The Stories

A Mother’s Prayer

A Mother’s Prayer

Esther knows there’s a risk that she might have transmitted HIV to her daughter. Alinafe has her eyes, her smile, her blood. So, why not her HIV as well?

Alinafe herself is unaware of the danger. ‘I don’t want to tell her that I have HIV,’ says Esther. ‘When I’m ill, I tell her I might not get better. But it makes her so sad.’

Thankfully, Esther did not pass the virus onto her daughter – and her prayer is that she will live long enough to see Alinafe grow up and get married. And that God will use his church to end the pandemic.

‘The church should play a role in stopping HIV,’ she says. ‘Christians should care for people and pray.’

Sold

Sold

When she was 13, Farheen was sold to a brothel owner for 5,000 rupees (€65). Her captivity lasted for years and years.

But, one day, outside the brothel, Farheen met staff at Tearfund’s partner Aruna. The Aruna team worked tirelessly for eight years to secure her freedom.

Now, Farheen is a cleaner at the Aruna drop-in centre in the mornings and works as a counsellor for a government organisation in the afternoon, visiting girls who work as prostitutes.

More Than ConquerorsMore Than Conquerors

More Than Conquerors

Abandoned by his alcoholic mother, Peah – who has cerebral palsy – could not speak or walk when Cambodian partner Little Conquerors first met him.

Now, he shuffles slowly on a walking frame towards his foster father, a huge smile stretching from ear to ear. ‘We love him like our son,’ says his foster father, ‘but without the help of Little Conquerors, we
wouldn’t have been able to cope.’

Thanks to their support, Peah attends a school for children with disabilities and receives physiotherapy.

‘I would like to be a motorbike driver when I grow up,’ he says slowly – as he smiles again.

Unspeakable horrors

Unspeakable horrors

Ahmed was three years old when he witnessed his father being killed and his village burned by the Janjaweed rebels in Darfur, western Sudan. For two years afterwards, Ahmed didn’t speak a single word.

Then, at the age of five, he started attending a children’s club run by Tearfund. Week after week, he went along with his mother, to learn about health and hygiene, through games and songs. Halfway through a session, Ahmed miraculously began to sing.

‘Our lives have been restored,’ says his mother. ‘I have hope for the future.’

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