World Vision is racing into the NASCARÂ Sprint Cup Series
Don't miss your FREE chance to win the World Vision/Furniture Row Racing Sweepstakes!
August 20, 2009
World Vision is going to the races...
Thanks to the generous partnership of Furniture Row Racing, World Vision is revved up to make our NASCAR debut on Saturday, Sept. 12. The #78 Furniture Row/World Vision Chevrolet will speed toward the checkered flag in one of NASCAR's most exciting races, the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia.
Meet the 2008 Rookie of the Year
Behind the wheel of Furniture Row Racing's #78 Chevrolet Impala SS will be 25-year-old Regan Smith, the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year. Smith was the first rookie in Cup history to finish every race he started -- no small feat when you're competing against the best of the best!
"Regan is an awesome driver and will always give you more than you bargain for," says Furniture Row Racing crew chief Jay Guy. "He knows when to be aggressive and also knows when to be a savvy driver."
Furniture Row Racing is a single-car team based in Denver -- the only NASCAR team headquartered west of the Mississippi River.
Come meet World Vision and experience "Life in my village"
Visit the World Vision/Furniture Row Racing tents on the midway or in the Grandstand Pavilion near Gate 40 anytime during the event weekend -- starting with the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 on Friday, Sept. 11, and continuing on Saturday, Sept. 12, with the Chevy Rock & Roll 400.
Come by our midway tent to experience World Vision's "Life in my village" exhibit and get a glimpse of how child sponsorship is changing lives around the world.
Take your photo in Car #78 and participate in a Q & A session with Regan Smith! Car #78 will be on display for photo opportunities at the midway, and Regan Smith will be available at select times to answer questions from the fans.
Ticketing information for Richmond International Raceway can be found at www.rir.com.
Sluggish economy leaves millions of low-income families unable to afford back-to-school supplies
August 27, 2009
World Vision warns that millions of low-income children will return to school this year without basic school supplies because high unemployment rates and hard economic times have left many families strapped for cash. The average family spends more than $500 on school supplies.
Compared to last year's distribution of 30,000 backpacks, this year World Vision will distribute only 18,000 backpacks and school supplies to children and teachers from low-income schools, due to a decrease in donations. Our operations in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Dallas, West Virginia, and Georgia have received 140,000 requests for backpacks.
Teacher Resource Centers
"Classroom teachers, many of whom are facing school budget cuts around the country, may shoulder a heavier burden for purchasing school supplies this year," said Romanita Hairston, World Vision's vice president for U.S. Programs. Typically, teachers pay at least $500 of their own money each school year to provide supplies for their students.
World Vision's Teacher Resource Centers (TRCs), which serve more than 24,000 teachers nationally, allow teachers from qualifying schools to shop free for much-needed basic school supplies that they and their students can use. These basic supplies include pens, pencils, notebooks, erasers, notebook paper, rulers, and more.
Through the World Vision TRC, each teacher can obtain more than $1,100 in retail value of school supplies over the course of the school year. Nationally, a retail value of more than $27 million in school supplies gets into the hands of teachers and students in need through World Vision.
SchoolTools
In addition, World Vision has launched "SchoolTools," a program available nationwide through which companies and other organizations can host backpack-stuffing events to benefit any community in need of their choice, anywhere in the United States. SchoolTools is a unique, cost-effective way to encourage teamwork and build employee morale while filling a critical need.
World Vision has Gifts-in-Kind distribution centers in nine cities across the country. Through these centers last year, World Vision worked with more than 3,800 partners nationwide, serving more than 2.3 million children and families in the United States. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers donated about $366 million in surplus merchandise to World Vision locations across the country. World Vision distributes only new, high-quality goods such as school supplies, clothing, personal hygiene items, and building supplies to families in need.
Learn more
Visit World Vision's U.S. Programs site and learn more about our work with children, families, and communities here in the United States.
Help now
Donate now to World Vision's SchoolTools program. Your contribution will help provide school supplies to children in need across the United States, paving the way for a successful education and a future of hope.
