Pray for West Africa
We believe prayer is foundational to our work. It sensitizes us to the needs around us and acknowledges God’s provision and help in all we do. Join us in prayer for the needs of children and families in West Africa impacted by the deepening drought and food crisis.
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Pray that children and families will survive an escalating drought.
Poor rains have led to poor harvests across the region, affecting as many as 15 million people in six countries — Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal, Chad, and Burkina Faso. While food shortages are chronic in this part of the world, the current crisis is occurring precariously close to the drought of 2009-2010. Affected populations have exhausted their traditional means of coping, and families have already reported cutting back on the number of meals they eat every day.
Father, we pray that children and families living in West Africa will survive these lean months ahead. Your Word says that You alone “…satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass” (Job 38:27). So, we rely on Your help and provision for those whose families are trying to survive this drought. Give them courage and resourcefulness to make it through the months ahead. Come to their aid. We look to You, O God, our strength.
Pray for the return of life-giving rain.
The next rainy season is expected to start in July. Even with sufficient rainfall, there will be no harvest until October. Most parents believe their food will not last until then.
Father, we ask that You will bring plentiful rain again to this drought-prone land. We ask that they will see You make “…grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate — bringing forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). When rain comes, give the people knowledge to retain and use the water efficiently. And bring an abundant harvest from the rain-soaked ground so there will be no food gap next year. We look to You, O God, our strength.
In the affected region, about 645,000 children die each year; 35 percent of these deaths are linked to malnutrition. (Photo: Justin Douglass/World Vision)
Pray that children will have the nutritious food they need.
In the affected region, about 645,000 children die each year; 35 percent of these deaths are linked to malnutrition. Currently, 2 million children are moderately malnourished, and 1 million are severely malnourished.
Lord, it’s hard to see children suffer, especially from hunger. We ask you to give them daily bread today (Matthew 6:11) and throughout the coming months. Provide the food they need to grow and thrive. We look to You, O God, our strength.
Pray for vulnerable children.
In drought situations, children are more vulnerable to disease. They must walk longer distances to find water — making them targets of attack by wild animals and human predators. When food resources are threatened, families will migrate, hoping for better opportunities elsewhere. And sometimes children seek work to help support their families. This means that children drop out of school, or, if they remain in their classes, they find it difficult to concentrate on lessons due to hunger.
Lord, we ask that You will be “…a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:9) for the children of West Africa. Protect them from dangers in the wild and from people who would take advantage of their vulnerability. Keep them from disease; help their families and communities find the resources necessary to feed them so they can thrive. Help girls and boys to stay in school so they will enjoy the full life You have for them. We look to You, O God, our strength.
Pray for humanitarian aid workers, governments, and partners.
World Vision works with various partners to bring relief to suffering children and families in West Africa. (Photo: Amadou Baraze/World Vision)
World Vision is part of a coalition (including CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Plan International, and Save the Children) advocating for early intervention to help struggling communities survive. World Vision works in five of the affected countries — Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal, and Chad.
We are also cooperating with churches, UN aid agencies, our coalition colleagues, the affected governments, donor governments, and other partners to bring effective emergency relief to families.
Your Word says, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for what he has done” (Proverbs 19:17). Please bless all those who are working to help those suffering from drought. Give us energy and grace as we go about our activities. Keep us from danger. Guard our hearts and minds from fatigue and hopelessness. Help us serve others with kindness and compassion. We look to You, O God, our strength.
Pray for stability in the region.
The food scarcity is compounded by violence in Mali and returnees from Libya. Fighting between government forces and Taureg rebels in Mali have compelled tens of thousands of refugees to flee to Niger, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso. Food supplies have also been further strained by about 90,000 mostly young men who have returned following the rebellion that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
Lord, we believe those suffering in this region would agree with the psalmist: “Too long have I lived among those who hate peace” (Psalm 120:6). Children and families long for stability in their communities. Help those who are at war come to agree with one another. Bring peacemakers to the region who will help bring reconciliation and justice. We look to You, O God, our strength.
Pray for World Vision’s child sponsorship communities.
