Building a better world

One of the greatest joys of my life is when I receive a letter, a card or a progress report from the four kids whom I am sponsoring through World Vision.

I'm happy when I see their faces and they look fatter, cleaner, healthier and taller than they had looked previously.

Their photographs always crack me up because they have obviously been told to stand rimrod straight with hands by the side, stare straight into the camera and have a serious and studied look. Four different kids in four different Asian countries (Mongolia, Myanmar, The Philippines and Sri Lanka) but invariably they adopt the same kind of pose.

I look at their handwriting and marvel at how one is so different from another, and check their grades and gape at how one kid is excelling in mathematics and another in English and yet another in sports.

I read what they write and am gratified to know that they all want to be teachers in future.

The cost of sponsoring each kid comes up to S$45 a month. I view it as money well-spent when I consider that because of a sponsorship, each kid is able to gain a better headstart in life.

I get to choose the region in which the kid is living, and I have always chosen Asia because I think that there are millions of kids in this region who need just that little bit of help early enough in life to enable them to get a decent education so that they can improve their lives and help their families get out of the poverty trap.

I want each kid to have time for study and time for play. I want each kid to be able to dream about what they want to be when they grow up, and to have the confidence to work towards that. I want to give each kid one of the most powerful driving forces in life - hope - because someone - a total stranger - has cared about him or her to help him or her along in life.

I believe firmly that those who can, should make a positive difference in the world.


1 John 3:16-18
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.