As Afghanistan votes, its development needs are still being sidelined
August 20, 2009
As Afghanistan votes in its August 20 presidential election, World Vision notes that the country's pressing development needs are still not getting appropriate attention from the U.S. government and other international donors. Our staff members caution that uneven distribution of aid, lack of donor coordination, and some duplication of services are weakening efforts to build a free and stable Afghanistan.
"If this month's elections can be carried out peacefully and with broad-based participation, that will be a very positive step," said Christine Beasley, World Vision's country program manager who recently returned from western Afghanistan. "But at the same time, Afghans I've spoken with don't feel invested in these elections because they're not seeing progress or a viable government in their own communities.
"There is a critical need for assistance to be more equitably distributed across all of Afghanistan's remote communities -- not just areas in the south and east struggling against Taliban control," added Beasley. "You don't secure the whole country by focusing only on a part."
Development strategy needed
World Vision is calling on the U.S. government to create a clear development strategy for Afghanistan that is separate from the Department of Defense's counter-insurgency strategy. Such a plan should support the Afghan government's own comprehensive National Development Strategy. Resources for civil society to support education, livelihoods and job creation, good governance, and agricultural alternatives to the poppy trade are crucial to progress.
"Success in Afghanistan requires a coordinated development strategy," explained Rory Anderson, World Vision's deputy director for advocacy and government relations, who traveled to Afghanistan in May.
"That means, for example, measuring the number of children in school and the content and quality of their education, not just the number of insurgents defeated. An economic development strategy is not the same as a counter-insurgency strategy -- although the end goals may align, the operational approaches are very different and they follow different timeframes," added Anderson.
"If a free and peaceful Afghanistan is the goal, forcing square pegs into round holes won't work."
Lasting stability, economic progress
World Vision believes a separate and coordinated development strategy would help promote a more equitable and effective distribution of U.S. assistance across the country, and better define the roles and space between the military and the civilian reconstruction effort.
"Without a distinct development strategy, the 'civilian surge' is understood to be a military surge, which by itself will not help Afghans take control of their own country," said Anderson.
"If we care about Afghanistan's future, we need to be thinking about what happens after this election," said Beasley. "The focus should be on strategically identifying and replicating throughout the country those development projects that can bring about lasting stability and economic progress for the people of Afghanistan."
World Vision has worked in Afghanistan since 2001, supporting health, food security, and agricultural livelihoods, along with emergency food aid in three western provinces. Current programs include midwifery training, child survival programs, nutrition, cash for work grants funded by USAID and a food for education project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Help now
Please pray for a peaceful outcome to the August 20 elections in Afghanistan, and pray that the international community would devote appropriate attention to the great humanitarian and development needs of this country. Pray also that peace and stability would come to Afghanistan.
Give monthly to help care for the needs of children affected by war and conflict around the world, in places like Afghanistan. Your gift will help provide these vulnerable children with things like trauma counseling, as well as food, clean water, safe shelter, and health care.
World Vision providing assistance to families affected by Typhoon Morakot
August 10, 2009
In the wake of Typhoon Morakot, World Vision is providing food, clean water, and cleaning materials to affected households in southern Taiwan.
"The most pressing needs now are providing shelter, food, and clean water for those who have had to evacuate their homes," says Hank Du, executive director for World Vision in Taiwan. "We also want to make sure the children are secure and have a safe place where they are cared for."
Quick response facilitated by existing World Vision presence
On Sunday, World Vision began providing emergency assistance to 700 people in shelters. In addition to food and cleaning supplies, some 684 relief kits containing flashlights, radios, raincoats, gloves, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels were also distributed.
Our staff members had already been working in some of the affected areas for many years, and pre-positioned supplies enabled a quick response to the typhoon.
Typhoon Morakot pummeled Taiwan on August 7 and 8, causing widespread damage in southern and eastern areas of the island. Although the winds of Morakot were not as severe as expected, the storm dropped heavy amounts of rain, especially in Pingtung and Taitung, which received record-breaking rainfall. Massive flooding has damaged transportation infrastructure and submerged many homes, forcing residents to evacuate and stay in shelters or find temporary housing with friends and relatives.
