren’t there to monitor the situation and ensure the parties make good on their promises,” says Rory Anderson, World Vision senior policy advisor for Africa.

Source : http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/enews_uganda_200610?open&lid=uganda200610&lpos=main

East Timor : Relief priorities clear

2006-09-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

As discussions around international peacekeeping strategies in East Timor continue, access to food, healthcare, sanitation and protection from violence are the major priorities for over 100,000 people displaced by the recent conflict.

World Vision has assisted the World Food Program and the government to deliver food supplies, including rice, beans and oil, to over 80,000 people throughout East Timor. In addition, mobile clinics are currently reaching camps in four districts of East Timor: Dili, Bacau, Aileu and Manufahi, which between them shelter an estimated 11,000 people.

The mobile team comprises a nurse, midwife, coordinator and driver, who visit at least two camps daily, accompanied by a doctor from the East Timor Ministry of Health.

Existing projects in health promotion including nutrition, sanitation and maternal care, are also being adjusted to incorporate new arrivals.

Staff plan to create child “focal points” as part of their clinic visit, as well as actively promoting child protection messages, through posters and in person, to parents in affected areas.

With camps overcrowded and services strained, World Vision is also coordinating daily garbage disposal in 10 camps, one of very few agencies to be involved in this way.

Displaced people, including children, are still at risk from violence by stone-throwing gangs, and a priority for World Vision is to provide safe child-friendly activity groups.

While some initial groups were interrupted by violence, by the end of August around 300 displaced children were playing and learning with World Vision in 6 locations around Dili.

Child-friendly activities like games, singing, drawing, storytelling and some numeracy and literacy activities help children to re-establish routine, express themselves freely, play and feel comfortable. They also give trained staff an opportunity to assess potential children at risk, children unaccompanied and children who may be particularly distressed.

Child Protection Activities team leader Johanna Mali Alo is delighted with the success of the activities, saying "They brought so much fun and cheer to the children. In our small way, we can help in their healing process after the fighting."

Source : http://www.wvasiapacific.org/content/view/122/76/

Xinjiang-China Annual Report 2006

2006-09-12T22:30:00.001+08:00

She is growing one year older!!

她又长大一岁了！！

World Vision China sent me Xinjiang's annual progress report and her latest picture. She looks very cute, sweet and healthy. She is now 19kg weight and 104cm height.

中国世界宣明会寄来关于新疆的周年进度报告，还有她最新的照片。她看起来很可爱、很甜、也很健康。她现在是19公斤重和104公分高。

My second sponsored child - Year 2006

2006-07-29T22:30:00.000+08:00

This is my second sponsored child. He is living at Nalaikh, age 3 now and yet to go to school.

这是我的第二个助养童。他住在蒙古纳赖，今年三岁，还未达到上学年龄。

He is having 2 brothers and 2 sisters, both parents are unemployed and his father is sick. Therefore the family dipped into difficult living and could not get rid of poverty.

他有两个哥哥和两个姐姐，父亲有病在身，母亲需要照顾家人，所以双双失业。因此，家计陷于困苦中，难于脱离贫穷底线。

I wish his family's conditions will be improving with the help from World Vision.

我希望在世界宣明会的帮助下，他们的生活可以改善。

Background
背景

Nalaikh is about 35 km east of the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbataar. It has a population of 21,237, 40% of whom are Khazaks. Average income is RM 95 a month. Many people are chronically ill or disabled, and there are a number of unemployed widows with children.

纳赖是位于蒙古首都乌兰巴托以东大约35公里外。这里的人口是21,237，哈萨克族占40%。平均月如只有RM95。许多人患上慢性疾病或残缺，以及有不少拥有儿女的失业寡妇。

Goals
目标

God-willing, this World Vision project will develop the leadership and organisational skills of the people; provide opportunity for the community to identify and combat the root causes of their poverty; ensure economic justice by providing opportunities for the development of new and innovative income generation ventures for the poor; care for the children's education and health.

如果一切顺利，这项世界宣明会计划能提升人民的领导和组织能力，为社区提供监定和对抗贫穷的根源；确保经济均衡，为贫穷者提供发展成为革新商机新生代的机会；关心儿童的教育和健康。

East Timor : Relief work in full swing

2006-07-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

Relief work in full swing as food distribution, child-friendly activities and mobile clinic go to camps and IDP areas

by Cecil Laguardia - Communications

Last week, World Vision Child Protection Team conducted child For more information on World Vision's response to the crisis in East Timor, go to http://www.wvasiapacific.org/easttimor
friendly activities in ten locations around Dili District, attended by 537 children and youth aged between five and 18.

