The latest World Vision magazine puts the world’s most critical crises back on the agenda.
Devastation in Haiti far exceeds that experienced in other recent natural disasters. (Jon Warren/WV)
The Summer issue of World Vision magazine will be hitting your mailbox soon. On the cover is a little girl I met outside a World Vision health clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Two-year-old Ellerenchise is one of about 800,000 Haitians still living in makeshift camps following last year’s devastating earthquake. She was brought to the clinic after suffering from diarrhea—in the developed world, usually a minor complaint; in Haiti, possibly the first signs of cholera, which can kill a child within hours. The plight of little Ellerenchise illustrates just how far Haiti has to go to recover.
But why are we still talking about Haiti? After all, it’s been more than a year and a half, and the world has seen more recent quakes in Japan and New Zealand, where World Vision is also responding.
Our Summer 2011 cover
It has to do with scale. More than 220,000 died in Haiti—a figure 20 times the number killed in more recent disasters. Additionally, Haiti is one of the most poorly equipped nations to cope. Sometimes it’s easy to forget this when more recent calamities dominate headlines.
Writer Julian Lukins picks up this theme in another feature “Still Suffering”—a snapshot of conflicts in Darfur, Colombia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries seldom lead news bulletins, but millions continue to suffer. It’s easy to let these situations slide off our radar screens. But hope comes when concerned people stay informed and engaged.
Sound all rather serious? Well, yes, but this issue features some fun stuff too. A former sponsored child becomes a top broadcast journalist; Casting Crowns’ lead singer does something amazing with his magnificent “Star Wars” collection; and a former drug dealer becomes an on-fire evangelist. I hope you enjoy the Summer issue as much as the team did putting it together.