Sponsorship not only helps individual children, but also supports emergency interventions during times of crisis, like the current food crisis in Niger. (Photo: World Vision)
World Vision serves 3.5 million people in sponsorship communities across the region. Many of these communities are becoming severely strained as refugees arrive in search of food and other life basics.
“Poor villages have been overwhelmed with people, some expanding seven-fold in just a few months, with refugees forced to live in overcrowded homes and makeshift shacks,” says Chris Palusky, World Vision’s food crisis response manager for Mali and Niger. “Time is running out to support host families before they themselves reach breaking point. A large and speedy response will not only save lives but strengthen communities who are already bearing the brunt of this disaster.”
Lord, You’ve allowed World Vision the privilege of demonstrating Your love in these countries through the monthly gifts of caring sponsors. We pray that our ministry in sponsorship communities will bear good fruit (Colossians 1:10). We ask Your hand to help us support families and villages hosting refugees, so they themselves can survive along with their guests. We look to You, O God, our strength.
Read more of our ongoing coverage of the West Africa food crisis here on the World Vision Blog.
Also, consider making a one-time gift to help provide life-saving food and care for children affected by hunger. Your donation will help deliver interventions like emergency food, agricultural support, nutritional training, clean water, and more.
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A pig tale from Rwanda
How can the gift of pigs help keep a family out of poverty, while creating hope and opportunity? Read this inspiring story from the Kahi community of Rwanda to find out.
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“This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home…”
Anataria Kamariza’s rather rotund pig roots around in a muddy hole near the family’s garden, the picture of a piggy in the sunshine. Reddish brown fur shines on her back and flop ears; down below and on her quivering, inquisitive snout, she’s caked with dirt.
“Ingurube!” 11-year-old Anataria calls out happily as she brings her fat friend greens to eat.
Ah, the good life for a pig.
Anataria’s parents, Boniface and Marie, grow maize and beans to keep food on the table, but pig and her three sets of piglets have kept the family out of debt since pig became the family’s patron three years ago.
From left: Anataria Kamariza; her brother, Theophile Uzayisenga; father, Muberuka Boniface; mother, Marie Murekatete; sister, Rusie Kamayirese; and older brother, Stratton Ngendahayo, at their home in Rwanda.
Anataria was the first to benefit. A month after the first piglets were born, Anataria became deathly ill. It was typhoid.
“She spent a whole month at the hospital,” says her mother, Marie. Three little piggies went to market, and the family was able to pay the medical bills in full, with a little left over for household goods.
When the second set of piglets was born, they went to market — and Theoneste Ndayishimiye, Anataria’s 15-year-old brother, went to high school. Hurray!
“If we didn’t have the pig to help us pay the school fees and medical bills, I would be borrowing money,” says Boniface. “I would be in debt, and it would be hard for me.”
Piggy profit from Miss Pig’s third litter went to home improvements for her human family.
Three pigs from the second litter went to the farmers’ cooperative to build up its loan capital; and three from the next batch, too.
“They sell the piglets, and the money goes back to the cooperative to help other members, who have nothing,” explains Zacariah Ubarijoro, co-op president.
Starting with ten pigs from the World Vision Gift Catalog and continuing with their curly-tailed offspring, the Kahi community tells tale after tale of pig-powered success.
Donate a share of a pig today. Your gift can provide a family in need with a steady source of income to pay for basics like medical care and education — the building blocks for a future of stability and hope.
Restoring houses and hearts in Nashville and nationwide
Last July, Heidi Isaza covered this heartwarming story of Lisa McEleny, who traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to volunteer with World Vision’s recovery efforts in the wake of destructive flooding that hit the city in 2010. During her week there, Lisa discovered that God had a much bigger purpose in mind for her than just rebuilding a damaged house.
This year, World Vision is organizing mission trips all across the United States. Check out the dates and locations — you could be a part of something meaningful and life-changing.
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“I’ve had the Mercedes. I’ve had the jewelry, the phony nails, and the big hair,” says Lisa, 44. She notes her previous desk job at a bank — but it’s almost as though she is talking about someone else.
The Lord is leading Lisa on an exciting adventure of transformation. “I left my job in this lovely economy,” she comments sarcastically. “I had no idea where I was going to be going or what I was going to be doing.”
How has this changed her? Lisa’s leap of faith led her to lean more fully on the Lord.
