Lent Calendar
FEB 22 Honduras. Ingrid, coffee bean harvester.
Hortensia is just 21 and is mother to six year old Ingrid and 15 month old Karla. Caught in a cycle of abuse and poverty she hopes for a better life for her girls, but they are all malnourished and live on just half a pound of beans and some corn tortillas every week. Hortensia and her husband, Vidal (27), are illiterate and work in the coffee fields. Ingrid works with them, and they are already training the baby to pick the coffee beans as well. Food is hard to come by and access to clean water is difficult. Ingrid sometimes drinks from the basin where they wash their hands and food, and where the animals drink.
Hortensia's greatest hope is for her daughters to gain a good education. "I don't want the same luck I had for my daughters, because we didn't learn anything and I don't want that for them," she says.
Photographer: Abby Metty
Prayer Request
Give this family, & others, hope for their future: meals to eat, sound sleep, education, fresh & clean water, life in all its fullness.
FEB 23 Bangladesh. Mohammad collects rubbish.
Mohammad, who is ten years old, fled from his family several years ago travelling almost 300km to Dhaka. His father divorced his mother and married again. Mohammad is now living in a World Vision drop-in centre in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. He collects dirty papers to sell in a recycling shop beside the rail line.
Photographer: © World Vision
Prayer Request
Keep every street child from harm. Give them time & space to be children, enjoying childish things. Heal their hearts and give them hope.
FEB 24 Niger.12 year old child bride.
Alia, a twelve year old child bride, waits to get married on the morning of her wedding in a village in Niger. She would prefer not to get married. She would rather go to school or have a small job; but she says that because she has never gone to school she believes that it is too late for her and that it's better that she gets married. In Niger World Vision is conducting awareness raising activities at the village level to dissuade parents from marrying their girls early, sponsoring girls to go to high school and conducting micro credit and literacy activities with mothers in an attempt to reduce child marriage.
Photographer: Ann Birch
Prayer Request
With you it is never too late. May we champion the cause of child brides who have no voice. Raise up a generation of prayers and advocates.
FEB 25 Sierra Leone. Two sisters.
Sisters Jabbie and Jengo stand in the doorway of their home in Sierra Leone. Their mother Mamie, who is thirty five years old, fled her village during the war and lived as a nomad in the bush for years. Three of her children died of starvation in the bush because she could not find enough food for them.
Photographer: Ann Birch
Prayer Request
Comfort & strengthen those displaced through war. Provide the consolation of new friends & family & a secure home base. Bless them.
FEB 26 South Africa. Young children trained to resist abuse.
A young girl participates in a special day of training for crèche children (aged 3-6) in Soweto, South Africa. Children are taught how to get help if they are being abused by an adult. South Africa has one of the highest rates of child abuse in the world and this program, a partnership between World Vision and the government, is working on behalf of innocent children to do something about the situation."We tell the children if somebody asks you to do something you know is wrong, you don't have to keep quiet about it. You can report it to your mother, to your neighbour, to your aunt, to your sister, to people you are comfortable reporting it to," said Cece, one of the crèche teachers who brought children to the event.
Photographer: Larry Short
Prayer Request
Empower even young children to stand up against abuse. Give them courage, strength & determination in the face of hurt & evil.
FEB 27 Uganda. Child soldier.
Agnes, in the bright pink dress, 10, with a friend at a Children of War Rehabilitation Centre in Uganda. She was abducted, endured terror and violence during her captivity but eventually managed to escape. She now has hope for her future.
Photographer: Philip Maher
Prayer Request
Thank you there is always hope. You are God of the fatherless & oppressed. May you restore, & fill children's hearts with joy again.
FEB 28 DR Congo. Child labour.
Laden and his friend sieving dirt from the small stones of raw copper they collected. Laden, a 10-year-old boy, has been a worker in the copper mining quarry for two years now. He lives with his widowed mother, Chantal, 100 metres from the quarry. He earns less than a dollar per-day after working long hours in bare feet. "The money from Kamatanda allows me to buy bread and keep some for my family," says Laden.
