Category Archives: Conversations

Answers from aid workers about Haiti

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Elizabeth Ranade-Janis in Conversations

Today is the two-year anniversary of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, leaving the nation in ruins and triggering an international relief response. In the time since, aid workers and relief organizations have experienced an unprecedented level of scrutiny surrounding the response: What is really happening there? Are donations going to good use? Is there hope? To gain some insight into these matters, we hosted an open mic for questions about Haiti this past week. Your submissions have been collected for responses from World Vision aid workers who have been focused on the relief efforts in Haiti — Jeff Wright and Liz Ranade-Janis. Jeff and Liz were deployed to Haiti following the 2010 quake to coordinate...

Do you let the media influence you?

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Elizabeth Ranade-Janis in Conversations

On a recent Friday afternoon, I happily engaged in my favorite nerdy end-of-week work habit, the kind only indulged on a slow week in the world of disaster relief: catching up on the week’s news in disasters while listening to talk radio. While perusing various news sites, I happened to catch an interesting interview with Nobel laureate and psychologist Daniel Kahneman, whose renowned work focuses primarily on behavioral economics, which is more or less the study of why we do the crazy things we do. During this very interesting discussion on cognition and biases, the subject of the media briefly arose, in the context of how we decide what issues are important to us. Kahneman noted that we “tend to...

Ask an aid worker about Haiti

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Lindsey Talerico-Hedren in Conversations

There are few disaster response efforts that have received the level of public scrutiny that has been focused on the international response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. As a result of the earthquake relief response in Haiti, it’s likely that most Americans have formed their own opinions about humanitarian aid. Questions like these and their answers (or lack of answers) influence our understanding and opinion of aid work: Did my donation really help? Why hasn’t anything been accomplished there? I watched one news channel that looks like everything is progressing quite well, and another that shows everything is in complete disarray. What’s the truth? What’s really happening? Two years seems like enough time to make some progress. Is the aid...

5 tips for choosing your charity for your year-end giving

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Larry Probus in Conversations

We’ve all heard the advice: Get your charitable donations in before the clock strikes midnight on December 31 — or say goodbye to potential tax breaks. But how to make sure you’re choosing the best charity in the first place? Here are 5 tips for making the most of your charitable dollars before we ring in the new year....

Happy birthday, Jesus | Blog 12 of the 12 blogs of Christmas

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Jessica Turner in Conversations

Blog 12 of the 12 blogs of Christmas | World Vision

I love to give gifts. Love. LOve. LOVe. LOVE to give gifts. It started as a little girl when I would go shopping at the Dollar Store for my family for Christmas. Then, when I got my first job, I began shopping year-round, seeking the best deals and the perfect gifts for everyone on my list. 15 years later, I still shop year-round. I usually finish shopping in early November and want to start wrapping right away. I am THAT excited to give the gifts I have purchased....