World Vision News - December 2014

Thank you edition

You’ve given Badal a sense of belonging Nine-year-old Badal hugs his friends as they arrive at a World Vision education centre in Delhi. Amid cheers and laughter, he entertains them with dance moves before their lessons begin.

Badal is undoubtedly the life of the group.

But he didn’t always enjoy this sense of belonging. Born with mental and physical impairments, he was given to his aunt Shamu when his parents felt unable to care for him.

Raising Badal as her own, Shamu does her best to protect him. “I try my best to provide a normal environment where he can grow, but the society does not let it happen,” she says. “People say things that are hurtful to hear. They verbally abuse Badal and mock his physical condition.”

With the little money Shamu earns each month, she couldn’t afford to send him

to a special school. Determined that he would not miss out on education, she begged teachers at the local government school to enrol him.

They eventually agreed, but school provided no respite from torment. The other children bullied and humiliated Badal, taking advantage of his vulnerability and naïve perception of friendship.

Acceptance finally came when Badal – now a sponsored child – started attending weekly classes for children with special needs at the World Vision education centre. Funded through sponsors’ contributions, the centre provides educational support so children in need can develop their skills and acquire new ones.

Together with his friends, Badal participates in learning activities like games, drawing and music. He can

In India, sponsorship has given Badal (left) educational support and the chance to be himself. Photo: Annila Harris/World Vision

be himself and express his thoughts, without being stigmatised.

“ I love the centre and the teachers who teach me here. They treat me well,” he says.

His family has noticed the difference it has made, reporting that he is speaking more and understanding better. “If the World Vision centre wasn’t there then his thinking ability wouldn’t have evolved so much,” his cousin says.

After an action-packed morning at the centre, Badal rushes home to change into his uniform. Accompanied by a World Vision staff member, he makes his way to regular school for the afternoon, happy in the knowledge that he’s not alone anymore.

Typhoon Haiyan: one year on, we’re rebuilding together When Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on 8 November 2013, the impact was devastating. A total of 14.1 million people were affected, including 5.9 million children.

Thanks to supporters like you, World Vision was able to respond in the storm’s immediate aftermath. Your generosity helped saved lives: providing essential relief items like clean water, food, hygiene kits and emergency shelter.

In the last year, you’ve helped us reach more than 766,000 people. By the end of the response, more than 1 million people will have received much-needed assistance.

The response is now focused on helping people rebuild communities and re-establish and diversify their livelihoods.

With your support, survivors have been trained in carpentry so they can not only build homes for themselves but also earn an income to support their families. They’re learning how to ‘‘build back better’’ – with homes that are more weather resilient.

Cash-for-work projects are helping to clean up school grounds and repair desks and chairs, so children like Christian can continue their education. Photo: Mark Nonkes/World Vision

In addition, your donations have helped establish learning centres for children, assist families with sanitation needs, and provide crucial supplies to medical centres.

Disaster risk reduction activities are also helping children and communities to become more resilient, with a focus on preparing for future disasters.

While restoring structures and services is a vital part of disaster recovery, repairing less visible damage is just as important. Close to 900 adults were provided with psychological training and support, and child friendly spaces were set up to allow children to regain a sense of normal life and reduce their emotional distress.

Thank you for supporting the people of the Philippines.

Despite everything they’ve endured, you’re giving them hope for a brighter future.

Over 50,000 of you fought hunger Tens of thousands of you took part in this year’s 40 Hour Famine. By giving up anything from food to furniture for 40 hours, you raised community awareness and much-needed funds to combat global hunger.

Students were a formidable force throughout the campaign.

Four thousand student leaders across the country attended Global Leaders Conventions, where they were empowered to become active global citizens and inspire their communities.

Your support he lps families gain be tter access to foo water, as well as d and cle an skills and resource s so they can inc incomes and gro rease their w more food. Ph oto : Lucy Aulich /World Vision

They also heard directly from World Vision Rwanda Development Facilitator Jean-Claude Rumenera. Twenty years on from the Rwandan genocide, he told them how their efforts would help to restore hope and change lives in countries like his.

Young humanitarians make ‘‘lemon-aid’’ After telling mum Kirra they wanted to “buy a well for the kids” from the World Vision Gifts catalogue, siblings Elijah (10), Asher (eight) and Aliya (six) came up with the idea of a lemonade stand fundraiser. Kirra oversaw the lemonade-making, but left the children to run the stand themselves.

“It’s been such a wonderful thing for them to see, the generosity of others …” Kirra says. “We even had people taking one cup of lemonade but dropping a $50 note into the kids’ tin!”

With stands outside their house and at World Vision’s national office – and a $200 donation from Take 5 magazine – the children reached their $1,425 target.

But they’re not stopping there. Their sights are now set on another World Vision gift: a stable full of animals. More lemons will be needed!

The young activists present Tim Costello with the $1,425 they raised to buy the gift of clean water for a community. Photo: Ilana Rose/World Vision

Purchase life-changing gifts starting from $5 at worldvision.com.au/gifts or call 13 32 40.

