From this World Vision press release, the humanitarian organization gives its reaction to a new United Nations plan on maternal and child health. World Vision fights poverty worldwide by focusing on improving the lives of children and the communities around them, you can learn more about sponsoring a child by going to their website.The new United Nations initiative for global maternal, newborn and child health is a promising step toward reinvigorating progress, but neglects to adequately address some important action points, according to World Vision, the world's largest international humanitarian organisation focusing on the well-being of children.Stopping parent-to-child transmission of HIV, providing universal access to treatment for all children and mothers who need it, and ensuring...
From this World Vision press release, a project is profiled that helps the street children from the country of Georgia. World Vision fears that the project may be coming to an end and urges for it to continue. World Vision fights poverty worldwide by focusing on improving the lives of children and the communities around them, you can learn more about sponsoring a child by going to their website.By Ana ChkhaidzeGEORGIA - For three years World Vision LIFE project staff worked alongside the Georgian government, Orthodox Church, schools, police, and various NGOs, aiming to change the fate of children and youth living and working on the streets of Batumi and Kutaisi, two of Georgia’s largest cities. Now, after three years of long and difficult work, the LIFE Project is reaching its end.It...
In this press release from World Vision, the aid group talks about the six months that have passed since the Haiti earthquake and a reminder that it will take years to rebuild the country. World Vision fights poverty worldwide by focusing on improving the lives of children and the communities around them, you can learn more about sponsoring a child by going to their website.Port-au-Prince, July 12, 2010—Six months after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, World Vision says much has been done to help the people of Haiti, but the road to lasting recovery will take many years. As aid groups transition from relief to recovery efforts, providing sturdy, safe shelter to survivors is one of the most pressing and complex challenges now facing aid workers. With hurricane season already underway,...
The development ministers of the G-8 are done with their meetings to set up the agenda for their bosses later this year. The meetings didn't make any firm commitments, and had a "we'll have our people look into it and get back to you" sort of approach. From The Toronto Sun, writer Laura Payton recieved a couple of spins on the meetings and critique from World Vision. “We have agreed on a set of principles that will guide our work and a scope of actions that leave the needed flexibility for each country so that our delegates here can advise their leaders on how to build their basket of initiatives to support Canada's focus on mothers and children,” said Bev Oda, Canada's international cooperation minister.The delegations agreed their efforts must include nutrition and disease...
From World Vision Acts, a group a students put together this video that illustrates how easy it is to stop a malaria infection....
Militants attacked World Vision offices in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday. The attack killed six Pakistanis who work for the international aid organization. The Taliban, Al-Qaida and other extremest groups have strongholds in northwest Pakistan. Continued attacks on humanitarians working there have made it hard to accomplish any work to improve Pakistanis lives. From The Seattle Times, we find this summary of the attack.The attack targeted World Vision, a large Christian humanitarian group helping survivors of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake in Mansehra district, which killed about 80,000 people.The dead in Wednesday's attack, all Pakistanis, included two women, said police official Mohammad Sabir.Seven World Vision employees were hospitalized and one was missing, according to information...
UK newspaper The Telegraph has a continuing series that profiles children that are sponsored through World Vision. For the latest installment, writer Chris Harvey traveled to Sierra Leone to profile Hannah Brewah and her friend Musu Mbaimba. World Vision is the only NGO that operates in the section of Sierra Leone where Hannah and Musu live. Both of the girls were born a year before the country's civil war ended. Although they have experienced peace through most of their lives, they are also living in a country that is still trying to restore normalcy. It’s another beautifully sunny day in Kanga village, Sierra Leone. January is the middle of the dry season in tropical west Africa, and everywhere the fruit is ripe.The children of the local school, in two lines of striking blue uniforms,...
Aid group World Vision has weighed in on the differences between the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. A representative of World Vision's rapid response team says that while Haiti's quake was concentrated in one spot, Chile's was more widespread and reached remote areas.From The Christian Post, reporter Ethan Cole asked World Vision's Steve Matthews about the differences. “Haiti was concentrated and that led to the challenge of tons of aid and hundreds of aid workers being sent into a small zone,” he said. “This quake off the Chilean coast has potential to reach remote areas and thus it will be extremely difficult to assess the number of deaths and amount of damage, but we can expect that children and families will have taken the brunt of it.”The Chile quake is responsible for at...
