Category Archives: World Vision staff stories

by | April 10, 2013 · 3:04 pm

Children’s thoughts on child sponsorship

Helen Stott, one of our fab child sponsors (and wife of our Head of Supporter Experience), shares her closing thoughts and those of her three children at the end of their visit to their sponsored child in Uganda.

I often wondered what life was like for my sponsored child. What better way to understand it than through the eyes of other children, so I’ve asked my children to each pick a moment that particularly interested them during their time in villages here in Uganda.

Melissa and AliceMelissa (age 7)
When I go back to my class at school, I would like to tell them about Alice. This is what I’ll say;

My sponsored child Alice has got no teddys at all.  And she’s only got two rooms; a dining room and a bedroom. The bedroom is split into two places, she and her two sisters and one brother sleep together. I wouldn’t want to sleep with my brothers because they are annoying. Alice’s father made the house all by himself. Alice likes her house. Alice has a very big land around her house, with bananas and peanuts. Her favourite food is rice, and her favourite game is piggy in the middle.

Alice has no hair. She is a bit shy, and me as well. Very early in the morning she gets some buckets of water. She has baby chickens that were only 3 or 4 days old, which I really liked, and I wish I had baby chickens at my house. They have wooden mats, it wasn’t splintery, but it wasn’t very comfortable.

football with Kenneth and Roggers smallCody (age 11)
When I went to  Kenneth and Roggers house I noticed it was bigger than other houses I had seen. It had four rooms. I then found that they had been sponsored for a long time and their sponsor had given them extra things. Now they had solar power so they can read at night. I hope that one day they will have cell phones since they could now charge them. They were given a cow and they bred it to get more. Me and Tanner played football with them. They didn’t have a ball, but we had brought one to give them. I don’t usually like football, but it was OK because it was 2 on 2. They liked it too.

I am happy their sponsor stayed with them a long time, as they now have a better future.

Tanner at school smallTanner (age 13)
When I arrived at the local school, all the children crowded around as we looked so unusual. I sat in a lesson on maths, and felt quite intimidated as they were very smart. I was given sums alongside them and hoped I could get them right. I had expected that they would not be as clever as a top-set UK kid – but I was wrong. This impressed me and I realised that maybe school for them was a privilege and perhaps they work harder than me!

It was exciting when I showed off a backflip. Everyone crowded around and yelled for another boy to come. He showed me he could do a backflip too. Except he did two in a row. I showed him that I could do two, so he did three, and then four! On one of them, he kicked a small boy in the face. I was pleased the boy wasn’t hurt, but surprised that no teacher came to stop us from continuing the competition. In the UK I would have got a detention just for doing a back flip, let alone for kicking another boy in the face while doing it!


 Olive and Melissa smallHelen (age still not disclosed!)
After travelling along a road, more a rambling path through mud and trees, and finding ourselves stuck in a ditch, we met Olive, a beautiful lady with a stunning smile. She welcomed us to her mud and stick home and laid out a flax mat for us to sit. Immediately I was struck by how gracefully she moved. She offered to teach Melissa and I to weave a mat, which usually a girl would learn in school.

Olive was surrounded by banana trees and good land, none of which was now hers. Her husband had become sick a few years ago and had sold the land to pay for medication. After he died, Olive was left with no land, no skills and 5 young children to bring up. Olive is also HIV+. Her wonderful neighbour has taught her to weave mats as she had no chance to learn this when she was young as she only attended  school until Year 2. She spends 4 hours each day weaving. After two weeks she has finished one mat which her neighbour then takes to market to sell for £5. Olive is too unwell to go herself.

Olives sitting room smallRecently World Vision has come to her community and one of her children is sponsored. I was grateful that her whole community is helped and not just her one child because of it. Olive is given medication which means she is well enough to weave mats and prepare food for her children. I asked Olive if she thought much about the future. She said that she does but it worries and scares her. She knows she will die and is worried for her children.

Hopefully the children will go to the grandparents close by. If they stay in the area, World Vision will be able to support them through the tragedy of losing both parents and help them towards a future with hope, nutrition, water and education.

As we left, I bought a mat from Olive. I overpaid her a little, and felt pleased to give something to her in a small way. However, she then showed me what it really means to be generous. She chased us down the road and presented us with one of her 6 chickens.  I knew that finding food was the one thing she worries about most. I felt helpless to refuse as it would have been an insult, and frustrated that I could not help her more. We had given her less than a fraction of what we have to spare. She gave us so much from what she greatly needed.

