By Jim and Julie Morrison, child sponsors
We feel that we know and have witnessed the work done by World Vision in Bac Binh district, Vietnam. We first went in March 2011. The area in which our sponsored child lived was extremely poor. There were no vehicles driven by locals to be seen.
We visited a farmers’ committee building built by World Vision; the members of that committee came to meet us and say thank you. One very old man came up to Jim and, through the interpreter, told us how very poor they all were. We were overwhelmed by the welcome given to us.
We went again in 2014. This time, the area had more vehicles, and we were able to spend several hours with our sponsored child. We bought the school a table tennis table. The kids challenged Jim to a tournament with their best player. Jim, who hadn’t played for a very long time, was soundly beaten. I am sure you could hear the kids cheer for miles each time the boy won a point.
We saw more of the work that World Vision was doing in the area. We went to a hairdresser’s shop, built and outfitted by World Vision for a young mother who now can earn her own income. We went to a new school, built by the government, which had a fence in progress, so that the children would be safe in the school yard. World Vision was providing the funds for the fence.
The relationship between World Vision and the schools, the villagers, the parents of the sponsored children and the children themselves is very positive. We saw assistance where needed, positive reinforcement of safety, education and health, and a hand up where needed.