Conditions in remote, inaccessible areas unknown
"Many of the affected live in remote areas, and the roads are in bad condition. Highways and bridges are flooded and blocked by mudslides, fallen trees, and other large debris. For those who can't reach shelters, we are working to find ways to bring aid to them," says Wesley Chen, Taiwan's southern area manager for World Vision.
To date, families and children in accessible World Vision program areas are safe; however, many of their homes have been damaged or destroyed. There are mountainous areas that remain cut off from aid workers, where the status of communities is still unknown.
World Vision aims to raise about $780,000 to provide emergency relief and rehabilitation support for families affected by Typhoon Morakot.
Help now
Donate now to World Vision's Disaster Response Fund. Your contribution today will help our teams around the world deliver life-saving relief and support in the wake of disasters, like the recent typhoon in Southeast Asia.
World Vision focuses on needs and safety of displaced children and families returning to their homes in Pakistan
As the return of some 2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Pakistan's northwest region gains momentum, World Vision is underscoring both the right of the displaced to return voluntarily and the need for sustained security and safety in areas of return.
World Vision is particularly concerned with the protection and assistance required by vulnerable populations and is working to ensure that the rights and needs of the displaced are met. Those most at risk include children (especially unaccompanied minors), expectant mothers, mothers with young children, female heads of household, persons with disabilities, and elderly persons.
Conflict between government forces and militants not only caused an unprecedented people movement -- half of whom are children -- but also destroyed homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods when agricultural fields had to be abandoned.
Eagerness, uncertainty among the displaced
"Many people do not know the condition of their village or homes, yet the desire and willingness to return home is strong," said Edward Kibirige, World Vision's response manager for the displacement crisis in Pakistan.
"There has been reported nervousness regarding security from the IDPs going back...some families have sent one or two male members to first scout out the situation in terms of security before making a decision to send the entire family," he said. Kibirige added that the people are eager to secure their properties and assets, such as livestock, and escape the scorching heat of the valley.
"The government stresses that all returns are voluntary, which has been one of the key issues for the humanitarian community," said Kibirige. The UN High Commission for Refugees reportedly signed an agreement with the government of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province to ensure that the return continues to be voluntary and that people are well informed about what the conditions are in the areas of return.
World Vision's continuing response
Buses and trucks with escorted security vehicles are transporting families back to their mountain villages from camps established for the displaced and from host communities, where the majority of families sought refuge.
World Vision has focused its resources on meeting the needs of displaced families in host communities, which have borne the burden of caring for thousands of people, often strangers. Our staff members have provided family kits, water purifiers, and six-month cash support to particularly vulnerable families. We are also providing psychosocial support for children through two Child-Friendly Spaces in Buner.
World Vision is now assessing the need to redirect activities in areas of return to ensure that the immediate needs of families, particularly children, are met, as well as to address the longer-term issue of livelihood recovery.
Help now
Donate now to World Vision's Refugee Assistance Fund. Your gift will help World Vision continue to provide emergency assistance to children and families displaced by conflict in places like northwest Pakistan.
Communities in Africa find healing, thanks to clean water
August 2009
In 2006, Mapesho Jikumbi lost her oldest sister. "We were told at the hospital that she died because [she] had suffered from severe diarrhea and [that] she had bilharzia too," Mapesho recalls. Bilharzia is a disease caused by parasitic worms that live in contaminated water.
'I thought IÂ was going to die'
In Mapesho's community, located in the south-central African country of Zambia, waterborne illnesses were all too common. Most people in the village got their water from the local stream and shallow, hand-dug wells. But the stream was unclean, and the wells were unprotected, leading to easy contamination.
Mapesho, 15, and her siblings frequently suffered from diarrhea, dysentery, and bilharzia. "The death of my sister gripped my mind, because I thought I was going to be the next one to die because of the unsafe water we used to drink," Mapesho confesses.
Accessing clean, safe water
Though they knew it was harmful, Mapesho's family had no choice but to use water from the stream. "We used to go spend about an hour to get to the stream and another hour to get back home, carrying a 20-liter container on my head," says Mapesho.
