From just about surviving to positively thriving

“I try to make them understand we do not have enough now. ‘When your father comes tomorrow, he will bring food. Eat whatever we have tonight and sleep. Drink water and sleep.’ This is how I send them to go to sleep after having them eat what we had.” – Rita, Nepal

Each night, when one of her girls was hungry, Rita would sing to them – a heartbreaking lullaby to keep the pangs of hunger at bay.

“As a mother, I have to endure the hardship for my children,” she says. “Parents have to bear the pain.”

Sadly, going to bed hungry wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in Rita’s household.

Impossible choices as hunger takes hold 

As food prices soared in Nepal, work has become scarce, making it even harder for Rita to feed her six children.

As the main carer for her children, Rita would stay at home to look after them while her husband worked across the border in India. But his small income could barely sustain a family of eight. It wasn’t enough to provide two meals a day – let alone three.

Things reached breaking point and Rita was forced to make some impossible decisions. One of her daughters was married off, a second was sent away to work, and a third was taken out of school to help at home while Rita herself went out to work.

This eased the burden, but it just about broke Rita. As a mother raising children in a culture that places higher value in sons, she knew the importance of education as a tool to help her daughters succeed. She had deliberately moved near to a school so they could easily attend, knowing education is a way out of poverty. When things got desperate, something had to give – it was either starve or sacrifice the future she’d worked hard to secure. It really wasn’t a choice.

Time running out

With two daughters denied the opportunity to complete their education, Rita knew that time was running out for the remaining four. Chandrika, her third child, was out of school but still at home. Could anything be done to change her path as well as her younger sisters’?

The answer was yes. The answer was Child Sponsorship through World Vision.

World Vision’s sponsorship programme has been working in the area where Rita lives since 2020. Child Sponsors are helping address hunger and malnutrition in this part of the world through improved access to food and healthcare, promoting education and creating income opportunities.

Two of Rita’s daughters were sponsored – Chandrika, who is now 14, and Ragini, who is 12 – but the whole family benefited.

The girls received school supplies and the whole family food, including flour and oil – immediately taking the pressure off Rita.

Chandrika returned to school and Rita was enrolled in a livelihoods training programme focusing on helping mothers generate an income while caring for their children.

As a result of this training, Rita launched a food stall right outside their home, conveniently located along the path to school. This brought in a daily income that enables her to care for her younger children while the others attend school. She also enrolled in two women-led savings groups and began putting money away for future schooling.

“The situation is good now,” she says. “We have everything. Now I can send my children to school after feeding them with food.”

How sponsoring a child eliminates hunger

Sponsoring a child is a powerful way to eliminate hunger in communities like Rita’s. When you sponsor a child, you help introduce them and their family to new skills and ideas. These empower children while creating income-generating opportunities for their parents.

With help from Child Sponsors, Rita’s family has gone from barely surviving to thriving. They have enough food and resources to build a future far from hunger.

So can other parents and children.

Sponsor a child today

You could join thousands of people who believe there can be enough for every child.

If you want to be part of something bigger than you that’s creating greater change and making a long-lasting difference in children’s lives, sponsor a child today.