The head of her household by the time she was a teenager. Left without a model of a healthy family. Told by her teachers that she was stupid and unable to learn. And yet, she found HOPE.

Everybody has a story. Although graphs and percentages make it easy to reduce people to a statistic, we believe there is always HOPE and that each individual has VALUE.

The heart behind our One Family program is to connect youth with a sponsor in our global community. It’s a two-way relationship between the youth and the individual or family. While money is a tool used to help financially, it’s just a small part of a bigger picture. They pray for each other, share hopes, dreams, victories, and struggles. Even though they may have never met in person, their stories are woven together into the tapestry of family.

One of those stories belongs to a young woman named Busi.

Busi was left with the task of raising her younger brother alone. She was connected with a sponsor in 2014 and a part of our One Family program for two years. This connection helped to supply financial aid, facilitated communication between Busi and her sponsor, and provided in-person support from the TTH team.

Busi has faced many challenges and struggles, one of which was education. Her teachers told her she was stupid, would never learn, and had demons in her mind. But through weekly homework help that was provided through the One Family program, she was able to call one day and proudly announce, “I passed!” And not just barely passing that grade, but passing with good marks. This gave her hope and permission to dream again – not just for herself, but for her brother and two children as well.

Although Busi’s story is one marked by hardship, threads of hope are woven throughout. She may not have had a good model of a healthy family in her childhood, yet she understands the importance of it and desires it for her household. Over the years, she has voluntarily made decisions such as choosing groceries over a school trip or going without “wants” in order to provide for their needs. Her strength of character and dedication to seeing these dreams become reality can be seen in the way she puts her family first.

Today, her relationship with the TTH team continues and provides opportunity to support her spiritually, socially, and emotionally. “It’s not about money, it’s about relationship,” says Patrícia, who works with the One Family program. “So, because I know who Busi is, and I know that she is more than just a number in the child sponsorship program, I personally try to keep in touch with her and check on her… Sometimes I get a ‘please call’ from her just to say ‘Hi’ or give me some updates on her life. So, the relationship is still going…just because she is not officially in the sponsorship program anymore, doesn’t mean we stop talking and supporting each other.”

Through the One Family program, we want to see this generation of youth growing, thriving, and taking responsibility, because they realize there is a God who loves them and is fighting for them. Every story is different, and yet the bottom line is that we desire to see hope woven into every one of them.

Want to learn more about how you can get involved with Ten Thousand Homes?  Visit our Get Involved page to find specific ways you can partner with us!

 

by Rebekah Ness