With so much happening in 2017, we thought we'd share our highlight reel to relive our favourite moments.
1. #NotATarget was the theme for last year’s World Humanitarian Day, because—all too often—that’s exactly what both civilians and humanitarians have become. Read World Vision staff Chelsea Maclachlan's blogpost on this topic.
2. A Mongolian boy with his goat. How would you caption this image? Visit our Gift Catalogue and change a kid's life with a gift that can give them victory over poverty.
3. Have you ever had a teacher who encouraged the best in you? Inspired by her cousin Modester, Evelyn wants to become a teacher. Education unlocks dreams and potential, and gives girls like Evelyn victory over poverty.
4. Viola and her husband, Josphat, grow biofortified sweet potatoes for a living and enjoy teaching other farmers how to grow this amazing crop. What's so great about it? It can be planted and grown four times a year and is full of nutrition. Bring a former sponsored child, Viola says that having the early intervention of sponsorship gave her the opportunities she has today. Now she can give back.
5. “Peace, to me, means love. My mother loves me very much. If all people loved, there would be peace,” says 8-year-old Nyatap of South Sudan. Last year, in her first year of school, she was most excited to learn how to read and write.
6. Ronester, 3, drinks clean water from a new solar-powered borehole in her grandfather’s back yard. We believe that, together, we can quench the world's thirst.
7. Look at that proud grin! Razvan loves his new Christmas sweater, bought for him by a generous Canadian. With a cold Romanian winter on the way and no money to fix a house in disrepair, this sweater hits the spot and will keep him cozy and warm.
8. Love can come from across the world! This big, happy heart comes all the way from Chad.
9. "We have to create love, peace and unity to stop the fighting,” says 16-year-old Eva. These young South Sudanese refugees are refusing to let hate win. They’re members of one of our peace clubs, and they’re determined to change the hearts and minds of their fellow citizens. They have a dream for a unified South Sudan, a safe place they can return home.
10. "Nur* gets her eyes from my daughter. She was tall, had light skin and was pretty with light eyes. Nur is the only legacy left of my daughter," says Aaira, Nur’s maternal grandmother. Six-month-old Nur's big eyes are windows to her soul. She lost her mother in the violence that erupted in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Now, her grandmother takes care of her. The plight of the Rohingya refugees has been at the forefront of international news here in Canada. Want to learn how to help?
11. Mageni is one of the mothers who brings her children to the Solwa Dispensary we support in Tanzania. It was there that she found out one of her children was severely malnourished, and got her the help she needed. Read more about how one health clinic single-handedly served 30,000 people: #1000DayJourney
12. How are you, brave girl?
Who have looked me in the eye and told me that you work,
because you want to help your mom and dad.
You work because your sister and brother need to eat.
You work because someone needs to pay the school fees.
Your expression determined, yet sad.
Your maturity beyond your years on this earth.
Your deep sense of responsibility and obligation.
I see your face from our meetings and hope you are okay,
You are going to school,
You are having fun playing
And that you are able to still help your parents in a way that is best for your age.
Know that I have not forgotten you,
Your determination or your frustration.
Know that your life still fuels me,
And the little bit we are trying to do in Canada to help end child labour.
- A poem by Cheryl Hotchkiss
13. After this family's home collapsed during an earthquake in Ecuador, a child-friendly space has brought them safety, joy and comfort. “My children get distracted in the activities,” says their mother Anna Maria, “They enjoy playing games and painting in coloring books.”
14. "I feel like a Superlady because when I was painting it, I began to see myself as the people in the painting. I want to be a Superlady for my community," says 16-year-old Lina, a refugee from South Sudan.
15. There's nothing quite like a mother's love. Baylasan holds onto her mom, Amani, as she flashes an irresistible smile. Baylasan and Amani are Syrian refugees who escaped a militant-controlled area less than a year ago. Now, they’re living in Lebanon, where Baylasan and her brother attend school and live in safety. Amani is happy to give her children the childhood they deserve.
16. "My biggest fear is the airstrikes. But I dream of becoming a pilot, so I can see the world," says 10-year-old Hamza. He is one of the many children displaced because of more than six years of conflict in Syria.
17. Did you know that January 4 is National Spaghetti Day?
Here’s three-year-old Pok is enjoying her noodle soup. Canadians helped nourish 42,146 North Korean children this year with spaghetti-like noodles from one of the two noodle factories we help support in North Korea.