Photo: Jon Warren/World Vision
From junk scavenger to business owner
Join the global call: “I want all children to Survive 5!” You have the opportunity now to change this. Child Health Now’s Global Week of Action is just around the corner, on 1-8 May 2014. Sign up now at childhealthnow.org/GWA for updates, information and ways to get involved. We know that when people like you from around the world stand together, change does happen. In 2012, more than 2.2 million people in over 70 countries called on
Kids’ Corner Water matters
To be healthy you need at least 50 litres of clean water each day. That’s not much, considering the average Australian uses more than 200 a day *.
But in many places where sponsored children live, there isn’t enough water. And it’s often dirty, making people sick.
* This includes drinking, washing, cleaning and cooking.
Water fact 1 One in six people in the world don’t have clean drinking water.
Water fact 2 The average distance someone in Africa or Asia walks for water is six kilometres.
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Supporter Newsletter March 2014
Antora and her family were constantly getting diseases from drinking dirty water. But thanks to child sponsors, these troubles are over. Photo: Ken Duncan
world leaders to stop children dying before their fifth birthday. Leaders listened and change has started. But much more still needs to be done, and you are vital to making sure world leaders finish the job. Your voice and actions can create a world where all children Survive 5!
Visit childhealthnow.org/GWA today.
The top th areas World V ree ision works in that you’re most interested in are Africa, A sia and Australia .
Where do World Vision funds go? Dira spent her childhood scavenging for recyclables. “I needed to scavenge the junk in order to earn money,” she explained. “We did not have food to eat.”
Water has different names in different countries. Can you find these words and guess from the list which country they come from? See answers below. AGUA, BIYO, JALA, MAJI, TUBIG, TUK, VODA Bangladesh, Bosnia, Cambodia, Peru, Philippines, Somalia, Tanzania.
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Agua = Peru (Spanish); biyo = Somalia (Somali); jala = Bangladesh (Bengali); maji = Tanzania (Swahili); tubig = Philippines (Filipino); tuk = Cambodia (Khmer); voda = Bosnia (Bosnian)
Every child’s fifth birthday is a special milestone. But every year, more than 6.6 million children don’t live to see it.
Through Child Rescue, Dira developed skills to run her own hairdressing salon and overcome poverty. Photo: Ratana Lay/World Vision
Our Financial Statements for 2013 can be viewed at worldvision.com.au/annualreports
It was a dangerous life for a young girl. One day, “a young man put his palm to cover my mouth when I went to collect garbage at the early morning ... market,” she said. Fortunately, her older sisters were there to protect her.
Thanks to sponsors like you, Antora no longer drinks dirty water
Dira’s life turned around when a World Vision worker invited her to a drop-in centre. Thanks to Child Rescue supporters, the centre provides hundreds of vulnerable children in Cambodia with counselling, education and training. Many of them miss out on school because of child labour.
Dira learnt to read and write, and project workers helped her open a hairdressing salon. She can now support her family, and ensure they have enough food. To donate to Child Rescue please visit worldvision.com.au/childrescue or call 13 32 40.
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or a re cluded in e v Vision in a of you h cluding Worldmation, infor ring in conside ill. For more or visit 0 your W 1300 303 44 .au / m call ision.co worldv sinwills gift Join the conversation. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/WorldVisionAustralia and Twitter @worldvisionaus For more information please visit worldvision.com.au or call 1300 303 440
In Satkhira, Bangladesh, 13-year-old Antora and her mother, Kapona, would walk several kilometres each morning and evening to fetch water. The water was contaminated, but they had nothing else to drink. 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 # 7302 Send all correspondence to World Vision News, GPO Box 399, Melbourne 3001 © 2014 All material contained in this newsletter is subject to copyright owned by or licensed to World Vision Australia. All rights reserved.
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 newsletter includes references to organisations, products and initiatives which are not official endorsements by World Vision Australia.
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“We suffered from waterborne diseases as we used water from unsafe sources such as ponds and dug wells,” Kapona explains. Cows, goats, ducks and dogs used the same water. “It was disgusting but we didn’t have anywhere else to go – there was no alternative,” she says. “We were very sick,” she continues. “My daughter suffered from high fever for one week and scabies ...” But sickness was not their only threat. Kapona also worried about her daughter’s safety when they collected water. “During the rain it was difficult ... and we had no electricity at this time so it was very dark.” Thankfully, these problems are all in the past. “Nowadays we don’t get sick due to the water,” Kapona declares. Thanks to generous child sponsors, a hand-pumped well now provides over 100 families with clean water. With child sponsors’ support, the community works together to further improve sanitation by training each other in good
hygiene practices. Sponsors’ funds have also been used to install home toilets. Beyond these basic necessities, the family is grateful for their connection with Antora’s sponsors. As Kapona says, “I feel very much happy when my daughter gets a letter ... We feel there’s someone outside our country who feels for us. I feel like we get something special.” Antora shares similar feelings about her sponsor family, saying “I feel very happy.” She has a message to tell them how much their support helps: “I am well and I want to study more, and when I complete my study I want to become a nurse to serve the people.” Kapona and her family feature in our book Vision of Hope: Mother & Child, available at visionofhope.com.au. Proceeds support World Vision’s work to transform lives in some of the world’s poorest communities.
