What Donations can Accomplish

Below are some ways in which the Famine has already Made a Real Mark!

        Returning Famine participants will be excited to know that their funds have helped finish the job in Magole, Tanzania.  This region of Africa was one of the poorest areas in the entire world.  Today the children in Magole have clothes to wear, schools to learn in, clean water to drink, food to keep them healthy, and most importantly, this community of 35,000 people is self-sufficient.  No more Famine funds will be applied to this project since the job is done.  Thank you to all famine participants who made this possible! 

        Nestled in the Andes Mountains of South America, the nation of Peru is one of the poorest in the southern hemisphere.  The region of Quiquijana in Peru was especially destitute.  In 2000, World Vision adopted the Quiquijana region and began to use Famine funds in this area.  Below are details of daily life, before and after World Vision's assistance...

BEFORE:

• Families in poverty struggled to survive using primitive farming techniques, most years not being able to provide enough food for everyone.
• Children and adults forced to regularly drink contaminated water, which lead to painful sickness and even death.
• With almost no medical care available, people suffered and died needlessly.
• Most families could not afford school supplies, so many children lacked basic education.

AFTER:

• A new irrigation system is helping family farmers keep their crops alive in dry seasons, meaning fewer families go hungry. 
• Farmers are learning to diversify their crops by growing vegetables, so their children have more vitamins in their daily diet.
• New wells mean people no longer have to drink contaminated water, dramatically reducing sickness and death.
• Medical care is beginning to halt the spread of preventable diseases.
• Over 15,000 children received school supply packets, two new schools were built or remodeled, and 54 schools received materials and supplies.
• Over three hundred new teachers were trained this year alone.

        Minani, a teenager in Burundi, Africa, still remembers the day that rebels attacked his family’s home.  Separated from his family while they ran for their lives, he returned home in the evening only to discover the dead bodies of his parents and all his siblings.  Just 11 years old, Minani spent the next few years in a grim struggle for survival.  Not knowing how to farm or cook, he was forced to beg from his neighbors and hide out in the ruin of his home.  Today, Minani is doing much better, thanks to World Vision.  He has learned to farm and his home has been rebuilt.  But in Burundi there are hundreds of other orphans like Minani, who continue to need help.  In addition, many refugees and families are struggling to survive in this nation (one of the three poorest countries in Africa).  That is why a portion of famine funds will continue to go to help provide food, medical care, housing assistance, and other urgently needed assistance in this region.

Below are some ways in which the Famine hopes to continue its Fight...

        Devastated by two years of floods, then two years of severe drought, North Korea is caught in the grip of massive food shortages and horrific poverty.  The communist government has done little to help its own people.  In response, funds raised by the Famine hope to provide:

• Agricultural Assistance — helping farmers grow healthier crops and increase their harvests so starving children and families have enough to eat.
• Noodle Factories — by supplying simple noodle machines, flour, and cornstarch, children in many areas will have enough to eat.
• Medical Care — including medicines, vitamins, wheelchairs, blankets, stethoscopes, syringes, and other help.

        Imagine if your community was attacked by a vicious enemy . . . but everyone pretended the enemy did not exist.  Unfortunately, that Is the reality in the African nation of Malawi, where AIDS claims thousands of lives each year, yet most people are too ashamed to talk about it.  However, the teenagers here are trying to fight back.  Many of these teens have banded together to form “AIDS - TOTO” (AIDS - NO) clubs.  These clubs use drama, music, debates, sports activities, and peer-to-peer discussions to help warn other young people about the dangers of AIDS and how to avoid this deadly disease.  Your famine donations can help train the leaders of 30 clubs, provide resources, and help multiply their effectiveness in reaching their peers with the truth about AIDS.

        In Zambia, an African nation of nearly 10 million, only 27% of the people have access to safe water, life expectancy is 42.7 years, and 75% of the people are considered living in poverty.   That is why World Vision is initiating 6 “Area Development Programs” (ADPs) that are hard-hitting strategies to help tackle the basic problems facing these people.  Examples are how to get more food from existing farms, how to produce clean water, and how to avoid unsafe sanitation practices that lead to disease.  World Vision is also partnering with USAID (an arm of the U. S. government), to help children survive and to improve agriculture.  Currently in Zambia, over 18,000 children are sponsored through World Vision.  With further funding from famine groups, these critical programs will help this region to beat poverty and stand on its own.

        You do not have to go overseas to find people suffering from hunger and poverty.  There are countless children and families living right here in North America.  They struggle to survive by keeping the heat turned low in winter, skipping meals, and wearing the same clothes until they are threadbare.  Last year over one million people in the U.S. needed assistance from World Vision, that is why a portion of your Famine funds will go to provide food and housing assistance, school supplies, and other care for these families.

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