Leaving her job was the first big step. The next one? Volunteering a week of her time to serve with World Vision in Nashville as part of our ongoing efforts to help families whose lives were ravaged by devastating floods in May 2010.
“I think of it as an honor, not as a sacrifice,” she says. “I look at it as the most amazing gift that has been given to me personally — the opportunity to go and help be a part of reconstructing somebody’s world that has been really shattered.”
Rebuilding from the inside out
Lisa puts finishing touches on the bedroom they restored at Vera's house.
Lisa spent most of her days in Nashville working on Vera Thompson’s house. Vera is a slender African American woman. She lives in an older house that she inherited from her mother in suburban Nashville.
From the curb, the house appears to be in acceptable condition. A look inside, however, reveals sagging floors, rotting staircases, and a permeating smell of mold. Parts of Nashville received nearly 20 inches of rain in a two-day period. Much of the excess water ended up in Vera’s basement.
The house filled with nearly three feet of water. Without electricity, there was no way to pump it out. “The water stayed down here [for some time],” says Lisa. “That is how the damage got as bad as it did.” Water, combined with heat and humidity, led to mold in the walls and weakening of the wooden structural foundation.
Several of the individuals on Lisa’s team were construction professionals. She wasn’t among them — but that didn’t deter her from coming alongside Vera in her time of need. “I don’t know how to sheetrock, but I have a really big heart,” Lisa says.
Thankfully, another skilled volunteer group had already visited. They had hung sheetrock in one room, which was ready to be taped and painted. Lisa and others on her team worked on doing just that.
Lisa and Vera: lifelong friends
Vera (left) and Lisa sit together on the porch outside of Vera's house.
“It’s not really about the work,” says Lisa, after going through the list of what the group had accomplished. It became clear that the Lord led her to Nashville and allowed her to serve Vera for a purpose greater than the physical restoration of her house — important though that was.
God also brought Lisa there to help with the emotional and spiritual restoration of Vera herself.
“[Vera] said to me that she feels burdensome. She doesn’t want to ask anyone for anything,” relays Lisa, adding that Vera lives alone and feels lonely. Her son died when he was just 23.
“I got a pencil, and on the sheetrock, I drew a great big heart. I wrote ‘We love you, Vera!’ and then we all wrote our names,” says Lisa.
“I [told] Vera, ‘whenever you are lonely, we are right here for you, always. You just put your hand on here and you will feel our hearts. This room is our gift to you.’”
Vera was touched by the team’s hard work — and their hearts. “They have lifted my spirit as well as lifted my morale,” she says. “Knowing that they are coming in and they are working with me and they are doing it from the kindness of their hearts and their love of people…I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.”
Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke. “I don’t want to cry, so I will just say I thank you all. It brought me so far up out of myself to know that there are people…who love me,” she says, hugging Lisa, her new life-long friend.
Want to be part of a similar experience that helps restore both lives and hearts? Check out the dates and locations of World Vision’s U.S. mission trips this year. The trip might only last a week — but the impact can last a lifetime.
Also, consider making a donation to help support World Vision’s work with children, families, and communities in need right here in the United States.
Do you feel a stirring in your gut?
In late February, some 4,000 people from across the Unites States descended upon the “City of Roses” for two days. They didn’t travel hundreds or thousands of miles for a major sporting event or to see some famous music band.
Instead, these groups and individuals gathered in Portland, Oregon, for the second annual Justice Conference, which has been described as “one of the largest international gatherings on social and biblical justice.” According to founder Ken Wytsma, the conference is fueled by a “theology of justice,” which professes that “an understanding of God should compel love for others and engagement in justice.”
Over the course of two days, the Justice Conference featured an impressive array of internationally-acclaimed speakers like Walter Brueggemann, Francis Chan, John M. Perkins, and Shane Claiborne, to name a few, who each used his or her unique perspectives to challenge hearts and minds.
I was personally struck by the sessions with Walter Brueggemann, when he explained that “compassion” is akin to the Hebrew word for “womb,” describing a mother’s intense, self-sacrificing love for her baby.