Equipped with guitars, the team brought joy and laughter to the camps as children played and sang together.

The team visits at least two camps daily and partners with the mobile team clinic for the trips.

Child Protection Officer Isabel Exposto said the activities have been improving and gaining more participation from children. Parents in the camps have been encouraging their children to join in. Exposto said that as schools re-open, many of the activities would be conducted there so they can be later integrated into their school activities.

Activities will soon be starting in six areas in Baucau District. Three child protection officers will be arriving this week from WV Philippines and WV New Zealand to provide technical support and training to the staff. More than 5,000 youth and children have participated in these ongoing child-friendly activities in the camps.

The Food Distribution Team experienced some drawbacks on beneficiary numbers but was able to continue distributing 3.36 metric tons of corn soya blend (CSB) and sugar to 700 people in Baucau District’s seven locations. More distributions will be done this week.

Augusto Soares who leads the group said assessment teams were sent to Ainaro and Aileu districts to verify beneficiaries ahead of time.

The team is set to do beneficiary assessments and registrations next week in Baguia, Laga, Venilale, Vemasse and Quelicai sub-districts – where there are an estimated 6,343 displaced people – and do simultaneous distributions in Baguia, Laga, Venilale sub-districts.

Source : http://www.wvasiapacific.org/content/view/115/76/

Indonesia tsunami toll 256, hunt on for more

2006-07-18T22:30:00.001+08:00

By Heru Asprihanto

PANGANDARAN, Indonesia (Reuters) - At least 256 people were killed after a tsunami smashed into fishing villages and resorts on Indonesia's Java island, following a strong undersea earthquake, a Red Cross official said on Tuesday.

At least four non-Indonesians were among the dead, 122 people were missing and 28,000 people were displaced, officials said.

No warnings were reported ahead of the waves despite regional efforts to establish early warning systems after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000, including 170,000 in Indonesia.

But many residents and tourists recognised the signs and fled to higher ground as the sea receded before huge waves came crashing ashore.

"When the waves came, I heard people screaming and then I heard something like a plane about to crash nearby and I just ran," Uli Sutarli, a plantation worker who was on hard-hit Pangandaran beach, told Reuters.

The waves flung cars, motorbikes and boats into hotels and storefronts, flattened homes and restaurants, and flooded rice fields up to 500 metres (1,640 ft) from the sea along a stretch of the densely populated southern Java coastline.

A Red Cross official who declined to be identified said at least 256 people were dead.

One of the four dead foreigners was Dutch national identified as Yuyun Ruhiyat, alocal health department officer based in Ciamis regency, told Reuters. She had no information about the other three.

Soldiers tried to retrieve bodies trapped under rubble on Tuesday. Metro TV reported several bodies were found in trees along Pangandaran beach near Ciamis town, 270 km southeast of Jakarta.

No other country reported casualties or damage from Monday's tsunami.

POPULAR TOURIST SPOT

Anxious survivors lifted yellow sheets covering dozens of bodies lining a hospital floor as they searched for relatives in Pangandaran, which bore the brunt of the damage.

One man flung himself onto the corpse of a small child, her body streaked with mud, alongside lines of bodies under plastic sheets in a makeshift morgue.

Imad Roimad, a 32 year-old father of two children, told Reuters his family was safe, but his home was smashed, adding: "Everything is destroyed. I was a worker. Now, I'm confused. I want to go home but I don't know where."

A Belgian tourist in Pangandaran, a popular spot for surfers with many small hotels on the beach, told Reuters Television his warning came when a waitress at a beachside bar ran by him screaming.

"I saw this big cloud of dark sea water coming up to me. So I grabbed the bag and started running ... and then the water grabbed me and pulled me under and I was thinking this is the end, I'm going down."

He said he grabbed onto a cooler and rode the wave into a nearby hotel.

The U.S. Geological Survey rated the undersea quake's magnitude at 7.7 with its epicentre about 180 kms off the hardest hit spot on Java's southern coast.

The U.S.-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake would not trigger "a destructive widespread tsunami threat", but could cause some local tsunamis.

