September 2013 by World Vision Australia

Supporter Magazine September 2013

You are helping to change lives. Read how inside.

Melissa Doyle shared an unforgettable reunion with her sponsored child Khulan in Mongolia. Read their story on pages 10-11.

Sponsors like you transform Alphonsine’s world When World Vision video producer Lay Htoo met Alphonsine, he found a cheeky, playful little girl struggling to emerge from the depths of extreme poverty. “She was already three years old but she was like a toddler who had just started to walk,” Lay recalled. “Her knees were not strong. I could see the malnutrition.” Lay met Alphonsine and her family back in 2009 when World Vision had recently arrived in her community in rural Rwanda to start a child sponsorship program. Alphonsine’s family, like many others, was unable to grow enough food for their needs because of land scarcity and infertile soil. “All they had to eat for the day was a handful of sweet potatoes,” Lay said. The community had only one water source and in the dry season it ran low and families like Alphonsine’s were forced to drink dirty water from nearby streams just to survive. Lay said what struck him the most about the family’s desperate situation was the ramshackle mud hut they called home. “It was just a pile of mud with sticks and they had put on the roof whatever they could find – leaves, sticks, old shoes, plastic bags – to try and stop the rain coming in.” Lay, who at the time had a little girl of his own around the same age, said Alphonsine’s situation broke his heart. “I imagined my own daughter going to sleep in that place ... there was no security or safety there.” When Lay returned to visit Alphonsine last year, he didn’t know what he might find. “I tried to prepare myself for the worst news. Anything could have happened to her.” But when he approached the place where the family’s mud hut When Lay first met Alphonsine, she was weak from malnutrition. Photo: Kristin Stephensen/ World Vision

Seeing the trans formation in Alph wellbeing confirm onsine’s health an ed Lay’s belief th d at child sponsors does work . Phot hip really o Nicholas Ralph /Wor ld Vision

once stood, he was astonished to see a well-built house with an iron roof in its place. “Suddenly a chubby little baby came out of the house, and then Alphonsine’s mother Donatta came out,” Lay explained. He discovered that the healthy baby was Alphonsine’s new brother, Jean-Dottier. And then he finally saw Alphonsine emerge from the house, taller, healthier and smiling shyly. “To see Alphonsine alive was a miracle to me. But to meet her little brother as well was truly exceptional.” Lay learned that life had improved dramatically for Alphonsine and her family, thanks to the support of compassionate Australian child sponsors like you. With agricultural training and support, Alphonsine’s mother is now able to grow more food and she has received a cow as part of a community livestock project that provides her children with nutritious milk and fertiliser for her crops. Alphonsine has started nursery school and is learning how to write. For Lay, seeing the change in Alphonsine and her family was proof to him that child sponsorship really does work.

“ The community is the same. The

land is the same. The weather is the same. Why is Alphonsine’s situation getting better? It’s because of the development activities taking place in the community.”

Sponsorship paves way for university degree Ngam, 21, holds a small photo in the palm of her hand. It’s a picture of the timid schoolgirl this confident university student used to be. The little girl in the picture loved her toy doll – a gift for good grades from her dad. She also loved her school friends and “uncle” Alex, her World Vision sponsor from Australia. And, just like you are doing for your own sponsored child, Alex was helping to make Ngam’s dream come true.

Ngam remembers the letters and cards she received from Alex. “ I was so happy because a person from a distant place took care of me and shared joy with me and my family,” she recalls. Even from those very early days, Ngam dreamed of becoming a teacher. But at the time her parents could only manage to harvest one annual rice crop, barely enough to feed the family, let alone provide income to keep Ngam and her siblings in school. “Our normal food was salt, chilli and boiled leaves ...” Ngam remembers. “We lacked rice between June and August because we couldn’t harvest it during that time… “I got used to having no breakfast when going to school. Sometimes I felt very hungry and couldn’t focus on studying. I just wanted the school to be over quickly so I hurried to return home and ate any food that my mother cooked.” Ngam was among the first children to be sponsored when World Vision arrived in her community back in 1999. Through