Photographer: Alain Mwaku
Prayer Request
May Laden & his co-workers experience joy, love, care & support. May his employers & government reconsider their stance on child labour.
FEB 29 Sierra Leone. Orphaned by war.
Ayie, is 12 years old and was orphaned in the Sierra Leone war. As she chops cassava Ayie remembers her village being attacked during the war. Her father was killed in the attack. Her mother later disappeared. Ayie is sponsored and has received school equipment and a bed net through World Vision. She hopes one day to become a nurse. She lives with her grandmother Kadie.
Photographer: Ann Birch
Prayer Request
Comfort children who have lost parents. Protect them from those who would do them harm. Give them care givers who value & love them.
MAR 1 Mozambique. Malaria mosquitoes in rivers and swamps.
Malaria is the major cause of death, the biggest killer, in Mozambique. This has to do with the fact there are so many swamps and rivers. More than 100 rivers in Mozambique provide a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. But these rivers are also essential for daily life for the people of Mozambique, thus increasing their proximity to the deadly disease.
Photographer: Andrea Peer
Prayer Request
Help us to provide the poor with clean & safe drinking & bathing water, & mosquito nets. Thank you for the life & joy water brings.
MAR 2 Ethiopia. Married at 7.
Firnus tells how she was married at seven and pregnant at 15, which resulted in a stillbirth and severe tearing of the birth canal. Left incontinent, she was abandoned by her husband and ostracized by her community. Only her mother would take her back. Now 17, she is scheduled for a repair operation at the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa. Firnus is now terrified by marriage and childbirth, the two things that give a woman value in her culture. Her mother is guilt-ridden by her daughter's experience and wants to delay marriage of Firnus' sister until she is at least 20.
Photographer: Winnie Ogana
Prayer Request
May you heal the bodies, hearts & spirits of those traumatised by child marriage. Renew their hope & joy. Give them a new lease oflife.
MAR 3 Tanzania. Orphans forced to work to support themselves.
Day labour is the only means which allows an 18 year old boy, Kamuhabwa, to take care of his three brothers and two sisters. Both of their parents died from AIDS-related illnesses and left Kamuhabwa with a 3-year-old child, Katabazi. Kamuhabwa has to search for work with his sister. Another brother works as a herder, for which he is paid only TSH 2000 /= (approx. US $3) per month. World Vision Tanzania staff have been touched by the condition of these children in Rushwa and are doing what they can to help.
Photographer: Peter Mwakabwale
Prayer Request
Help us to take up the cause of the fatherless & orphans, speaking out for those who don't have a voice. Touch our hearts with their needs.
MAR 4 Bangladesh. New life after painful experiences.
Moli is just a teenager but has endured an oppressive family life, worked for many years, was forcibly married, and was arrested for working as a sex worker. Moli left her home when she was only about 10 years old because she was repeatedly beaten by her stepmother. She worked as a housemaid for three years, and then moved to Dhaka city. Here she was forced to marry a man who was more than double her age and who had been married twice before. After eight months Moli ran away from her husband's home and she came to live and work as a sex worker at a hotel in Dhaka city. It was here that police arrested her and locked her up for 10 days. She was then taken to a government run development centre for teenage girls, funded by World Vision, which played a vital role in Moli's transferral to the shelter that would help her regain her strength and courage for a new life.
Photographer: Amio Ascension
Prayer Request
Protect the young & vulnerable from exploitation & abuse. Give them places of safety & security. Heal their wounded souls.
MAR 5 Mozambique. Mosquito nets for a family.
In Mozambique, as the rainy season starts in December, incidences of malaria increase and children are the most affected. Unfortunately, the health centres are not equipped with enough medicine. Some people don't even make it to the health centres. World Vision is helping by providing mosquito nets to families who need them.
Photographer: Lucia Rodrigues
Prayer Request
Thank you that small things can make a big difference to the lives of the poor. Help us also to be joyful in difficult circumstances.
MAR 6 Cambodia. Child trafficking.
