Monthly Archives: September 2011

Operation Seasweep: A 32-year story of God’s provision

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Operation Seasweep | World Vision Blog
Thirty-two years ago, World Vision reported the rescue story of Operation Seasweep, the boat Mr. Vinh Chung was on, in the August 1979 issue of World Vision Magazine. Mr. Chung recently retold his story at our headquarters office. I spoke with him afterward for a fuller picture of his life after Seasweep and the miracle of God’s provision for his family. Two very different parts of Vinh Chung’s life meet when he walks on a beach. In an instant, the smell of sea salt takes the 36-year-old skin cancer surgeon back to his 1979 exodus from Vietnam. Just four years old at the time, Vinh recalls fleeing the southern city of Ca Mau by boat from the Mekong River Delta...
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Trafficking victims protection: Keeping a law that works

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Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2011 | World Vision Blog
Debating the effectiveness of laws is a tradition as old as our nation itself. But I want to share a story that illustrates how one law is accomplishing exactly what it was passed to do. From 2003 to 2007, the owners of the U.S. company Global Horizons trafficked more than 600 Thai workers to U.S. soil. The company lured the men with promises of high-paying agricultural jobs. When the men arrived after having paid exorbitant recruitment fees, their passports and immigration papers were taken from them. Instead of receiving high-paying jobs, the men were forced to work on farms in Washington state and Hawaii to pay off the “debt” they were told they incurred. In 2007, the owners of the...
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Sponsorship — and a chance to visit Peru

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Win a trip to Peru | World Vision Blog
Dear World Vision friends, family, and supporters, “Sponsorship takes love. Passion. Dedication. And partnership. By working together, we — World Vision, our sponsors, and the families we serve — can build healthy, self-reliant communities where children grow and thrive. Our child sponsors are an integral part of this partnership, and we’re so excited to share our work with them firsthand.” —Lana Reda, vice president of sponsorship & donor management You know how we’re always talking about sponsorship? And how it truly does help change a community from the inside out and the bottom up? And how we’re always showing you photos and telling you stories of how sponsorship is changing lives? Those stories are about the thousands of beautiful children...
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What does famine teach us?

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What does famine teach us? | World Vision blog
The thing that has moved me the most about the current famine in the Horn of Africa is learning of the women and children who have been robbed and assaulted as they have fled Somalia. Their plight reminds me of a boy called Maror Bol. He was about 13 years old when I met him in Sudan. Maror was in similar dire straits and was also robbed. He also taught me one of the most important lessons of my life. In 1998, bad weather and factional fighting had provoked a famine in Southern Sudan. Maror had walked about 50 miles to reach a World Vision feeding center for malnourished children — located at a rough camp in the middle of...
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An aid worker’s answers about the Horn of Africa

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On Tuesday, we asked you what questions you have about disaster aid and assistance, in an effort to help you better understand the current humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa and its implications for aid recipients and aid donors. Betsy Baldwin, whom we introduced you to, answered some of your most pressing questions. Read the post that started this: Ask an aid worker about the Horn of Africa. Betsy is a program officer for World Vision Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs, currently focusing on relief efforts in the Horn of Africa, where 12.4 million people are affected by drought and famine. She has degrees in civil engineering from Iowa State University and Virginia Tech, and has worked in relief development...
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