How Child Sponsorship is ending hunger

Hunger has a lot to answer for

It’s making children sick and causing some to die.
It’s keeping them out of school and forcing them into dangerous jobs.
It’s pushing girls into early marriage and early pregnancy.
It’s keeping families trapped in a cycle of poverty.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says that 44.4 million people in 49 countries are facing emergency or worse levels of hunger.

As a WFP partner, World Vision is dedicated to ending extreme hunger – because everyone should have enough food.

Sponsor a child today

Did you know that hunger can be ended through Child Sponsorship?

World Vision partners with children and families who live in some of the hardest places. Many have endured events that make it difficult to overcome poverty – disasters, conflict, instability and climate change.

But today – thanks to World Vision supporters – parents, children and whole communities are gaining the knowledge, skills and resources to build resilience and transform their lives for good.

READ MORE: Transforming communities

Mother Hindiya, in bright green headscarf, holds three-year-old Nuredin who is now a healthy weight — “You know, we can't live without food. Food is life,” says Hindiya, mother of Mensur and Nuredin

From hunger to hope

Here’s a story that shows the difference Child Sponsorship makes and how it’s not only saving lives but saving futures.

The beginnings of hardship

Mensur and his brother Nuredin live in Ethiopia with their mum, Hindiya.

Mensur is 11 and Nuredin is three, and today they’re happy and healthy – but this hasn’t always been the case.

The family’s problems began when Mensur was eight and Nuredin was just four months old. Their father abandoned Hindiya and their children for another woman, selling the family land in the process.

Left with nothing and needing to keep her children fed, Hindiya tried to bring in an income, selling grain from a stall in front of her parents’ house.

But the income this generated wasn’t enough to feed Mensur or herself. And as Hindiya went hungry, her body stopped producing the vital breastmilk baby Nuredin needed to grow.

Hindiya needed to make a living, so Mensur took care of Nuredin while she worked. But that meant his schooling began to suffer.

“It was affecting my school performance," says Mensur. "I was not following the lesson at school properly. For this reason, my interest in school declined and I had to leave class in the middle of the day to go back home. I was not understanding what the teacher was teaching about.”

Dressed in blue, Nuredin, 3, sits on his big brother’s lap — Sponsored child Mensur, 11, pictured with his little brother Nuredin, 3

The end of not having enough

Things weren’t getting any better. By now, Nuredin was malnourished and this made him constantly sick.

“Every time I went out [to work]," says Hindiya, "I was scared of losing Nuredin.”

A worried Hindiya took Nuredin to a clinic, receiving emergency supplements. She knew Nuredin needed a better diet, with balanced, nutritious food, but she couldn’t afford it. She felt helpless.

Night after night, Hindiya and Mensur took turns holding Nuredin through fevers and convulsions, waiting for the day he took his last breath.

Thankfully it didn’t come.

When World Vision began working in her community, Hindiya had a chance to bring radical change to her family. Mensur became a sponsored child, giving him and his family the tools to build their own, brighter future.

Here are some of the things Hindiya received:

Seeds and training on how to grow vegetables for her boys.
Training on child nutrition and the foods children need to grow healthy.
Chickens for breeding and knowledge on how to breed them successfully.

It wasn’t long before Hindiya had a thriving garden and poultry business.

Sponsor a child today

Healthy nutritious food laid out on a table for Mensur and Nuredin to enjoy along with their smiling mother, Hindiya — The whole family now get to eat nutritious food, keeping them healthy and helping the brothers grow

Back at school

Today, Hindiya’s business is booming with regular clients while Mensur is back at school. The family have plenty of food and Nuredin is a healthy toddler. Mensur is doing well at school and is making plans for his future.

“When I grow up and am done with high school,” he says, “I would like to be a medical doctor to help the sick.”

Thanks to Mensur’s sponsor, this is a real possibility.