The fourth daughter of eight siblings, Srey has experienced a hard life working in Malaysia as a housekeeper. Srey is a victim of trafficking. She was lured away from Cambodia to work in Malaysia, but after much hardship, she made it back home traumatized. When she returned, she was referred to a World Vision project where she received counselling and emotional and financial support. Now, at 18-years-old, she has a small business out of her own house.
Photographer: Vichheka Sok
Prayer Request
Bless the work of Srey's hands as she makes a life for herself after being trafficked as a child. Prosper all she does, and those like her.
MAR 7 India. Child Labour for an orphaned girl.
Sona is an eight year old girl who is also an orphan; her father died only
two months prior to this photo being taken. Her mother died during
childbirth. She lives with her grandmother Veer who is 75 years old and who
is the sole provider for Sona. They are field labourers which means that
Sona misses a lot of school. Her arms are scratched by the thorns of cotton
plants. Even with this work they still have a hard time making ends meet
and often do not have enough money for food. Veer is worried about Sona and
fears for what will happen to her when she passes away.
Photographer: Alyssa Bistonath
Prayer Request
Provide for Sona & her grandmother. Give her enough time for school. Provide a future full of hope & promise.
MAR 8 Cambodia. Chan and Srey living on the streets.
Four year old Srey with her mother, Chan, are living next to the pagoda's fence, on the sidewalk of a street near a market. Next to them, there is a pile of stuff, which is covered with plastic and stones to protect it from the wind and rain. Those are their only possessions. Her father left her five months ago because of an argument with her mother. When Srey was two years old, she was kidnapped and a trafficker wanted to sell her. Srey has an older brother named Phnom who is a child from another World Vision project. Srey means small girl.
Photographer: Sopheak Kong
Prayer Request
Protect the vulnerable & oppressed. Keep them safe from evil doers & those who profit from them. Shine rays of hope into their worlds.
MAR 9 Myanmar. Child trafficking, a success story.
Aung was not brought into Thailand by traffickers but by his own migrant father, to work with him. Aung ended up on the streets until he was taken by police to a home for street children. World Vision's anti-human trafficking department works with local Thai Non Governmental organisations and government staff to help migrant children reunite with their families back in Myanmar. Aung was reunited with his family and was able to start schooling with the support of a local headmaster.
Photographer: Wah Eh Htoo
Prayer Request
Bless families with all they need to care for their children: to feed, educate, protect, value & love them. Pour out your love on them.
MAR 10 Uganda. Poem by child soldier: Christine.
Christine, a former child soldier, was abducted, tortured, sexually abused, made pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl. She later went back to school. This is her poem.
Photographer: Philip Maher.
Prayer Request
Thank you Lord that you restore the broken & provide hope even in the direst circumstances. You are a God of peace even in times of war.
MAR 11 Lesotho. Abandoned child rescued.
Mathabo and her two older brothers were abandoned by their single mother to find work in neighbouring South Africa when Mathabo was just six years old. She was gone for five years. During that time, Mathabo and her brothers survived abuse, break-ins to their home, and the dangers of local men who prey on young girls. Her safety is due in large part to a World Vision Caregiver, Ma Nyane, who took the girl in. When Mathabo's mother finally came home, it was not the day that Mathabo hoped for. Her mother appears to have AIDS. Mathabo provides care for her mother every day, in addition to keeping up with school and other household chores.
Prayer Request
Pour out love, comfort & protection on abandoned children. Strengthen those who take on adult responsibilities, caring for sick loved ones.
MAR 12 Myanmar. Child trafficking, a success story.
Dai, a 15-year-old girl from Myanmar is happily practicing her hairdressing skills. She was trafficked from her home country and subsequently rescued by World Vision Thailand, "When I get out of the shelter I will not go back to work in food shops or anywhere. I'll become a hairdresser and take care of my family."
Photographer: Mathira Sutiwatananiti
Prayer Request
Thank you for the future and hope that Dai has. Help us to see what small part we can play in providing children with hope & purpose.
MAR 13 DR Congo. Six year old boy suffers from Malaria.