“Compassion” is akin to the Hebrew word for “womb,” describing a mother’s intense, self-sacrificing love for her baby. (Photo: Sopheak Kong/World Vision)
As a new mom, I can certainly attest to daily experiencing this incredible connection to my son that would drive me to conquer anything for his sake. This comparison has also helped me to realize that God wants me to view what Brueggemann continually referred to as my “vulnerable neighbors” with this same intense compassion and solidarity that God feels toward all of His children.
Brueggemann then went on to describe that Jesus fed the 5,000 from an intense and compassionate response that the Greek text describes as being a “stirring of the gut” and the “disgusted upheaval” he felt at their hunger.
Brueggemann said this passage should wake all Christians up from our numbness, compel us to become more emotionally in touch with our neighbor’s pain, and to engage with a world that is “out of bread.” According to him, God gave us all enough gifts that we need to redistribute, like the five loaves and two fish, to heal this world.
Starting in 2010 with 1,000 attendees, the Justice Conference has certainly resonated with thousands of Christians and churches who have been waking up to the ongoing dialogue around justice and advocacy-related issues like human trafficking, poverty, and human rights.
The Justice Conference is indicative of a hunger and growing movement within the Church that World Vision definitely wants to be part of and has been cultivating.
Do you feel this compassionate “stirring in your gut” when you take the time to see the suffering of your vulnerable neighbor? Are you ready to steward your influence? Are you ready to join with World Vision and others who want to take up God’s mandate to give ourselves away?
According to Brueggemann, this is the wonder and truth of the gospel, because when “we give ourselves away, we get ourselves back enhanced and transformed!”
If you feel convicted by issues of poverty and injustice that hurt children and their families, we invite you to join a growing network of activists via World Vision’s Advocate Network. Through this network, you can explore the depths of biblical advocacy and learn how you can use your unique abilities and dreams to influence decision-makers on behalf of children and families living in poverty and oppression.
Want to take action right now? Contact the White House today and urge President Obama to take bold action at the upcoming G8 Summit to reduce chronic malnutrition among children around the world.
PHOTOS: Helping vulnerable children survive to 5
In places of poverty, the first five years of a child’s life are the most deadly — and if a child lives to the age of 5, his or her chances for survival increase dramatically.
There are a few basic reasons why children under 5 die of preventable causes — such as severe malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria, and neonatal infections — and there are simple solutions to prevent those causes. The Survive to Five™ Challenge is World Vision’s focused, high-impact way to give children every chance for survival.
Here are some images that show World Vision’s interventions to help stop preventable child deaths around the world — made possible with the support of our generous donors.
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Shukria, a midwife-in-training through World Vision's multi-year assistance program for child and maternal health in Afghanistan, cares for a newborn baby. (Nila Akbari/World Vision)
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Nearly 9 months pregnant, Oeung Pheng, 33, regularly goes to her local health center in Cambodia to get her health checked. She is pregnant with her fifth child. She delivered the first three babies at home. But consulting with a midwife has helped her care better for her own health and that of her unborn baby. (Sopheak Kong/World Vision)
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This child is staying at a World Vision-supported shelter for abused women and girls in the northeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The shelter has served more than 7,000 affected by conflict in the DRC. Eighty percent of the women and girls there have been sexually abused. (Jon Warren/World Vision)
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Makonda, a 2-year-old baby boy, receives a blood transfusion for treatment of malaria at Mapamboli Clinic in the DRC, built by World Vision. His worried mother, Mandiangu, 20, and grandmother, Nlandu, sit with him. (Jon Warren/World Vision)
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Sabina enjoys time with her baby daughter, Dorcas. Sabina used to spend four hours each day fetching water from a dirty river. But a World Vision water project has brought clean, safe water much closer to her home in Kenya. (Jon Warren/World Vision)
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Betinha's mother received nutritional training through World Vision in Mozambique. Now, the little girl receives a healthier diet. (Antonio Matimbe/World Vision)
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In Sudan, a child is immunized by a vaccination team at a World Vision health center. More than 1,250 children are immunized on a monthly basis at health centers here. (Mohamad Almahady/World Vision)
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Potipher, a baby born prematurely at home, is ill and is being screened by health officers at a clinic in Zambia. (Collins Kaumba/World Vision)
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Baby Joyce enjoys the warmth of a new blanket. Seida says the blanket will not only benefit Joyce, but also her next child. After receiving a new blanket from World Vision, Seida will no longer have to worry about how to keep her daughter warm. (Collins Kaumba/World Vision)
Make a donation today to World Vision’s Survive to Five™ Challenge. Thanks to government grants, your gift will triple in impact to help provide life-saving interventions like vaccinations, nutritious food, clean water, bed nets to prevent malaria, skilled birth attendants, and more.
