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A Glimpse Into a Sponsored Child’s Life

Holt president Phil Littleton shares three short sponsorship stories with Holt’s child sponsors. 

This month, I want to share a few little stories with you from our family strengthening program in China. They are short, sweet and to the point. But what I love about them is the glimpse they give into a sponsored child’s life. And how you, as a sponsor, are helping a child to have a happy, healthy childhood — or as close to that as possible for a child who has already experienced a lot of hard things in life.

Seven-year-old Ju holds a certificate of achievement from her school.
Seven-year-old Ju holds a certificate of achievement from her school. Ju’s sponsor helps pay her school fees.

This is Ju. She’s 7 and lives with her family in China. She has a little brother with autism who she loves to make smile with her singing and dancing. Because of her sponsor, she has what she needs to attend school this year, including lunch money, a new uniform and a backpack full of supplies. She just loves school, especially reading, drawing and any kind of group activity. “Although her family is poor, she is always optimistic and happy,” writes our staff in China.

Girl tending to plant
Eleven-year-old Liling’s health and spirits have improved a lot since her sponsor began supporting her.

Liling is 11. After her mother passed away due to an illness, she went to live with her grandparents. Her grandparents live in poverty and struggled to provide enough food for Liling before a sponsor stepped up to help care for her. Since then, Liling’s health and spirits have noticeably improved. She is doing very well in school and hopes to become a doctor when she graduates.

Girl smiling in front of building
With the support of her sponsor, Ah Lam is excelling in school! She performed so well on her exams last September that she gained admittance into a highly competitive high school in China.

Ah Lam was matched with a sponsor two years ago. She lives with her dad who has a chronic illness that requires a lot of expensive care. Before a sponsor came into her life, Ah Lam often went without. But because of her sponsor, her every need is now taken care of. Recently, Holts’ staff in China took her for a routine eye exam. She needed glasses, which cost $93 — an amount her father never could have afforded without the help of Ah Lam’s sponsor. But she needs them to study, and Ah Lam performed so well on her exams last September that she gained admittance into a highly competitive high school in China. She is a bright-eyed, confident teenage girl about to take on the world.

Girl with sponsor in China
Holt’s staff in China recently took her for an eye exam to buy her glasses, which her family never could have afforded without the help of her sponsor.

Like Ah Lam and Liling and Ju, your sponsored child has everything they need to have a happy, healthy childhood. They have books and school supplies and medical care, glasses if they need them, and new clothes and shoes when theirs wear out. They can go to school every day and not have to worry about their next meal. Most of all, they have the love and support of Holt social workers, their caregivers or family — and you, their devoted sponsor.

Thank you for giving all of this to your sponsored child. Thank you for making their childhood and their life so much better, so much healthier, and so much happier.

Become a Child Sponsor

Connect with a child. Provide for their needs. Share your heart for $43 per month.

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