Dembele sits with his six year old son, Umba Imolo, as he receives a saline IV drip to re-hydrate him from a severe case of malaria, in the paediatric ward at a General Hospital in DR Congo. The boy needs a blood transfusion and the medical staff say his blood level is only 28% of normal. But the family can't afford the cost of the special medical care. The biggest illness the hospital deals with is malaria. The hospital administrator, Richard Gbalanu, says 80% of the population in the region has the disease. Nurse Anny says, "For me, malaria is the disease that is killing a child in an hour if we don't intervene. It comes with anaemia and fever. It kills children. I feel pity to see parents lose children. This is a malaria zone. We need prevention. We need medicine and our children should sleep under mosquito nets."
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
May you strengthen the sick and weak, those whose hold on life is tenuous. May you comfort the broken hearted and desolate.
MAR 14 Niger. 13 year old child bride.
Thirteen year old child bride who is being married to a 38 year old man in the village in Niger - in accordance with tradition - stays hidden in a room during the religious and festive part of her marriage ceremony. Traditionally cooking pots are given as part of the dowry.
In Niger World Vision is conducting awareness raising activities at the village level to dissuade parents from marrying their girls early, sponsoring girls to go to high school and conducting micro credit and literacy activities with mothers in an attempt to reduce child marriage.
Photographer: Ann Birch
Prayer Request
Bless the work of WV as it emphasises the physical & emotional disadvantages of early marriage. Give workers persistence & determination.
MAR 15 Haiti. Marie, life as a slave.
Whether she likes it or not - Marie washes dishes.
In the misty morning of a hillside country town, a 13 year old girl splashes water onto her face before rushing off into the forest. She's late, having overslept after a hard day washing clothes and dishes, cleaning floors and cooking the day before. The girl is a restavèk, another word in Haiti for slavery. This isn't an introduction to a new version of Cinderella. This girl really exists. She lives in a suburb of the western island of La Gonave, about 30 km from Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.
Photographer: Luc Louis
Prayer Request
Lord help us become angry at the injustices across the world, to rise up & speak up on behalf of those who cannot speak up for themselves.
MAR 16 DR Congo. Conflict rape victim.
A woman stands next to a graffiti drawing of a man, on the canvas wall of a shelter for people affected by conflict rape in DR Congo. The shelter has served over 7,000 men, women, and children raped in the DR Congo conflict over the past 11 years. World Vision helps fund the feeding programme at the shelter.
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
Bring healing to the broken bodies, hearts & minds of adults & children affected by conflict rape. Soothe their souls & bind their wounds.
MAR 17 DR Congo. Child with Malaria.
Makonda, is a two year old baby boy receiving a blood transfusion for treatment of malaria at a clinic in DR Congo, built by World Vision.
His mother, Mandiangu, 20, and grandmother, Nlandu, sit with him. His mother says, "I am very worried." The baby has a fever and no appetite. The clinic is full of children suffering from malaria, the number one medical issue the clinic deals with. They say the rate of death from malaria is high in the region, with almost 90% of the population infected. They say, "Before the clinic was built, people struggled to go to the hospital in the city, but now that the clinic is close by it is good and helpful. If there was no clinic, there would be risk. And children have a risk to die every day (from malaria)."
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
Thank you that you provide hope in desperate & hopeless situations. May medical help & healing be made available for every child.
MAR 18 DR Congo. Children at "Stand Up Together" shelter.
Children at a Women Stand Up Together shelter for abused women and girls in northeast DR Congo. This region is called the "rape capital of the world." World Vision supports 10 of the 20 shelters which house 360 women. 80% of the women and girls there have been sexually abused. They receive psychosocial and emotional help, training in sewing, baking and handicraft-making, and learn farming and to raise goats and rabbits.
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
Bless each child. Give them favour & grace. Provide for them. Give them strong bodies & souls. Give them love & joy, comfort & peace.
MAR 19 Bangladesh. Child labourer, welder.