No tsunami warning system has been set up for the southern coast of Java. An Indonesian warning system was supposed to be up and running by now after the 2004 tsunami, the worst on record, but it has stalled.

Asked how many tsunami buoys Indonesia has in operation since it launched a first stage of its warning system off the coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra last year, a government official assigned to the project said: "none".

Indonesia's 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesia. In May, one near the city of Yogyakarta in central Java killed more than 5,700.

(Additional reporting by Achmad Sukarsono, Diyan Jari and Muhamad Ari in Jakarta)

Source : http://thestar.com.my

Israel pounds Lebanon, says campaign to take weeks

2006-07-18T22:30:00.000+08:00

By Nadim Ladki [The star 18/07/2006]

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes battered Lebanon for the seventh day on Tuesday, killing 23 people, as the Israeli army said its offensive to crush Hizbollah could take a few more weeks.

Nine members of a family, including children, were killed and four wounded in an Israeli air strike on their house in the village of Aitaroun. Four people were killed in strikes elsewhere in the south.

A raid on a Lebanese army barracks in the Jamhour area east of Beirut killed 10 Lebanese soldiers and wounded 30.

Israel's army refused to rule out a large-scale ground invasion of the south only six years after it ended its 22-year occupation of the area.

"At this stage we do not think we have to activate massive ground forces into Lebanon but if we have to do this, we will," Moshe Kaplinsky, Israel's deputy army chief, told Israel Radio.

He said the offensive would end within a few weeks, adding that Israel needed more time to complete "very clear goals".

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he expected European powers to join a proposed Lebanon stabilisation force.

Annan and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have urged the U.N Security Council to deploy a security force in Lebanon but Israel says it is too early to discuss such a move and the United States has questioned how it would restrain Hizbollah guerrillas from attacking Israel.

"It is urgent that the international community acts to make a difference on the ground," Annan said in Brussels, suggesting a force that would operate differently from toothless U.N. peacekeepers who have patrolled south Lebanon since 1978.

"I would expect contributions from European countries and countries from other regions," Annan said.

He was speaking after talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who said some European Union member states were willing to contribute to the proposed force.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the option should be explored.

"We believe there is a contribution that an international force can make," Beckett told BBC radio, saying it could help maintain a ceasefire, if the two sides agree to stop shooting.

ISRAELIS BACK ASSAULT

A poll in the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth daily showed a vast majority of Israelis backed the Lebanon offensive. Many favoured assassinating Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

It showed 86 percent of Israelis believed the army's attacks on Lebanon were justified.

Thousands of foreigners fled Lebanon, some by road to Syria, others seeking places on U.S. and European ships after Beirut's international airport was closed by Israeli bombardment. About 100,000 Lebanese have fled their homes to escape the violence.

The fighting was triggered when Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on northern Israel on July 12.

Israel's retaliation has killed 227 people, all but 24 of them civilians, and inflicted the heaviest damage on Lebanon since the 1982 Israeli invasion to expel Palestinian guerrillas.

Hizbollah has responded by attacking an Israeli naval vessel off Beirut, killing four sailors, and firing hundreds of rockets across the border, killing 12 Israelis.

Israel is also pursuing an offensive in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants captured another soldier on June 25.

Lebanon has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire, but world powers said any solution to the crisis must include the release of the two soldiers. Israel also wants Hizbollah to disarm in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The Beirut government is too weak and divided to force Hizbollah to yield to such demands.

The Shi'ite Muslim group wants to swap the two soldiers for Lebanese and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Hizbollah must free its two Israeli captives without conditions.

She was speaking just hours after Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said Israel might at some stage have to negotiate over Lebanese prisoners held in Israel to end the crisis.

(Additional reporting by Alaa Shahine in Beirut, Jerusalem bureau, Madeline Chambers in London and Paul Taylor in Brussels)

Uncertain future for Chow Kit children

2006-07-09T22:30:00.000+08:00

EXCLUSIVE
By PARVEEN GILL

They live in dingy homes along the streets of Chow Kit in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Their mothers are drug addicts and sex workers. They sell their bodies to feed their habit, leaving the children in a world of their own.

In the daytime, these children play in the vicinity of their makeshift homes and wait for their mothers to return. At night, some of them follow their mothers to work, sleeping on the pavements, while their mothers entertain the clients at home.

It's a sad world punctuated by hope as kind souls from NGOs try their best to make life better for these forgotten children.