She will never for get of herself, aged eight. Ngam holds a photo he made in her life . r and the dif fer ence her Austr alian sponso Vision d orl an /W Photo : Le Thiem Xu

the generous support of sponsors like you, Ngam’s parents were equipped with skills and knowledge to improve their income, including improved rice farming techniques and how to raise fish and livestock. “My parents are farmers, but they can afford education [for] me and my siblings,” Ngam explains. “It is their impressive effort. And it’s World Vision who supported my parents to achieve the work.” Now in her first year of a teaching degree, Ngam hopes that she can return to serve her remote community in central Vietnam after graduation. “To achieve my dream of becoming a teacher, I’ll do my best to study well. I hope my story will be an encouragement for others to sponsor children in poor communities.” Ngam doubts she would ever have made it to university without “uncle” Alex and the support that other Australian child sponsors provided for her community. Ngam with her mum and sisters. Her goal is to teach children in her remote community. Photo: Le Thiem Xuan/World Vision

A word from Tim Costello Dear friend Life changing. When people ask me to describe the difference we are making in poor communities, these two words really sum it up for me. During a decade as head of World Vision Australia, I’ve had the extraordinary privilege of seeing firsthand how your compassionate support is bringing deep and lasting changes to the lives of children and their families. In June, I had another chance to witness this when I joined Melissa Doyle in Mongolia for a reunion with her sponsored child Khulan, who she first met back in 2006. The results of Mel’s investment in Khulan and her community were clearly evident and you can read Mel’s impressions of this unforgettable experience on pages 10-11. Because of generous Australians like you, girls like Khulan are gaining the tools and opportunities to break free from poverty and determine their own futures. By the way, if you’ve ever doubted the power of girls to change the world, then don’t miss the documentary Girl Rising which is screening around Australia this October. Visit our website at worldvision.com.au for more details.

Where do World Vision funds go? Our Financial Statements for 2012 can be viewed at: worldvision.com.au/annualreports

Our feature on pages 6-7 about the Monty Action group is a wonderful reminder to me of how World Vision is also changing lives in our own suburbs and towns, as Australians forge lifelong connections through their shared desire to make a difference. To changes of an entirely different kind now, and I hope you will spare a thought for the children and families whose lives have been turned upside-down by ongoing conflict in Syria. In recent weeks I’ve met Syrian refugees in both Lebanon and Jordan who’ve been forced to flee for their lives and who now face a life of uncertainty in host communities stretched to breaking point, or in vast refugee camps. On page 12, you’ll find details of our Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal and I urge you to donate because these desperate families need our generous support. Thank you, as always, for partnering with us to change lives. Shalom,

Tim Costello World Vision Australia Chief Executive

If you wish to unsubscribe from World Vision News, please email service@worldvision.com.au If you wish to receive World Vision News Online, please subscribe at worldvision.com.au/news/newsonline © World Vision Australia. World Vision Australia ABN 28 004 778 081 is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. Ref # 7135 Send all correspondence to World Vision News, GPO Box 399, Melbourne 3001 © 2013 All material contained in this magazine is subject to copyright owned by or licensed to World Vision Australia. All rights reserved.

Above photo: Tim Costello felt privileged to share in the joyful reunion between Melissa Doyle and her sponsored child Khulan in Mongolia. Photo: Suzy Sainovski/World Vision Cover photo: Melissa Doyle with her sponsored child Khulan, who she first met in 2006. Photo: Suzy Sainovski/World Vision

AC F I D World Vision Australia is a member of the Australian Council for

International Development (ACFID) and is a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct. The Code requires members to meet high standards of corporate governance, public accountability and financial management.

This magazine includes references to organisations, products and initiatives which are not official endorsements by World Vision Australia.

If you’re confident, outgoing and passionate about making a difference, don’t wait – apply for this role at worldvision.com.au/AboutUs/ Careers.aspx

Want to work for World Vision? Would you like to use your skills to help create a better world for children living in poverty? World Vision Australia is looking for casual staff to join our Christmas campaign working in shopping centres and at events around Australia promoting child sponsorship and raising funds for World Vision’s vital work in communities globally.

Veasna, aged seven, from Cambodia, was very happy when he received a birthday card from his Australian sponsor. Photo: Davit Choun/ World Vision

Make sure your sponsored child knows you’re thinking of him or her by signing and returning the gift card you received.