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Meeting our sponsored child and others near her has opened all our eyes to a different way of life; not a better or worse one, at least, once the basics of life are met. I feel privileged to be able to help provide these basics, and perhaps play a small part in creating opportunity for the future.

Reflecting on our family experience these past few days, I hope it has shown my children that they have a role to play in sharing the basics of life with others, but equally, that sponsored children have a role in showing us another way to live.

We are in Uganda for another day, and would love to answer any questions you have, or read your comments.  You can comment in this blog, or head to World Vision’s Facebook page and leave us your thoughts.  We’ll do our best to respond to any questions you, or perhaps your children, have.  Also, on Facebook, you can see more photos of the stories above, whether you are a Facebook member or not.

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by | March 25, 2013 · 4:52 pm

Our baby survived rocket attack

By Mike Bailey, World Vision

“There was a sound like a plane, then the house shook,” remembers Muna, a mother of five, as she recalls the day their lives changed forever.  Once she realised their village was under attack, she rushed her children into the stairwell to get them down from the roof.

Once they were down, one of her children asked where the baby was. It was then that Muna realised she had left her daughter behind. She rushed back to the roof to get her. In the panic, another of her daughters hit her head and was bleeding heavily.

By the time they got outside to the street there were more rockets hitting buildings. Everyone was shouting so loud nobody could hear themselves. The men got busses and helped evacuate around 500 people to a neighbouring village. Three days later, their village was completely reduced to rubble.

Muna arrived a week ago with her four children. The eldest boy, Sahel 12 already had a heart condition before the fright of having his home hit by a missile, now he is scared by loud noises. His younger brother Thaer has nightmares in which he is shot and killed. Rama and her family moved to Ma’an to live with her husband’s brother who has been working in Ma’an for 2 years. Rana’s sister-in-law sits on the left of the group in the picture

Rana arrived a week ago with her four children. The eldest boy, Sahel 12 already had a heart condition before the fright of having his home hit by a missile, now he is scared by loud noises. His younger brother Thaer has nightmares in which he is shot and killed. Rama and her family moved to Ma’an to live with her husband’s brother who has been working in Ma’an for 2 years. Rana’s sister-in-law sits on the left of the group in the picture


Violence continues

Muna and her five children left Syria straight after their home was destroyed nine months ago. Her husband stayed behind. Now they live as refugees in the Jordanian town of Ma’an, with her uncle. There are 11 people in the house. Everyone is reliant on her relative who works as a decorator. “If he works, we all eat,” she says. “If he doesn’t have work, we don’t eat.”

Even though Muna is no longer in Syria, the violent effects of the conflict continue to touch her. Four days ago, her brother was killed. A few months ago, her husband, who stayed in Syria, was hurt. Now he has to do everything with his left hand.

Muna’s story is one of many. Rana, another mother, also fled Syria with her children.

Rana was tidying the bedroom; her children were playing in another room when her house was hit. She says her only thought was her children. She shouted for them and got them downstairs near a metal doorway where they would be protected.

Haunted by nightmares

Missiles or bombs were landing in the street outside. It was three long hours before men came to lead them to safety. She and her four sons travelled for four hours to get to the border: the first hour was by car, then they had to walk. For three hours they walked on a stony track in the dark. They fell, over and over again. Sahel, 12, her eldest son, kept vomiting. By the time they reached the border, they were exhausted.

They crossed into Jordan and were transferred to the Za’atari refugee camp where they stayed for a day and a half before Rana’s brother came to fetch them to live with his family in Ma’an, a desert town in southeast Jordan. He had been working there since before the beginning of the civil war in Syria. His wife and children had already fled the fighting to join him.

Now Rana, who has just arrived, is trying to calm her children. She is particularly worried about Sahel, 12. He has a heart problem and is scared by loud noises. His younger brother, Thaer, 8, has nightmares. He describes a particular dream where he sees men in police uniforms trying to kidnap his baby brother. In his dream, Sahel saves the baby but as he runs to escape Thaer is hit in the back by a bullet and falls to the ground. He says he woke up and called for his mother. Rana confirms that he woke terrified and she had to calm him, telling him it was only a dream.

Sahel, 12 arrived a week ago with his mother and his three. He already had a heart condition before the fright of having his home hit by a missile, now he is scared by loud noises.

Sahel, 12 arrived a week ago with his mother and his three. He already had a heart condition before the fright of having his home hit by a missile, now he is scared by loud noises.


