Yesterday a colleague brought over an Annual Progress Report from a child with a disability (who for the sake of this blog I'll call Van*) and what was written (or not written) in the report brought me great sadness and was the first of what I imagine will be many 'reality hits' over the coming weeks while I'm on this trip.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, an Annual Progress Report is as the name suggests, an annual report to sponsors about the 'progress' of their sponsored child over the last year in areas such as education, health, how their family has participated in the sponsorship program. The report also builds a connection between the sponsor and child by sharing some of the child's personal interests - e.g. favourite colour, talents, likes.

In Van's report it said that Van is not attending school. Why? Because Van has a disability. Van does not have any talents. Van does not have any interests - it's not that the report didn't have anything written next to the statements: "My talent is..."/"I like to....". It did. What was written next to these phrases was one word.... "nothing" . One word, that says a million.

Van doesn't live in an area where the Disability Mainstreaming project is working, but for me this was a big flashing neon light to say that the sooner the Disability Project gets up and running in more areas, the better. The report reinforced for me just how important this project is in ensuring that people with disabilities are given opportunities just as anyone else is. It is not a priviledge for people with disabilities to be included in the program activities, it's a right. And just because a child has a disability, does not mean they don't have talents, or interests.

And despite the great work that World Vision is doing in Van's community, here is one child, the most vulnerable, the most needy, who according to what is written in his report (but not to me and certainly not to God), has 'nothing' to offer.

This trip just became 'real' for me. Here is a real child, I've seen their photo. A beautiful child made in the image of God. A child who lacks the opportunities that fellow 'able bodied' children are given. And it's not fair. It's not right. It makes me sad. It makes me angry. It makes me ask 'why'.

Maybe this trip will give me the strength to speak on behalf of children like Van, children who can fulfil their potential, if only given a chance.

* Not the child's real name