World Vision is calling for donations to help with the new drought in India. Drought is affecting North and Central India, while floods are washing away crops in Southern India. Food prices have already sharply increased due to the weather. From this World Vision press release, we read more about the food insecurity in India. Massive food shortages are now impacting hundreds of millions of Indians with floods and droughts setting back efforts to combat poverty by years, warns World Vision.The failure of the monsoon in the north, northeast and some parts of western India, has resulted in 22% below normal rains for the country. Millions of farmers are now suffering from failed harvests or crops destroyed by flood waters. Any rains would now come to late to help farmers."India is now...
We love these stories about children getting involved, we wish we were just as smart when we were young! Erin Gowin already spent her summer collecting food for the local pantry. Now, the fourth grader will have a garage sale to benefit World Vision. If you are in the Lincoln, Illinois area tomorrow stop by.From this article in the Lincoln Daily News, reporter Candra Landers tells us about Erin.Erin's efforts to save the world don't stop there. This weekend she's planned a special sale to benefit World Vision, a Christian organization that fights poverty and injustice in underdeveloped nations. "She's been asking to do it all summer, so I thought this would be the best time," said her mother, Suzanne Gowin. Erin's sale is scheduled to coincide with a garage sale her parents are having...
The U.S. government has awarded 49 million dollars to World Vision for an aid project in Mozambique. The grant money will be used to improve health access, water and sanitation in Mozambique's Zambézia Province. World Vision is also using 12 million dollars of their own money for the project's budget. From this World Vision press release, we read more about the details of the wide ranging project that will even include cell phones and bicycles. Named “Ogumaniha,” which means “united for a common purpose” in the local Chuabo language, the program will be funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to address the health, water, sanitation and agricultural needs of the province’s children, women, and families in an integrated way. Training, technology, mobile...
Youth from throughout Baldwin County, Alabama participated in a 30 hour fast over this past weekend. The event raised money for World Vision, and the youths also helped out at the county soup kitchen. From the Press Register, reporter Andrew Dunning tells us what moved the youth to starve."This is the first time youths from St. Andrew by the Sea Community Church in Gulf Shores, Providence United Methodist Church in Spanish Fort and Christ Presbyterian Church in Daphne have teamed up to participate in the 30-hour Famine," said Sharla Berry, director of Youth Ministries at Christ Presbyterian Church. Berry said that the kids started the 30-hour fast at 6 p.m. Friday when youths gathered to hold a candlelight service. The participants lit 600 candles — one for each child who died from...
One of our favorite non-Red Wings hockey players was sent by World Vision to the mountains of El Salvador. Mike Fisher of the Ottawa Senators had already sponsored a few children through World Vision. The charity asked him to participate in a trip to film a TV commercial that will be shown in the Ottawa area to gain more child sponsorships.As well as working with the poor for a few days, Fisher was also able to see some success stories from sponsored children. Including a young woman who was able to sell eggs at a market with the help of some World Vision provided chickens. From this story that we found at Canada.com, writer Wayne Scanlan details the trip.In South America, Fisher was more or less anonymous, causing a stir just as an outsider visiting some of the poorest villages, barely...
With the G-8 meeting in Italy next week, aid organizations around the world are making their voices heard on what they would like to see done. Advocacy campaigns director for World Vision Patrick Watt, has written an opinion that the G-8 needs to firm up their commitments to aid that they made back in 2005.From The Huffington Post, we find this snippet of Watt's commentaryFour years on, what was dubbed a 'Marshall Plan' for Africa in 2005 risks disintegrating into a partial plan: * While non-G8 donors, responsible for a quarter of the total aid increase, are delivering on their side of the deal, aid from the G8 countries has actually fallen. So far, G8 countries have raised aid by just one third of the total they pledged in 2005. * Italy, the host nation, continues to slash its aid...
Two American Football players, Aaron Kampman and Donald Driver visited Kenya this summer. The mission trip to Kenya was arraigned by World Vision. The two athletes visited children and brought gifts to them. From the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, writer Mike Vandermause talks to Donald Driver about the trip. The 10-day excursion included two nights in a dorm-like hotel in Mutomo, Kenya, with no air conditioning or ceiling fans. At least the players were provided with mosquito nets so they could sleep."There's no way you would be able to sleep without mosquitoes tearing you up," said Driver. "You have bugs in your room that you've never seen in your life."Driver spent part of his teen years in Houston living out of a U-Haul truck, but some of the conditions in Africa astounded even him."It...
World Vision gives us this profile of a pregnant mother struggling with malaria. The disease is preventable, yet 10,000 pregnant women die of malaria every year in sub-Saharan Africa. Insecticide treated mosquito nets can keep people safe, but it is a struggle for aid groups to distribute the nets and make sure they are being used. From World Vision, writers Andrea Peer and Jessie Lester introduce us to Esperance. At 18 years old, Esperance contracted malaria for the first time. “It started on Tuesday,” she explains. “I had no appetite and a terrible headache. I was also coughing and felt nauseous, like I wanted to vomit. I couldn’t eat,” she says.Esperance grew up in the mountains of Rwanda, where temperatures were not warm enough to host the anopheles mosquito that carries...