Rebecca meets her Cambodian family Earlier this year, child sponsor Rebecca Neumann cycled around Cambodia with Team World Vision and Inspired Adventures.

Through the endeavour she raised over $4,000 to support people affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

An unforgettable highlight of Rebecca’s exhilarating trip was meeting her sponsored child, Socherith.

“He was so shy to begin with,” she remembers. “It’s a feeling that is so hard to describe because he’s standing there and you’re getting out of the car. It’s even a better feeling than when you’re the bride getting out of a wedding car! It was so emotional.

“He was dressed beautifully, he was so gorgeous. I don’t have the words!”

The pair got acquainted by drawing pictures with the coloured pencils Rebecca had brought along. They chatted about school and soccer (in Socherith’s letters “he was always drawing soccer balls”), then shared a simple meal with his family.

“That was really special,” Rebecca reflects. “For that little time you were family …”

Rebecca also gained firsthand insight into the community’s progress. She visited a water plant, where they filter water for drinking and sale; and the local school, where children were learning about hygiene and their environment.

She also learnt how sponsors like her were helping to reduce child mortality and supporting youth groups to develop the next generation of leaders.

“They have a plan and target and they know exactly what they’re doing …”

Rebecca says. “To be able to see what programs they were running, how far they had come, was great.”

For your own life-changing experience, find out more about visiting your sponsored child at worldvision.com.au/ MyWorldVision.

For Rebecca, meeting her sponsored child in Cambodia was “one of those life-changing experiences”. Photo: Lucy Aulich/World Vision

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Without your support, our work simply would not be possible. Your generosity and dedication is changing lives around the world.

October 2013 – September 2014 4

YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE TO CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES IN:

YOU STOOD UP, SPOKE OUT AND SPREAD THE WORD!

67 804

You influenced the world’s most powerful leaders to take a stand against child labour. Because of your actions,

countries.

projects at home and abroad.

YOU CAME THROUGH IN A CRISIS! Your donations of over

$1.1m

to the South Sudan Crisis Appeal helped to provide emergency supplies and basic essentials to people in desperate need.

You gave over

$2.2m

to the Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal, offering urgent relief to people fleeing the bloody conflict – both within Syria and in neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon.

You contributed over

$83k

to the Gaza emergency response through our Disaster Ready fund, providing life-saving food and supplies to affected families and support for children suffering emotional distress.

You donated over

$8.3m

to the Typhoon Haiyan Appeal.

As well as helping communities rebuild homes and infrastructure and restore livelihoods, your support provided safe spaces for children to recover from the storm’s psychological impact.

G20

employment ministers committed to working towards better international labour standards and prioritising measures to protect the 168 million children who are forced to work.

Over

10,000

of you were inspired by the 50 “Girl Rising” screenings around the country, learning about the power of education to change the world and the importance of women, men, girls and boys having equal status, rights and opportunities. And you stood up for the 13.5 million girls forced into early marriage each year, urging the Prime Minister to take action.

MYER

heard you speak out about child labour in the global cotton industry. Your letters asking them to ensure no Uzbek cotton ends up in their clothing supply chains helped prompt the Australian retailer to make positive changes.

Abolitionist Sunday events were hosted by 243 churches, representing over

25,000

Christians. Participants spread the message about the injustice of human trafficking and slavery and took action to end exploitation through their everyday consumer choices.

On Mother’s Day, 65 churches and

6,500

die from preventable complications relating to pregnancy and childbirth. You urged the Foreign Minister to fund proven, cost-effective strategies to achieve healthy births and prevent deaths from pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and under-nutrition.

YOU GAVE GENEROUSLY TO CHANGE LIVES! You spent over

$5.5m

on life-changing World Vision Gifts for your family and friends. The items you bought support activities like education, training programs and emergency relief – improving the lives of children, families and communities around the world.

Your donations to the Food Security Appeal, totalling over

$3m,

were multiplied many times through our partnership with the United Nations.

Your generosity helps to provide lifesaving food aid for millions of people through food distribution, school feeding and food for work programs.

You gave over

$850k

to our Australia Program to support Indigenous Australians working towards change. You’re walking alongside Indigenous families and communities as they tackle disadvantage and raise strong, healthy and happy children.

You sent over

400k

greeting cards to your sponsored children. Many of you included donations for other children in need, raising over $9.6 million to give them access to the same opportunities as sponsored children.

of you stood up for mothers in the AsiaPacific region, too many of whom still 5

How Aussie youth influenced world leaders

VGen

World Vision’s youth supporters made an incredible impact at this year’s G20 Summit. Through our first ever youth-to-youth campaign, they helped encourage employment ministers from the world’s 20 largest economies to take a strong stand against child labour.

The road to this remarkable result began in January, when four members of VGen – World Vision’s youth movement – travelled to Myanmar with World Vision staff to learn about child labour and human trafficking.

The “VGenners” met with community activists, some of whom shared heartbreaking personal stories of the exploitation they’d endured. But they also heard stories of hope, visiting a World Vision centre where children learn how to protect themselves from trafficking and exploitation.