Rimon, 13, from Bogra, Bangladesh, has worked 8 hours a day for the past 2.5 years as a welding labourer. "I have to work to make a living. I have no home and live with relatives." says Rimon. Although welding is a risky job, Rimon wears no protective clothing other than a pair of broken glasses. Earning just TK250.0 (US$3.70) a week, Rimon believes he is fortunate because, thanks to World Vision, he can continue with his studies at night. He is now in grade 8. The World Vision Programme aims to improve the overall condition of hundreds of impoverished children through initiatives of various development programmes in impacted areas. It equips children with skills training through education; teaches safe hygiene for good health and moral values to nurture and encourage good citizenship among children.
Photographer: Melanie Ko
Prayer Request
Thank you for gifts that enable us to provide children with education & training. May we learn from their perseverance and hard work.
MAR 20 Mozambique. Family suffering through drought.
Dominga and her children Joco, Joaquina, Macie, Zuere and Nhavula struggled to put food on the table.
Dominga is a widowed mother of five living in the Mutarara district, one of the worst hit with floods and droughts in Mozambique. After her husband's death, she lost all the crops due to flooding. Her family suffered hunger and World Vision provided cereals and vegetables on a monthly basis to help them survive.
Photographer: Antonio Matimbe
Prayer Request
May you send rain in drought stricken areas. Provide crops for those in need. Help us to know how we can share our resources with the poor.
MAR 21 DR Congo. Fourteen year old rape victim with her baby.
14 yr-old rape victim with her newborn baby at a hospital in the DR Conga. World Vision has given medical supplies to the hospital and supports the shelter, counselling, and skill training programs for women and girls who are victims of sexual violence.
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
May these two children receive the love, care & support they need. May all their physical, emotional & spiritual needs be met.
MAR 22 Honduras. A family transformed.
Celestina (age 41) is an entrepreneur in eastern Honduras. With the support and training she receives from World Vision, she earns enough money to care for the needs of her six children, who also benefit from sponsorship. Not only that, she is able to provide jobs for seven workers and has seen the productivity of her community increase as her business has prospered. "This is what supports the whole family," says Tina.
The youngest child, Melvin, who is ten years old, needed life-saving heart surgery last year, and World Vision helped the family with medicine, vitamins, transportation, and logistics for the operation in Tegucigalpa, several hours' drive away. "The doctors said he was very brave during the operation and he healed very quickly," said Tina. "I felt like dying before the operation because I was so nervous," she said. "Then I felt like somebody lifted me up when I found out it was a success."
Photographer: Abby Metty.
Prayer Request
Bless the businesses of those working in challenging circumstances. Bring prosperity to children, families and communities.
MAR 23 Mozambique. Water pump brings hope to Adelia, aged 9.
Adélia, nine, used to wake up every day at five a.m. and walk 10 kilometres to fetch unsafe water, all before going to school. As a result, she was always tired and sometimes late for school. Her mother, Arsenia, says that waterborne diseases are the biggest challenge in her family. In fact, she has lost two sons to acute diarrhoea and cholera. Now Arsénia, 50, and her daughter Adélia can fetch water from the new borehole in their community.
Prayer Request
Thank you small things make a big difference. May every child have access to life-giving, clean water & the opportunity to be educated.
MAR 24 India. Child Labour, rag pickers.
Rag-picking is a job in which boys and girls as young assix years old sift through garbage in order to collect recyclable material. The children usually rise before dawn and carry their heavy load in a large bag over their shoulder. Rag-pickers can be seen alongside pigs and dogs searching through trash heaps on their hands and knees. Children that work are not only subject to the strains and hazards of their labour, but are also denied the education or training that could enable them to escape the poverty trap.
Photographer: © World Vision
Prayer Request
Keep “rag picking” children safe from disease, abuse, hopelessness. Provide them with education & the comfort of a family & food.
MAR 25 Cambodia. Girls at a child friendly space in area affected by flooding.
Ten-year-old Sreynou and her friends taking part in a Child Friendly Space in the village. "My friends and I can play and learn just like we're in school again," says Sreynou. It has been raining for a number of days, causing flood waters to overwhelm the house of 10-year-old Sreynou, who is a World Vision sponsored girl in Cambodia. While sitting in front of her wooden house, she said,sadly, "When there is a big flood I am afraid of drowning, snake bites and storms."
