It starts
with water
Child sponsorship brings
clean water and a fresh
start for Isata and her family
in Sierra Leone
Imagine if--for the first time--you changed the life of a child--for good.
For 14-year-old Isata, life changed forever the first time clean water flowed in her Sierra Leone village.
Fighting an impossible battle
Her mother, Aminata, was doing all she could to make ends meet so that her daughter could go to school, but the school fees were beyond her financial means.
“I collected palm kernels under the palm trees and used them to produce and sell oil...We lived from one day to the next. That made me very sad,” said Aminata.
Aminata believes in the power of education and even borrowed money to pay for Isata’s school fees. But, paying the school fees was only the first obstacle. Exhaustion from collecting water and constant hunger pangs, made it hard for Isata to concentrate and learn.
Like many girls her age, Isata spent three hours every day fetching water from a river shared with animals for her family.
“I got sick when I drank water and then had to stay in bed for a long time,” Isata recalls.
Her family was also plagued by other illnesses, like malaria, but had no resources protect themselves or seek medical help.
A New Beginning
Everything changed for Isata when World Vision began to support her community through child sponsorship.
World Vision helped restore a water point near their home. With clean water finally available nearby, Isata has more time and energy each day. Instead of spending all her time fetching water, for the first time, she has time and energy to learn and play. And, she gets sick less often.
World Vision sponsors also helped provide mosquito nets, keeping Isata and others in her community safe from malaria. And, they support Isata’s community with teaching materials--books, pens, and school bags--and equip teachers with knowledge of new teaching methods to ensure children are not just going to school, but they are receiving quality instruction.
“Before I became a sponsored child, I couldn’t even write my name... Now, I can write well. If I could wish for anything, I would build more schools for all the children in Sierra Leone,” she says.
Thanks to the savings groups set up by World Vision and the measures to promote income, her family is also now financially stable. Isata’s mother learned how to buy and resell palm oil and can now afford food for everyone to eat, pay school fees Isata and her other children and afford medical treatment, when necessary.
“When I get something to eat, I’m happy... The best thing is to feel full,” says Isata.
Aminata and Isata are grateful for the changes in their community and their lives. Both know that their situation would be very different without their World Vision sponsor, who they call “godmother.”
“My godmother is my friend... I get such beautiful letters from her. I like what she writes and the pictures she sends me,” Isata says.
For Aminata, the “godmother” from England has transformed her life for good. The same is true for many other children in her community.
Did you know that:
Every 60 seconds, World Vision brings another first…
-A family gets water.
-A hungry child is fed.
-A mother is empowered to earn enough to sustain her family.
What first will you give to a vulnerable child and their community?