Fun, friendship and 40 years of World Vision support Gathered in a church hall in the north-eastern Melbourne suburb of Montmorency is a group of women who, on this occasion, are all wearing red. For 40 years, members of The Monty Action for World Development Group have come together at biannual luncheons to raise money for World Vision Child Sponsorship, with 2013 marking their ruby anniversary. There are red hats and beads, red dresses and shirts, and red iced cupcakes to celebrate the milestone. Decades of sponsorship letters and photos are also on display, and a “bargain table” and another collection of goods for auction line the edges of the room.

According to the group’s coordinator Bev Ward, themes have been a common occurrence for the group, with about 60 invitations to dress up during the four decades of luncheons. But at the heart of these biannual luncheons is more than just fun and friendship. It is a group of women committed to making a difference for the world’s poorest communities. The three women who have been involved since the start – Bev Ward, Margaret Bentley and Imelda Brown – say the group came together because people wanted to learn about the issue of global poverty, and they wanted to do something about it.

“Now there’s that focus through television programs where they’re showing what’s happening around the world, but in those days there wasn’t a lot of knowledge,” Imelda explains. The group – which has grown from 10 or 12 people in 1973 to around 67 today – has helped the women learn more, and allowed them to make a difference. “It was that personal touch,” Margaret recalls; they knew the names and stories of the children and communities who were benefiting from their support. Bev – who uses the biannual events to read out her correspondence with the children – estimates the group has raised between $25,000 and $30,000 over the past 40 years. This has supported about 20 children, with any additional funds given to other World Vision appeals such as the Multiplying Gift Appeal.

Would you like to send a letter or email to your sponsored child like Bev and her friends? Visit worldvision.com.au and register for MyWorldVision to see how.

“ We’ve had a number [of children] that we’ve sponsored from being very young ... until they’ve been able to go on to supporting themselves,” Bev says.

Their sponsored children have hailed from countries including Korea, Bangladesh, Mozambique and now, Vietnam and Tanzania. “We’ve had a few children up to [age] 14 and then we’ve been given new ones,” Imelda adds. Yet for the members of The Monty Action for World Development Group, it matters little how long they sponsor a child for, or even where they come from. The group gladly welcomes new sponsored children into their lives, and members share the same wish for all the children they support – that families and communities will become self-sufficient and empowered to meet their own needs, and the needs of generations to come.

Left: The Monty Action Group celebrate 40 years of changing lives through child sponsorship. Below: A collage of memories – the group reflect on the children they’ve supported and the experiences they’ve shared. Photos: Lucy Aulich/World Vision

Beauty and Belinda: Happy and healthy thanks to you!

We couldn’t help but share this exciting update with you about Beauty and Belinda from Zimbabwe. We first introduced these sisters to you back in 2011, when they were receiving food aid made possible by your generous donations to the Multiplying Gift Appeal. Back then, the girls were being cared for by their frail greatgrandfather Ameki. And despite being just four years old, Beauty had become like a mother to little Belinda, cooking, cleaning and collecting firewood, and wiping away her tears. Food aid was literally the only thing keeping them going. Recently, World Vision staff member Bernadette Kennedy had the opportunity to visit the girls and see how they were doing now.

Bernadette said that when she arrived, she found the two sisters waiting with huge grins on their faces at the front gate. “As they extended their tiny hands for me to shake – my heart melted,” she said. Bernadette discovered that the girls had recently been able to move in with their grandmother who is better able than Ameki to provide them with adequate care and support. They have enough to eat and they are in school.

“ It is obvious they are in a much better

situation than two years ago, and are happy, healthy and cared for,” Bernadette said. “I am so proud of our supporters, who helped make this happen.”

Left: Full of energy, Beauty (left)and Belinda greeted our team with huge smiles. With support from donors like you, their future looks much brighter. Photo: Ilana Rose/ World Vision Above: When we first met the girls (inset), food aid was literally keeping them going. Now they are much healthier and have started school. Photos: Suzy Sainovski and Leonard Makombe/World Vision Below: Beauty and Belinda are now being cared for by their grandmother and they enjoy playing with their cousins. Photo: Ilana Rose/ World Vision

n she and Mel t year old w he gh ei y sh a as Khulan w 06 . met back in 20

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Mel Doyle’s special reunion – seven years on When Channel 7 presenter and World Vision Ambassador Melissa Doyle first met her sponsored child Khulan in Mongolia back in 2006, Khulan gave Mel a drawing to take home to Australia as a memento of their special day. The colourful drawing of a little girl and her mother, a garden of pretty flowers and a big yellow sun still takes pride of place on a wall in Mel’s Sydney home today. It’s a symbol of the bond she shares with Khulan. And the two had the wonderful opportunity to meet again recently, when Mel returned to visit Khulan in Mongolia seven years later – this time with her 12-year-old son Nicholas.

