At just 15 years old, she was forced to make the difficult decision of leaving her childhood home in search of food. The hardest part? Her mother was too sick to make the journey, so she was forced to flee with her 10 younger siblings alone. All in hopes of finding enough food and water to survive. 

Every day, nine-year-old Blue carries his four-year-old brother Sunday to school so that he can get his one meal of the day. 

Every day, Khadija’s heart aches as she sees her one-year-old son, Saiful, losing weight. All that she can feed him is some soggy rice and bland vegetables. Each time he struggles to eat, she carefully saves the leftover because wasting even a grain of rice is not an option for them. 

On 28 October 2023, youths and young adults from nine countries (Cambodia, Canada, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam) gathered at the Lifelong Learning Institute, Singapore for the eighth edition of our annual Youth For Change Conference (YFCC).

On 9 - 24 July, a team of 14 students from Singapore Management University embarked on a meaningful service learning journey to Son Tra, Vietnam, with the aim of imparting essential soft skills to the youth. Project White Dove was a transformative experience for them, leaving an indelible mark on their hearts and reinforcing the power of education and community engagement.

Meeting up with a “stranger” whom I have known for the past 8 years was a great highlight for this trip, being able to see him and have a face-to-face interaction to know more about him. During game time, I saw his father watching him playing with lots of smiles. Despite disrupting his work schedule and traveling this far for this meetup, I sensed lots of warmth from them. This is something that we may not be able to see nowadays. Will remember this trip and the things I’ve seen for a really long time. 

This trip gave me invaluable insights into the remarkable initiatives by World Vision in Sindhuli East. It was a life-enriching experience filled with inspirational encounters and a renewed sense of hope for the community's future. Although the key challenges have not been fully overcome, the initiatives in place are making a positive difference. 

A new global Ipsos study conducted on behalf of World Vision International in 16 countries reveals that 2 in 10 children have gone to bed hungry in the last 30 days.