On 19-22 March 2018, four representatives from Singapore Youth For Christ (SYFC) visited World Vision's Area Development Programme (ADP) in Mae Taeng District in northern Chiang Mai. They learnt about child protection initiatives carried out by a local Church-School-Community Network facilitated by World Vision, and shared encouragement and prayer with the church leaders, youth and families whom they met. 

This World Humanitarian Day, we celebrate the passion and dedication of humanitarians like Shampa. 

“Being a humanitarian means working for the protection and the rights of these most vulnerable people,” says Shampa. “I want Rohingya children to know they have human rights and a right to enjoy their lives.”

At the Youth For Change Conference, we got to learn about the challenges of confronting child rights violations in both humanitarian and development settings, and how rigorous evidence-based approaches can be implemented to tackle the diverse causes of violence against children.

When Esnart’s husband passed on, she was left to look after her children and her elderly mother. Through the Gift Catalogue, her family received five chickens that have now multiplied to 332! "I am a great example of what chickens can do," says Esnart.

Tarina* works in the brick fields to support her family. She is 12 years old. Each day, she earns 50 to 60 taka (S$0.80 to S$1) by breaking bricks. “If I stop breaking bricks, how will [my family] pay off our loans?” she says.

With the beginning of World Vision’s work in Simran’s village, families started to recognise children’s importance. “People care about us now and they know that we are the future of our country,” says Simran, smiling.

"For the next three years, I was enslaved to this family. The Chinese couple married me to their son. But I wasn't treated as a wife and this was not a marriage," says Hnin.

"This is the first trip I came back from with zero souvenirs for anyone and nothing for myself, but I am certainly richer from the experience," says Su Lin, who recently visited her sponsored child in Kirivong, Cambodia. 

What started as a normal day for Khatema, 9, joyfully playing in the village with her friends quickly turned into one of the worst days of her life. Her world and her dream of becoming a teacher came crashing down when her brother interrupted their game with a message: Their father had decided to marry her off.