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Stories about sponsored children and youth
Rabiya	Edwin	Lucy	Christian

Sponsorship gives children and families a chance to live with dignity

Children are the heart of all CFCA activities, and the reason we exist. Sponsorship changes their lives, allowing them to live with dignity and offering them hope for the future. CFCA sponsored children have great potential, and we are partnering with them to make that potential a reality. Please read more about the impact of sponsorship in the lives of the children below.

Rabiya, India

Education prevails over hardships

CFCA/Ilene Adams Despite the hardships Rabiya’s family faces living in a large city, the benefits of education keep them from returning to their small village where family live nearby.

Her family left their small community and many relatives to move to the big city of Allahabad for the opportunity to get an education.

Rabiya, her four siblings and both parents moved to a tiny rental house, which is really just an 8 feet by 10 feet room. They struggled to pay for rent, school and food, and often thought of returning to their village.

“There were times he (her father) talked of returning to our village because there was no hope, no source of income,” said Rabiya. “He was not able to do anything. But then CFCA came. They helped me and my family.”

Their situation began to improve in 1996 when Rabiya, now 19, became sponsored through CFCA. Most importantly to the family, her sponsorship helps pay for educational costs.

“Education is important, like food, water, light. Education helps us learn about life,” she said. “We learn about good relationships. We learn how to grow for the future.”

Her father, Murad, is a hard worker and very committed to his family. CFCA helped him purchase a cart he uses to sell vegetables in the local market and door-to-door. He is very proud to have daily work and a means to support his family. It has helped to restore his self-worth and sense of dignity.

Her mother, Rukhsana, who takes care of the home and children, has learned to sew and is a member of the savings and loan program through her active participation in the CFCA mothers group. Her sewing generates a small income for the family.

Rabiya, the oldest of the five children, now studies education at a university in Allahabad. She is a brilliant student, ranked first in her class. She wants to teach and already has practical experience from helping her younger brother and sisters with their studies. Her brother, Amir, is also sponsored. Four of the five children are in school. Their youngest is still too little for formal schooling.

Rabiya walks five blocks to school each day, and she attends computer training classes and participates in jewelry-making at the CFCA center. Some days when time is running short, Rabiya can be seen sitting on the back of her father’s bike as he pedals to the CFCA office.

“I am grateful to my sponsors. They have not seen me and they don’t know us, but still they are supporting us,” she said.

Even with sponsorship, there are hard days, days when her father does not sell any vegetables, days when he thinks of the house they owned in their village instead of the small room they now rent. These are the days he again contemplates returning to their old home to be near family. But Rabiya and her mother manage to convince him to stay. The village does not offer educational opportunities and the pressure to provide will double for her father. With education, they can eventually work together for a better life.

And so they stay.

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Edwin, El Salvador

A box of colored pencils can change a life

CFCA/Henry Flores Before sponsorship, Edwin’s classmates teased him because he did not have school supplies. Now, he has everything he needs for school, a new bed, and his family receives monthly food baskets.

Before he was sponsored, 8-year-old Edwin’s classmates made fun of him and his teacher punished him because he did not have all of his school supplies. His mother could only afford two or three notebooks.

“Once, I made a very nice drawing and I could not color it because I did not have the coloring pencils,” said Edwin. “The teacher gave me a C. She told my mother I could have gotten an A-plus, but it was not colored.”

Now that he is sponsored, Edwin doesn’t have to worry about having school supplies. He receives everything he needs for school: notebooks, uniforms, school shoes, a backpack and, of course, colored pencils.

His father left for a better life

Edwin lives with his mother, Maria, and 18-month-old sister, Rebeca, in Rosario de Mora, a town southwest of San Salvador, El Salvador, where residents still speak the Mayan language, Nahuatl. Because life was so difficult, his father left El Salvador for the United States when Edwin was 2 and has never returned.

“I do not know if he made it or if he died on the trip,” said Maria.

The family lives in a 16 by 16 foot house made of mud and reinforced bamboo sticks with a metal roof and dirt floor. The mud walls have many holes and water leaks through in the rainy season.

After his father left, his mother struggled to feed the children on tortillas and salt. Edwin became despondent.

