Seeing that her support was making a difference
I was only in Zewde’s community for one day, but it was a very memorable day. After a briefing at the World Vision office and meeting Zewde and her family, the local staff drove me around rural areas to show me an impressive range of projects.
The World Vision programs cover five core areas and I was shown examples for each:
- Education – we visited school buildings built by World Vision;
- Food security and water– we pumped clean water from wells and saw a veterinary building under construction;
- Health – there were a number of health outpost buildings in the rural areas;
- WaSH (which stands for ‘Water, Sanitation and Hygiene’)– a project promoting the use of toilets to replace open defecation; and
- Sponsorship – there are 3,680 sponsored children in the region, with 18,400 children benefiting indirectly.
The World Vision projects and staff were well received by the locals.
I could see so much enthusiasm and potential in the children and young adults in the Homosha Assosa project.
"To be honest, I found the meeting with Zewde, her family and the local people very emotional – surprisingly so. There was a sense of great satisfaction to see sponsors’ investments making a difference. That said, I would do it all again".
The World Vision staff who assisted with my visit were amazing – all of them - the staff in Australia who provided the clearances for me to go, World Vision in Indonesia who assisted with documents while we were travelling prior to the visit, and most of all, the World Vision staff in Ethiopia. So many people were involved in the preparation of my trip, but I really must give special mentions to Clare in Australia (World Vision’s sponsor visit consultant) and Solomon in Ethiopia – absolute stars.
Thank you so much for facilitating my visit. I will definitely continue my sponsorship for another 25 years and after this visit will encourage everyone I know to do the same.
Want to read other stories like this? Read about Shelley's experience meeting her Ethiopian sponsored child.