The World Children’s Fund Day is observed on 11th December every year. This day was started by Joseph Lam, the founder and president of World Children’s Fund (WCF). He was born in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong in 1958. When he was 24 years of age, he visited India with his mother Nora Lam and met Mother Teresa in Kolkatta. This meeting accelerated his life to be committed to humanitarian relief. In 1993, Joseph began his first children’s relief program and laid the foundation of a non-profit organization, World Children’s Fund.
Every year approximately 15 million children die of hunger. In Africa, more than one third of all children are facing high levels of malnutrition. During natural disasters and famine around the world, the children become the first victims.
What do World Children’s Fund do?
The non-profit organization, World Children’s Fund provide both emergency food aid, continuous feeding programs in slums and schools that serve poverty-stricken children. Additionally, WCF also provides the underprivileged children with clothing, shelter, school education and medical relief.
WCF help in times of war, natural disasters and famine by providing emergency food, water, shelter, clothing and medical relief to children. For example, WCF had supplied all the basic necessities to the families and children around the world who were victims of Tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, wars and other emergencies.
WCF builds and maintain homes and orphanages for children across the globe, as they believe that every child should have a place to call home.
WCF conducts many projects and programmes in support of providing schooling and other educational needs to poor children living in slums or other harsh conditions, as they believe that every child has the right to literacy and education.
WCF facilitates community development such as poor sanitation and hygiene. For instance, lack of clean water and a basic sanitation leads to child deaths. About 4,000 children die every day suffering from severe diarrhoea, which is caused by poor sanitary conditions and hygiene. It is observed that in developing countries the girls usually spend most of their time gathering water for their families, walking around 3.5 miles on average per day to collect water. WCF provides monetary aid for community bore holes and other clean water sources. WCF also participate in hygiene education and provide financial aid for medical clinics and schools.
WCF feeds about 2000 hungry children every day who are living in some of Africa’s largest slums and underprivileged areas such as Makindu, Garissa, KambiTeso slum and Kibera slum. Kibera slum is famous for its high incidence of typhoid, cholera, malaria and other famines. There is no flora and fauna. It is one of the largest urban slums in Africa, located about 5 kilometers outside Nairobi. The children suffers from malnutrition, diseases and sickness. More than a thousand children residing in Kibera slum home, pave their way across refuse and rubbish every day to WCF’s feeding site. On that site, the children are given nutritious meal.
(Ref:http://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/world-childrens-fund-day-1419057369-1 & gullak.co)