Seated on the ground, 13-year-old Ivy eloquently reads a book in her mother tongue as she leans against the wall of a small mudbrick house in southern Zambia’s Moyo community. In the day’s twilight, the sun pleasantly beams onto her face in beautiful gold.

Ivy has mastered reading despite now having to learn on her own due to the impact of the coronavirus. Ivy and about 100 other children in her village used to meet at a reading camp—established with the help of World Vision—where they learned to read, write and play.

When we’re kids, it’s natural to wonder about what the future may hold. Kids who feel supported and safe have fun dreaming about what they’ll do when they grow up. But for those who don’t know their rights, the future may not seem so promising.

Children everywhere have rights to the resources they need to thrive: personal safety, nutrition, education, and more — including understanding and love.

Scripture shows us Jesus had a special place in His heart for children. When His disciples tried to keep children away, Jesus said, “Do not hinder them,” and gave them the blessing they had come to receive (Matthew 19:13-14, NIV).

When children have the love, safety, education, and physical resources they need, they are empowered with choices for the future — choices they can use to create lasting change in their life and community. Just like Ima did.

“It is unbelievable that my dream of becoming a teacher has finally come true,” says Mukkuli Zimana, 24. Mukkuli believes that without the financial help she received from World Vision through their Education program, she would not have completed her education. “World Vision made it possible.”

Mukkuli is now a teacher trainee at the same primary school she attended as a child. Her success is not just a personal accomplishment, but an achievement that is inspiring the whole community. 

Dominica leads her students in a lesson on social studies.

Dominica Chelatan (24) displays a rare trait, she has a photographic memory of her childhood. Her recollection of her upbringing speaks to the survival tactics she developed, living in a culture that had little regard for a girl child.

She was born into a large traditional Pokot family of twenty children. Her father was a village elder who was respected in the community. His words were like commands and nobody dared to disobey him. The sad thing is, he had no regard for education.

Two-hundred-and-fifty million children across the globe are not learning basic literacy and numeracy skills. Of these, 57 million children—a disproportionate number of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds, live in conflict-afflicted countries, are disabled, or are girls—aren’t enrolled in school at all. Technology through programs like All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) is empowering great progress in reaching children across the globe with needed literacy resources, from development to delivery. ACR GCD is a partnership of USAID, World Vision, and the Australian Government

Mobile apps, computers, and solar energy are commonplace in the U.S., but World Vision is using this same technology to transform remote communities around the world.