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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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Children Step Up for Families

Tough Times It never ceases to amaze me the accomplishments children can achieve, but more importantly and impressively, their hearts behind it. The pandemic has been difficult for everyone, but one of the largest hurdles the families in our programs have had to face is watching the prices for their

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Nubia’s Story: The Power of Love

Love has a way of radically transforming lives. At Forward Edge, we place our focus on helping children trapped in poverty reach their full, God-given potential (Ephesians 2:10) by meeting their basic needs (food, safe water, health care) and empowering them with quality education, vocational training, and spiritual discipleship. This

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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

Miredita (hello), my name is Laura

  • location

    Kosovo

  • 11 yrs. old

    09-01-2012

Entered the program: October 2023

Laura lives with her parents, grandmother, and four siblings in a three-room unfinished house on their great grandfather’s property. For many years, the family was renting and needed to find a better living situation. Their great grandfather asked all of his children to pitch in to help build Laura’s family a small home. However, only the bathroom has been completed. The whole family of eight shares one room. It is very difficult for Laura and her sisters, Gjulijeta and Xhuliana (also in the Corner Stone program), as space and privacy are at a minimum; they are praying that soon God will provide the means to finish the home.

Laura’s mother stays home to care for the family and her father tries hard to find work as a painter. Laura’s grandmother cleans a pharmacy to help provide for the family.

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.