Monsoon rains are about to come to Sri Lanka, and for those who are in displacement camps, the rains could cause diseases. World Vision is concerned about the poor sanitation at the camps that could create rivers of sewage running through the camps. From this World Vision press release, writer Rachel Wolff receives comments from workers in the country. “We are very worried about the outbreak of diseases,” said Suresh Bartlett, World Vision's national director in Sri Lanka. “When the rains come in two weeks or so I can’t imagine what conditions will be like due to the lack of any proper drainage and toilet system.”The sanitation facilities in the largest camps where most of the displaced are living are woefully inadequate and at least 11,500 more latrines are needed in the camps...
A recent scandal where food aid was stolen from World Vision has brought more attention to corruption within aid groups. Two World Vision workers in Liberia robbed World Vision of food and construction supplies then sold them for a profit. Since finding out about the theft, World Vision has installed more double checks to ensure the aid gets to the people. Still the question remains why there is so much graft with aid agency's, and why it's so hard to catch. In his article for Reuters Alert Net, writer George Fominyen looks into why aid seems to fall into corrupt hands.Dishonest staff are not the only problem. Some anti-graft watchers also blame corruption on a lack or resources for external monitoring."Often, in an effort to cut overhead costs, on-site external monitoring is...
The head of the world's largest Christian charitable organization is now a part of the Faith Based Initiative in the White House. Rich Stearns of World Vision was asked by Barack Obama to join a council to advise him on the Faith Based program.In this interview that we found at the Federal Way Mirror, reporter Andy Hobbs asked Rich Stearns about his work for the President. Mirror: How do you see your role on the advisory council, and how do you see World Vision's role changing or growing?Rich Stearns: A lot of this remains to be seen. What President Obama has said is that he wants this council, which is very diverse, to dig into four issues. Those four issues are making abortions less frequent in America; number two is assisting in the economic recovery — how can faith-based and...
As a fundraiser for World Vision, students from Mariner High School in Everett, Washington created art to show faces of poverty. The students created chalk drawings that shows to fellow students the plight of children in the under developed world. From the Herald, writer Eric Stevick watched the students create the artwork.The images of children from Third World countries stare up from the concrete sidewalks in front of Mariner High School.Drawn in chalk in bright shades of yellow, red and blue, they will fade with the next rainfall.In some ways, the fleeting dust portraits are an apt medium to tell stories of children from Sudan, Rwanda, Cambodia and other countries ravaged by conflict, hunger and subsistence living. Chances are they, too, will have short lives."We are trying to get...
At least 10 aid organizations have been kicked out of Darfur by the government of Sudan. Which has created of vacuum of aid to the refuges of the area. World Vision has issued a statement on the expulsions. While they themselves have yet to kicked out, they say the condition of people there remains critical.Humanitarian agency World Vision is deeply worried that the forced departure of several large relief groups from Sudan will create gaps in critical humanitarian services to thousands of vulnerable children and adults, putting them at risk in the war-torn region of Darfur.World Vision's license to operate in Sudan has not been affected at this point in time, and the agency plans to continue providing more than 500,000 people in South Darfur with life-saving food, water, sanitation,...
With rebels approaching the city of Goma, World Vision staff fled the city to the Rwandan border. The staff there say the fighting is making a desperate humanitarian situation much worse. They are demanding that fighting stop and to be given safe access to the people in need.As noted in the World Vision press release, while the workers in Goma made it, another city staff is being sheltered by the UN. World Vision's Emergency Communications Advisor Michael Arunga reports from the calm but crowded Rwandan border that a group of eight international World Vision staff have arrived there safely after a high-speed drive from Goma tonight. Another dozen or so World Vision Congolese staff have returned to their families in Goma."We heard sounds of gunfire and witnessed scenes of panic near World...
from World Vision The humanitarian agency World Vision, in an effort to reduce infant mortality, has taken a bold initiative for a worldwide elimination of mosquitoes.This was made known by its President, Rich Stearns in a statement, adding that the good news is that the elimination of malaria is possible as was done in the United States in 1951.He pointed out that now it's time for the rest of the world to benefit from the U.S experience and that by God's mercy and in partnership with other humanitarian organizations and individuals, World Vision is determined to end malaria in the entire world."We have launched this initiative to: significantly increase private funding for anti-malaria programs; advocate for increased government commitments, including at least $1 billion per year from...
