World Vision launched a multi-million dollar water and sanitation project in southern Africa this year, and Mary's Zambian village was one of the first to benefit with a new borehole well, as part of this community development program.

Focus on Development

World Vision helps transform communities through child sponsorship, working with local leaders to achieve sustainable access to food, clean water, health care, education and economic opportunities. Here's how we helped children in 2009:

• Child sponsorship through World Vision made a real difference in the lives of 491,668 sponsored children and their communities through 222 area development programs in 45 countries. We helped communities find innovative and sustainable ways to ensure families have access to food, clean water, health care, education and economic opportunities.
  
  
• We started child sponsorship programs in Laos and the Republic of Georgia.
  
  
• Our program staff in Africa and other regions equipped community groups to care for 123,000 children affected by HIV and AIDS, protecting them from isolation, illness and malnutrition.
  
  
• In Indonesia, where 60 per cent of children aren't registered at birth and may struggle to access education or healthcare, World Vision actively advocated for and supported a government plan to ensure every child has a birth certificate by 2011.

Learn how sponsorship helps transform communities

Sponsorship in action

Why it works

How it works

Where it works

What it provides