Gathering water used to consume much of Mapesho's mornings, leaving her worn out. But that changed when World Vision dug a deep borehole near Mapesho's school. Once hand pumps were installed, the borehole provided the entire community with easy access to clean, safe water.
Since then, the rate of disease has significantly reduced, and families like Mapesho's no longer have to wonder whether there will be water for cooking, bathing, cleaning, and drinking. And, more importantly, they don't have to worry about that water making them sick or threatening their lives.
Improved education
Teachers in the area have also seen an improvement in learning, as children like Mapesho are finding more time to focus on their studies. "Before, Mum used to wake me up very early in the morning to fetch water at the stream before going to school. As a result, I used to get to school very late," says Mapesho. Now, it takes Mapesho only 10 minutes to fetch water, and she has plenty of time to get ready for school.
Mapesho is a World Vision sponsored child, which means that she is receiving assistance with things such as health care and education. Thanks to this support, and the energy she has from fresh, clean water, Mapesho no longer wonders about her future. Instead, she is determined to finish school and pursue a nursing career.
Transforming lives
Soneni Nvirenda, who lives in the neighboring country of Zimbabwe, can also testify to the fact that something as simple as a borehole can transform life and provide a brighter outlook on the future.
When a borehole was installed at the local health clinic in her community, this widowed grandmother had just learned that she was HIV positive. "I felt helpless at first, especially being unemployed and being custodian of my orphaned grandsons. I thought I would die any time," says Soneni. "But this borehole changed all this," she adds, referring to the well installed by World Vision.
Preventative medicine
The installation of the borehole meant that Soneni no longer had to travel nearly five miles to acquire water -- a trek that would be nearly impossible with HIV draining her energy. In addition, the clean, uncontaminated water is like preventative medicine, since living with the virus makes Soneni more susceptible to the disease and infection lurking in unprotected sources.
The water from the borehole is so clean that even Soneni's grandsons, Mthokozisi and Mthabisi, have noticed a difference. Before, the 9-year-old twins constantly suffered from diarrhea, due to contaminated water. "I love the water from the clinic because it is so clean; it doesn't have any worms like the dirty water from the well we used to collect from before this borehole was drilled," says Mthabisi.
Nurses at the clinic have seen a dramatic decrease in diarrhea infections and cholera cases. They are also reporting that the health of the entire community has improved, as those who do get sick are more likely to seek care when they are already at the clinic for water.
Building the future
The borehole also provided Soneni with new economic opportunities and a chance to help others living with HIV. "Because of the readily available water at our disposal at the clinic, I decided to establish a nutrition and herbal garden for people living positively with HIV and AIDS," she says.
The support group that Soneni formed is helping people who are HIV positive cope with this status and create a sustainable livelihood. The garden provides plenty of nutritious food and enough crops to sell for profit.
"Despite the fact that I am unemployed, I can now afford to [pay] Mthokozisi and Mthabisi's school fees and meet their daily needs, all thanks to this borehole that has changed our lives for the better," says Soneni. Even though she is HIV positive, clean water is keeping Soneni healthy and helping her build a future for her grandsons and her community.
Learn more
Read another article about how a borehole installed by World Vision reduced the disease rate in communities in Mali and enabled families to grow gardens.
Three ways you can help
Pray for families in south-central Africa who are forced to depend on unclean water sources simply to survive. Thank God that simple initiatives like boreholes can bring dramatic change, transforming the health of communities.
Donate now to help provide clean water and sanitation to communities in need around the world. Your gift will help World Vision deliver critical, life-saving support to areas that lack this basic resource, such as wells, water storage and purification equipment, piping systems, sanitation facilities, and more.
Sponsor a child in Zambia or Zimbabwe. Your love and support will help provide access to necessities like clean water, health care, and education for a child like Mapesho.
Ugandan child mothers get a second chance
August 2009
She was born at the Kalongo Hospital in northern Uganda in 1992. Fifteen years later, Franka Aneno was back in the same ward, this time to deliver her own child -- a baby girl named Sharon.