David’s bright idea
Do you give money to beggars? I can think of plenty of reasons why such giving is not a good idea. Then, I’ll see some destitute woman shivering in the cold, and I’ll feel compelled to press a few dollars in her hand.
I believe God looks favorably on such gestures, but I think most would agree they are of limited value. If we really want to be a Good Samaritan, then our engagement with the poor needs to be more thoughtful and intentional.
I was reminded of this the other week when I met David Strait. David is an engineer from Madison, Wisconsin. Like many people in his church, David sponsors children in a community struggling with poverty in Rwanda. David took his interest one step further by joining a church vision trip and heading to Africa to actually meet his sponsored children.
While there, someone casually remarked that it was almost impossible for children to study at night as it gets dark about 6 p.m., and the community has no electricity supply.
A child in southern Rwanda studies using a solar-powered LED light. (Photo: David Strait)
David did not think much of it at the time. But months later, he was praying for his sponsored children while riding his bicycle in Wisconsin. Then, it came to him: How can I expect these Rwandan kids to do well if they can’t study after school? David noted the energy-efficient LED lighting he used on his bike and wondered whether there might be cost-effective solar-powered LED lighting available.
That thought led him on a remarkable journey. It turned out that such lights were just coming on to the market. David sent 10 trial lamps to Rwanda for evaluation. Later, he flew to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend a solar lighting conference and discovered three more models for World Vision staff to test in the community.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Children could not only study for longer, but families could enjoy more social time in the evenings. In light of the positive reports, David’s church raised more than $73,000 to purchase 5,000 solar-powered lights for the community in a project dubbed “Lights for Learning.”
It’s been a huge success. Not only have test scores improved among children, but they are also healthier because of their diminished exposure to fumes from kerosene lamps. World Vision is eagerly looking into introducing the lamps at other project sites in Africa.
David returned to Rwanda to help distribute the LED solar-powered lights.
Now, David is the last person in the world to want to be stuck on a pedestal. But I do think his example is a challenge to us all to think how we can best make a positive impact. It involves learning about the problem, thinking about it, praying about it, using the practical skills God has given us, and working collaboratively toward a solution.
I even like the fact that David got the idea while taking time out to relax on his bicycle. The best ideas, I suspect, seldom come to workaholics.
Naturally, doing all of this is a whole lot more involved than simply throwing a few dollars at a problem and hoping it will go away. Giving money is certainly important — but how much more productive, satisfying, and exciting is it when we are more actively engaged?
We might not all have the skills and abilities that David has, but I do believe we all have something to contribute — and it’s much more than what is in our wallets.
Are you looking for new ways to get involved? Check out our list of activities and volunteering opportunities to find ways by which you can use your special skills or gifts.
Consider sponsoring a child. Through your love and support, you’ll not only help provide life-giving essentials, but through this special relationship, God might reveal to you other ways that you can make a difference in the world.
Food for work: Covering immediate and future needs in parched Niger
As the drought and food crisis escalate across West Africa, how is World Vision responding both to urgent, immediate needs, as well as long-term recovery challenges? Here’s a closer look at what’s going on in villages across Niger.
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Women of all ages — young and old — carry babies on their backs and dig in the hard soil under the hot sun. At this point, the depth of Niger’s food crisis becomes painfully clear. Communities agonizing over the ongoing drought are able to eat only because of relief efforts that World Vision has undertaken in partnership with the World Food Program.
Just how bad has it gotten? Ask a villager.
“I can tell you that there had been times [when] we eat even millet bran, which normally is for animals,” says Haoua Adamou, a 50-year-old woman and mother of seven children. “But now, with the support from World Vision, we have wheat, lentils, and oil.”
Another woman, Limou Halidou, a 60-year-old widow and mother of six children, adds, “With your support, now we know that we do not have to leave our village, because we will have [food] to eat.”
