World Vision runs both long term programmes (area development programmes) and emergency programmes. Area development programmes (ADPs) cover large areas which involve several villages and communities. These projects last up to 15 years. The funding for ADPs mainly comes from child sponsorship which enables World Vision to help the whole community. World Vision’s main aim is to help communities to develop their skills and confidence so they are able to manage their own development long after World Vision has finished it work in that particular area.
An example of one of World Vision’s ADPs is World Vision’s new sponsorship program in Sacaca in the county of Ibañez, in the province of Potosi in Bolivia. Sacaca is a mountainous area with a cold climate. There are 15,000 inhabitants of Sacaca who are among the most disadvantaged people in Bolivia. The main way of making a living is subsistence farming; they grow potatoes, cereal crops, beans and peas and lower down the mountains pear trees and prickly cacti. They also rear livestock including sheep, goats and llamas. The farms do not make enough and there is desperate need for clean water, sanitation, more awareness of hygiene and more local health care. This project began in October 2002 and is now helping to address the issues above over the next 13 years.
An example of World Vision’s relief supplies is the $92,000 of relief supplies from its warehouse in Hanover, Germany to Monrovia the capital of Liberia. Fighting between Government and rebel soldiers led to distressing circumstances after the US had withdrawn from the country. World Vision responded by sending this relief.
World Vision’s aim is to help the neediest of people regardless of religion or race. They give priority to people before money, structure, systems and institutions. It does this daily by working with the world’s poorest people to meet their individual needs, one by one, starting with the neediest.
World Vision, like most aid charities, relies on donations. Unlike some, it also relies on sponsorship of children. It is a remarkable charity that works hard to help people in developing countries. In my view it achieves its aims with the resources that are available to it.