Mel described the trip as a truly “ life-changing experience”. Her first trip in 2006 took place during the freezing Mongolian winter when everything was covered in snow. This time she visited on a warm summer’s day under bright blue skies. Khulan, in traditional Mongolian dress, greeted Mel with a special welcoming ceremony. 10

After so many years, Mel found the changes in Khulan were dramatic. “She’s now 15 and beautiful and bright with a promising future.” When they first met, Khulan and her mum shared a tiny two-room hut with extended family in a town in northern Mongolia, not far from the Russian border. She still lives in the same town, but there’s been a new addition to the family, a little sister called Erkhsaran. And they now live in a sturdy wooden house with a good-sized kitchen and enough space for Khulan to do her homework. Through a translator, Mel chatted with Khulan and found out she has almost finished ninth grade, that she is happy at school and that she’s in an advanced maths class. Mel was surprised to learn that, of all careers to choose from, Khulan wants to become a customs inspector at the border when she’s finished school. Through child sponsorship, Khulan and many other children in her community are benefiting from educational support and improvements to school facilities. Local health services have been enhanced and families have gained opportunities

to improve their incomes through activities like bee-keeping and by forming small business groups. Mel said visiting Khulan again had reminded her that as a child sponsor, she was not just helping one child, or one family, but an entire community. “It was just lovely to go back and see that it had worked, that it had changed her life and to become a customs officer is her goal, which I thought was wonderful.” As well as reuniting with Khulan, Mel also had the chance to see World Vision’s work in action and to spend time with a family of traditional nomadic herders. “It’s a fascinating country,” she said. “It’s such a mix of old and new. You know in the city there’s development ... But then it’s like stepping back in time, the way people live [the] nomadic herding [way of life].” Mel said her return to Mongolia was like a dream come true. “To reunite with my World Vision sponsor child Khulan and share the experience with my son Nicholas, that has been unforgettable. “I’m going to go back in [another] seven years to see if she becomes a customs officer!”

See the work you have helped make possible in Mongolia featured in the beautiful Ken Duncan book Vision of Hope: Mother and Child. Mel was delighted to discover that Khulan has grown into a bright and ambitious teenager. She spent time with Khulan’s family and even helped out with the daily chore of gathering firewood. All photos: Suzy Sainovski/World Vision

For more information visit

visionofhope.com.au

Home is a park bench: Syria refugees find nowhere else to go For most children a park bench is a place for picnics, sunshine and fun. But for Yasmin, aged four, it’s home.

With no immediate end to the conflict in sight, children like Yasmin face months of extreme hardship and uncertainty, not knowing if they will ever return to a normal life.

She’s been living there with her mum, dad and three older brothers since they fled fighting in Syria for Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley with just the clothes on their backs They stay by the bench all day and at night they sleep in a local mosque or an open train carriage in the town centre.

World Vision is working to help families who have fled Syria into Jordan and Lebanon. In Jordan, we are working with other aid groups to build a new refugee camp that will house up to 110,000 people. Our work with families like Yasmin’s includes:

Yasmin’s mum Layla* says they had no choice but to leave Syria as fighting intensified in recent months. They fled when their neighbour’s home was attacked. They were terrified theirs would be next.

“All I want is shelter for my children,” says Yasmin’s mum, Layla. “ I don’t care about anything else.” Yasmin and her family are among more than 1.7 million Syrians who’ve fled to neighbouring countries – including Lebanon and Jordan – since fighting started two years ago. A further 4.25 million are displaced within Syria and the number of people fleeing is growing at a rapid rate. The UN estimate that this number will exceed 2 million by the end of 2013. In Lebanon, some refugees have been able to find makeshift shelters on rented land. But Yasmin’s family haven’t been able to find anywhere. As more people seek refuge, overcrowding and competition for shelter grows. 12

Yasmin and her family on a park bench in Lebanon – they call this “home” after fleeing conflict in Syria. Photo: Patricia Mouamar/ World Vision

• distributing blankets, warm clothing, fuel for heating and cooking, and personal hygiene kits; • implementing food voucher systems in partnership with the UN World Food Programme so families can buy food in local shops and support the local economy; • running Child Friendly Spaces to provide refugee children with social and emotional support and a safe place to play and learn; • supporting children aged 9-14 with daily catch-up classes and a fast track learning program so they don’t fall behind in their education; and • improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene in refugee camps.