Photographer: Vanndeth Um
Prayer Request
Thank you for areas of safety in times of trouble. Thank you for those who give to make these places possible. Bless them abundantly.
MAR 26 Mozambique. Carla suffers from malnutrition.
Malnutrition is becoming severe in Cahora Bassa Communities, due to long standing dry weather. People cannot cultivate their farms to have enough to maintain a balanced diet. This impacts children under five greatly.
Carla is one-year-old and weighs 6kg (about 13 lbs) but is not yet putting on any weight, although she receives rehabilitation food at the centre, run by World Vision.
Photographer: Lucia Rodrigues
Prayer Request
Strengthen weak & frail bodies. Enable them to absorb & process nutrition. Give them resilience. Pour down rain over parched ground.
MAR 27 Nepal. Satrudhan works as a child labourer.
Satrudhan is from Nepal. He works as a child labourer and only attends school irregularly. Satrudhan's mother works as a labourer whenever she can find work, but she also has to look after her youngest son. Satrudhan is enrolled in class 4 at school. The school is near to his house but he attends irregularly. While his friends go to school to learn, and to play, he must work.
Photographer: Sunjuli Kunwar
Prayer Request
May the childhood years Satrudhan has lost be restored to him. May his heart, & others like him, be filled with joy and hope.
MAR 28 Mali. School built for local children.
Djeneba peeling the corn which her family has harvested.
Djeneba (age 11), a sponsored girl, studies in a school built by World Vision during 2005 in Mali. "I am very glad World Vision built this school in our village," said Mamadou, Djeneba's father. He has a reason to be happy. "Before this school was built life was very difficult, the children used to walk seven kilometres. It is difficult to teach like this because the children are tired and they cannot concentrate, they walk for long distances therefore they come late to class," said Yacouba, the school head master. "World Vision built a school so that my children can have access to education," said Mamadou. "Now 202 children from three villages are able to study in the school built by World Vision."
Photographer: Justin Douglass
Prayer Request
May every child have access to education, be fed & fresh enough to learn. May parents see each child reaching their potential.
MAR 29 Cambodia. Ka freed from sexual slavery.
This is the story of one girl's entrapment in and escape from sexual slavery in Cambodia and her physical, emotional and spiritual recovery thanks to World Vision's Trauma Recovery Centre. She's now ready to begin again. Her dream of being the owner of a sewing shop is not that far beyond her reach.
After two years living in a World Vision Trauma Recovery Centre, Ka is now living with her mother. With World Vision's support, Ka planned her small business selling rice at home.
Photographer: Seyha Lychheang
Prayer Request
May Ka & others experience restoration, body, soul & spirit. May they start again, growing in confidence & experience wholeness & peace.
MAR 30 Philippines. Angelica dreams of becoming a teacher.
Angelica (age 10) realized that the only way to have a better future is to finish school. "I want to fulfill my dreams by becoming a teacher someday," she said. There are hundreds of impoverished children in the Himaya hinterlands whose parents are struggling to provide for their family's basic needs. Although public school education is free, Angelica's parents could barely support their children's education because of the additional costs of sending children to school, such as school supplies and transportation fees. Thankfully, World Vision has provided Angelica and other children living in poverty in Himaya the means and motivation to stay in school.
Photographer: Crislyn Joy A. Felisilda
Prayer Request
Thank you education is available. Provide for those who cannot access it. May children develop the desire to achieve and succeed.
MAR 31 DR Congo. Young child of a rape victim.
Children at a Women Stand Up Together shelter in northeast DR Congo for abused women and girls. This region is called the "rape capital of the world." World Vision supports 10 of the 20 shelters which house 360 women. 80% of the women and girls there have been sexually abused. They receive psychosocial and emotional help, training in sewing, baking and handicraft making, and learn farming and to raise goats and rabbits.