from The Age by Tim CostelloNEXT week political leaders will meet in New York to try to get the world's assault on poverty back on track. No doubt few business leaders in Australia will pay much heed to the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals. They should. The outcome of these goals will have a profound impact on corporate Australia.Amid the turmoil gripping world economic markets triggered by the credit crunch, it is very easy to miss the importance of this event. But the fight against poverty has great implications for the future growth of the global economy and nowhere will the impact be felt more than in Asia.It is why Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is right to take a leadership role in attending the NY meeting and why those critical of his decision to miss...
from World VisionSome 5 million are homeless following last week's devastating temblor; materials for temporary shelter urgently needed. As China enters three days of national mourning for the now 32,000 confirmed dead following the May 12 quake, World Vision continues to distribute aid and survey the needs of devastated communities in Sichuan Province.Our 12 local staff members in Qingchuan County, who began responding almost immediately after the disaster, are finding that temporary shelter remains the most urgent necessity for survivors in hard-hit areas. Tents and shelter materials, mainly plastic sheets, are in greatest need."In Mianzhu, a hard-hit region, survivors are camping out on streets, and basic needs like food, tents, and water are seriously lacking," said Mei Mei Leung,...
from News Wire Canada MISSISSAUGA, ON, World Vision is rushing aid to 10,000earthquake survivors in southwestern China, including blankets and tents forchildren and families left homeless. Children, who were buried or trapped in collapsing schools and homes,comprised a high percentage of the casualties. "This disaster is so tragic,especially for children. Many of those who survived the quake learned thattheir parents and classmates had not," said World Vision Canada managerAlice Chin Ho. Ho says that World Vision has more than 700 local staff in China whobegan to mobilize soon after news of the quake broke on May 12. An emergencyassessment team is travelling to the stricken area to assess damages and bringin preliminary supplies. The team is experienced in disaster relief,...
from World Vision * Higher prices may force agency to cut urgent hunger assistance to 1.5 million people this year * Misery increasing in poorest nations: Haiti, Somalia, Bangladesh, Sudan — and among refugees * Afghanistan: From bread-and-tea diet to “just tea” in desperately poor western provinces * World Vision calls on donor governments to fund World Food Programme’s $755 million shortfall Washington, D.C., April 28, 2008—Amid surging food prices, child malnutrition, violent unrest and the prospect of prolonged food shortages, one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations has announced a potential 1.5 million drop in the number of people receiving its food assistance.World Vision, whose work includes providing nearly 450,000 metric tons of food in...
from CNNWorld Vision, one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, announced Tuesday that it cannot feed 1.5 million of the 7.5 million people it fed last year and made an urgent appeal for international donors to step in.The cutback could affect donations to 35 of the 100 countries in which the agency works, said Rachel Wolff, media relations manager for disaster response.The cutbacks are occurring across the developing world. Some of World Vision's food aid programs have been cut altogether, such as those in East Timor and Sri Lanka, while others have been reduced, such as those in Burundi, Niger, Cambodia, North and South Sudan. The cuts affect people in nearly every region of the world.In Haiti, where food riots forced a change in government last week, the next major food...
from World VisionA child sponsored through World Vision shares education with her blind mother and aunt.By Hasanthi Jayamaha, World Vision Sri Lanka, and Rachael Boyer, Web Writer/EditorSeven-year-old Swarna sits beside her mother, gently takes her hand, and guides her finger down a page of her schoolbook. Her mother beams as she feels every tick mark — correct, correct, correct."Amma, see the picture I painted," Swarna says, next guiding her mother's finger across a drawing she made in class.Smiling, her mother recognizes the shape and says, "It's a swan."Sight for the blind"Read to me what you have written in class today," Swarna's mother asks, eager to learn what Swarna has learned.Swarna lives in Sri Lanka with her mother, her grandmother, and her aunt. Both her mother and aunt are...
from Reuters Alert Net WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 16, 2007 -- World Vision applauds Congress and President George W. Bush for increasing funding for programs to fight AIDS and malaria in fiscal year 2007."We are especially pleased that the resolution increases global AIDS funding by $1.3 billion and malaria funding by $149 million," said Robert Zachritz, World Vision's senior policy advisor for global development. "It just goes to show that even in tight budget times, the Congress and the President can work together in a bipartisan manner to fight global poverty and disease.""It is essential that we now ensure that children who are vulnerable or orphaned by AIDS are a priority when this funding is used,'' said Zachritz.World Vision, an international Christian humanitarian organization, along...