Frightened that bombs will fall

The boys say they wake often in the night, sometimes three or four times a night. Their mother says they miss their father and ask for him constantly. Rana tries to reassure her boys their dad will come tomorrow, but it seems unlikely.

When one boy cries, he is often followed by the others. They say they feel frightened that bombs will fall in Ma’an and that they are scared because their father is not with them. When they think of him, they cry again..

Five-year-old, Feras, and his baby brother, Sayeh, don’t say anything. Feras can’t seem to settle. His mother calls his quietly and then with a louder voice. He walks over and sits by his brother, Thaer, as he recalls his nightmare, then he wanders off again.

Rama and her family moved to Ma’an to live with her husband’s brother who has been working in Ma’an for 2 years.

Rana and her family moved to Ma’an to live with her husband’s brother who has been working in Ma’an for 2 years.


Kidnapping fears

It is too soon for Sahel, 12, and Thaer, 8, to enrol in school in Jordan with their three cousins. When they do, they will have a lot of catching up to do. Back in Syria they have not been to school for two years because of the fear that one of them would be kidnapped after Sahel heard this happened to another boy.

The escape into exile trades danger for uncertainty for refugee families, as everything is left behind: homes, possessions and for many children—like these boys—parents. The boys hold their mother tight. They all seem to be in shock, getting through each day, relying on their mother’s strength—a mother so concerned for her children’s safety she momentarily forgets her baby while comforting her children as they cry again, and again for their father.

Please consider donating to the Syria Appeal, and help feed, clothe and shelter Syrian children.

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by | February 25, 2013 · 4:37 pm

How I gather stories from across the world

Last week we shared a story from a village chief in Niger, gathered for us by Children’s Communications Specialist Steve Richards. We thought you might like to hear a little more about Steve’s process in drawing compelling, emotional stories from the people we work with all over the world.

Steve tells us, “I use visual anthropology and storytelling techniques to support children to develop communication skills.”

Here’s how he gets the best from the people he works with:

Steve Richards at work

Steve at work with children from one of the many communities we support.

Everyone is a storyteller. Before written culture many societies relied on the richness of oral histories, passing on information generation to generation through stories.

I am very privileged to meet people around the world and hear their stories. One can gather great stories if one understands and uses; active listening, the power of questions and emotional truth.

One of the most important communications skills is active listening. Building rapport with the storyteller and actively demonstrating you’re listening through techniques such as positive body language which encourage the storyteller to share more profoundly.

The listener should ask open and prompt questions, such as How, Why and Describe. This supports the storyteller to reflect more deeply on their thoughts as they lead the conversation.

Emotional truth transcends all social, cultural, geographical barriers. As humans we experience our own emotional reality. Stories that include emotion are powerful stories that provide great connectivity for the listener or reader.
Through this approach, what for the storyteller, may be the mundane nature of their ‘everyday’ becomes enchanting, creating insightful moments for the audience.

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Have you ever used these techniques or others to get great stories from friends or children? Share your own stories, thoughts and ideas on our Facebook page.

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by | February 18, 2013 · 12:32 pm

Will the river run dry?

Steve Richards, our Children’s Communication Specialist, recently went out to Niger to see and work with some of the communities where we are supporting sustainable development like food security and agriculture projects that help improve children’s nutrition.

While he was out there, Steve met with 80-year-old village Chief of the Karbakassey area, Zakaria Abdoulaye. This is his story, in his words:

Niger

Will the River Run Dry?
A long time ago when I was young, I remember how green this area was. That was about 70 years ago. There were many trees and wild animals such as lions and hyenas that lived here. SYMBOL 1

I can remember one day when I was watching over our cattle, one of the cows delivered a calf. I was so happy that I ran to the village to tell my father.

When he heard the news he said to me “What are you doing here?”

He urged me to go back quickly… if not, hyenas will devour the newborn. I ran back to the animals as fast as I could and I found that the hyenas had already eaten the baby cow and they were struggling to kill the mother too.

Long ago we used to live at the left side of the river which we left and came to settle here in order to take care of our animals.

In those times you cannot leave your animals for a second because hyenas and lions will eat them. We had to watch over our animals day and night, in order to protect them.

When people from that time return, they can no longer recognise this place because it has become desert and all the trees disappeared and the wild animals with them.

The reason of this may be climate change as said by the educated people, but also through time people have been cutting the trees for firewood or clear space for crop cultivation.

As you can see now we cannot even grow anything here as it has become a complete desert and even the river is threatened with sand.

