Meet Belita

I'd love to introduce you to a few of "our" children. When you see a whole bunch of faces, even poor faces, it's easy to tune out - there's so "many", it's overwhelming. You feel like you can't even begin to touch the need. But when you meet the "one" .... well, that's when futures can be changed forever. Theirs and yours.

This is Belita Emmanuel.

She looks around 16, doesn't she?

She's 12 years old.
She has one younger sister. Her name is Alice. Both of Belita's parents died four years ago. If your maths is as good as mine, you will understand this means Belita was violently catapulted out of childhood at the ripe old age of 8.

At age 8, this beautiful child of God became the sole provider for her little sister and herself.

We don't know for sure, but given the statistics of the village, we believe both her parents died of AIDS.

What does an 8 year old do to make sure she and her sister eat?

I can tell you what they don't do: they don't go to school.
They don't go to the child welfare agency and ask to be fostered out to another family.
They don't get a cheque each week for disability.

What they do is beg. And pray and pray and pray.

When the men are short of labourers in the field, they use 8 year old girls to help. When there is work, there might be a few dollars for a week to buy food. Probably not enough for clothes, but you can't eat clothes.

The Lord has his eyes on the sparrow, and He has his eyes on Belita. The church Turn The Tide works with was trying hard to help Belita and her sister. But the church is small, everyone in it is fighting their own battle with poverty. It was a joy to bear some of that burden.

Belita's sister Alice

Today, Belita is going to school. She's in grade 5 and working hard. Her sister Alice is also in school. Life is not perfect, but it's easier. And we praise God for letting us be even being a little bit a part of that. We look forward to seeing how He will provide for and use Belita in the future. Her dreams are still alive - she may have been powerless when he parents died, but this brave little girl is now determined to be a doctor. She couldn't save her own, but maybe one day she will save someone else's parents.