Teacher, Farmer, Father

One man and his family experienced first-hand how the opportunities and support of child sponsorship can change lives for the better. Jesse, a husband as well as a father to six children, lives in a community in Liberia. Currently three of his children attend a local school, which is now one of our child sponsorship schools. Jesse is a full-time farmer and works full-time at the school as a teacher and administrator. From 2014-2019, Jesse was in these positions at the school as a volunteer and was unable to receive any compensation for his diligence and dedication to the school. This caused a tremendous strain on his family as he still needed to provide an income through his farm. A typical day for Jesse was teaching all morning and afternoon, rushing home to farm into the evening, and then returning late at night to the school to prepare for the next day’s lessons. “Life was hard on me to sustain my family in time past from only the money I was getting from the farm. There was no time for me to rest my body or even prepare my notes for the next school day because of the work and pressure on me.”

When the WHI Child Sponsorship Program came to the local school, Jesse’s story changed for the better. He now receives a salary at the end of each month for his work at the school and his children’s school fees and school supply needs are being met by the Child Sponsorship Program. This has removed the pressure that was on Jesse to provide everything through only his farm. “Since World Hope came, the heavy workload and pressure has dropped. My living condition has improved over the time. I really thank God for World Hope for the great help they are giving the children, and my entire family.” Jesse is now able to expand his farm, hire laborers, prepare his school lessons with plenty of time, and pay for access to electricity for his home!

The Opportunity to Thrive

Prince’s story of overcoming difficult circumstances started when his mother passed away when he was only three weeks old. When his mother died, Prince went to live with his grandmother until he was seven years old. Prince’s father, who at the time had recently remarried, decided to bring Prince to live with him and his new wife. Unfortunately for Prince, his stepmother made life difficult for him all the way through 7th grade. At that time, his aunt and uncle saw that Prince was not doing well and brought him to live with their family of seven children. They provided Prince with the love and care he had been lacking in his previous living situation, but they weren’t able to provide for his education with five of their own children also needing school fees and supplies. As a result, Prince’s education was inconsistent and he experienced frequent periods of absence from the classroom throughout 8th grade. Despite this, he loved being at school when it was affordable and worked hard to make sure he was getting as much out of it as possible – even with the fear of being sent away from school at any minute for not paying the required fees.

In 2016, Prince qualified for the World Hope International Child Sponsorship Program that was being initiated where he lives in Sierra Leone. He was able to enter 9th grade with peace of mind and the freedom to concentrate on his studies like he had so deeply desired to do in the past. Prince applied himself so well to his studies that he graduated last year with the second-best grades out of all the other children in the Child Sponsorship Program! “I was learning with a free mind without the fear of being sent home for nonpayment of school fees, my learning was no longer being interrupted. My sponsor through World Hope International was providing everything that I needed at school including school fees. What was remaining to complete the whole package for my school[ing] was just my part of putting in my best work. I did not want my sponsor to feel that he had wasted money in sponsoring me; I wanted to make him proud!”

Empowered to Give Back

Kate shared with us her inspirational story how she went from being part of our Child Sponsorship Program in the Philippines, to becoming a teacher as she wants to be able to give back to her community. Kate, now 20 years old, has just graduated from college in the Philippines, with a Bachelor in Secondary Education (BSED), majoring in English. She is ready and excited to begin teaching future students and shared, “I would like to show to my students what kind of future awaits them. I am truly excited to teach and use what I have learned, impart my knowledge and let them see the beauty of learning, [and to help teach them] how to deal with their differences and know their capabilities and abilities. I have so many plans that I [would] love to do with my students, I want to be a part of their success in the future, and help them to be mentally, physically, morally, and spiritually prepared when they are ready to face and deal with real life situations.”

Kate shared with us her gratitude for the opportunities she has had from being sponsored. She wishes she could meet her sponsor in person to thank them for the impact that they have had on her life. Although she hasn’t been able to do that, she has given back through her determination to do well in all levels of her schooling, and to become a teacher herself – helping to provide further access to education for her community! “To the WHI and Child Sponsorship personnel and to my sponsor, thank you so much for supporting me financially from my Elementary, Secondary and Tertiary level. Thank you for your constant love, support and prayers, I may not be able to thank you and return your kindness personally, but [I am] hoping you would be able to read my messages for you. I’ll pray for you constantly and I would love to return your kindness through teaching and imparting my knowledge to the students.”