Programme Rescues 15,000 Children from Poverty

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 Posted: 2:21:52AM HKT

Dr Steven Christian, a former Worldvision-sponsored child some four decades back. Today, Dr Christian is one of a small number of oncologists in Indonesia. (Photo: Worldvision)

Their parents were so poor they did not even have the means to provide for their basic needs and had to send them to the children’s homes.

But the children received help from a Worldvision child sponsorship programme and, holding on tightly to their dreams, have long since broken the cycle of poverty.

Today, one of them, Steven Christian, is one of only four oncologists in Bali and around 70 specialists in Indonesia.

Another is a professor in learning methodology, and at 30 years of age was the youngest PhD to graduate from a leading public college in Malang in East Java province.

A third is working as a surgeon in Southeast Sulawesi province; among the other two, one is a teacher and the other a housewife.

Another Worldvision-sponsored child grew up in the slums of Bagong Barrio in Caloocan City in the Philippines.

Armando Balilo is now a public information officer of the Philippine Coast Guard and was directly involved in rescuing victims of the recent Typhoon Ketsana.

Lieutenant Commander Balilo has gone from sponsored child to a child sponsor of three children.

Christian and Balilo are only two examples of those who have benefited from the Worldvision child sponsorship programme.

In Singapore alone, the Christian humanitarian organisation is presently coordinating sponsorship by close to 11,000 individuals of 15,000 children in 14 countries.

The aim of the programme, where children living in poverty are adopted for $45 per month, is to empower them to break free from the vicious cycle and attain economic self-sufficiency.

Instead of giving handouts or even setting up amenities to cater to basic needs, Worldvision’s programme is an attempt to address the root cause of poverty.

As such, it provides economic opportunities and training programmes to help beneficiaries reach a level where they are able to draw a sustainable source of income.

Worldvision Singapore is carrying out 15 area development programmes, each lasting between ten to 15 years, in Bangladesh, Cambodia (in two parts), China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Lesotho, and Zambia with a focus on community development.

The local chapter of the international NGO has been coordinating the child sponsorship programme for 28 years.

Edmond Chua
edmond@christianpost.com