Women participating in World Vision's food-for-work program gather with their shovels.
Indeed, there are some 975 households directly benefiting from World Vision’s food-for-work project in the Tillabery region, with each household receiving more than 75 pounds of food after working for eight days.
“With the amount of food we receive, my family of 15 members can eat for another 10 days,” Haoua says.
And there’s a second purpose to this initiative. The women who participate in the food-for-work program help break up soil that has been hardened by the extreme heat and bone-dry conditions. Doing so helps facilitate a return to fertile ground, where cattle can graze and crops can be grown.
In addition to Tillabery, World Vision’s partnership with the World Food Program is undertaking similar activities in two other regions of Niger — namely Zinder, where 1,396 households are benefiting from food-for-work; and Maradi, where 1,245 households are also benefiting from the food-for-work program, and 5,716 households are benefiting from cash-for-work.
So what would happen in the absence of such interventions?
“The only alternative is to leave the village,” says Haoua. “Indeed, some began to leave. It’s your intervention that stopped us as now we can have [food] to eat.”
She adds, “If you had arrived a month later, you would have found the village already emptied of its inhabitants, because nobody will stay and starve here.”
At this stage in West Africa’s ongoing drought and food crisis, these programs are the only means of providing survival and hope for such communities.
The food crisis rages on. But with this kind of ongoing support, villagers can take solace in knowing that they will no longer need to flee their villages — and with the farmland they rehabilitate, they’ll produce enough food to eat when the rains return.
Read more of our ongoing coverage of the West Africa food crisis here on the World Vision Blog.
Make a one-time gift to help provide life-saving food and care for children affected by hunger in places like Niger. Your donation will help deliver interventions like emergency food, agricultural support, nutritional training, clean water, and more.
The glamor of a brothel raid
Rich Stearns, president of World Vision U.S., shares a story from his recent visit to Cambodia that highlights the numerous interventions required to fight poverty, injustice, and oppression — those that are dramatic and highly-publicized, as well as those that are less conspicuous but equally critical.
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In Cambodia last month, I met a young woman who, in a dramatic raid, had been rescued from the sex trade. Local police alongside the International Justice Mission stormed into the brothel where Ruse (not her real name) had been kept as a slave — and where she had been forced to sleep with roughly 700 men a year.
We sat in Ruse’s simple one-room apartment, where she took care of two younger brothers. Her bed was covered with a pink comforter decorated with cartoon tigers. Piled high on one end were pillows and blankets. On the wall hung a picture of her uncle and a Winnie the Pooh clock. It appeared as if Ruse was only now able to experience the childhood that was stolen from her.
She told us the story of her father’s absence, her mother’s illness, and Ruse’s own desperate decision to sell the only thing of value that her family had — her virginity — to help her ailing mother.
Having sold it, however, Ruse had nothing left that her society valued. Like more than 30,000 women in cities across Cambodia, she was trapped in the brothel, selling her body for just $1 or $2. (Some experts estimate that there are up to 100,000 women trapped in this hidden underworld of sexual slavery.)
Ruse’s life was suddenly changed on the day that the International Justice Mission and the police raided her brothel, freeing her from a life of forced sex. But her dramatic rescue doesn’t explain how Ruse now lives in her own apartment, cares for her family, has a job, and is able to take English classes in hopes of earning an even better living in the future.
Rich Stearns, president of World Vision U.S. (in blue shirt), visits with Ruse at World Vision's trauma recovery center in Cambodia.
Like so many other components of fighting poverty, the rescue was just one step — in this case, a very visible one — in a long process. When we seek to lift people from the fires of evil and injustice, we need a whole bucket brigade of caring people who perform less dramatic, but no less important work.
Having been forced for many years to routinely have sex with often-abusive men, Ruse was in no shape to leave the brothel and begin life on her own. She was immediately counseled by World Vision and put into a group home alongside other women, all of whom had escaped the sex trade and were on the path to recovery. After roughly two years, Ruse received job training from World Hope. Now, she receives spiritual nurture from her Baptist church.
It’s easy for us to get excited about the dramatic fight against poverty and injustice. We all like to hear the story of a woman rescued, or a gushing well irrigating arid farmland, or the medication that restores to health an HIV-positive mother.
