A New Year and New Hope for Hadijah

 

Hadijah, just four years old, is the youngest in a family of four children. They live with their mother in extreme poverty. Their home is just one small room which is rented. It is about the size of a garden shed. The bed they share is a piece of foam on the floor and their only possessions are a couple of cooking pots.

Polygamy is still permitted in sections of Tanzanian society and Hadijah is the child of a polygamous family. Her father left her mother and has taken another wife but, contrary to expectations, does not support or care for Hadijah and his first family. Her mother struggles to feed and care for the family by working in the fields or by collecting and selling firewood. She also has a few chickens and sells the eggs.

None of Hadijah’s siblings has had the opportunity to go to school. The two older girls, aged about 12 and 13 years, are staying with their grandparents at the moment. When we were recently at the school, we had the opportunity of a sponsor and we were invited to visit the family with a view to Hadijah becoming our next sponsored child via the ACE Sponsorship Scheme.

In spite of the dire circumstances in which they live, the home and the children were clean and it was clear that Hadijah’s mother does as best she can to feed and care for her children. Hadijah was able to come into school to familiarise herself for the last couple of days of term. Thanks to her new sponsors, when Arise Community School reopens on 4th. January, she will be lining up to take her place along with the other children. She now has the chance of an education that, otherwise, would certainly continue to be denied to her.

Hadijah will be our 39th child sponsored via ACE. Roughly one-third of all the children in the school are only able to attend through the generosity of their sponsors. Hopefully, the start of the new school year in January, will bring new hope to Hadijah – the opportunity to one day give herself and her family a better life.

But we always need more sponsors. At the moment, there are nine children on the waiting list. Please help us to continue to give these children their only chance of an education.

To sponsor a child costs around £3 per week, including all tuition costs, daily porridge and two school uniforms.
If you are interested to find out more, please email Sue and Ron at ACECharity@aol.com