2006.03.31: March 31, 2006: Headlines: COS - Pakistan: COS - Tonga: Relief: NGO's: Herald & Review: Tonga RPCV Amber Johnson is communications director for World Vision
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2006.03.31: March 31, 2006: Headlines: COS - Pakistan: COS - Tonga: Relief: NGO's: Herald & Review: Tonga RPCV Amber Johnson is communications director for World Vision
Tonga RPCV Amber Johnson is communications director for World Vision
Johnson, who was born in the tiny Central Illinois town of Modesto, population 250, and lived there until she was 14, said she enjoyed her two-year Peace Corps stint on the other side of the world. They were given a two-month crash course in the Tongan language and flown to the island chain, 2,000 miles east of Australia. Amber Johnson taught youth leaders on subjects such as sexuality, finances and computers. "I think Peace Corps is an absolutely fabulous experience," she said. "I think most people would benefit from living a few years outside the United States. It broadens your understanding of the world. "It's fun to step inside another culture and to live inside of it, not just to travel in it. It's a challenge. You learn a great deal about yourself, the way you react to situations and the way you face adversity and challenge."
Tonga RPCV Amber Johnson is communications director for World Vision
Woman of the world: Area native carries aid and comfort around the globe
Mar 31, 2006
Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill.
Caption: A young victim of the earthquake sits in the ruins of his house in Dheri Muzammil Shah in the mountains in the north of the country. (AFP/Eric Feferberg)
Mar. 31--When more than 80,000 people were killed by an earthquake in a mountainous region of Pakistan, the only Western organization allowed in to help was World Vision.
In Uganda, where thousands of children have been kidnapped and forced to serve as soldiers and sex slaves, World Vision is helping children recover from their trauma.
Amber Johnson, 30, communications director for World Vision in Chicago, is charged with getting the word out about various crises that affect children around the globe.
"I have a special interest in people who are in need and doing what I can to make a difference in their lives," said Johnson, an engaging, effervescent woman, in an interview during a recent visit to Decatur. "Children are especially compelling, because they are innocent victims."
Johnson, a graduate of Warrensburg-Latham High School, began working for World Vision in 2001. She recently returned from a trip to the Himalayan foothills in Pakistan, where she spent a night in a tent village, along with those who lost their homes in the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake.
Johnson spent much of her time in the company of children, many of whom had lost relatives when the earthquake destroyed their villages. She wrote daily dispatches about the Pakistani people and the hardships they faced, which were posted on World Vision's Web site.
Katie Roland, World Vision communications director for New York City, traveled with Johnson in Pakistan for almost two weeks in January.
Roland said Johnson had a knack for connecting with the children they met at the World Vision centers, places where children can enjoy themselves away from the rubble. Fifteen centers, called child- friendly spaces, were established in the earthquake zone, serving 700 children each day.
"Amber was very compassionate," Roland said. "She heard people's stories and got to know them. I think the children gravitated to her. One of the little girls gave her her ring. They had bonded while they were there.
"Amber at first wasn't sure she should take it," Roland said. "She gave it out of love for Amber."
In northwest Pakistan, some of the villages have not had contact with Westerners in more than a century.
Johnson said she believes World Vision has demonstrated the generous hearts of many Americans, whose donations help fund the group.
After the group had brought many tents, blankets and cooking sets to the earthquake victims, a large banner was hung in a village. It said: "Thank you to the Christians of World Vision."
"Time and time again Pakistanis said, 'We are your friends, we are so thankful for what you have done,' " Johnson said.
Too often, she said, Americans only see Pakistan as a nation where people are protesting against American military intervention in the region.
"What we forget as we watch the news is that trouble is usually caused by a small handful of people. The average Pakistani mother or father is concerned for their children. They appreciate World Vision's support, because we are concerned for their children as well."
Johnson said the desire to work with needy children was kindled when she volunteered at Decatur's Dove Inc. shelter for victims of domestic violence as a high school freshman.
Her job was to play with the children in the shelter. She volunteered on a weekly basis for four years.
She remembers fondly that the children smiled whenever she showed up. World Vision is a natural progression for her, because the group puts into practice what she learned years ago.
"That is why child-friendly spaces are so successful. Kids who experience something traumatic need a place just to play."
Johnson said she appreciates her job, because she wants to help the neediest children.
"It is also a challenge for me professionally," said Johnson, who earned a master's in communications from Ball State University in Indiana. "I find new ways to grow, new ways to interact. I work daily with some of the world's greatest needs, using the skills and the talents I enjoy."
After working for World Vision for nearly three years, she took a two-year leave of absence to serve with the Peace Corps with her husband, Cliff Johnson.
Johnson, who was born in the tiny Central Illinois town of Modesto, population 250, and lived there until she was 14, said she enjoyed her two-year Peace Corps stint on the other side of the world.
They were given a two-month crash course in the Tongan language and flown to the island chain, 2,000 miles east of Australia. Amber Johnson taught youth leaders on subjects such as sexuality, finances and computers.
"I think Peace Corps is an absolutely fabulous experience," she said. "I think most people would benefit from living a few years outside the United States. It broadens your understanding of the world.
"It's fun to step inside another culture and to live inside of it, not just to travel in it. It's a challenge. You learn a great deal about yourself, the way you react to situations and the way you face adversity and challenge."
Afterward, her husband landed a job as a Peace Corps recruiter, as she returned to work at World Vision.
Amber Johnson's duties include organizing events to bring attention and resources to the world's trouble spots, such as Uganda, which has been suffering from a brutal civil war for 20 years. It is considered perhaps the least known of all the world's ongoing crises. More than 30,000 children have been abducted by the rebel army in recent years. They are all brutalized, with many of the children killed for trying to escape and the girls sexually abused.
World Vision operates a center in Uganda that has helped thousands of children who were abducted by rebel soldiers. The group is collecting 1 million signatures to encourage U.S. and United Nations officials to take action.
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Story Source: Herald & Review
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Pakistan; COS - Tonga; Relief; NGO's
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