FOR A GOOD CAUSE:Group sees, fills needs

Beverly Peters couldn’t imagine a more amazing trip after her first visit to Kenya in 1989, when she stayed in an elegant estate just outside Nairobi, traveled in fully equipped Land Rovers and spent much of her time visiting with lions, gorillas and elephants while on a luxury safari.

But her second trip a year later proved more gratifying than the first. The Newport Beach resident returned to Kenya to swap reflections on life and family with locals. And a particular conversation with a young woman inside a small, dim hut built of cow dung that served as her home offered Peters a piece of cultural understanding she could never acquire elsewhere.

Upon her return, Peters co-founded Women of Vision Orange County, hoping to share what she had learned with the community. More than 15 years later, the organization is the largest chapter of World Vision — an international Christian relief and development organization — with more than 350 members.

“Even though I was old enough to be her mother and I have lived such a different life than she was living, we were able to bridge that gap between her world and mine,” said Peters, 64. “The biggest difference between this group and others is that you get that connection and you build that relationship between yourself and the people you’re helping.”

With the goal of helping the poorest of the poor reach their potential through sustainable development, Women of Vision Orange County collaborates on various projects internationally and locally, including a micro-enterprise program in the Gaza Strip and after-school tutoring program with Shalimar Learning Center in Costa Mesa.

On a volunteer basis and at their own expense, the organization’s members frequently visit the sites of their many programs to ensure they are meeting the needs of the people on the ground, and not imposing their own ideas of what would benefit locals, said Karen Stockman, who has traveled extensively with the organization and now serves as its event chairwoman.

“Our mission is to not only support people, but give them hope,” Stockman said. “The other component of our organization is to educate ourselves about women and cultures in other countries so we can be sensitive to the issues they face.”

The group will host its annual Faces of Courage Luncheon on March 9 at the Fairmont Newport Beach, presenting Marian Wright Edelman, whom Peters calls a “true woman of courage,” as the keynote speaker. The luncheon is the group’s main fundraiser.

President and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund — a child advocacy and research group — Edelman worked for several civil rights organizations following her graduation from Yale Law School, serving as counsel for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign.

“Edelman has lived a life most of us have only read about in text books, and her message of service is at the very heart of what we stand for,” Peters said. “We hope the audience will walk out the door with a little more awareness of what’s going on in the world around them.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Women of Vision Orange County’s annual Faces of Courage Luncheon

WHEN: A silent auction, which includes vacation packages, meals at local restaurants and works from several local artists, begins at 10:30 a.m. March 9. Lunch will be served at noon.

WHERE: The Fairmont Newport Beach, 4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach

COST: $175

INFO: For reservations, call Marie Forde at (949) 494-6529. Further information about the organization and the event is at www.womenofvisionorangecounty.org .