Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent, as well as the beginning of Relentless ACT:S of Sacrifice.

This Lent, World Vision ACT:S will be exploring the real meaning of Romans 12 and what it means in our own lives. The Message version of Romans 12 says: “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering.”

For the next 6 weeks, the World Vision ACT:S community will be responding to challenges that will help shape us into a generation of people who know the importance of putting others before ourselves in our day-to-day lives. Each week, ACT:S will be posting a video and a challenge to inspire you to live sacrificially in your everyday lives. Come experience Lent with the help of 6 inspirational people and by using the new interactive ACT:S web platform. Learn more at World Vision ACT:S.

As Women of Vision around the country anticipate our Lobby Day, part of our upcoming 2012 National Conference, we prepare to speak out for the millions of women and children who seem forgotten. We prepare to become advocates for jutice.

Says Mae: “Engaging in social justice is the greatest evangelistic opportunity the church has in the 21^st century. The world will see the love of Christ expressed through the actions of His followers who diligently seek justice.”

Read Mae’s full article on the World Vision blog.

Ever wonder how much of your World Vision donations reach your sponsored child or your chapter’s project? Larry Probus, CFO of World Vision USA explains how for every $1.00 that is donated, $1.40 of value is received by the communities we serve!

From GOOD: “According to the United Nations, unsanitary water kills more people worldwide than war. As the precious water supply dwindles, it may prove to be more than just a crisis for developing countries.”

Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin, who hosts the WNYC’s new podcast series “Here’s the Thing“, recently interviewed Rob Morris, President and Co-Founder of Love146, a child trafficking rescue organization.

Rob says to Alec: “This is not about an issue, this is not about a cause.  This is somebody’s daughter, this is about somebody’s son.  Little boy.  Little girl.” 

Listen to the podcast here. Then, read a letter from Rob to Alec describing his recent trip to the Philippines and what it will take to end child trafficking.

As a Women of Vision chapter, we have chosen to support World Vision’s Bangladesh Child Protection Program. In so doing, three of us were privileged to travel last month to Bangladesh, and to see first hand the work that World Vision is doing to address the difficult issue of human trafficking.

Rhodera, Rochelle and Amy from the WOV New York City chapter in Bangladesh.

The issue of human trafficking is disturbing, but to know someone who has been trafficked is heart wrenching. We met trafficking victims who were rescued from the brothels in India, and they are now receiving care from World Vision to put their lives back together.

Children all over the world fall prey to traffickers because they are poor and marginalized.  Poverty leaves them in such a vulnerable position where they are easily coerced, deceived, or sold into sexual slavery or child labor.  World Vision is working to prevent this from happening in Bangladesh through the Child Protection Program.

There was no easing into this horrific issue of poverty and human trafficking. We were led straight to the city dump to witness the tremendous injustice and effect that poverty has on the children of Bangladesh.

The smell permeated our clothes for weeks leaving the residue of 30 minutes in the dump. But for the children who work 6 hour days picking through garbage, their entire beings wreaked of decay. They are the children of the dump, and they know no other life. They live in the slums, cramped, congested, and hungry.

The capital city of Bangladesh is Dhaka. 17 million people live there, making it the most densely populated city in the world. It has huge garbage dumps, each many football fields long. We went to one where trash sat upon trash 4 – 5 feet high as far as the eye could see. On top of that trash was a legion of women and children, picking through garbage, chasing behind bulldozers in search of recyclables that have value.

These children are particularly vulnerable to trafficking because they have such a meager existence, trying to survive on what little money they earn from the refuse they collect. Many showed signs of disease such as hepatitis, jaundice, malaria, lice, staph infections from cuts, fever, the list goes on. However, they have a saving grace in World Vision which provides a drop-in center for these children.

At this particular dump, there are an estimated 500 children working and only 50 registered at the World Vision drop-in center.  Of these 50 children, we randomly chose 8 girls to speak with in depth about their harsh reality. They make about 50 cents a day working the dump which gives them one or 2 meals. We believe that if World Vision can provide just one meal for these kids at the drop-in center, then they wouldn’t have to work in the dump anymore.

