Taipei, July 11 (CNA) Current and former World Vision activists arrived in Taipei Thursday to share their experiences helping refugees in Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ethiopia, describing the needs and challenges faced in the lead up to the annual 30-hour famine campaign that will be held by the charity organization’s chapter in Taiwan this coming weekend.
World Vision Taiwan’s 30th “30-Hour Famine Hero Rally,” which carries the title “Saving the lives of children,” will start at 12 p.m. Saturday in Kaohsiung with a campaign calling on the public to fast for 30 hours and make donations to help those who suffering due to lack of food and resources, or are displaced because of war or famine.
Kinan Diab, a former World Vision communications and translation officer for the humanitarian response in Syria, said that in the wake of the civil war that broke out in 2011, the country, which had a population of 18.5 million, currently has 5.7 million refugees in other countries and 6.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
To provide some idea of the international support that is needed in Syria, he shared information about the daily operations of a hospital World Vision built from scratch near northern Syria, but declined to give its location for fear of being targeted.
“This hospital has 25 incubators (for premature babies), which is a service that is very rare in northern Syria and we save about 90 lives every month,” he said, adding that the hospital is the only one of its kind that also performs pediatric surgery.
Global News 
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