What Franka had thought was only a little adventure with a boyfriend became a life-changing situation. "When my mother found out I was pregnant, she whipped me," Franka recalls. Then, adding insult to injury, Franka's head teacher expelled her from school.
After her baby was born, Franka lived at home with her mother and 10-year-old sister, helping grow food and caring for baby Sharon. A Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army, killed Franka's father in 2003.
Franka's ray of hope
When her baby was about a year old, Franka found out about a program that might help her continue her education. It gave her a reason to hope. "In April [2008], I applied for World Vision to give me a scholarship to learn vocational skills in Pader Girls Academy," says Franka. "My application was successful, and I reported to the academy in August."
With Sharon securely wrapped to Franka's back, the young mother explains, "I am learning tailoring and knitting, and I will complete my course in May this year."
A school of opportunity
The academy's headmistress, Catherine Anena, founded the school in March 2007. "The academy is born out of the desire to help formerly abducted girls and child mothers continue education or acquire skills for self-sustenance," explains 27-year-old Catherine, an ambitious university graduate who holds a bachelor's degree in education.
Catherine reports that about 200 girls attend high school completion classes there, with some 65 girls also learning vocational skills in tailoring, knitting, and bakery.
About 50 babies also live on campus, sharing dormitory beds with their mothers at night, and playing in the on-site day care center during the day. The young mothers have the freedom to breastfeed their babies during class or tie them to their backs and bring them along.
World Vision's Rebound Project
Franka is one of 15 girls who are receiving scholarships through World Vision to learn vocational skills at the Pader Academy. The scholarships are funded through World Vision's Rebound Project, to help promote peace through education in a country that is just starting to rebuild after a 20-year civil war. In basketball, the word rebound means a second chance to score. It was chosen for this project to signify the second chance that education gives to the war-affected children in northern Uganda.
"The project pays tuition fees for the 15 girls," explains Paddy Mugalula, who manages the program. World Vision's Rebound Project also just completed funding two dormitories that can accommodate 400 students at a vocational training institute and a technical institute in the Pader district. Additionally, it provided workshop tools for job training.
Thankful for the opportunity she's had through World Vision, Franka is looking toward the future, with a dream, a plan, and the skills to make it happen. "After my training," says Franka, "I want to make clothes and sweaters to support myself and my child."
Three ways you can help
Help provide job training for girls and women. This training provides dignified ways for women to support themselves and their children.
Give the gift of education for girls in need. Education is critical for girls to overcome poverty and have a successful future.
Sponsor a child in Uganda. Your love and support of a child in need will provide him or her with the basic essentials for a better future, including an education.
Separated from their families, children in Congo find a reason to look to the future
August 2009
Editor's Note:Â This story contains some disturbing elements. Reader discretion is advised.
Last year, when his father was killed by rebels, 13-year-old Baraka was forced to flee his home. "When my daddy died, I joined a crowd that was running to Goma. I cried. What else could I do?" he says.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where conflict continues to threaten lives, an estimated 40,000 people flee their homes each month. Children like Baraka, who find themselves alone, face the threats of disease, starvation, and being conscripted as child soldiers.
Orphaned and vulnerable
"My mother died from malaria when I was 9. My father was taken by the rebels, and they killed him," says Baraka. Orphaned and alone, Baraka escaped to Goma, a city in the eastern DRC along the Rwandan border. There, he stayed with a family who led him to the Don Bosco Children's Center, where World Vision has set up emergency tents. The center works to reunite orphaned and vulnerable children with their parents and other family members.
"When they heard I don't have a father or mother, they felt sorry for me," says Baraka of the family who took him in. "Then, they brought me here." Though he will never be reunited with his parents, the center has given this young boy a safe place to live as the conflict continues.
Here, displaced children and families sleep in tents and receive necessities such as food and water. The center also provides primary, secondary, and professional education. Baraka is currently taking classes held in a World Vision tent. Though his life has been turned upside down, education is a small step toward normalcy, giving him a reason to look forward to the future.
Seeking refuge
Like Baraka, thousands of women and children are slowly working to re-establish their lives after seeking refuge in Goma's displacement camps. Grace, also 13, fled his village when soldiers broke into his home and began shooting people last October.
