A world fit for children

Administrator — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

While you’re peeking inside this Internet window into the heart of our organization, you will clearly see that World Vision South Africa has a dream – a dream of building a better world fit for children.

And despite the imperfections of this wonderful world we’re living in, we stand strong in our vision of life in all its fullness for every child. We trust that you share our hope, prayer and the will to make it so.

No matter how hard we strive to push the boundaries of development work; no matter how strongly we want to fight the causes and the symptoms of suffering, we can never let this dream and vision of ours come to full fruition without the help and support of people like you.

It is not as tough to make a difference, as some people may think. The distinction lies in whether we set our hearts right and how we use our diverse abilities. World Vision South Africa appeals to you to venture like a Columbus of old deep into the heart of our worthy cause. No doubt you will find paths that will lead to the opening of new or extended channels of compassion, thought and action.

Join us in our inspired dream to see that no child is without.

Lehlohonolo Chabeli
National Director and CEO

Fighting poverty and injustice

Administrator — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Today, South Africa is one of the leading countries in terms of income disparity. Of its population, 51% live in poverty – that translates to 25 million people. Therefore, there is a very real need to address poverty.

This is what World Vision (WV) does – addressing root causes of poverty. One of the world’s largest privately funded Christian-based humanitarian NGOs, it focuses on child-based and community-orientated programmes involving transformational development, emergency relief and advocacy.

Our vision is for every child to enjoy life in all its fullness. Our prayer for every heart is that people could develop the will to make it so. We serve all people no matter what religion, race, ethnicity or gender.

We strive to tackle the root causes of poverty with a view to having sustainable community based programs. While we focus on assisting children, most of our work is achieved through the sustainable, community based projects that target and assist the wider community.

The challenges in South Africa, in terms of poverty alleviation, are compounded by the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas and the influx of an urban area from a rural one in hope of work is left disappointed.

Altogether, WVSA has 17 programmes and assists over one million people through these, which are termed Area Development Programmes (ADPs). The ADPs are spread throughout the country in six of the nine provinces. They focus on (1) transformational development: agriculture and food security, water and sanitation, education, health and HIV/Aids, local economic development, (2) humanitarian emergency affairs and (3) policy and advocacy. These ADPs assist communities in utilising their skills, resources and potential to overcome poverty,

We build on the capabilities of communities in which we operate. Their skills, resources and potential are embraced in order to overcome poverty and in this way, we ensure sustainability of our projects.

We work with sponsors and with partnerships to identify projects and then implement them. These child-focused projects must benefit the community as a whole, so we follow a holistic approach.

A programme must have an impact, must empower and make a difference in people’s lives. We must achieve more than just service delivery; we must achieve empowerment and transformation.

I appeal to all South Africans to stop and ask what they can do to get involved with the fight against poverty. It is everyone’s responsibility. In the words of former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, ‘it is time to develop a caring nation’.

Lehlohonolo Chabeli

National Director and CEO

World Vision South Africa