Repost: http://streamsofhope.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-with-dave-toycen-president-of.html
Author: Bryna Jones
On Tuesday, SOH brought you the first of a two-part interview with the President of World Vision Canada, Dave Toycen. Today (as promised) we’re excited to bring you the final installment of that interview.
ME: What can people/groups in Canada do to help?
Dave: Canadians wishing to donate to our efforts in eastern DRC can do so by calling 1-800-268-5528, or by visiting www.worldvision.ca. Those wishing to take action and keep up to date on our efforts can do so with one of the following tools. We also have a vast array of resource available at www.worldvision.ca/congo including prayer points for those who believe in prayer.
Write
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs: Using our fast and simple tool, demand Canada take leadership in addressing the crisis in Congo.
Join the Canadians Concerned About Congo Facebook group for updates, actions and discussions.
Check out WorldVisionCanada on YouTube for videos from Congo you can embed on blogs.
Follow CongoAlerts on Twitter for timely updates on the current humanitarian disaster.
ME: Do you have any stories from your trip to DRC that you would like to tell?
Dave: One of the most inspiring children I met was 16-year-old Jonathan*. Jonathan is a former child solider who is now the president of a Child’s Parliament group that World Vision supports in the region. The group was formed in order to empower children to be part of peacebuilding initiatives in their community and has already had a significant impact. Just after the group was formed, the children realized that many homeless children were ending up in the local jail, kept with adult criminals. The group petitioned the local authority and had 15 children successfully freed from the prison and placed in care with host families in the town. The group has also instigated a watch group for girls fetching water so that during this vulnerable act of walking to nearby rivers, the girls are flanked by older boys who stave off potential molesters. It is children like Jonathan that remind me that sometimes children’s courageous acts can embarrass adults into doing the right thing.
Jonathan
*name has been changed to protect the identity of the child.
ME: Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Dave: I think it’s important that we remember there is always hope even in the most dire circumstances. I met a mother named Esperance who was at one of our health clinics waiting for her child to be treated. The little one is malnourished, suffering from diarrhea and although slowly recovering after six weeks of treatment, still fighting for her life. Esperance told me that her family is short of food, especially since her husband was shot while trying to flee violence and is now disabled. The family depends on Esperance to tend a small plot for food and take care of them physically. Amidst all of that pain though, Esperance – her name literally meaning hope – told me of her dreams of a future where the war will end and her family can start producing their own food; a future where her children will be safe and have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Esperance with her child, and Dave
Our sincerest thanks go out to Dave Toycen for this interview, and to his amazing staff, for the work they do bringing awareness and aid to the world’s most impoverished people. You truly inspire us!
Posted 2 years, 6 months ago at 6:03 am. Add a comment
Author: Bryna Jones
For those of you who didn’t read my post yesterday, please take a moment to do so before you continue with this intro. I feel almost any words I use to describe the work of World Vision, Canada, and it’s President, Dave Toycen will be inadequate.
For those of you who may not know, World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. As followers of Jesus, they are motivated by God’s love for all people regardless of race, religion, gender or ethnicity.
Mr. Toycen’s career in international aid and devleopment has spanned more than 35 years, 21 of which have been spent at World Vision. His 12 year tenure as President has seen donations increase almost nine fold to over $381 million and the number of children sponsored by Canadians has risen fivefold to more than 480,000.
In this two part interview, Dave was kind enough to share with SOH his recent experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo–a country torn by civil war, poverty, and some of the worst injustice the world has ever seen.
ME: What was the purpose of your trip to the Congo?
Dave: It has been 15 years since I had last been to the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the time of the Rwandan genocide. At the time there were refugees scattered across Goma, bodies everywhere waiting for mass burial – and now more violence stalks the region. I had to come back, to see how our programs are helping those struggling now and how we can better serve those in need moving forward.
I also wanted to meet with our staff and other NGOs in the region to encourage them. Many leave their own families behind to sacrificially and persistently put the needs of others before their own. And I wanted to remind them that there is a team of people in Canada working to support them and the work on the ground.
ME: What is the situation like there?
Dave: What we’re seeing in eastern DRC is an incredible humanitarian crisis – absolutely one of the worst in the world right now. Nearly 1.5 million people are displaced, women and girls are the victims of sexual violence and children are recruited as soldiers daily. An estimated 45,000 people are dying every month from malnutrition and infectious diseases in the region – a number we would certainly not tolerate here in Canada.
For me personally, this was one of the most difficult trips I have taken in a long time. It all strikes like a body blow when you go into a therapeutic feeding centre and see skinny, severely malnourished little ones struggling for life. One mother named Furaha has two children at her side, a baby who is one month old named Divine and a one year old named Prisca. Prisca has signs of severe malnutrition, including painful mouth sores. Furaha’s husband is out looking for work so she is left to care for two sick children on her own.
I was also struck by the incredible amount of sexual violence that women and girls face. It is certainly a tool of war used by many parties to the increased violence and one that leaves sheer trauma and terror in its wake.
ME: What is World Vision’s presence in Congo?
Dave: World Vision began working in the DRC in 1958, helping girls who would otherwise have been forced into early marriage. By 1988, World Vision had established longer-term community-based projects, through child sponsorship, and is now assisting 56,000 sponsored children in the country.
We are currently working with communities through 25 long-term development programs. We are working to improve water and sanitation, develop infrastructure, improve health and education, in addition to responding to HIV and AIDS while improving food security through special, shorter-term projects.
We are helping 50,000 children recover from the trauma of war in eastern DRC through a UNICEF-funded psychosocial and child protection project. We are also helping families in crisis with survival items like blankets, soap, plastic sheeting for temporary shelters and other emergency help to children and their families.
ME: Do you think the Canadian government needs to take more responsibility in addressing the needs of this conflict?
Dave: We believe that the conflict in the DRC requires a regional solution, and Canada, as co-chair of the Friends Group to the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, is well placed to support the Governments of DRC, Rwanda and others in finding a lasting solution for peace and development.
Given that The Mission of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (abbreviated in French as MONUC) primary mandate is the protection of civilians, and given Canada’s leadership on the protection of civilians mandate, we would say that there is a logical fit for Canada to provide greater support for the activities and planning of MONUC around the protection of civilians, especially girls and women who are so vulnerable to rape, which has become a frequent weapon of war in this conflict. This will require the concerted efforts of the international community, and we call on Canada to play a lead role in this.
This is the end of part one. Check back on Thursday for the final half of the interview in which Dave describes what we can do as individuals to help those affected by this crisis. He also shares two personal stories of the inspiration and hope that can cause people, and a nation, to heal.
Posted 2 years, 7 months ago at 7:23 am. 2 comments
