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.
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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