Niger

Story captured by Steve Richards & Amadou Baraze – Niger, January 2013.

If you’re interested to learn more about the work Steve does with communities all over the world, he’ll be sharing some of his techniques this time next week on the blog.

As always, we love to hear your thoughts and comments, so leave them below or click here to join the conversation on Facebook.

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by | January 27, 2013 · 8:19 am

Child Soldiers in DR Congo: a first-hand story of fear and redemption

For the last week, our CEO, Justin, has been out in the Democratic Republic of Congo seeing some of the work we’ve been doing to help across so many different areas.

As he prepared to leave for home, Justin sent us these reflections on his last day in DR Congo and the children he met who just months before had been fighting as men, despite being as young as 11. It’s stark reading and a powerful reminder of the work we do, but also what remains to be done.

Here’s Justin:

Goma, north Kivu, DR Congo and Gisenyi, Rwanda, Tuesday 24th January, 2013

“I was on my way home from school when they grabbed me. They threw my school books on the ground and marched me into the forest. They said here is your gun, take it. Here is your uniform, put it on. You belong to us. I was 11.”

Amani and his friend Dunia are now 16 and just two of 69 boys in this small village in eastern Congo that have had their childhoods stolen by war. Life as a child soldier is close to hell.

“I would rather die than go back to the army,” Dunia told me. “We had to guard our chief while he raped women, I remember one who looked like my mother, I saw it all in front of me, it was so bad.”

Dunia’s features were hardened but as he spoke his eyes glistened. I thought of my youngest son, Luke, who’s just turned 11. He walks to and from school each day with his worst fear that his friends might tease him, or his teacher tell him off if he’s not done his homework. I can almost feel the fear that Amani’s mother and father must have had that day he didn’t return from school.

Dunia tells us how scared he was when the enemy attacked, “I was afraid but we couldn’t show it. The others had been soldiers since Mobutu’s time, I had to pretend I was tough even seeing all this blood.”

All children should be able to live free from fear. Free to play, to learn, to know the love, care and protection of a family and a home. This time of innocence has been defiled for thousands of children in eastern Congo. It is about as far as imaginable from World Vision’s goal of fullness of life for every child. Our work to protect and transform the world’s most vulnerable children has rarely felt more crucial.

Thank God that Amani and Dunia escaped and after a year of support in a UN run transition camp, they were reunited with their families. “My mother was so happy when she saw me, that she killed their goat, we had a party. I was so happy.”

Dunia’s description of this joyful moment brings to mind the image of the father running to throw his arms around his the returning prodigal son in my very favourite of Jesus’ stories, “This son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.”

Even back home, though, they still need support and protection. Dunia tells us how his two big brothers are helping him settle back into their family after a brutalising four years away. Amani says that many in their community are suspicious of them if anything is stolen in the village, once he was arrested and beaten by the police.

The greatest hope of Dunia, Amani and the 30 former child soldiers we met in their village is for a better future. “We need to find work or go back to school, we must do something positive with our lives.”

Just two minutes walk down the dusty road I am surrounded by hundreds of singing, dancing, joyful children, from toddlers to teenagers all gathered in and around the ‘child friendly space’ that World Vision and UNICEF run together here. The contrast is immense.

This is a place where children can be children. 14 year old Esperance’s smile is huge as she tells me, “We are safe here from abuse, abduction and abandonment.”

The parents say, “Our children have changed and so have we – we want to be better parents.”

In one section of the large tent I join nearly 50 little ones between 3 and 7 who are waving white pieces of drawing paper above their heads and cheering ‘jambo mizungu’ (hello white man!). Their teacher explains how at first they drew pictures of guns and fighting, but that just a few months later the drawings are all of homes, gardens, chickens, children playing, as I see when many thrust them into my hands.

Older children are learning tailoring or weaving and there’s a teenage discussion group talking about children’s rights, relationships and sexual health. More than 2,300 children in the 6 child friendly spaces World Vision runs here are experiencing something much closer to how childhood should be.

As I rest my weary head on the pillow in a few minutes after a long last day in eastern Congo my thoughts, prayers and dreams will be full of the smiles and songs of Esperance and her friends there, and of Dunia and Amani safely back with their families.

Part of Justin’s trip centred on this week’s launch of the Enough Food For Everyone IF campaign and he spoke about his experiences on Radio 4′s The Sunday Programme this morning. You can listen to it again on BBC iPlayer.