KUALA LUMPUR: They are the unfortunate kids of the world. Circumstances beyond their control have made the streets of Chow Kit their dingy home and unwelcome playground.

Some are forced to tag along with their sex worker mothers as they ply their trade. Others share a rundown wooden house or a small room in a shoplot with their siblings, waiting for their mothers to return home.

Most do not have much to eat and sometimes resort to stealing to feed themselves.

At night, some of these children, who are said to number in the hundreds in Chow Kit alone, sleep on the pavements while their mothers “entertain” clients at home.

Ira is only 10 but plays “mother” to her four brothers, aged between one and seven, and a nine-year-old sister. All have different fathers.

The children live in a ramshackle wooden hut in Kg Periuk, Chow Kit, with the magnificent Petronas Twin Towers in the backdrop.

Ira's 26-year-old mother Maria is said to have sold off her youngest child for RM15,000 last year, shortly after delivering the baby.

Maria, who is a drug addict, is either at “work” or “high” most of the time.

Meals are hard to come by, but thanks to Yayasan Salam Malaysia, Ira and her siblings get simple meals such as a cup of Milo and plain bread if they visit the local NGO Children's Activity Centre in Chow Kit. (See Doc: Treat children of sex workers like other kids). That too is subject to availability of food at the centre.

Ira goes to school with help of the NGO and well-wishers.

“I hope to be a dancer or teacher. I would especially like to become a teacher because some of my teachers are very caring and loving towards me,” said Ira, when met at her “home”.

She, however, faces an uncertain future, if things do not change for the better soon.

There is a possibility that circumstances may force her to become a sex worker just like her mother and grandmother.

Ira's sister Ish answered: “Entah (Don't know)”, when asked about her ambition. This perhaps aptly describes the uncertain future awaiting Ira and the many other street kids in Chow Kit.

Ten-year-old Chiku, whose mother Ora is also a sex worker, started school recently after Yayasan Salam consultant Dr Hartini Zainudin managed to obtain a birth certificate for him.

While other children his age are discovering the wonders of the Digital Age, Chiku has just learnt to write his name.

“Before this, when others went to school, I just roamed around here,” he said when met by this reporter.

Chiku dreams of becoming a policeman because he wants to “catch bad people”. But if he fails at that, he said he would opt to become a motorcycle racer.

When asked about his mother, Chiku bowed his head and replied: “She works very hard.”

Ora, 33, said she tries her best to provide for Chiku, who is her firstborn. Her two younger children were given away after she gave birth to them.

“My drug addict boyfriend is a heavy gambler. He forced me into prostitution when I was 20. I even had to entertain men for a mere RM5 when I was nine months' pregnant to support his habits,” said Ora.

Dr Hartini said there was fear that some of these children might have contracted HIV during birth. Maria, for instance, refused to take any precautions during intercourse.

“In the case of Ora, her son can go to bed when his mother is done with business,” she said.

Source : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/7/9/nation/14761340&sec=nation

Annual Report 2005

2006-06-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

Early of year 2006, I received an annual report for the year 2005 from World Vision Malaysia, stating the progress of all the area development project undertaken by them.

Children have always been the special focus of World Vision's work because they are often the innocent victims as well as the ones to whom the future belongs. Often poor families cannot offer their children proper nutrition and education, so the children grow up in poverty and in turn bring up malnourished and poorly educated children of their own. This vicious cycle must be broken.

The fund collected through Child Sponsorship Program will go to a pool, which it is wisely used to build school for education purpose, develop the infrastructure for easier accessity, medical treatment for heatlh care, and increase the productivity and income. Thus, the money that we donated does not go to the child directly, instead, benefit the whole village.

Kuan Niang, Thailand

A southern province of , 40 km away from Hat Yai.

Praiburng, Thailand

A district in north-eastern Sri Saket Province.

