Highlights of Vision Fest 2018

Last Saturday, families and friends gathered at World Vision's annual Vision Fest which aimed to highlight the needs of children and communities living in extreme poverty. Following this year's theme, Small Act, Big Impact, Vision Fest had an exciting line-up of programmes that catered to people of various interests who wanted to learn about how a small act can make a big impact in the life of another.

Documentary 'Living on One Dollar'

A documentary titled 'Living On One Dollar' was screened. The film journeyed with four American youths who set out to live on just one dollar a day for two months, battling against hunger, parasites and financial stress in rural Guatemala.

Our tripper Evangeline sharing about the recent Ethiopia Trailblazer trip

Besides the film screening, Ruth, a long-time child sponsor shared her child sponsorship journey. She reinforced the message of the film that it does not take much from us to make a big impact in the lives of children living in poverty. She also explained how child sponsorship is one small act with big impact that could provide hope to these children.   

Trippers who have been on our World Vision trip shared with the audience their experience and reflections upon seeing the needs and struggles of the children in our area development programme in Ethiopia. 

Our volunteers teaching the children how to make their own tote bags

Young participants working with their parents to make the tote bag

To help our young participants better understand the struggles of children in poverty, they listened to stories of needs and transformation, and also learned how to be resourceful like them! With the help of their parents, they each created their own tote bag from old T-shirts!

Otgon performing a traditional Mongolian dance

Otgon sharing her life story with the audience

One of the highlights of the Vision Fest was to hear Otgon, our beneficiary from Mongolia, share her story personally. She shared that she had a difficult childhood, but things changed when World Vision took her in and provided her with shelter and food. During her sharing, she sang familiar tunes like “When You Believe” and “A Million Dreams”, each song carrying the hopes and dreams of vulnerable children living in poverty.

Donning her Mongolian traditional outfit, Otgon also danced to a traditional Mongolian song, and even taught some simple steps to our young participants!

Dr Jacqueline Chung sharing how empathy can be cultivated in children from young 

Shiwei and her family sharing about their experience garnering support for the poor as a family

At our Family Workshop, Dr Jacqueline Chung, Senior Principal of St James Church Kindergarten, shared with parents how they could teach values of empathy and compassion to their children. Our donor, Shiwei, shared how she helped her son Samuel grow an interest in caring for children who are not as fortunate as he is, and how he eventually started a fund-raising project with dough to buy the chickens. cows and goats in our gift catalogue.  

Our young artist sharing her inspiration behind her artwork

The other highlight of the Vision Fest would be the art exhibition by the students from Rush Me Not Art Studio. 20 art pieces painted by 28 students were displayed in the Art House, each of them carrying the wishes and dreams for vulnerable children around the world. The young artists were also present to share the inspiration and stories behind their artwork.

Click here to watch a short video on what went behind-the-scenes of these beautiful artworks.  

We hope that everyone had a great time at the Vision Fest, and have learned how your small acts can create a great impact to those in need!

 

Written By: 
World Vision Singapore