We have many more stories of despair and hope. We saw lives being changed through the miracle of Child Sponsorship. Our chapter has been able to support 20 children who live within one area. With continued support, we are confident that these children can and will be saved.

Today we invite you to meet Lan, a 30-year-old police officer. Says IMOW: “She was born in Nanjing, in the Jiangsu province, China. She still lives in Nanjing. She was married in 2006, and is the recent mother of 4-month-old twins, a girl and a boy.  Although most couples are subject to the one child policy in China, twins are an exception to this rule, and they are especially lucky in Asian culture.”

Leslie Parrott, a noted marriage and family therapist, is one of our plenary speakers and will be addressing the vital topic of women’s leadership. She tells Women of Vision:

“You are already making a difference whether you know it or not.
And the more you understand the difference you are making, the bigger the difference you are making.”

Yes. We can’t wait to hear more of Leslie’s wisdom and hope you will join us!

“FIRST Lady Christine Kaseba has called on all Zambians to get involved in gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and take care of the victims. Dr Kaseba has observed that the worst manifestation of powerlessness for girls and women is when they experience physical and sexual abuse.
“Experiences of abuse for married women are most common in the home, at the hands of their husbands. I recognise the successful work that has encouraged women to speak out about their experiences and to seek help to address the abuse they face. In these cases, we have a duty to focus great efforts on prevention as well as on care for any victim of abuse,” Dr Kaseba said.
In a speech read for her by Vice-President Guy Scott’s wife, Charlotte, at the launch of the Central Action on HIV/AIDS (CAHA) 2012/ 2015 strategic plan in Kabwe on Friday, Dr Kaseba said the risks of abuse young girls experience outside their homes are matters of great concern.
Dr Kaseba said outside their homes, girls are at risk of being abused by people they trust, and  who sometimes happen to be their relatives, teachers or even church leaders. She said government is committed to addressing all forms of violence against girls and women, adding that it is important to ensure a safe environment for girls in schools.
Dr Kaseba said every learning institution in Zambia needs to be placed in locations where besides learning, girls and women can be certain of “trusted support and safety” because education for women is crucial in the development process of the country.
She also said in as much as government has shown commitment in fighting HIV and AIDS, it needs support from other stakeholders such as the church and non-governmental organisations.
Dr Kaseba said the HIV and AIDS pandemic has negatively impacted on women and girls for generations.
She also encouraged all Zambians to go for HIV counselling and testing for them to know their status.
Dr Kaseba called on organisations involved in activities aimed at fighting HIV and AIDS to reach out to girls and women in far-flung areas and people with disabilities.
Meanwhile, some organisations involved in fighting HIV and AIDS in Central Province have called for the establishment of a National HIV/AIDS Fund (NAF) to be spearheaded by Dr Kaseba.”

Americans will purchase around 58 million pounds of chocolate during the days leading up to the 14th (a fraction of the reported 3 billion pounds per year), and we pay around $345 million to satisfy our Valentine’s sweet tooth, according to Nielsen.

But for thousands of people, chocolate means slavery.

From the CNN Freedom Project: “The chocolate bar you snack on likely starts at a plant in a West African cocoa plantation, and often the people who harvest it are children. Many are slaves to a system that produces something almost all of us consume and enjoy.

The CNN Freedom Project sent correspondent David McKenzie into the heart of the Ivory Coast – the world’s largest cocoa producer – to investigate what’s happening to children working in the fields.

His work has resulted in a shocking, eye-opening documentary showing that despite all the promises the global chocolate industry made a decade ago, much of the trade remains unchanged. There are still child slaves harvesting cocoa, even though some have never even tasted chocolate and some don’t even know what the word “chocolate” means.

In the documentary “Chocolate’s Child Slaves,” CNN discovers a human trafficking network and farmers using child labor for an industry offering low prices and little more than broken promises.”