In both Kuan Niang and Praiburg, World Vision works to : -

Develop and improve the quality of life of the children, their families and communities through the availability of basic infrastructure and agricultural facilities

Provide access to education, skills training, basic nutrition and health care

Engage local leaders in problem-solving and development programmes

Mya Nanda, Myanmar

The Yon Kyi Chin ADP in Kawthaung is located in Myanmar 's Tanintharyi Division. It supports 300 children. At Yon Kyi Chin, World Vision aims are to : -

Improve the health status of the community particularly children and women

Reduce the malnutrition rate from 40% to less than 5%

Provide care and support to HIV/AIDS patients and their families and to educate the community about the disease

Upgrade education standard of the community via formal and non-formal educational programmes

Increase employment prospects through vocational and skills training

Bati, Cambodia

Located in the Bati district of Takeo Province about 50 km Southwest of Phnom Penh, this ADP supports 1,104 children and benefits a total of 31,188 people. In Bati, World Vision's focus is to : -

Improve the quality of education for children

Provide appropriate technical training and small loans for income generating activities

Meet water needs through the installation of proper infrastructure and irrigation channels

Train community leaders in leadership and organisational skills, primary healthcare and specific diseases

Kangayam, India

An urban slum project, the Kangayam ADP is located in Coimbatore City , Tamil Nadu. This ADP supports 600 children and benefits approximately 14,498 people. In Kangayam, World Vision works to : -

Instil in the children and their families the importance of academic education and vocational training

Implement preventive and curative health care and sanitation programme

Increase employment opportunities and income via skills training to women and youth

Nalaikh, Mongolia

The Nalaikh ADP is located 35km east of the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. Comprising primarily of Khazaks, a minority group, Nalaikh supports 1,665 children and benefits more than 21,237 people. The aims of the Nalaikh community project are to : -

Develop the leadership and organizational skills of the people

Provide opportunity for the community to identify and combat the root causes of their poverty

Ensure economic justice by providing opportunities for new and innovative income generation ventures

Care for the children's education and health

Yongsheng, China

The Yongsheng-Luide ADP comprises 1,084 children and has, to date, benefited more than 14,498 people. The aims of the Yongsheng-Luide community project are to : -

Improve primary health among children

Improve the education for children, especially the girls

Increase agriculture output for food security

Implement reforestation programmes to improve overall ecological systems for long-term sustainable agricultural development

Heibei, China

Heibei is a new development area of World Vision Malaysia. It is 293 km away from Beijing, drought and flood are very common at this area.

Hotan, China

Hotan s located at South West of Xinjiang, 2,000km away from the capital of Urumqi. As it is located next to the Taklimakan Desert, windstorm, sandstorm and extremely low precipitation have retarded social and economic development.

At the Xinjiang Hotan ADP, World Vision works to : -

Improve the community's health particularly that of malnourished children

Improve the quality of education and education facilities

Develop local resources for better income generation

Address the environmental conditions in the community threatened by the encroaching desert.

Marjeyoun, Lebanon

In Lebanon, World Vision Malaysia’s focus is on Marjeyoun, a semi rural area located in the southern part of Lebanon, approximately 103 kilometer from Beirut. With a population of 80,000, the Marjeyoun community project seeks to address the following issues : -

high unemployment rate

lack of educational opportunities

insufficient healthcare and sanitation systems

environmental pollution and agricultural problems

high immigration of youth to city or abroad

mental trauma requiring healing and reconciliation

Nueve Amanecer, El Salvador

The Nuevo Amanecer ADP is located about 110km from the capital San Salvador . It supports 250 children and benefits a total of 7240 people. This ADP aims to : -

Provide access to formal education and good healthcare

Increase agriculture production and preserve the natural resources through water management

Train and develop local community leaders

Orlando East, South Africa

Our ADP in South Africa is located in Orlando East, a community in Soweto , outside of Johannesburg . It supports 496 children and benefits a total of 50,000 people. The objectives of the Orlando East ADP are to : -

Improve educational standards with particular focus on practical life skills

Assist the community to access capital loans for the setting up of small businesses

Expand social choices of the young through development and equality initiatives

Source : http://www.worldvision.com.my

East Timor : Major relief effort under way

2006-06-03T22:30:00.000+08:00

World Vision is urgently organising food supplies to be shipped into East Timor to escalate its response amid reports that up to 100,000 people have been displaced by violence and looting.

The wife of the East Timor President, Kirsty Sword Gusmao, has described the situation as “tragic and a humanitarian disaster.”

Due to security fears, World Vision has been operating a limited relief effort to deliver supplies to camps it has been working in since the start of the unrest.

World Vision food stores in East Timor have now been all but exhausted.

“The security situation is still very bad. The Dom Bosco School, where up to 15,000 people were huddled in squalid conditions, was attacked by gangs and two people were stabbed,” World Vision Australia Chief Executive Tim Costello said.

