Serving the isolated and desperate in Africa, SE Asia and the Americas

Southeast Asia

World Concern’s Asia programs are concentrated in Southeast Asia—a part of the world where extreme poverty has been a reality for generations. Adding to the great need, this area of the world has been hit with some of the worst natural disasters in recent years.

In parts of Southeast Asia the life expectancy is only 56 years. Literacy rates are as low as 43%. In Bangladesh where we work, more than 5 million people live in slums. Lack of healthcare and sanitation has led to rampant disease, and the infant mortality rate is up to 12 times higher than in the U.S.

Africa

We focus our efforts in the Sub-Saharan region of eastern Africa, which includes countries that have been torn apart by war and devastated by drought. In Kenya, where 1.2 million people are living with AIDS, orphans who have lost one or both parents to the disease are left in the care of relatives or neighbors who cannot afford to feed their own families. In Chad, 185,000 people were driven from their homes by armed militia and now live in displacement camps without permanent homes, adequate food or water. The average income in some of these countries is as low as $530 per year.

The Americas

We also operate programs in Haiti and Bolivia—both of which are countries with overwhelming need. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Since January 2010 we have shifted our emphasis in Haiti to disaster response, following the catastrophic 7.0 earthquake there. Bolivia is one of the least developed and poorest countries in Latin America. In both Haiti and Bolivia we work to alleviate poverty through income generating activities, vocational training, microlending, agricultural support and education.