A slightly-built tall woman with a quick smile, Sokie* is one of our housemothers. She's particularly calm and capable with our teenagers and weekly boarders, gently guiding them to work together in the houses on their chores.
Sokie's husband went to jail recently. They have five children, three at school, and the eldest with another NGO, and the youngest little boy recently arrived. It wasn't an easy birth, and Sokie had to take more leave and had unexpected medical costs.
We were able to help through our community nurse and food boxes, but Sokie ended up like so many families living on the razor edge of poverty, borrowing money.
In March 2010, she shared her difficulties with us. The little bit she had borrowed was already rising rapidly and she didn't know how she could make the repayments.
We made an emergency loan of US$50 under our Community Loans program, and she was able to repay the loan in full, and repay the Riverkids loan at a regular and much lower interest rate. Our Community Loans program means she'll also get basic financial skills training and lots of support to make her payments.
In April 2010, Sokie made her first repayment - without having to choose between feeding her children or repaying debt.
Sokie's life is hard. Limited by education - Sokie is barely literate - and skills, she has to support five young children.
Sokie has the courage not to give up. She works hard, at her job and at riasing her children. She has patience and hope, rare traits in the slum.
And although Sokie does not have family to help, or even her children's father, she has friends and Riverkids.
Sokie didn't give up when life got incredibly hard. She didn't sell her newborn or push her teenager into trafficked labor.
Her children are still too young to work legally, but her oldest son works as a street garbage collector after school. Sokie has hopes that she will somehow be able to keep all of them in school, to give them the chances she didn't get. Her household income isn't enough for food and rent, let alone anything extra like new clothes once a year or medical care.
What does Sokie need? Help and a loan. For her youngest children, another food box ($30 a month, US$360 for a year) would stretch her family budget so her son can concentrate on school, and not worry about his little brothers and sisters go hungry.
Soon, we hope to work with Sokie and her daughter who is graduating from vocational training at another NGO, to start a small business together with a $100 loan, so they'll have real stability.
We're so proud of how far Sokie's come.
Help us bring her and her children towards a bright future, not just for her, but the other families in the communities.
US$360: Twelve months of food boxes to keep Sokie's son at school and off the streets, and all the children healthy and safe.
*Due to our child protection policy, pseudonyms have been used.
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