"My mum and dad are no longer alive," he says. "It was nighttime when soldiers entered our home. They went straight to my dad and started questioning him. When my mum tried to run away, they shot her and my father. When I saw they were dead, I ran away."
Grace now lives with a displaced woman at a camp in eastern Goma, where more than 800 children sought refuge last year. Here, World Vision's Child-Friendly Spaces are helping them recover from the trauma of conflict and work to establish semi-normal lives.
'People are taking care of me'
Though Grace's circumstances are far more traumatic than any 13-year-old should have to bear, World Vision assistance is giving him a reason to hope. "Camp life is good because people are taking care of me," says Grace. "I go to the World Vision [Child-Friendly Space] most mornings...I also have received shoes and clothes from World Vision."
At the Child-Friendly Spaces, children are able to continue their education and are given the opportunity to simply play and be children, despite the chaos of their lives. "Whenever I play, it helps me forget [that] they killed my father," says Grace, who enjoys playing, cards, football, and the drums.
Eventually, Grace is hoping that it will be safe for him to return home and be reunited with his brothers. "I haven't seen my family for two years, and I am lonely," he says.
Working toward peace
Though his country is still in turmoil, and he has no permanent home, Grace is well cared for at the displacement camp. Thanks to World Vision, he does not have to wait for the conflict to end in order to begin recovering and seeking a better future.
In the DRC, an estimated 1.6 million people remain displaced, and as many as 1,200 people die each day due to war-related causes. World Vision continues to work in this embattled region, distributing necessities such as food and clothing and providing places of safety for those who have lost their homes and families.
We also advocate for a concerted U.S. response to the crisis and work to engage the public in advocating for peace in the region. Last year, in partnership with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, World Vision helped organize and implement the first-ever national advocacy day, which mobilized more than 400 people from across 27 states to advocate for peace and development in Congo.
"A two-handed response is an able-bodied response," says Rory Anderson, World Vision's deputy director for advocacy and government relations. "We give with our left hand by supporting day-to-day needs of children, and we speak out with our right hand, by calling for the United States to have a high-level diplomatic and humanitarian response to what is truly the world's worst crisis."
Until the fighting ceases, children will continue to be threatened by displacement, disease, and involuntary military service. It is essential that peace come to the DRC so that children like Grace can have the opportunity to enjoy childhood and live life to the fullest.
Learn more
Read more about the conflict in the DRC and how World Vision is responding to the great need there.
Read another article about children in Congo who have been driven from their homes and separated from their families.
Four ways you can help
Pray for peace to come to the war-ravaged eastern DRC, and pray for children and families whose lives have been torn apart by the ongoing conflict there.
Speak out. Ask your members of Congress to contact their colleagues at the U.S. State Department to ask them to work toward bringing peace to eastern Congo.
Give monthly to help provide assistance for children affected by war and conflict around the world. Your contributions will help World Vision deliver critical assistance and support to these vulnerable children like trauma counseling, as well as access to food, clean water, health care, and more.
Donate now to World Vision's Refugee Assistance Fund. Your one-time gift will help us continue to deliver emergency relief and support to children and families who have been displaced by conflict in places like eastern Congo.
Trafficked for a cell phone
July 2009
"I wanted money to buy a cell phone and some money to help my family," explained Khamta,* a beautiful Laotian 16-year-old.
Living with her grandparents in a village in Laos, Khamta dropped out of school after third grade to help with housework and rice farming. But there was never enough money to cover the family's basic needs, let alone a cell phone (a luxury that is nonetheless not very expensive in Southeast Asia).
Khamta overheard a neighbor talking about jobs available in Thailand, the country bordering Laos to the west. Looking for any chance to earn some money, she sought out a broker who would take her there. Unbeknownst to her, this "broker" sought to traffic girls -- like Khamta -- for forced labor.
Crossing the border
Along with two friends and a few other girls, Khamta was put in a small wooden boat and forced to lie down on the hard floor while covered with a black plastic sheet. "It was so packed that I could not move and we were not allowed to talk," she said. "It was horrible."
