Dave Toycen, President of World Vision Canada, visits Shasha Internally Displaced Persons camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The camp is home to some 2,000 children.

Dave Toycen Answers Your Questions

What was World Vision's most significant achievement this year?
What was the greatest challenge you faced?
What is World Vision's top priority for 2010?
How does child sponsorship help children?
How do you begin working in a new community?
What happens to the money given each month by child sponsors?
What does World Vision mean by child well-being?
What was your biggest disappointment this year?
What inspires you to hope?

Q: What was World Vision's most significant achievement this year?
A: Commitment. During one of the most challenging financial environments in years, we were able to honour all of our commitments in the countries where we work. The generosity of Canadians meant that even more children were able to access nutritious food, good education and critical healthcare in their communities.

Q: What was the greatest challenge you faced?
A: Our greatest challenge this past year was definitely the global financial crisis. Canadians were facing financial difficulties in ways we haven't seen in a long time and that meant we needed to find creative ways to save money and make sure we didn't cut programming overseas. It was just amazing that so many Canadians refused to stop sponsoring children during this time. One woman said to me, the first bill I pay is my mortgage the second bill I pay is my child sponsorship. That says it all to me.

Q: What is World Vision's top priority for 2010?
A: A big concern for us is where Canada stands in relation to the Millennium Development Goals. These are the eight goals that were agreed on at the United Nations at the turn of the century, which were designed to make the world a better place by the year 2015. As of 2010, we only have six years left to reach these goals. However, while action has been taken and progress has been made, one of the goalsthe one for which the least amount of progress has been madeis goal number four: reducing child mortality.

Right now 8.8 million children under the age of five are still dying every year of preventable causes. We thinkas do most Canadiansthat this is unacceptable and we should be doing more to decrease this number and, at the same time, to honour our commitment to the millennium development goals. In 2010, our top priority is to spread the word about this through World Vision's Five for 5 campaign, part of our Child Health Now campaign. We're calling on Canadians to urge our government to make child and maternal health a top priority at the June 2010 G8 Summit in Muskoka, and to significantly increase Canada's funding support for programs focused on saving the lives of women and children under-five.

Q: How does child sponsorship help children?
A: As any parent knows, giving cash to children isn't the best way to meet their basic needs. Most kids aren't thinking about saving for their education, the roof over their heads or the food on the table. And that's the way childhood should be worry-free.

So if giving your monthly donation directly to your sponsored child isn't the best way to help, what is? World Vision has learned a lot about helping children during our 59 years of community development work. We have found that the most effective means of caring for children is to equip their parents and community to reliably provide for them. Our programs benefit sponsored children and their peers by improving local health care, increasing access to education, helping parents to develop viable livelihoods and building better safeguards for child security.

Q: How do you begin working in a new community?
A: Local communities that lack essentials such as food, access to health care and clean water invite us to work with them. We begin by developing relationships while learning from the people about their strengths and challenges. We ask parents and leaders about their collective skills and abilities, and how we can use those to overcome poverty.

Next, we find out what's already working in the community and have people define their priorities. What could we do together, as committed partners, to help children most? It might be repairing the roof of the local school, drilling a freshwater well or providing micro-credit and training so that parents can start their own businesses and earn more income to support their families.

We then conduct a baseline study to determine the most pressing needs. Our field staff are skilled development professionals. They work with parents and the community to come up with a long-range plan for the next 10 to 15 years. Finally, our staff and community members implement the plan to improve the well-being of children.

Q: What happens to the money given each month by child sponsors?
A: We pool your donations with gifts from other sponsors and supporters. The programs we operate with those funds help your sponsored child, as well as other children in their community.

Using sponsorship funds, we're able to facilitate local initiatives such as projects that provide clean water for children and help reduce disease. We also undertake national programs that tackle the root causes of poverty. For example, training farmers in improved agricultural techniques results in increased crop yields, better nourished children and more income for families. And we provide global support for local staff, such as technical assistance on how to prevent the spread of HIV and care for children affected by the disease, especially orphans. A small percentage of your support allows us to respond quickly to children and families affected by emergencies, and to extend help to children in desperate need wherever they may be. This integrated approach ensures that sponsorship programs respond to children's needs as effectively as possible.

We often combine funds from child sponsorship with government grants for emergency relief assistance and large-scale development projects. In addition, we receive donated goods from Canadian companies, including medicine and clothing, as well as cash gifts.

Q: What does World Vision mean by child well-being?
A: What we want for every child is what every parent ultimately desires: to see that children are educated, healthy, cared for, protected. We want to see them participating in making their community a better place to live and loving God and their neighbours. These are the things that, for us, define child well-being.

It's bigger than that, though. A child's well-being stems from the well-being of their family and the community where they live. That's why we partner with parents, the community, churches, governments and other organizations to build or strengthen those things that will enable a community to better care for their children.

Q: What was your biggest disappointment this year?
A: My biggest disappointment was that we didn't reach a half-a-million children through sponsorship. We were able to sponsor even more children than last year but ended just shy of our goal of 500,000 children. The good news is, with God's help we should reach it in 2010.

And then the second thing I would say is that there are still 8.8 million children dying of preventable diseases every year...it's just unacceptable.

Q: What inspires you to hope?
A: My belief that I'm making a difference; that I am serving the poor, especially children who never fail to inspire me and being true to my calling as a Christian. Our donors also encourage me every day. Their compassion knows no fatigue. My trust in God's grace and faithfulness ensures that my burden for the world doesn't exceed my joy in serving him.