Dear Supporter
My name is Liam Cunningham and, like you, I’ve been a supporter of World Vision’s work for a very long time. I wanted to send you a letter directly, before Christmas, to thank you for your amazing support. It really does make a difference in transforming lives. I’ve seen the difference your donations make first-hand and I’ve photographed some of the people I had the pleasure of meeting in the field. These people’s lives were turned upside down by war, famine, climate change or persecution.
I have to say, out of everything that I’ve witnessed and seen in the refugee camps, I was most struck by the resilience of human nature. I met people who had everything taken from them but who kept going, nonetheless. I was reminded of Ireland’s history on my trips to the developing world, how Ireland too was a country on its knees that had to fight for survival, I thought about how we overcame famine, war and injustice. The resilience of the Irish people is the same resilience I witnessed first-hand in refugee camps, the resilience that keeps people going through the bleakest and darkest times.
While we come from different continents and speak in different languages, we all share one common thing – the need to love and to be loved. Love is expressed in so many ways. We can express it to our closest family members by simply saying “I love you”. We can express it in simpler ways, by texting a friend who is going through a hard time or by checking in on a lonely neighbour.