When they reached the other side of the river and entered Thailand, another man was waiting for them. They ran to keep up with this stranger as he took them through a thick, dark forest with only a flashlight, traversing a steep hill, tree branches scratching their skin. They stopped only when they reached an old, rundown house.
The girls were then locked in a small room. "We were not allowed to make any sound," she explained.
Captivity
After three days in the room, the girls were transported to Bangkok, Thailand's capital city. Khamta and her two friends were taken to a three-story house, where they were forced to work under harsh conditions. The owner of the house shouted insults at the girls when she was not satisfied. "One of my friends was beaten when she couldn't do what the owner of the house asked her to do," said Khamta.
After a month of work, Khamta inquired about her wages, only to learn that they had been sold as slaves. They would earn no money, and they would not be going home.
A few days later, in a desperate attempt to escape captivity, one of Khamta's friends snuck out of a window and ran to find the police.
Officers came to the house and freed the three girls. But no one knows whether the trafficker or homeowner was ever convicted of a crime.
Reunited, but what next?
Khamta was sent to Thailand's Kredtrakarn shelter, a place of refuge for trafficking survivors. After four months, with the assistance of World Vision, Khamta's family was identified and she was sent home to be reunited with her kin. Sadly, life since returning home has been just like it was before. Khamta still has no job. "I still want to work and earn some money," said Khamta, who spends her days doing household work for her family. "...I need the skills, training, and money."
Even though Khamta knows the dangers of trafficking, the threat persists. Desperate times do indeed lead to desperate measures.
A global problem
Human trafficking, especially trafficking of children under 18, constitutes a modern slave trade, as in the case of Khamta. It takes on many guises and occurs within countries and across borders. Some examples include:
--Children abducted to fight as child soldiers;
--One person sold to another to serve as a slave or bonded laborer;
--Impoverished girls from rural areas sold or stolen away from their families to serve as sex slaves in brothels.
While there are varying estimates as to the number of persons affected by trafficking (estimates range from 12 million to more than 30 million), what is known is that there are now more slaves in the world today than during all three centuries of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade combined.
'The Four Ps'
In World Vision's work around the globe, we frequently encounter women and children enslaved through trafficking or vulnerable to being trafficked. Women and children make up more than 80 percent of all transnational trafficking cases. Poverty is the primary factor.
World Vision's response to this horrific practice encompasses what is known as "The Four Ps" -- prevention, protection, prosecution, and policy. In the effort to end human trafficking, all "Four Ps" must work in concert so that the prevention of trafficking, protection of victims, and the prosecution of traffickers is tied together by effective policy.
"Having a cohesive policy to combat trafficking ensures that everyone is doing their part to protect the lives of women and children from exploitation," says Jesse Eaves, World Vision's policy advisor for children in crisis. "An effective policy against trafficking dictates an equal focus on limiting the supply of victims and reducing the demand for their exploitation."
The Child Protection Compact Act
Recently introduced by Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the Child Protection Compact Act (HR 2737) is currently being considered in the House of Representatives as a way to strengthen the U.S. contribution to international anti-trafficking laws. The bill will provide strategic technical and financial resources to targeted countries that have shown the political will to combat trafficking, but lack the trainings and resources to enforce the law. The bill will work to build the capacity of countries to protect victims and prosecute traffickers. World Vision supports this legislation.
"So often, perpetrators go free and women and children suffer because a country's anti-trafficking laws are not enforced," Eaves explains. "This legislation will help create new partnerships to ensure that countries punish perpetrators and reduce demand, thus protecting the most vulnerable from exploitation and bondage."
When trafficking laws are enforced and traffickers are prosecuted, the threat to girls like Khamta is reduced and organizations like World Vision can continue to help the vulnerable seek safe alternatives for income -- alternatives that do not lead to slavery and captivity, but life in all its fullness.
*Khamta's name has been changed to protect her identity.
Learn more
Read "Ten things you need to know about human trafficking"Â (pdf), World Vision's new report on this serious child protection issue.
Take a look at the State Department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report.
Learn more about child trafficking and World Vision's approach to address this crime against children.
