Global children’s charity World Vision is urging world leaders to join forces at the UN General Assembly and press for peace in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

More than 400,000 people have fled the conflict in neighbouring Bangladesh, with children and families caught up in violence and cross-fire. Refugees World Vision has interviewed in Bangladesh have reported witnessing abominable brutality and arson.

This is a trip like no other; insightful with first-hand experience in a gamut of development projects that range from water sanitation and healthcare to education and a glimpse of local life.

A combination of drought and conflict brews a dangerous recipe for a hunger crisis that leaves more than 25 million people in east Africa – South Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia – in a fragile balance between life and death.

Severe and persistent drought has caused widespread deficits in water and pasture, contributing to declining livestock conditions, increased rate of disease outbreaks, rising mortalities and crop production losses.

On 8-11 December 2016, we participated in the Youth For Change Conference, organised by World Vision (WV), in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This event aimed to equip youths with skills and knowledge to enact real change, and to connect like-minded youths all over the world.

Before my trip to Phnom Penh, I remember feeling a pervasive sense of cynicism and weariness about the world. 2016 was a trying year, especially with it being characterised by all the chaos and political turmoil that many around the world had to endure. The disillusionment was omnipresent, and as much as I hate to admit, it seemed as if our humanity was on the edge of destruction.

“Since the demise of my husband more than five years ago, I struggled with life – I could not adequately provide for my children. Most of them dropped out of school because I could not afford it,” says Elizabeth, 65, widow and mother to seven children.

Amidst the struggles faced by these three generations, hope came when her grand-children got sponsored.

When the wait ends, what change does it bring? For a former sponsored child, Viet, the change in his life has rippled through his community.

 

“I feel alone and left out whenever I see children with their mothers and wonder what life would be like with my mom around,” says Nica, with her head bowed. “There would be so much more love. I wish she was here to care for me and help me with my school assignments.”

Being motherless is the least of Nica’s concerns when her family struggles to survive daily.