The experience strengthened the Australian youths’ appreciation of their freedoms and their resolve to help end global poverty and injustice.

After months of hard work, they launched their # FreeTo campaign.

Youth supporters at the #FreeTo campaign launch in Sydney earlier this year. Photo: Lucy Aulich/World Vision

The campaign is about ensuring every child is free to play, learn and grow.

Supporting World Vision’s child protection and advocacy work, it seeks to educate the public and politicians about the world’s 168 million child labourers and bust the myths surrounding child labour.

By focusing not only on the moral argument against child labour but also the economic reasons, the campaign pushed child labour as a key issue in the G20’s discussion of global economic growth. Now for the first time, the G20 has committed to taking action to help eradicate child labour.

It just goes to show that together you can do anything – even change the world!

Youth around the country spread the word by raising awareness, sending letters and meeting with their local MPs to ask them to champion the cause.

Supporters’ generosity celebrated across the country In recent months, a group of long-term and major World Vision supporters were invited to attend one of 10 special events across Australia. The events celebrated supporters’ generosity and ongoing commitment to creating lasting change for people living in poverty.

In the lead-up to the 10th anniversary of the devastating Boxing Day tsunami, supporters also heard from World Vision staff about their firsthand experiences with emergencies. The speakers shared how we respond to emergencies around the globe and our plans to improve our response to disasters yet to come.

Corporate partners attend a CEO lunch in Melbourne. Photo: Phil Smith/World Vision

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Thank you to everyone who attended. Your support is helping to provide people in need with the skills and resources to overcome hardship and build a sustainable future.

A big thank you from Thankyou!

Thankyou Group cofounders Jarryd Burns, Justine Flynn and Daniel Flynn visit a World Vision food program in Kenya. Photo: Kevin Tan/ World Vision

“What’s happened has been remarkable,” says Daniel Flynn, co-founder of Thankyou Group, reflecting on the organisation’s partnership with World Vision.

A social enterprise, Thankyou empowers Australian consumers to fund life-changing projects with organisations like World Vision through its food, bottled water and body care products.

Daniel puts the business’s growing success down to Australians’ desire to make an impact.

Through the World Vision partnership, he reports, supporters like you have helped over 107,000 people get access to safe water; provided 112,000 people with health and hygiene training; and funded over 23,000 people with access to food aid.

Daniel has seen your support in action. Travelling with World Vision, he met staff who had moved their entire families into communities for projects lasting up to 15 years. As a result, he says, the difference you’re making “wasn’t just a quick fix”.

“There’s real sustainable change in these communities.”

For Daniel, a particularly memorable story of change was that of 15-year-old Vianney in Burundi. Before World Vision built a well in Vianney’s village, he had to carry water a long way to his house – twice a day, every day.

The walk was exhausting, and the dirty water made him sick.

After he and Vianney got talking, Daniel had a go at the water walk himself. “[The jerry can] was heavy and I had a sore neck for about two weeks – which I probably shouldn’t admit to, but Vianney laughed a lot on our way back … He kept saying through the translator … ‘I’ll carry it for you, I’ll help you’, ‘cause he could see I was struggling,” Daniel says.

“For me personally it was a really big moment,” he says, knowing the weight that was taken off Vianney’s shoulders when his family gained easy access to safe water. “It’s exciting, and I think we all feel that we’ve played a small part in that.”

For everyone who’s helped people like Vianney, Daniel has a message: “From the team here at Thankyou, we want to say a big thank you to every World Vision supporter who’s helped partner with us … to make an impact in this world.”

Why I’m including World Vision in my Will Long-time supporter Anne Thompson shares why she’s decided to leave World Vision a gift in her Will.

My father was killed during WWII, and I was raised by my mother and grandparents. They instilled in me the need to appreciate my blessings and help the less fortunate.

I first became involved with World Vision in 1986, when I started sponsoring a child in Thailand. He went on to become a mechanic, and it was a great thrill to see him grow and prosper.

Since then I’ve sponsored many children – currently a little girl in Bangladesh and a boy in India.

After retiring, I volunteered with World Vision at the state office in Brisbane.

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Cambodia with other sponsors and staff.

A highlight of the trip was visiting an arts and crafts training centre in Siem Reap.

When we met our guide and introduced ourselves, his face just lit up. He told us he’d always wanted to meet someone from World Vision, to say thank you for helping his community.

World Vision built a well in his village, so people no longer got sick or died from drinking dirty water. And with World Vision’s help, he received a good education. Now he volunteers at the centre to give back to his community.

This impromptu encounter really proved to me how worthwhile my contributions are.

In my later years, I’ve felt it’s important to make sure my support continues. I’m

Anne is leaving a gift to World Vision in her Will so she can change lives for years to come. Photo: Dave Martin/World Vision

including World Vision in my Will so I can keep helping people after I’m gone.

To find out more about including World Vision in your Will, please call us on 13 32 40, email wills@ worldvision.com.au or visit worldvision.com.au/giftsinwills.

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All figures in this publication are correct at the time of printing.

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