Early in Disney’s new movie Queen of Katwe (in theaters Sept. 23, 2016), young Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) learns the basics of chess from another girl. The girl holds up a pawn and calls it “little man.” She points to the king and calls it the president. The queen, the girl explains, is the most powerful piece on the board. […]
Our lives are filled with a bunch of worthless noise. Celebrity happenings, shows to binge, funny cat videos (admittedly, some of those do have value … depending on who you ask). We’re keenly aware that you don’t need more clutter in your digital lives. Some might admit that the clutter Compassion adds is more valuable than other clutter because it’s […]
Any country that signs up to host the Olympics faces its fair share of public scrutiny. Leading up to the games this year, Brazil has been poked, prodded, dissected and inspected by the media. But what the media has portrayed of this culturally and economically diverse country is just a slice, just a sliver of the full story.What would you […]
It’s human nature to use generalizations. We compartmentalize information about the world as we view it through our own tinted lenses of experiences and interactions. And if we’re not careful, that compartmentalization can shape what we think about a group of people into a singular story. As Amber shared in A Short Guide to Talking About Africa, “It’s easy to […]
I met a beautiful family in the Dominican Republic. Their home was small but meticulously decorated and cared for. Everything had a place and the family was happy. Upon hearing their story I learned that their contentment and joy was not rooted in wealth or prosperity, but in the trust that comes when God provides enough for each day. As […]
“In the entire animal kingdom, the mosquito occupies a special place as receptacle for our hatred and disgust.” Reporter Archie Bland said this, and I couldn’t agree more. It’s safe to say the mosquito is the most hated creature on the planet. There are some terrifying creatures in our world. Lions and snakes and crocodiles, oh my! Sharks even get […]
It’s been hard not to follow the tragic situation coming out of Flint, Michigan. Nearly one year ago, high levels of lead were discovered coursing through the city’s drinking water supply and, as a result, in the blood of thousands of local children. In children ages 6 and under, even low levels of lead exposure can cause irreversible brain damage. […]
Do you ever get that déjà vu feeling that somehow the more things change the more they remain the same? I sure do, especially of late as the media brings our attention to the current drought and famine situation across Africa, specifically in the Compassion country of Ethiopia. Despite significant economic growth over the past decade, Ethiopia still remains one […]
It’s International Women’s Day, a day to honor and celebrate the cultural, social, economic and political achievements of women. It’s a day to remind ourselves why girls are so amazing. In the course of human history, the female population has been horrifically oppressed, abused and mistreated. Girls have been burned at the stake as witches. They have been buried alive, […]
I remember I was in the very beginning of my second pregnancy when I heard about cases of babies who were born with microcephaly in the countryside of northeastern Brazil. Everyone was saying it wasn’t normal for so many babies to be born with the same abnormality in the same region. I confess I didn’t pay much attention. Of course, […]
NOTE FROM EDITOR: This content honors Compassion’s historical work in India. While we no longer have an India sponsorship program, we are grateful for the lives changed and meaningful work achieved through our sponsors and donors in our nearly 50 years there. For a detailed explanation of the end of our sponsorship program in India, please visit: compassion.com/india-update. In this […]
As the Zika virus becomes a growing concern in Latin America and the Caribbean, it’s important to stay informed on the development of the disease. Here are a few simple questions and answers to help you understand the virus and how it is affecting the communities where we work. What Is the Zika Virus? The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne […]
We’ve come to the end of another incredible year at Compassion International and we thought we’d take a moment to highlight some of our favorite and most popular blog posts of 2015. And as an added treat, we’ve added a little “story behind the story” of our top 10 to give you a peek behind the curtain of how some […]
Let’s play a game. A Where’s Waldo of sorts. This description of poverty comes from The Poverty Wheel on Compassion.com: The most widely held and understood definition of extreme poverty, established by the World Bank, defines poverty in strictly economic terms — earning less than $1.90 a day. But the World Bank has also described poverty as follows: “Poverty is […]
Mexico is full of contrasts. Many different cultural traits prevail, as modernity and the old traditions exist together. But the marked differences among the population represent a challenge. Inequality has increased terribly in the last decade, exposing a growing gap in between the poor and the rich. There is a hurting division in society marked by lack of income and […]
Recently, I’ve had the opportunity in my job to read a lot about development. After all, development is what Compassion is about. We don’t want to give a handout; we want to do the things that will truly help a child become a self-sustaining, responsible adult. And although you might not think that theories of international development have much to […]
What is Compassion International all about? Well, first and foremost, we’re about Jesus. We are Christ centered. We “release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.” We work through the local church and live out our faith by extending care to others. We demonstrate what we’re about in how we behave — what we do and how we do it. We’re child […]
The room was packed, occupied by some of the most inspiring Christian leaders I’ve met from across the continent of Africa. I began my afternoon presentation in Ethiopia with a movie trailer for a new documentary, Poverty, Inc., that seeks to reveal some of the pitfalls of the global aid system. At one point in the movie trailer, an entrepreneur […]
My friends thought I was losing my mind. After working my entire career in the non-profit world, I was making the plunge into the big, bad for-profit world. For 7.5 years, I worked for one of the leading organizations fighting violence against the poor (including human trafficking and slavery), International Justice Mission. For years, I got to tell the stories […]
Moms in our Child Survival Program in Ethiopia regularly get together to share stories of their lives, swap care taking ideas for their kids and catch up on the local town news over a cup of freshly roasted Ethiopian coffee. Watch how the process of creating Ethiopian coffee unfolds from roasting beans and grinding in a press, to brewing in […]