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
May you hold each child in the palm of your hand - protecting & nurturing them. May they grow up into secure & stable young men and women.
APR 1 Cambodia. World Vision's children's club.
Children's Club: Children in the community are welcome to come to World Vision's children club. They come to play with toys, draw, colour pictures, rope skipping and enjoy meeting others.
Photographer: Sopheak Kong
Prayer Request
Thank you for places where children are safe and free to be childlike, to explore their creativity, to play & make friends, to be cared for.
APR 2 Horn of Africa drought. Camel herds are a rarity.
Camel herds like this one in Wajir South are increasingly rare because so many animals have died during the drought.
World Vision has been working for years on the Somali border in Kenya and inside Somalia itself - a broad effort that includes provision of resources to help with immediate relief, medical and health provisions and clean water. World Vision has provided water delivery to 19 communities as well as tracking and caring for sponsored children who have left the area because of the drought.
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
We pray for ongoing provision of rain in this area. May herds like this one once again become the norm. Pour down your blessing, we ask.
APR 3 DR Congo. Centre for raped women, Joy's story.
Joy, 17, in wheelchair.
At 13, she was sleeping with her mother when they heard shooting. She was raped and stabbed and left for dead. Her parents were murdered with machetes. Her wounds filled with maggots and she smelled so badly no one would give her a ride to Heal Africa hospital for a long time. Now she is unable to walk. She likes sewing. At a Women Stand Up Together shelter in northeast DR Congo, a region called the "rape capital of the world." World Vision supports 10 of the 20 Women Stand Up Together shelters which house 360 women. 80% of the women and girls there have been sexually abused. They receive psychosocial and emotional help, training in sewing, baking and handicraft making, and learn farming, including how to raise goats and rabbits.
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
Give every centre worker your grace & wisdom as they minister goodness & kindness to tortured women. May workers exude your unending love.
APR 4 Uganda. Gloria passionate about education.
At the age of nine, Gloria from Uganda, is a talkative and intelligent girl who speaks passionately about school and family. At her school Gloria's teachers dotingly talk about her as friendly and interested in education. Gloria is in second grade. She is proud to be a girl and detests soccer because it is a game loved and played by boys, but she loves singing, skipping, and playing dodgeball. She enjoys mathematics and boasts of always being among the best performing pupils in her class. Gloria dreams of growing up, completing school, and buying a car. "I go to school every day to get knowledge. When I complete school, I will buy a big car and drive like the World Vision people," explains Gloria.
Photographer: Davinah Agnes Nabirye
Prayer Request
May Gloria & every child in her community see themselves as you see them, Lord. May each child develop abilities that will serve them well.
APR 5 Horn of Africa drought. Ten year old Anab pleased to see World Vision.
Recent arrival drought refugee Dek and his family wait to be registered at Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya. Daughter Anab, 10, wears green head scarf. "I was so happy to see that logo," says Dek with his daughter Anab, 10. "I love World Vision." Dek used to teach for World Vision in Somalia until the charity, like many others, was asked to leave in August 2010. "When World Vision was chased away, life started to deteriorate," says Dek who had taught his daughter to read and write. After a harrowing journey to Kenya, the family is hoping for change.
Dadaab, in northeastern Kenya, is considered the largest refugee camp in the world and it's growing. On 5 August 2011, Dadaab registered its 400,000th refugee. Nine of every ten come from Somalia - escaping decades of conflict and a drought that has taken their crops and their livestock.
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
May Dek, Anab & others like them become able to thrive as a family, prospering in all they do. May Anab become worry free & confident.
APR 6 DR Congo. Son conceived through rape.
Young woman and her son, conceived by rapists, at a shelter for conflict rape victims in Minova, DR Congo. She struggles with the attitudes towards her son, admitting that at times she has considered giving him up. The shelter has served over 7000 men, women and children raped in the DR Congo conflict in the past 11 years. World Vision helps fund the feeding program.
Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
Fill every observing eye & heart with compassion, love, kindness & grace. May your favour be evident in every child & mother's life.
APR 7 Ethiopia. Child bride.