Often, however, the real work is done when few people are looking. Water wells can bring instant relief to a suffering community. But the well itself isn’t enough; it must be adequately maintained and repaired — work that happens out of the spotlight but is absolutely essential. And although brothel raids provide instant relief from suffering, they don’t actually rescue people unless they’re followed by years of counseling and retraining.
If Ruse’s story is like a precious vase that has been broken and glued back together, the solution isn’t simply a matter of trying to restore the vase’s original beauty. It’s a matter of preventing the vase from being broken in the first place.
Prevention work is often the most difficult, because it requires us to address factors like culture, as well as a community’s values, morals, and beliefs. In the end, it’s often extremely difficult to tell whether or not you’ve been successful. After all, it’s much easier to know when something happens — such as a woman being rescued from a brothel — than it is to know when something didn’t happen but might have, such as a girl whose parents chose not to sell her into the sex trade.
Development work is often like an iceberg. The portion that we see — that gets covered in the press or promoted online — is just the tip of what we must do in order to transform lives. However, it is what’s unseen that really makes a difference. Yes, brothel raids are often necessary. But I’d always rather see investment made in the less glamorous and hard work of prevention and long-term recovery.
What other important components of fighting poverty and injustice should receive more attention? Share your thoughts with us!
Make a one-time gift today to help provide hope for sexually exploited girls. Your donation will help deliver a wide range of interventions in the fight against this tragic practice, like safe shelter, medical care, informal education, vocational training, compassionate counseling, and more.
Also, contact your members of Congress today and express your support for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The most recent version of this federal legislation expired on September 30, 2011, and must be renewed immediately to keep the United States positioned as a leader in the fight against modern-day slavery around the world.
Mauritania: Making the Triangle of Poverty a Triangle of Hope
Traveling across West Africa, World Vision communications manager Jonathan Bundu is collecting stories of women and children impacted by the current drought and food crisis. Below are reflections from his time in Mauritania, in a region called the Triangle of Poverty.
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My sojourn took me to an area called the Triangle of Poverty. First, let me explain it so that you will have an understanding of the name.
The Traingle of Poverty shares three regions within Mauritania: Brakna, Assaba, and Gorgol. A lack of long-term development in this area means that 95 percent of the population lives exclusively on agriculture, dependent on rainfall.
With little rainfall across West Africa this year, many farmers watched desperately as their fields dried and their crops failed. The lucky ones were able to harvest a little in late December. The sorghum and bean harvest have finished, and households that have no migrant workers to send them money find it too difficult to eat.
Many children under 5 are moderately malnourished. Community health workers say there is fear that if no action is taken, many more children will fall into severe malnutrition.
In Mauritania's Triangle of Poverty, some women must travel up to five miles to reach safe drinking water. (Photo: Jonathan Bundu/World Vision)
The current government is determined to bring drastic changes to the people in this area, with the goal of changing the Triangle of Poverty into the Triangle of Hope.
Committed to their word, I was amazed in the evening to see that there is light in Berkeol District. Wow! Most other rural communities do not have electric lights. As we drove into other areas, road construction was presently going on.
World Vision is responsive to the situation and is joining the current government in its efforts. In less than two years, five communities have been able to access safe drinking water, thanks to the work of World Vision. In the past, these communities used to travel up to five miles to access the nearest safe drinking water source.
World Vision has also helped eradicate guinea worm disease, which is caused by drinking contaminated water. Our teams are training maternal and child health aides there, along with providing medication and conducting an awareness campaign. World Vision has embarked on an assessment to identify cases of malnutrition among children under 5, with the aim of opening centers in the worst-affected areas to help communities manage malnutrition at the community level.
World Vision, together with our partners — including governments, the World Food Program, UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization — aims to support more than 1.7 million people affected by the food crisis in West Africa, including more than 100,000 children.
Consider making a one-time gift to help provide life-saving food and care to hungry children. Your donation will help deliver emergency food aid, agricultural support, and more to vulnerable children and families in places like West Africa. Or, give monthly to provide ongoing support to children affected by hunger around the world.
Read our West Africa food crisis FAQs to learn more about this emergency and how we are responding.
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