Three ways you can help
Pray for those working to assist children and other individuals who have been trafficked or are vulnerable to this horrific practice. Pray for a transformation of the perpetrators of this crime. Pray for protection and healing for those who have been exploited through trafficking.
Call or e-mail your representative to voice your support for the Child Protection Compact Act (HR 2737).
Give monthly to help provide hope and care for children affected by forced labor and exploitation. Your gift will help provide things like safe shelter, food, health care, and trauma recovery assistance to children affected by this tragic practice.
Voices, together for justice
By James Pedrick, World Vision U.S.
July 2009
It's common to wonder whether we can really make a difference. We can't quite imagine a world without global poverty and local apathy.
We may have an impact in the lives of individuals, whether through our charity, our relationships, or our mere presence, but wonder, "how will the big picture ever change?" Whatever we do doesn't seem to be enough.
Struggling to make a difference
In college, my friend Valerie* took a short-term mission trip to Malawi, where she witnessed the devastating effects of AIDS and met orphans who lost their parents to the pandemic. Upon her return home, she questioned whether she really could help bring relief to those who were suffering. She realized that others needed to know what was happening, but struggled to gain the attention of her fellow students who were insulated from the suffering caused by global AIDS, safe within the confines of an American college campus.
Her passion for change soon turned to anger toward her community and even toward God, as the world around her seemed to operate as though extreme poverty, HIV and AIDS, and 15 million orphans didn't exist.
Can one person bring about global change?
Being an advocate: think globally, act locally
I truly believe that we can be influential as advocates for the poor and disadvantaged around the world, especially when we raise our voices collectively.
As advocates, we represent the marginalized in the world -- those who would otherwise have no representation -- by amplifying our voices in churches, communities, and among elected leaders. We can challenge unjust attitudes and priorities within our own lives, communities, and government.
Advocacy not only becomes a way for us to serve communities affected by extreme poverty, but also to serve our own communities, which may be blind to the injustices of this world.
History has shown that there is strength in numbers. As millions of voices come together, change begins.
Statistics come to life
Two chilling statistics changed my life forever. During my college years, in 2001, I learned that one in 20 children in sub-Saharan Africa was orphaned because of AIDS, and that only 3 percent of evangelicals answered yes to the question of whether they personally would be willing to give financially to help these orphaned children. I felt enormous guilt and pain as I realized that I was part of the vast majority of Christians who quietly stood by while 15 million children became orphaned.
The Lord laid this on my heart, and I had to respond. I had to tell others.
To help our campus community visualize this reality, my friends and I created a campaign called "Do You See Orange?" We recruited students on our campus to represent the one in 20 children orphaned by AIDS by wearing orange "ORPHAN" shirts as they walked around campus for a day. The statistics came to life.
This gave my friend Valerie a platform to share her story, the stories of children she had met in Malawi, and her struggle to reconcile this with the apathy she often faced at home.
The campaign not only allows us to raise awareness among our peers, but also invite our classmates to advocate with us for key U.S. government policies that will help address the crisis. In partnership with World Vision, we rallied our fellow students to advocate for more assistance for orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS. World Vision knew that to truly rebuild communities most affected, we must invest in the children who are being overlooked.
Through petitions, letters, phone calls, and congressional meetings, our campus, along with thousands of other individuals, World Vision, and other organizations, represented these children where they had no representation. And the president and Congress made a commitment to set aside funding for orphans and vulnerable children.
A resounding voice for the poor
It's easy to doubt whether we really make a difference. We wake up in the morning, and the same global problems and injustices are still prevalent. But when we join together, we can be a resounding voice for the poor within our community and in halls of power, speaking out for justice. In those moments, the poor and marginalized around the world are given a powerful representation where they would otherwise have none. We can be the voice.
*Not her real name.
Learn more
Download "AÂ Citizen's Guide to Advocacy" for basic tools and training you will need to get started as an advocate.
Two ways you can help
Pray that God would reveal to you how He desires to use you to be a representative for the poor where they have no representation.
Read "Five things you can do this summer"Â for some ways you can inspire action around the poverty and justice issues that you are passionate about.