10 year old Biba - not her real name - sits in a class room in Ethiopia. She was betrothed when she was just five years old to a 10 year old boy. Now her mother has allegedly started to plan her wedding. Under recent legislation, passed in Ethiopia this is illegal; World Vision in Ethiopia continues to monitor this case and says they will report it to the Ministry for Women's Affairs when there is definite evidence that a marriage will take place. World Vision Ethiopia continues to raise awareness on the issue of Early Marriage and cooperates with local authorities, religious leaders and teachers to combat early marriage.
Photographer: Ann Birch
Prayer Request
Thank you for those who look out for the rights of those who are unable to speak up for themselves. Give them wisdom and success.
APR 8 Latin America. Peace builder and former sponsored child.
Farid is a peace builder, former sponsored child and a leader for child rights. "Being a Peace Builder means to be an agent of change. I help to transform realities, often adverse, and motivate others to engage and provide space where boys and girls can freely express their rights. We work to build a true culture of peace," says Farid, sponsored by World Vision since he was seven years old.
Photographer: Astrid Zacipa
Prayer Request
You are the Prince of Peace. May peace be expressed through the lives of all who serve you in the world's hardest places.
APR 9 Uganda. Man of Vision.
Moses is a man with a vision. A vision he can hold in his hand. And carry in his pocket. But he usually keeps it in the living room, next to the couch and dozens of eggs. He draws it out of a manila envelope—written in blue ink on an 8 x 11 piece of copy paper. Moses is a 47-year-old farmer in Kasangombe, Uganda. The father of seven children, Moses lives in a well-kept brick home with his wife, Betty (age 45), and his mother, Manjeri (age 86). Under different circumstances, this man of vision might live a very different life—he would run a corporation or an NGO. But Moses did not grow up with privilege. Instead, he grew up in Uganda during turbulent, war-fuelled times. [br]Photographer: Jon Warren
Prayer Request
Impart wisdom & invention to the poor, that they may provide for themselves, their families & their communities. Bless all they do.
Thank You
I hope you enjoyed Lent and Easter as much as I did. A time of Fasting followed by Feasting! Thank you so much for taking time in your day to visit our Lent Calendar. We hope you enjoyed the beautiful pictures and the inspiring stories. We really appreciate every prayer that was uttered on behalf of children, families and communities. Children like Hugette.
Hugette is just three years old and lives in the DR Congo. She is one of three children and has two older brothers. "My children will never go to school with an empty stomach again. I have been struggling a lot to feed my family, now I am not," says Mukabe Francois, Hugette's mother. "My husband didn't have a job so we decided to cultivate. But efforts of many years went in vain as the harvest was small. We could not meet our own expectations in terms of food," she shares.
"My family blessing came when we joined World Vision's agriculture association in 2009. We were trained on agriculture before we got good hoes and machetes. They taught us how to plant and apply fertilizer. They distributed seeds and bags of fertilizers to all members. The harvest after that was three times more than before. This is how my family life has changed up to now," Francoise explains. "I'm stable now. Bukari is our main food and is always available at home. My children, as you can see them, are fine, thanks to World Vision. May God bless you," Francoise adds.
The current harvest means the family has food throughout every season. Francoise mentions that they sell a good quantity of their harvest. "After selling the harvest, I am able to buy soap to wash our clothes and my boys' school uniforms. Also, I can afford to pay for oil and a few other things I need in the kitchen," she says.
Thank you, too, to those of you who donated the money you saved through your Lent sacrifice to the work of World Vision. If you signed up to receive prayer updates then you will be receiving one during June. In the meantime why not visit our web pages to keep abreast of the events happening in some of the poorest countries of the world.
Once again, thank you for being involved – you are making a real difference to children's lives.
Kind regards,
Caroline Cameron
Christian Engagement Manager
Welcome to the World Vision Lent calendar. Click on a date below and learn about the people and places we are helping. There is a short prayer for each day which you can share if you like.
What will your Lent pledge be?
My Pledge
Thanks for supporting World Vision.
I'm giving up
Each day I'll save £0