“We have been forced to limit our operations due to the fears if we are too active our compound will be looted and our staff attacked because no permanent security can be provided to us.

“Once the security situation improves we will significantly increase our response to the needs of those people who are in fear of their lives and whose communities have been rocked by looting and house burning,” Costello said.

World Vision is flying supplies including rice, high protein soybean powder and blankets to Darwin and will then ship them into Dili. We are also procuring supplies in Darwin.

A major concern is that food supplies in East Timor are running low, a situation made worse by the looting of WFP and some government food stores. There is also the danger that limited access to water will cause diseases to spread.

Source : http://www.wvasiapacific.org/content/view/113/76/

Happy New Year 2006!!!

2006-01-26T22:30:00.000+08:00

I am so glad to receive a greeting card from my Xinjiang sponsored child.

我很开心收到我的新疆助养童寄给我的贺年卡。

She wrote to me the following message : -

她写了以下的讯息：-

"I sincerely wish you happiness, cheerfulness and success!

真诚地祝您幸福、快乐、成功！

This card is written by elder sister on my behalf."

卡是由姐姐代我写的。

(Note : She is now at 5 years old, yet to attending school)

（注：她今年五岁，尚未上学）

My first sponsored child - Year 2005

2005-06-29T22:30:00.000+08:00

My first sponsor child, living at Xinjiang Hotan ADP, China. She is 4 years old when I first sponsored her in year 2005.

我第一个助养童是来自中国新疆，我从2005年开始助养她的时候是四岁。

She is yet to go to school, having 1 brother and 2 sisters. Parent are self-employed as subsistence farmer.

她有一位哥哥和两位姐姐，双亲以农业为生。

I wish she will be grown up happily and healthily, also have the opportunity to go to the school.

我希望她可以快乐、健康地成长，也希望将来她可以有机会上学。

Background
背景

Hotan is located in the southwest of Xinjiang, about 2,000 km from Urumqi, the province capital. Of a total area of 250,000 sq km, only 3.6% is inhabitable oasis and 96.4% is barren desert. It has a population of 1.58 million, of which 96.9% is Uygur, 2.9% is Han and 0.2% is other ethnic minority groups. As it is located next to the Taklimakan Desert, windstorm, sandstorm and extremely low precipitation have retarded social and economic development.

和田地区地处新疆维吾尔自治区的西南，距首府乌鲁木齐二千公里，占地约二十五万平方公里，其中绿洲面积仅占3.6%，96.4%是沙漠。总人口约158万，维吾尔族占总人口96.91%，汉族占2.89%，其他民族占0.2%。它位于塔克拉玛干大沙漠便于风暴、沙暴为邻，超低的雨量深深影响当地的社会和经济发展。

Project Goals
计划目标

Improve the community's health especially the health of children facing malnutrition.

改善社区健康状况，特别是营养不良的儿童。

Enhance the poor learning condition in the mountainous areas by improving teaching quality, dormitory and school facilities.

改善山区学习环境，提升教学素质、住宿和学校设备。

Develop local resources for better income generation to improve the farmers' livelihood, and

发展当地资源增加收入，续而改善农夫生计。

Improve the environmental conditions in the community which is threatened by the encroaching desert.

改善面临被沙漠侵蚀威胁的社群居住环境。

World Vision Malaysia

2005-03-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

I first got to know about World Vision was through astro program of Yang Wei Han's song, namely Children (杨伟汉~孩子). Can't remember the exact date, but that was around March 2005 if not mistaken.

《孩子》

这里没有花香鸟语
这里没有春风夏雨
这里有无数个脆弱的生命
掉落在遗忘的大地

我们用多少的努力
去交换多少的悲剧
可别忘了内心那一点点光明
它依然能照亮这大地

孩子别哭泣！
过去的终究是过去
孩子别放弃！
未来世界需要你

让我牵着你的手陪你看日月的交替
用爱灌溉这片大地
终有一天我们会再度相遇
改写我们的过去

啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦。。。。。。

I was inspired by the lyrics, then started to surf internet about World Vision. I browsed through : -

http://www.worldvision.com.my

http://www.wvi.org

Later on, I saw the Astro AEC program by Jason Yeoh (杨嘉贤), they have a 3 episode series of sponsor visit to Xin Jiang development area. I followed through all the 3 episode in 3 weeks time, then I decided to sign up for the child sponsorship program.