He also shared some other thoughts and stories from his trip with both the Huffington Post and the Independent during the week. Click the links to read them.

As always, head over to our Facebook page to leave your comments and any questions you may have.

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by | December 19, 2012 · 2:27 pm

Three weeks on a park bench and a harsh winter ahead – Yasmin’s story

A few weeks ago our CEO, Justin, and Vikki from our media team went out to Lebanon to see how World Vision is helping the Syrian refugees arriving in their thousands across the border.

In one of the towns they visited they discovered little Yasmin and her family, just one of the many families who are struggling to find food, clothing and shelter. Here’s Vikki with Yasmin’s story:

(We’ve changed their names for their own protection)

Layla and her family on their park bench

Layla and her family, including little Yasmin, on their park bench

For the last three weeks 4-year-old Yasmin’s home has been a park bench. She arrived here, in Bekaa valley in Lebanon, with her three older brothers, her mum and her dad when life in Syria got too dangerous.

Yasmin’s mum, Layla, says at first they could cope with the fighting, but as it intensified over the past months, they felt they had no choice but to leave. It was’t something Layla would have chosen, “Who wants to leave their country?” she asks. “Nobody.”

Yasmin didn’t want to leave either, but she says, “I don’t want to go back because there is shooting there.”

Before the fighting started Layla harvested tomatoes and olives but recently she became too scared to go outside to work in the fields and had to rely on her parents for money to buy groceries. Her husband, who is disabled and unable to work, talks with tears in his eyes about how frustrated he is at not being able to provide for his family.

For Yasmin and her brothers lessons at school were often stopped because of nearby bombing and the building was even shot at. Ahmad, 9, the oldest of the children, tells us he misses his school and he misses his friends; he hasn’t heard any news about how they’re doing.

The family’s final decision to leave Syria came when their neighbour’s house was attacked. Fearing they were next, the family fled with just the clothes on their back.

But life in Lebanon is not easy; while some refugees have been able to find modest accommodation with friends or erect a make-shift structure on rented land, Yasmin’s family haven’t been able to find shelter anywhere.

“All I want is shelter for my children,” says Layla, “I don’t care about anything else.”

Since they arrived, the family has mainly been sleeping at a local mosque, where they are given mattresses and blankets. It’s not open all the time though and they’ve had to spend the night in a train on display in the town centre.

The inside of Yasmin's train

The inside of the train where Yasmin and her family sometimes sleep.

Layla is constantly looking for somewhere safe for her children to sleep. Many of the apartments they have seen are either too expensive or already full. They did find an empty garage but, with no money to make it suitable to live in, they had to abandon it.

During the day the family sits in the park with just a plastic steering wheel for the four children to play with. They left Syria in such a hurry that there was no time to pack. The thin clothes they are wearing is all they have. It’s hard to imagine how they will cope when the snow arrives.

“People are cold living in a house with a stove and blankets,” says Layla, “What about us? All I dream of is a home. I don’t dare to dream for more.”

Yasmin often sneezes and Layla knows her family isn’t healthy, but she struggles to find even a tissue to wipe her nose — a stark reminder of how little they have.

Getting a roof over their children’s head is a priority for Layla and Ahmed and they’re also constantly worried about finding food for them all to eat. Layla tells us the only food they can afford is a bit of bread for the children. As the family is not yet registered with the UN, it’s hard for them to get vouchers for food.

“My children are always by my side,” says Layla. “They ask me, ‘When are we going to have a home?’”

We’re working in Bekaa valley to support families arriving from Syria by providing hygiene kits, blankets, stoves and food vouchers. World Vision also runs Child Friendly Spaces, to give Syrian children a chance to learn and adjust to their new surroundings and learn to cope with the psychological trauma caused by their experiences.

Please help us to keep supporting the thousands of children and families crossing the border into Lebanon. Click here to donate.

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by | November 29, 2012 · 5:04 pm

Lebanese Generosity: “They are our family, not just our neighbours,”

Justin’s given us another raw, emotional blog from the communities of refugees in Lebanon across the Syrian border as families flee into a world they don’t recognise. Read his first blog from Beirut here.

As you’ll see, Lebanon is doing all it can to support the influx of people, but the pressure they – and the children of fleeing families – are under is almost too much to bear.

Here’s Justin:

Justin talks to Shareen

Bekaa valley, 27 November 2012

Today was a Damascus road experience. Literally.

