As an American Christian, I like to think I do a fair job caring for the world’s poor — those in my own neighborhood and those around the world who have greater financial need than I do. After all, Americans pride themselves on generosity. And Christians desire to be known for their service to others. However, recent news (polls, studies, and political campaigns) suggest otherwise. How do we reconcile this?...
Recent Posts
What does 7-11 have to do with child and maternal health?
Watching the news or following blogs like this one the last couple of months may have you more curious about the international community’s efforts to improve child and maternal health world wide (or at least we hope so). This blog and our homepage have intentionally featured an ongoing focus on child and maternal health recently. Part of the reason is because of World Vision’s Child Health Now campaign that is dedicated to providing children worldwide with access to basic medical care, adequate nutrition, and disease prevention — all so that they can grow up healthy in their communities and avoid illness or death from preventable causes. Additionally, our partnership with the ABC News Million Moms Challenge is a focused effort...
FWD the facts: Day of Action for the Horn of Africa
There are many goals we have for the future that help define our work as an organization: reducing global poverty, ending preventable child deaths, eradicating malaria, and so on. But just for today, we have another goal: to inspire 13.3 million Americans to FWD the facts about the drought and food crisis in the Horn of Africa, spreading awareness to ensure that the tragedy no longer goes overlooked. In partnership with USAID and the FWD (Famine, War, Drought Relief) campaign, World Vision is asking supporters to participate in today’s FWD>Day of Action for the Horn of Africa. How? It’s as simple as this: FWD the facts....
Travel notes from Kenya
World Vision’s Rachael Boyer is in Kenya this week, visiting our water and sanitation projects in a part of Africa long affected by drought and lack of access to clean, safe water for families and communities. Today, she shares her experiences from her first day in the field. Look for more of Rachael’s trip notes on the blog later this week. * * * I flew with a group of World Vision U.S. staff members and donors from Uganda into Kenya via Eldoret. Then, we traveled to Marich Pass, located in Kenya’s Rift Valley, to see a particularly successful clean water project. Previously, poor access to clean water in the area contributed to early marriages and school dropouts...
Malaria in the Congo: The ever-present scourge (PHOTO BLOG)
Here in the United States, malaria is often merely thought of as an exotic, foreign disease that was eradicated from our nation in 1951. But when asked to describe malaria in one word, a nurse at Karawa General Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had this to say: “Killer.” The hospital administrator said that 80 percent of the local population carries the disease. My assignment last week was to document the needs of children in the region, because World Vision is considering working in the Karawa area. Malaria dominated almost every situation I covered. Here is a glimpse of what it looks and feels like....