“My mother had to buy many things for my little sister and could not afford to give me what I needed,” he said. “This made me feel very lonely.”

The family sleeps better at night

But that changed seven months ago when Edwin became sponsored. Though Edwin appreciates the school supplies, his mother is thankful for the monthly food provisions they receive.

“I still remember the first benefit I received was a bag full of rice, beans, sugar, cornflakes, milk and cooking oil,” said Maria. “It lasted 15 days at least. If it wasn’t for CFCA, my children would not be able to drink milk or eat cereal. Edwin was very thin. Now he has gained weight and is in better health.”

Edwin also enjoys his new bunk bed, provided by the sponsorship program. The CFCA social worker who visited Edwin noticed the family slept in one bed. When Rebeca is old enough, she will sleep in the bottom and he will move to the top.

“If my sponsor were here, I would tell her that I thank her for everything she sends to me, especially for the bunk bed which allows me to sleep comfortably,” said Edwin. “Now that I receive benefits, my mother can save some money to cover my sister’s needs.”

Edwin dreams of becoming an electrician because it will allow him to have a good job and to provide for his mother and sister.

“I hope to be able to change this mud house and build a cinderblock house for them,” he said.

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Lucy, Kenya

Lucy finds stability through sponsorship

CFCA/Nairobi project After living much of her life in the Kibagare slums, Lucy, 19, now attends a Kenyan boarding school.

Lucy, 19, lives in the rough and crowded Kibagare slums in Nairobi, Kenya. Here, there is no safe place for Lucy and her younger siblings to be outdoors and play. They live among garbage heaps. Sanitation is poor and environmental pollution is all around.

Her house, like other houses in this area, is constructed of flimsy cardboard and wood. This leaves Lucy and her family vulnerable to theft and also to fires, which can spread quickly from one house to another. Residents struggle to find food for their families. This is the daily reality for people living in the Kibagare slums. Lucy’s reality.

Lucy is the second oldest of eight children in her single-parent family. Every day her mother looks for work washing clothes, fetching water and cultivating crops so she can feed her children.

Lucy is now sponsored through CFCA and her life has improved because of it. She attends a boarding school which not only provides her with an education and a quiet atmosphere where she can study, but it also gives her a safe place to live. She can count on three meals a day.

Sponsorship gives young people like Lucy a chance to improve their lives, and it gives parents like Lucy’s mother hope for their children.

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Christian, Philippines

Christian and family work hard to achieve their dreams

Christian stands in front of his high school beaming in his school uniform.

Christian rides the new horse given to the family by CFCA to support their farm work.

Christian and his family take a family photo in front of their home.

It is a sweaty two-hour walk away from the main road, which leads to the home of Christian, a 14-year-old who is sponsored through Christian Foundation for Children and Aging.

Christian’s father and mother, Crisostomo and Matilde, are farmers in a rural community. They grow bananas, corn, rice and other products to provide basic necessities to support themselves and their seven children. However, work can be hard to find, and in the past it was necessary for Christian to help his father bring wood down the mountain. The amount of wood they had to carry would amount to two days work and would only pay close to seven U.S. dollars.

Health care can be a problem as well, since the distance to the road requires a two-hour hike. The members of Christian’s community rely on herbal and traditional medicines to treat their illnesses. They usually do not have access to modern medical techniques.

Christian is part of the Antipolo project in the Philippines and has been sponsored since 2001. He enjoys school and told CFCA that “God is so good. He shortens the time for me to attain my dream.”

Christian is well on his way to achieving his dream of becoming a teacher. In 2006, he received a very high rating on the Philippine Equivalency and Placement Test of the Department of Education. He has already advanced to the first level of high school, despite getting a late start in his education, and is very diligent in his studies. The teachers told the Antipolo project that they are proud of Christian and his efforts. He goes to school during the week and returns home on the weekends to spend time with his family.

Through the CFCA sponsorship program, Christian receives many benefits. Primarily, he is thankful for education assistance so that he can attend school, and nutrition provisions that enable him to develop physically. Christian has also been able to develop his socialization with other students his age, as well as develop his skills in dancing and playing music with bamboo instruments. He participates in project activities focused on care and respect for the environment.