Two thousand years after the biblical life-changing encounter of the apostle Paul with Jesus Christ, today’s Damascus road is a place where tens of thousands of Syrian refugees first encounter the welcome of their Lebanese neighbours.

The grim, growing reality I saw today is that the number of refugees threatens to overwhelm the generosity of Lebanon and the concerted efforts of international humanitarian organisations. It’s here in the Bekaa valley that the majority of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have fled.

Shareen, who we met teaching refugee children in a World Vision ‘Child Friendly Space’ told us passionately that, “They are our family, not just our neighbours, we are doing our best to help them.” The toll it’s taking, though, is clear, “In my home town there are more Syrians than Lebanese now and there’s no more space.”

The humanitarian response has geared up but isn’t keeping up as was clear meeting Karim, World Vision’s response manager, in the Bekaa office that we share with UNHCR (the UN High Commission for Refugees), the World Food Programme and Danish Red Cross. While over 70,000 Syrian refugees have been registered here, the backlog of those awaiting registration is getting out of control. On top of this are the thousands of Lebanese and Palestinian returnees plus the Syrians who don’t want to register for fear of consequences back home.

The reality of this for children recovering from trauma without the normality of home, friends or school is unbelievably tough. 11-year-old Taghrid and her cousin Nagham are just two of 12 children living in a crowded tent like construction together with their parents and grandparents. They’ve been there four months and neither are in school yet.

“We play with each other, but we don’t have any friends here. I miss my home in Syria.”

Taghrid and Nagham

Their parents told us of the horror of their last weeks in Homs, their home town, “We used to hear planes all the time and then the bombs got too close. When it was only 100 metres from the house the children were shocked and scared, so we escaped to the mountain nearby – we were lucky to escape with our lives.”

Just days later their three-storey home was razed to the ground. “We were frightened, so how could we tell our children not to be frightened? Now even when a normal plane goes overhead they are afraid by the memories.” We are just 15 minutes drive from the Syrian border and World Vision colleagues tell us that they often hear bombs in the distance.

The combined help of locals and aid agencies has made a real difference; the family’s shelter was built together with Lebanese neighbours with the wood frame, tarpaulin, mats and even a small stove all given to them.

The refugee shelter built to house families like Tahgrid’s

They told us how food vouchers and hygiene kits from World Vision “helped us survive the first few weeks here” and we’re now providing blankets, stove and fuel coupons to help them through the winter.

Our Child Friendly Spaces – where we saw children as young as three playing, drawing and learning – are helping children prepare to cope in the Lebanese school system which uses French and English as well as the Arabic they share.

Taghrid’s father Ayman is still worried for the future, though, “I have no idea what to do or where to go – I’m still looking for a job” and with the local economy under pressure there simply isn’t enough work for all those who need it.

As I have found time and time again over the last 25 years, it is people’s resilience in the midst of disaster, poverty and injustice that gives me hope. As we talked with Ayman and his wife Saher, outside their makeshift home, they bring us coffee. Truly humbling to share in their gift of hospitality to us.

Taghrid plays hide and seek with Nagham, then shows us round their tiny living, sleeping and eating areas and tells us how she helps her Mum make soup. Mariam, a refugee herself is now teaching Syrian children not yet in school. A local Lebanese elder tells us of another refugee family he’s just met living in the park who need our assistance.

World Vision’s been working in the Bekaa valley for 15 years and with these local relationships and the humanitarian community we can, I pray, weave a safety net that will help Taghrid and the thousands like her survive the months ahead. This will only be possible if the world does not forget the Syrian people. As news headlines come and go, tragically the displaced people of Syria cannot.

A remarkable, emotional story and humbling to read of the lives being forced upon so many people. Share your views on the World Vision Facebook page and let us know what you think.

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by | November 27, 2012 · 3:48 pm

“We told her the bombing was balloons popping” – A Mother’s Heartbreak in Lebanon

With everything happening in DR Congo at the moment, it can be easy to forget that vital work continues around the globe. Justin, our CEO, is in Lebanon at the moment, trying to understand what life is like for the thousands of refugees fleeing from the conflict in Syria.

In his first missive from Beirut, he vividly describes a meeting with a mother who was forced to take her children from the family home because she couldn’t guarantee their safety, a story that’s common among the Syrian refugees flocking to the city.

World Vision UK's Justin Byworth being read to in Beirut

Beirut, 26 November 2012
I don’t know how I’d feel to have my life turned completely upside down. To go from educated, middle class respectability to life as a refugee utterly dependent on the goodwill of others for shelter, warmth and survival. To lose any sense of what the future holds.

