I had the privilege of being present at two first meetings of a
sponsor and their sponsored child. They happened thanks to my fellow
volunteers Patricija and Sandra who very much wanted to meet “their
children”.
Excitement was in the air when we entered our van, reggae blasting in
the background, as we passed many bustling streets, having no idea
where we are. Life was all around us; chaotic traffic, cars honking,
the smell of street food, busy market stalls and people in colorful
outfits going about their daily business with a donkey cart thrown
into the mix. It was a completely different world.
We stopped at the compound of Sandra's child first, a little girl of
only 3 years. The sight of her left us in awe, she was like a
princess in her pink tulle dress and carefully braided hair. Entering
the compound we were immediately surrounded by the small children,
followed by their adult relatives. We met the beautiful young mother
and everyone else living there, although the little girl soon grew
scared by the sight of strange „toubabs“ (white people) with
cameras in their hands. She hid behind her mother's skirt, crying
because she had no idea what was going on, since she was too little
to know much English and none of the volunteers speak Wolof. Later
she became more animated proudly showing off her gifts while
carefully guarding them from curious hands of the other children at
her compound.
Thanks to the sponsorship, she will enter Nursery 1 in the fall,
taking her first steps towards an education, an elusive goal for a
lot of Gambian women. They get married as early as 15 years old and
bear 6 children on average, often more. The husband is the
breadwinner while the wife is expected to stay at home and take care
of the children. Most girls drop out of school when they get married.
After that we stopped at the compound of Patricija's little boy where
we were met by his father. He led us to their grandmother's place
where they usually spend their days. Their meeting was touching as
she knelt down to embrace the 3-year old who wasn't afraid at all. He
admired his brand new school bag and lovely clothes and put the bag
on right away. One could see the joy and pride in his deep brown eyes
and he posed for pictures like a pro. He's already attending nursery
school where he gets high marks and is the 3rd best in his
class. Thanks to her he will be able to continue his schooling and have a stable and safe childhood.
Patricija arranged that he will spend time with her at our
school while she'll be working there. It was a very emotional day and
seeing the changes sponsorships create first-hand was a very special experience for me.
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