Christian’s parents are thankful, saying that they “feel relief” because their ability to provide for their family has increased. They also appreciate opportunities to participate in family and spiritual development activities offered by the project.

The many opportunities that CFCA sponsorship has provided Christian and his family will continue to guide them throughout their lives, and provide a light when all others fail to shine.

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Theresa, Uganda

University graduate gives back to her community

Theresa graduated from the university last year with help from CFCA sponsorship.

I was born in a poor family where education for a girl child was not given much priority. When my mother passed away in 1989, the financial status of my family deteriorated greatly and I had to stay at home while my brothers continued with school.

My family started grooming me for marriage. I did most of the house chores and worked hard in the garden with my father to raise food for our family. It was a hard experience for me to see my brothers go to school while I had to stay at home.

In 1992, I left home to stay with my older sister, Resty, where I came to know about the CFCA Masaka project from the Sunday sermon of our parish priest. I started receiving sponsorship from the project in 1993 and resumed school that year. The project paid for my tuition at school, provided some scholastic materials, and occasional dental and medical check ups...

I graduated from the university last year with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and fine arts and have been privileged and humbled at the same time to manage a weaving program initiated and directed by the Masaka project, where I raise funds to supplement the benefits of the very poor children and youths sponsored through the project. The program weaves and makes Kikoys, shawls, place mats, bed covers, curtains and outfits that are sold on the local market...

I feel highly indebted to give back in appreciation for what has been given to me, by my sponsor, CFCA and my entire family.

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Fernando, Chile

Family's quality of life improves with sponsorship support and hard work

Fernando, left, with his mother, Hilda, and siblings

My name is Fernando. I live with my five siblings and my mother. This year I was able to enter the university to study computer engineering. I am just in the first semester, but I hope to finish my professional training and help needy children like I am. I could enter the university because of the great effort my mother has made. I have also tried hard, and I have made great efforts because I study almost all day long.

All of my siblings attend school. Some are in high school, and the youngest ones are still in elementary school. I am the elder brother, and I try to give the example so they also make their best effort so they can study a professional career. This is the only way to break the cycle of poverty. I thank you very much again, and I send my gratitude and affection.

A message from Fernando's mother, Hilda

The foundation (CFCA) has meant to me an important help for my family to get ahead. I am a single mother...  

I have hit bottom many times, and I have prayed to God asking him for meals for my children, to protect us...

A lady told me about the foundation. She maybe was an angel that Jesus sent me. I think it was. I did all the formalities, and four of my children were accepted into the foundation. This has been a great joy to me. These people who care about my children are angels sent by God... I am aware they really love my children when I read the letters they (sponsors) send them. They always have us in their prayers, and they care about their achievements and welfare.

It has also meant a lot to me to have my own home, to fix it, to give my children a better education, to know they will have a Christmas present and their school supplies, school clothes, shoes and the money to pay their school matriculation. Without your help and the foundation’s, I would not have been able to reach all these goals.

We are not as poor as we were before. We have improved our quality of life. Thanks to the sponsorship program my children are better educated than I am. People here feel that they are helped by the foundation principally because the foundation increases the range of options, possibilities and opportunities. It is not necessary that a son or daughter will be poor just because their parents are poor. Up to now, Fernando is proof of that.

I hope the foundation’s work will come to more families that need help and that these families will value it and consider it a support and opportunity to get ahead in life. 

Thank you very much from my heart.

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Want to know more about CFCA sponsorship and its benefits?

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Common questions about sponsorship

Contact us toll-free at (800) 875-6564 or in the Kansas City area (913) 384-6500.

Please note: CFCA does not post photos or other personal information about children or aging persons waiting to be sponsored in order to protect their privacy and the privacy of their families. This is in accordance with our child protection policies and also in keeping with our commitment to respecting the dignity of those we serve. At the same time, we know sponsors may wish to sponsor a child or aging person of a particular age, gender or country, and we do everything possible to honor those requests. Sponsors are invited to indicate special requests in the "other criteria" box when you sponsor online. Once your sponsorship has been established, you will receive a photo and family profile of your sponsored friend, the address of the CFCA project where you may write to your friend and other helpful information about your CFCA sponsorship.