I’m currently in Beirut, Lebanon, meeting families who have experienced exactly that. Amidst a day packed full with the fascination and complex tangle of the middle east – Lebanese and Syrian, Armenian and Palestinian, Muslim and Christian, Sunni and Shiite, Orthodox and Evangelical – it is our meeting with Talar, a 32-year-old mother of two that stays with me most.

Talar with her family

Talar and her family look out over Beirut

Talar is an impressive, thoughtful, intelligent woman. Clearly well educated, a lover of literature and teacher of English. As she speaks of her 6-year-old son, Levon, and 4 year-old-daughter, Galin, I could be at the school gate in my Oxford home, at coffee after church or at the supermarket checkout. It is the incongruity of this image with the horror of what she’s telling me that leaves me stunned.

“If we tried to go out of our home we had to run. You couldn’t walk or you’d be hit by sniper fire. As the bombs exploded near our home, Levon told his little sister, ‘Don’t be afraid, our parents will protect us.’ I had no choice but to leave. We couldn’t protect them anymore.”

Talar is one of nearly 200,000 Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon since the conflict erupted there, braving a hazardous journey to safety.

“Militia stopped the bus every 100 metres or so around Aleppo and Damascus. They were looking for young men to take away. I don’t know what happened to them. Since we got to Lebanon, Galin is happy, she was so afraid, she never wants to go back.”

Talar shows us round the ramshackle top floor flat she arrived in just 2 weeks ago with its boarded-up windows, broken doors and blocked drains. “I don’t know how much our new home costs or how we’ll pay. We spent 30 years building up our lives in Aleppo. It’s all gone. Now we have to start all over again.”

Talar's children

Talar’s children, Levon (6) and Galin (4)

Talar’s friends tell similar stories. Two year old Arshy’s mother Lusin said, “We told her the bombing was fireworks or balloons popping. She couldn’t sleep. Even here, she still wakes at 4am, scared and crying ‘boom boom’.”

Racha, mother of 5 year old Anne-Maria says, “We had no water, no electricity. All the shops were closed. Thieves were everywhere. A fridge that cost $900 was stolen and sold for $30. We went to my brother’s home in a safer part of town. I didn’t realise we’d never go back home – we just had a few summer clothes and things for the kids. Now we’re here and it’s winter.”

Thank God that Talar, Lusin and Racha have been welcomed in by the Armenian community in this bustling, crowded part of Beirut. Thank God, too, that World Vision are here and have been working with this community for years. Between neighbours, church, community leaders and the help of World Vision they now have a place to stay, beds, clothes and windows being repaired to keep out the cold.

It is children who suffer most in the midst of conflict. Children who should be protected from trauma that can scar them for life. We must do all we can – with parents, communities and governments who should be able to protect their children, but can’t or sometimes won’t. In Syria and Lebanon, in Gaza and in the Congo – all places of conflict in the prayers and actions of many in World Vision over recent days.

A basket of children's toys

Justin will be back with another blog from Lebanon in the next couple of days, giving us a chance to pause and reflect on what we must to do help support and protect children living in the face of conflict all around the world.

You can join the conversation about Justin’s trip on our Facebook page, or follow his updates via Twitter.

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by | November 16, 2012 · 3:19 pm

Bangladesh: On Progress, Education and How Much There Is Left To Do

After a week out in Bangladesh, today marks the last day of Mathew’s wonderful blogs. If you haven’t already, you might want to read Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 before this post.

We’ve certainly learnt a huge amount over the last 4 days; we’d love to know what you’ve learnt, what you’ve connected with and what you’ll take away from these posts. Come and find us on Facebook, or leave a comment below.

Here’s Mathew’s final blog:

Children picking rubbish in the Dhaka slums

Dhaka: Day 4
Thursday 15th November, 2012

Holding the hand of a child who has just finished picking through rubbish mixed in with faeces is a troubling thing to do in all honesty. Talking to that child about her dreams of being a doctor however, is far more of a problem.

For my final day in Bangladesh I am back in Dhaka, the capital city.

I spent this morning meeting children who live in the largest slum here and experiencing how they spend some of their day. It was tough and difficult to take.

These children work for three to four hours a day and can earn up to 50 taka (about 35 pence). None of them were in school and none of it was right. They carry sticks to sort through the new deliveries and carry sacks on their backs to fill with anything ‘valuable’ they might find – plastics, paper etc.

