Country by Country

What’s more American than a Western barbecue and line dancing? If you ask Susan Ten Eyck of Corona del Mar, she’d say lending a helping hand.

At a recent Women of Vision event at the Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana, 150 supporters raised $44,000 to help the group continue to help children.

It all began in 1990 when a handful of local women went to see World Vision projects in Guatemala and Kenya. World Vision is an international relief organization aiding the poor in 186 countries.

The women returned home and started the Women of Vision Orange County chapter. Since then, the chapter has seen its ranks swell from 13 to 230. Six other chapters have formed in the U.S.

The group has raised $1 million through fund-raisers and sponsorships to support projects in Orange County--the Parent Institute for Quality Education of Santa Ana and Shalimar Learning Center of Costa Mesa--as well as educational projects in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

“A group of us recently returned to Kenya. Before we started the Masai Peoples Project seven years ago, no children were going to school, now several hundred do,” says Ten Eyck, who said she’s sponsored several children over the years with $20-a-month contributions.

“The bond you build with your sponsor child is incredible. When I returned to Kenya I was able to see my sponsored child, Regina, again. To hug and kiss her and then meet her sisters was wonderful.

“Also, to see these kids who had nothing, but because of the sponsorships [they now] will be educated, have school uniforms and proper medical care.”

For more information, call (714) 547-9570.