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Emily Burke
Mrs. Denzin
Senior Capstone Experience
30 September, 2011
World Vision
In today’s society, service is a word which contains multiple meanings. For some, it is defined as
random acts of kindness. For others, it can be working towards the goal of saving lives. There are as
many different ways to go about serving others as there are people and places in need. Volunteering
personal times, talent, or treasure through an organization or as an individual is a wonderful way of
offering service. Some organizaitons are established to help children who are in poor family situations,
in which the family cannot afford food, medical care, or schooling. There are also organizations whose
main goal is to teach people to grow their own food, and bring in technology to provide clean water.
Medical services are crucial in many third world countries, and volunteers are always in need. Mo
matter what type of service is offered, they all have one thing in common; a desire to help provide a
better life for a fellow human being.
“World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization which helps provide people and different
communities in third world countries to have a better life through multiple acts of service.”
(WorldVision.org). World Vision helps provide food, instruction, and medical supplies to individuals who
may not otherwise have the ability to provide for themselves. They serve earthquake and hurricane
survivors, children and families in multiple countries effected by AIDS and malnutrition; rescue
abandoned and exploited children; and to strive to bring an end to famine. I believe the intent of World
Vision is to serve others and help improve communities around the world, giving hope and faith to
people who are in need. World Vision depends strongly on volunteers and the services which they offer.
Many people volunteer their time to go on trips to help provide relief to people around the world, while
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others volunteer through offering financial support, or the goods that are needed (food, medicine,
clothing, school supplies). Whatever talents a person has to offer, there is someone else who will benefit
from their generous acts of service.
In an article on human trafficking written by the policy adviser for children in crisis at World
Vision, there is a discussion on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
“ A news report from World Vision in southeast Asia found that for every one person forced to work in
the global sex trade, nine are forced to fix for little or no wages in dirty, dangerous, and demeaning jobs.
The sale of people into labor has now become the most common form of human trafficking in the
world.” (CNN.com). The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) is an important factor in the United
State’s policy against slavery today. In this article, Jesse Evans writes to help inform readers of the
importance of TVPA. On September 30, 2011, TVPA was set to expire without re-authorization of the Act
from Congress. If this Act is not renewed, then the fight against slavery would be weakened. In this
article, a young man named Kyaw left his home of Myanmar promising that he would never return. As
he was leaving to find a suitable job in Thailand, he had been trafficked onto a Thai fishing boat
operating illegally in Indonesian waters. After six months of being imprisoned on that boat, Kyaw and his
friend jumped into the water, desperate to escape. Several hours later, he was picked up by an
Indonesian fishing boat and taken to immigration detention for a year. After that year, World Vision was
able to assist Kyaw in reuniting him with his family. This organization helps families come together in
many ways: reuniting children with their family and helping children find new families after parents have
died of AIDS.
World Vision dedicates a large portion of their organization to help children facing serious
health problems and disease. In an article found online in the New York Times, the aftermath of the
typhoon in the Philippines is discussed “Children are particularly vulnerable. The impact of the flood to
the children’s health is really a problem.” (Diwa Gocusta, World Vision Rep.). After this massive typhoon,
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World Vision sent many representatives to provide medical assistance to the workers in evacuation
camps, where bacteria and diseases were spreading rapidly among the children. The lack of proper
sanitation, clean water, and medical supplies was contributing to the rapid spread of disease. Pasig, a
city hit hardest by a typhoon, had large portions of the city remaining underwater. Evacuees were
forced to leave when the government stopped providing food, and they were forced to leave a safe
place to stay. The devastation and homelessness was sudden and widespread. Organizations such as
World Vision sent courageous people to Philippines; volunteers who truly wanted to do anything they
could do to help these typhoon survivors. Those who went were at risk for catching diseases and
illnesses, yet they still went to help those in need.
Service is something that should be done with the motivation of changing someone’s life. World
Vision is an organization that has a main goal of helping others. The many services they provide are just
a fraction of ways the organization helps other people. One thing I feel the organization has done an
outstanding job on is finding sponsors for children in poverty stricken countries. They help find people
who will donate money to save the life of a child who has lost hope, family, and even a way to get food.
Other services that World Vision provides are mission trips, relief efforts, advocacy for many issues, and
development of multiple communities. World Vision sends many volunteers to go overseas and help
others. Through these mission trips, many relationships are established. These relationships are based
off a form of acceptance, gratitude, and hope instead of judgment. By seeing how different people can
come together for a common cause, the residents of different countries are able to understand what it
means to be a community. In a form I made about World Vision, the question was asked; “What does
service mean to you?” The answers were numerous, but one answer stood out to me the most. The
answer was; “service is something that allows people to become a part of something bigger by helping
others.” The different ways that people come together, the way a team of people collaborate in order
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to help a community. That is what service should be, something that brings people together with the
hope of doing something great.