As we walked around the slum where they live one of my colleagues here asked me an amazing question: “Does England has any slums?” I found this such a strange question, not because he didn’t know, but because he thought to ask – thought that it was such a part of his everyday experience that it might be part of mine.

How can this be right – we are all human beings and yet some of us are living such different lives to the rest of us?

It is estimated that 1 billion people worldwide live in slums and the figure is rising. A slum is an extremely unpleasant place (to put it mildly) and not a place where you would choose to spend any time – let alone a place where you would choose to live. It has only one advantage: it is cheap.

It was hot and difficult to breathe amongst the narrow alleyways where 4000 people work and live out their lives. There were children everywhere and, like children everywhere, they were so happy and excited to see a foreigner. Unlike children everywhere, they were covered in filth and none of them were in school.

World Vision runs an education programme that means they come for two hours a day to learn to read and write. They also come to get clean and be patched up when they hurt themselves or get cut sorting through the rubbish.

The children were doing a writing lesson – little ones learning to write their names and matching the word ‘cow’ to picture of a cow – just like my own children did when they were little.

My children have their dreams as well and by the grace of God they will achieve them – what of these little ones? How can they escape the trap they are in?

This has been a thoughtful end to my time in this amazing country. To see the hope and the transformation that World Vision is achieving in Nawabgonj and then to experience the life of the children today in the slum in Dhaka was a vivid example of how much has been achieved with our supporters help, and yet how much more we have to do.

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Mathew for being so open and honest about his experiences over the last week. If you’ve been touched by what he’s written, join the discussion on our Facebook page.

If you’d like to know more about sponsoring a child in Bangladesh, click here.

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by | November 15, 2012 · 11:34 am

Bangladesh: A Remarkable Story of the Power of Child Sponsorship

It’s been an emotional and educational few days in Bangladesh for Mathew, but also for all of us back here in the World Vision offices, learning of the progress the communities are making with your support.

If you haven’t already, check out Day 1 and Day 2.

This post really is an amazing story. Read on:

Mathew with some of the children of the Nawabgonj ADP

Mathew with some of the children from World Vision’s Nawabgonj ADP

Nawabgonj: Day 3
Wednesday 14th November, 2012

There once was a king, a labourer and a minister in Bangladesh. The labourer wanted to know why the minister was paid more than him when he obviously worked harder.

Some time later a dog had a litter of puppies in the kingdom and the king wanted to know all about them. Each time he had a question the labourer had to go back to the litter to check – only prompting more questions from the king: how many were there? what sex where they? what colouring did they have? how healthy were they? and so on. Each question meant another trip for the labourer.

The minister, however, prepared a detailed report on the litter and handed it in full to the king answering all of his questions in one go.

The lesson of this story – as it was explained to me today in a school here in a remote rural area of Bangladesh – is to ‘think carefully’, to look past the surface of things and see the details that really matter. How could I not see the lesson myself?

Poverty is such a difficult subject to capture in adequate words, and solutions to poverty are even more complex and often more amazing than you could ever imagine – take the story of Jafar and Diane for instance.

Mathew with Jafar Ahmed

Mathew stands proudly with Jafar in front of his classroom full of eager students.

Jafar Ahmed is a young English teacher in one of the schools I visited today that World Vision has been supporting. This school is so remote that there are no actual roads that go there; we took a boat for half an hour up the river to reach it.

Jafar gave a passionate speech to the children about World Vision and said that every time he hears mention of us his ‘heart leaps for joy.’ He said that he was a sponsored child and it was World Vision that gave him the encouragement and support that he needed to become a teacher.

I have just got off the phone with Diane and her husband who have been sponsoring children for 17 years with World Vision. They sponsored Jafar until he became an adult. It was so fantastic to hear the excitement in their voices to get news of Jafar – like hearing news of a long lost friend or relative. They said they had often wondered how he was getting on. I felt so privileged to be able to tell them how grateful Jafar was for their support and how he had insisted that I pass on his heartfelt thanks to them.

If asked by the imaginary king of the story to give a report on the impact she has had on a remote rural community in Bangladesh, what would Diane say?

How could she ever know that the donation she made each month to sponsor Jafar would have such an impact on his life and, through him, on the children of this community so many years later? How could Jafar ever know that he would bring so much joy to the lives of two people living thousands of miles away in England?

Diane and her husband now sponsor two new children in different countries – who knows what stories are only just beginning…..?

Take a look a Mathew’s final post from Bangladesh here.

And do come and join the conversation on Facebook.

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