To find out more about how child sponsorship works, visit worldvision.com.au/ sponsor-a-child/how-sponsorship-works.aspx
Former sponsored child David: how sponsorship changed my world World Vision worked with David’s community in Lamay, Peru from 1993 to 2011, improving community members’ access to health, education, nutrition, sanitation, and livelihood opportunities. During this time, 1,000 children were sponsored by generous Australians like you.
Benefits to my community “The biggest change that World Vision did here was to work with the children. They are very well fed; they have education; they are dressed properly; they are in good health ... ”
“I travelled to Germany on an exchange ... to learn about tour guiding ... I want to work here in Lamay. I want to teach people about my culture. I would like to have a travel agency and bring people so they can enjoy this area.”
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We love hearing from our supporters! Last year we surveyed 200,000 of you to better understand your experience with World Vision, and we’re pleased to share some highlights with you. A big thank you to everyone who responded!
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t t he ries abou lved o t s d n fi of you is invo rld Vision rld the o W k r o w the wo in across ngaging. mos t e
Each year, many communities like David’s reach the point where they no longer need our help. We love sharing these success stories with supporters like you who have helped make them possible. It’s a time to celebrate and look forward to helping change another child’s world! To learn more about how child sponsorship works or to sponsor a child, visit worldvision.com.au/sponsor-a-child
Celebrating our supporters! Avid traveller Shane McCarthy became a child sponsor in 1991. Since then he’s visited six of his sponsored children in countries including Colombia, Peru, Kenya and Ethiopia.
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Shane’s adventures have seen him make a speech in Spanish before a tent full of sponsored children and their parents, and eat a guinea pig during a welcoming ceremony – despite being a vegetarian! (He told his hosts it was delicious.)
r y 2015) Join World Vision, in p ar tnership for the tr ip with Inspir of ed Adventu the Himala a lifetime amidst the res, spec tacula yas. r scenery o f Test your e ndurance o n one of the your way to world’s gre Everest Ba atest trek s, se Camp, chance to and get the see World unique Vision’s wo rk in ac tion The funds . you raise w ill suppor t benefiting a projec t d local childre irec tl n and their communitie y For more in s. formation, contac t Lu or lucy @ cy on 130 inspireda 0 905 188 dventure s.com.au
of you feel a responsibility to do what you can to help the world’s poorest people. 86% of you agree that World Vision values your support, and 81% of you would refer World Vision to friends and family. Thank you for your trust and support.
Photo : Suzy
Haya, a Syrian refugee, reads out a song she wrote for her homeland while studying at a remedial education centre funded by your donations. Photos: Jon Warren /World Vision
My future plans
“World Vision supported me a lot – not just me but the whole community ... [It] motivated me to finish school and get a career.
What are supporters like you telling us?
Now aged 26, David is preparing to become a tour guide. He was the first person in his community to attend university. Photo: Ilana Rose/World Vision
“I was the first in the community to be admitted to university. Education does a lot! Now there are more young people studying ... It makes me feel happy to see this.”
My education David, who was sponsored from age five to 18, holds up his first child sponsorship photo and his last. Photo: Ilana Rose/World Vision
Th e ways of ad top four d re pover t y th ssing extreme a interested t you’re most in are wate sanitation, r a nd ch education, ild protection, a nd m and child h aternal ealth.
He’s even visited some sponsored children more than once, seeing them grow from timid children into strong teenagers “full of confidence and health”. “It’s great to see the progress ... to meet the parents and World Vision staff, and ask lots of questions,” he says. Having travelled in 35 African countries, he’s also pleased to see sponsorship addressing issues of “lost pride” by empowering people to lead their own development.
“The more projects I visit,” he says, “the more convinced I become that we are on the right path!”
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Find out about visiting your sponsored child at worldvision.com.au/MyWorldVision/Visityoursponsoredchild.aspx Photo
ich/ Wor : Lucy Aul
ld Vision
We’d love to hear your supporter story. Email service@worldvision.com.au or get in touch on Facebook.
Haya’s heartfelt song for Syria As the Syrian conflict approaches its third anniversary, a whole generation is missing out on education. More than 2.4 million Syrians have fled their homeland, seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. But with your support, refugees like 10-year-old Haya are catching up on classes at a remedial education centre in Jordan. Haya’s world was torn apart when the war claimed her father’s life. Now the centre’s helping her regain some sense of normality and further her education – just as her father always wished.
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of you think alleviating the distress or hardship of others is a very important reason for giving.
54%
of you have written a letter or email to your World Vision sponsored child at least once. To send your sponsored child an eLetter, register at worldvision.com.au/ MyWorldVision
Sy ria is in pa in. Sy ria is bleedi ng. Sy ria is cryin g fo r he r children . Her children we re he r ca ndles an d th ey ha ve fa ded out. No w we are all everyw he re outsi de Sy ria. We are cryin g an d Sy ria is cryin g blood be ca us e he r children are miss ing . Sy ria miss es he r pe op le – th e ch ildren. It is not m an hood wh en yo u ste al a smile fro m th e fa ce of child or m ak e mothe r cry. Even God will ne ve r ag ree on th is inj ustice an d ne ve r ap prove of it. We, th e children, wa nt thing s to be bette r again. We wa nt to get ba ck to ou r co untry an d reb uil d it.
Let’s not forget Syria’s ch ildren. You can help give more children like H aya the opportunities they deserve by calling 13 00 303 440 or visiting worldvision.com .au/syria To hear more stories like Haya’s, follow #nolostgeneration and #childrenofsyria on Twitte r.