AIDS Orphan Dreams of Being a Doctor

Imagine a child, seven years old, living in a garbage dump and watching both her mother and father die slowly of AIDS-related illnesses.

This was reality for Erminia before she joined Forward Edge’s program for at-risk girls in Nicaragua called Village of Hope.

If Erminia had continued to grow up living in the dump, she likely would have had a teenage pregnancy (one in four girls do in Nicaragua). That could have happened through rape, a drug-induced mistake, or even forced prostitution—all things not uncommon among girls living in the dump.

One thing is almost certain: if Erminia had stayed in the dump, she would have dropped out of school, married a much older man to relieve the economic burden for her parents, and borne her first child before the age of 15. Depressed, uneducated, and undervalued, she would have been another link in the endless chain of heartbreaking poverty.

But praise God, Erminia did not stay in the dump!

She came to under the care of our Nicaragua Directors at the Village of Hope, Wilbert Alvarado and Gloria Sequeira. One of the first things Wilbert and Gloria did was tend to Erminia’s medical needs and test her blood to see if she had contracted HIV from either of her parents; thank God she hadn’t.

Erminia’s new life at the Village of Hope came with regular nutritious meals, safe drinking water, clean clothes,  professional counseling, and the chance to go to a first-rate Christian school.

Today, nine years later, Erminia’s life is completely transformed. She is physically and emotionally healthy; flourishing in her school work; and growing in her relationship with Christ. She now dreams of being a doctor someday so she can, in her words, “help others with more problems than mine.”

There is a specific moment in Erminia’s story that profoundly illustrates why we do what we do together through Forward Edge. It was when Erminia went to the hospital to visit her mother for the last time.

As Erminia held her mother’s hand and said goodbye, her mother told her in a weak, defeated voice, “You’re going to be an orphan now.”

“No I’m not,” Erminia replied. “I have Papa Wilbert and Mama Gloria.”

The amount of suffering among children in this world is great—sometimes overwhelming to think about—but as Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed 100 people, then feed just one.” For that one, our help means the world.

Even if we could only help one Erminia at a time, it would still be worth it. But because of partners like you, Forward Edge is able to impact thousands of children every year.

Watch Erminia’s Story

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A Future Rewritten Through Education: Berenice Graduates!

Berenice was used to seeing the same narrative play out around her growing up: a life marked by poverty, wealth inequality, and barriers to education. Most families in her area in Oaxaca, Mexico have traditionally come from smaller villages in search of a better life and are facing severe unemployment

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mexico

Overcoming Poverty One Family at a Time

In Zaachila, on the outskirts of Oaxaca City, Mexico, live many impoverished families who’ve traveled from distant areas in search of more opportunities and a better life…only to find themselves confronted with the same devastating and debilitating effects of poverty: hunger, joblessness, water-borne illness, lack of education, gang violence, drug

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stories from the field

Learning to Smile

Many of us have seen profile photos of children in sponsorship programs; they are often solemn, sad and sometimes down-right angry looking. I know I have thought at times, “Wow, that poor child must be so unhappy!” But then I come across a video from the same organization in which

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Siloe School Opens

Many prayers were answered this year when Siloe School in Oaxaca, Mexico officially opened to 28 elementary students! Siloe School is a private Christian school run by our Mexico Children’s Program. Our program has always supported education by providing tutoring and covering school supplies and fees, but this is the next

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Transform a Child's Life Through Sponsorship

Gyebaleki (hello), my name is Marcus

  • location

    Uganda

  • 7 yrs. old

    09-28-2017

Entered the program: May 2024

Marcus lives with both of his parents and younger brother in a bungalow house that once belonged to his grandparents. When they passed, they left the house to his mother. The family has electricity for lighting and water is collected from a community spring. Since they do no farming, all food comes from the nearby shops. 

Marcus’s father is bedridden and his mother says home to care for him and her children.

Sponsorship Level What's this?

Three $38 sponsorships are needed to cover the complete holistic care of one child. Cover one, two, or three sponsorships.