From the Field

Thanksgiving: Celebrating abundant harvests around the world

Two children sit on a pile of maize in Zambia.

In this season of thanksgiving, we pause to praise the Lord for his promises and steadfast provision. Through him, the people World Vision are privileged to serve are seeing bountiful harvests around the world.

We pause to also thank our devoted donors, partnering with us to feed the hungry. You have brought water to gardens, nourishment to tables, and hope to farmers in communities across the globe. With you, we share these photos and stories — testimonies of the Lord’s provision, made possible through your generosity.

The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.—Psalm 67:6, NIV

Bolivia

A mother holds her two young children and a basket of eggs.

Nora’s heart and arms are full. Her 1-year-old daughter, Noemí, has overcome malnutrition by eating eggs every day. World Vision supported 60 families, including Nora’s, struggling with malnutrition in Vinto, Bolivia, by providing each of them with 50 laying hens. “Before, we did not have many resources to feed my children; but thanks to this project, now we always have eggs in the house to eat with the whole family,” says Nora. She harvests 40 eggs per day and sells half of them at the market for additional income for her family. (©2018 World Vision/photo by José Luis Roca)

Armenia

A woman fills jars with honey to sell.

An employee of Hayk Hovhannisyan, 61 pours a sweet harvest of honey into plastic containers. Hayk is a beekeeper in Tchambarak, Armenia. World Vision provided him with training and raw materials to build the beehives and ceramic honeypots. They also helped him to make logos, labels, and business plans. Hayk shared his entrepreneurial skills with World Vision, preparing 100 beehives and providing them to community residents for free. Then he offered training to 45 more families in need. (©2017 World Vision/photo by Eugene Lee)

Kenya

A little girl picks fruit in a fruit tree.

Five-year-old Kamama’s future is as bright as the oranges she plucks from a tree in her family’s orchard in West Pokot, Kenya. A cascade of blessings has poured into the lives of children and families in Kamama’s community through child sponsorship and clean water: fewer illnesses, better nutrition, more kids in school, and time — for children to be children and parents to farm or run a business. (©2016 World Vision/photo by Jon Warren)

Mongolia

Nasaa, a World Vision staff member in Mongolia, examines the flourishing vegetable plants growing inside farmer Munkhjargal’s greenhouse, provided by World Vision. Munkhjargal is now able to feed his children, who are sponsored, healthy and nutritious vegetables year-round, despite Mongolian cold weather. (©2015 World Vision/photo by Jon Warren)

China

Zhu, a 16-year-old sponsored child in China, goes with her father to the garden to harvest vegetables for the day’s meal. Traditionally, families in Zhu’s community sell corn and vegetables at the market to earn money for daily needs — and to pay for school fees. But the income was not enough. When Zhu became sponsored and World Vision covered her school tuition, the family garden became a more fruitful source of income for the family. (©2018 World Vision/photo by Ben Adams)

South Sudan

Gladys clutches a bouquet of jute mallow — a symbol of her mother’s perseverance. Despite food insecurity that has plagued their community in South Sudan, Gladys’ mother and her two aunts have a thriving 1-acre riverside garden.

In early 2016, Gladys’ mom, Susan, and her two aunts joined World Vision’s Fortifying Equality and Economic Diversity (FEED) project, funded by the government of Canada. The FEED project aims to empower women to grow enough food to be sustainable and sell the extra produce to improve their income. Gladys’ mom and her aunts attended agricultural training and received improved seeds and gardening tools.

“These seeds have really helped us. The harvest was good; we earned money from taking some produce to the market,” says Josephine, Gladys’ aunt. (©2018 World Vision/photo by Mark Nonkes)

Honduras

Harvest sacks swell as staff members of Genrri and Marisol Ramirez load coffee beans for roasting at their coffee factory in San Marcos, Honduras. After sponsorship, World Vision began to promote savings groups in San Marcos, and Genrri joined one in 2004. Three years later, Genrri’s savings group bought a coffee-processing machine from Brazil for $25,000. The massive machine sorts, washes, and dries coffee beans. The group, which began with nothing, is now a cooperative with accumulated savings and capital worth $280,000. (©2018 World Vision/photo by Jon Warren)

Laos

In Phoukhoun District, Laos, 74 farmers and their families are benefitting from the profits of a chili plantation supported by World Vision. Phen, 32, received technical chili farming training from World Vision, and then he received a loan to plant his own crop. In two years, he has increased his annual income by 500%.

“In the future, I plan to extend more land, and I would like to plant twice a season so that I will have enough money to support my children for the higher education,” Phen shares with a smile. (©2018 World Vision/photo by Ammala Thomisith)

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