Please help children like Yasmin by donating to our Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal. Visit worldvision.com.au/syria or call 13 32 40.

* Names have been changed.

– Sitembile, grandmother to Jennifer, 5

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“We have no water. We don’t have rest – we are always first with disease.”

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Jennifer struggles without the most basic of needs – clean water Jennifer is a quiet child who rarely smiles. She carries a look of sadness that belies her tender age. Her father has passed away and her mother tries to make ends meet as a housemaid. During the day, Jennifer is cared for by her grandmother Sitembile. Jennifer suffers constantly from headaches and diarrhoea caused by drinking dirty water. As her family can only afford one meal a day, she doesn’t have the reserves to fight off illness caused by waterborne diseases. Severe drought plagues Jennifer’s rural community and Sitembile walks nearly an hour each day to collect water from the nearest borehole. By the time she gets there the line is long and the water is running out. Sitembile firmly believes that Jennifer would not be suffering like this if there was clean water near their home. “Life would be better,” she says. “I wouldn’t have to walk so far and the children would not be sick.” Your donation can help to provide children like Jennifer with the basics they need to grow up happy and healthy.

In a case like Jennifer’s your donation could support projects that: • help children and their families gain better access to clean water; • enable communities to build and maintain wells, boreholes and other water sources; and • educate parents and children on safe water practices to help reduce illness and death caused by dirty water.

Please complete and return the coupon overleaf with your donation today to help give children like Jennifer the chance to fulfil their potential. © 2013 World Vision Australia. World Vision Australia ABN 28 004 778 081 is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. Ref # 7168

Thank you for protecting children from slavery Every year, many children like Dao* from poor communities in Laos are tricked, trafficked and exploited for their labour in neighbouring countries.

and she was never paid – by either the Thai family or the construction company. She was told her annual salary of about $690 had already been paid to the man who arranged for her to work in Thailand in the first place.

Your generous donations to Child Rescue are helping to protect children like Dao from a destiny of lifetime servitude.

When she and other girls were threatened with death if they tried to escape, Dao knew this wasn’t a job, but slavery.

At just 15, Dao left school to help bring in income for her family. When a man her father knew offered to help her find a job in Thailand, Dao accepted. After travelling to Thailand by fishing boat, she began her new life with a Thai family as a domestic worker – cooking, cleaning and washing clothes. But the man who owned the housing complex where she was working forced Dao and other domestic servants from Laos to work on building sites outside the complex. They would be picked up at 5am and often work till 8pm, moving heavy bags of concrete, carrying wood and building brick fences.

But because of generous Child Rescue donors like you, Dao’s story has a happy ending. After hearing of her case, World Vision staff helped Dao’s family to notify the authorities in Laos and they worked with Thai police to investigate Dao’s case. The man who forced Dao to work on the building sites was arrested and sent to trial and Dao was reunited with her family in Laos. With counselling and support from experienced anti-trafficking staff, Dao is now rebuilding her life. She received help to set up a small grocery shop in her community that sells food, petrol and other goods. She earns enough to support herself and her family. Meanwhile, your donations continue to work in Dao’s village to teach young people about the dangers of unsafe migration and trafficking so that they don’t fall into similar traps. *Name has been changed.

Dao’s health suffered during 12 months of heavy labour. She was never offered healthcare or allowed to see a doctor;

Dao now runs a successful grocery store. Your Child Rescue donations help to protect children like her from the dangers of trafficking. Photo: Soutjai Inthirath/ World Vision

If undeliverable, return to: GPO BOX 9944 MELBOURNE VIC 3001

POSTAGE PAID AUSTRALIA

YOUR MAGAZINE INSIDE! In this issue: • Read about Melissa Doyle’s unforgettable reunion with her sponsored child in Mongolia. • Find out how a group of World Vision supporters have forged lifelong friendships whilst making a difference in children’s lives.

You are helping to change lives. Read how inside.

Supporter Magazine September 2013

Melissa Doyle shared an unforgettable reunion with her sponsored child Khulan in Mongolia. Read their story on pages 10-11.

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