AsiaStories

Najia Khatun* knows what her life would be like without the Light of Hope Center. She knows she would be hungry. She knows she would be uneducated. She knows she would be working long hours at a garment factory. Najia knows — and she is grateful.

Our adventure started on a treacherous, muddy path. But our story in this remote Thai village began six years earlier — when the medical clinic closed and a community development organization supported by the World Hunger Fund took its place. See how one community slowly transformed because of your help.

The call came just a few weeks after the triple disaster — earthquake, tsunami and nuclear threat — hit Japan on March 11, 2011. All they wanted was clean underwear, but we shared so much more with them.

Two years ago, IMB missionary Al Hoopes began supervising a program that teaches Filipino villagers the basics of agriculture, herbal medicine, community development and moral values. Now, approximately 600 people have graduated from the program and have built vegetable and herb gardens near their homes. The program has changed the lives of many Filipinos, including a woman named Rowena Gonato who resorts to her newly acquired training when her children grow ill.

This area is known for terrorist activity. Even though Saachi Sarkar* can’t see the men with guns and bombs, she knows they are watching. Not many outsiders venture this far into the jungle. The terrorist group allows her entry because she has something useful to teach – farming and nutrition.

Use the following labels to create your own receptacle for donations to alleviate hunger.