ChildFund Stories

In most rural areas of Sierra Leone – as in many of the communities where ChildFund works – families’ quality of life depends heavily on the quality of the harvest from their crops. More than 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population lives in rural communities, and the majority of them are subsistence farmers.

Here, rice is the staple food, but it can only be harvested in the dry season from December to April. In the rainy season from May to November, a bag of imported rice costs around $35 USD – difficult even for more affluent families in the capital city to afford. In rural communities, families like Momoh’s must get creative to survive. Hundreds of thousands of Sierra Leoneans are severely food insecure, and child hunger is common.

Crops like cassava, sweet potato and yam come in handy during these months. The orange-fleshed sweet potatoes Momoh’s family has harvested are in especially high demand for their incredible flavor and high levels of nutrients. Rich in vitamin A, they are a powerful preventive for malnutrition.

One of the major problems facing families in poverty is a lack of clean water. Nearly 1 billion people face this challenge daily. Mothers and children walk miles in some communities to get water for drinking and cooking, but it often makes them ill with diarrhea, cholera, dysentery and typhoid, which claim more children’s lives than AIDS and malaria combined.

To address this massive challenge, the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water program was started in 2004, working with a global network of nongovernmental organizations (including ChildFund) to provide families and communities with water purification packets that make dirty water clean both quickly and easily.

In May, Procter & Gamble celebrates a milestone: the delivery of its 10 billionth liter of clean drinking water. A family in Mexico is receiving the 10 billionth liter on May 3, an event that will be followed by a series of celebrations involving CSDW and its partners worldwide.

Water purification packets, which are delivered to households, schools, early childhood development centers and health care clinics, make a major difference for communities. Even if families are gathering water that is obviously dirty, using a packet makes the water clean and healthy in a matter of minutes.

Poverty, gender-based violence and cultural attitudes about the roles of women and girls remain major barriers to girls’ education. Many families believe educating girls is a poor investment, while others pressure them to marry young or leave school to support their families. That was the case for Gita.

In the summer of 2019, children in Gita’s town in Keonjhar District, India, were returning to school after their March-May break. Gita should have been starting eighth grade, but both of her parents had fallen seriously ill with malaria.

With the family struggling to afford food, Gita left school to work long days in rice fields in temperatures above 100 degrees. She was just 14.

“I wasn’t thinking about the heat,” Gita says. “I was more concerned with my parents and their health.” Her family needed to survive, and she believed her younger brothers’ education had to come first.

When ChildFund’s local partner learned about Gita’s situation, they helped her parents receive hospital treatment and supported Gita’s return to school. Today, her parents have fully recovered, and Gita is pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on children worldwide. While measures were introduced to slow the spread of the virus, many also disrupted vital services that protected children from economic hardship, limited health care and violence, creating further crises in homes and communities.

ChildFund’s work is built on close local connections. Through hundreds of local partners, we reach 13.6 million children and family members across 24 countries. The loss of face-to-face contact created major challenges for staff and families, making it harder to support children during an already difficult time.

From the start of the pandemic, we responded to urgent needs including food insecurity, financial instability, emotional stress and disruption to education and social services. By adapting our local programs, particularly where community-based child protection systems were already in place, ChildFund continued reaching growing numbers of children and families in need.

Income inequality and limited social support contribute to widespread violence across Central America’s Northern Triangle. Children in marginalized communities are especially vulnerable, particularly girls.

In many poor communities, gangs recruit boys and exploit girls, often leaving them pregnant, unsupported and with few opportunities. Families may respond by tightly restricting girls’ freedom, sometimes using harsh punishment that further harms their development.

Violence affects girls at home, at school and in their communities. It can be physical, psychological, sexual or economic and often goes unreported because of fear and shame.

ChildFund works with children and communities to identify local risks and develop practical solutions. By listening to children’s experiences and mapping places, patterns and sources of support, communities can better protect them from violence.

The struggle against hunger in Sierra Leone

Celebrate 10 billion litres of clean water

A future beyond the fields

ChildFund's Covid-19 response

Ending violence against girls in Central America

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