This is Ruth.
If you met her in person, the first thing you might notice is her sassy smirk and her bubbly, confident personality. An active girl, she loves singing and dancing. Just looking at her, you would never know that at just 6 years old, Ruth has already faced a lifetime of struggle.
But Ruth is determined not to let obstacles stop her. She has a dream, and with the help of a sponsor, she knows she can make it come true.
Ruth comes from Kikooba, Uganda — a poor community where schools are far away and education has never been a viable possibility.
For the first several years of her life, Ruth lived with her parents. They were an extremely poor family. No matter how hard her parents’ worked, there was never enough money. Her father often violently took out his frustrations on her mother.
Poverty and a lack of schooling mean many girls in Kikooba must either work in the fields, marry at a young age, or join the sex industry. Like Ruth’s mother, they are often victims of domestic abuse.
This is Ruth’s future, unless someone intervenes.
Ruth now lives with her grandmother, who had begun to fear for her grandchild’s safety. She is out of physical danger, but without an education, Ruth’s prospects looked bleak.
That’s why she and her grandmother were so excited when a new school was built in Kikooba, paid for by generous donors. Today, Ruth pulls on her bright yellow polo and her blue jumper and she heads to class — chasing her future. For the first time, education is a real possibility, not just a dream.
When Ruth grows up, she wants to become a teacher and help others receive an education, too.
But Ruth needs your help if she is going to stay in school. Without a long-term sponsor, she may be forced to return home and find a job working in the fields.
Her grandmother is too old to work and can’t afford the school fees on her own.
Without someone like you, Ruth’s dream could die.
And she isn’t alone! Many children in Kikooba are waiting for someone to sponsor them and invest in their dreams. Like Ruth, they aspire to become teachers or doctors or many other things. They simply need your help.
For $35, you can help send a kid like Ruth to school while also providing essentials like food and basic medical care.
It costs just over $1 a day to help a child in Kikooba escape the cycle of poverty. You can rescue a girl like Ruth from an early marriage or life in the sex industry. Or you can rescue a young boy from a life of underpaid, backbreaking labor in the fields.
The impact you can have on just one of these children is incredible. Will you help a child today?
Click below to meet some of the children in Kikooba who are still waiting for a sponsor. You can help a child for just over a dollar a day by becoming a sponsor. Your decision to sponsor a child will not only change his or her life … it will change yours, too.