Shanita’s situation may seem less vulnerable than some of the other students on the website, but that perception is not the whole story.

Her father was a mason.  About a year ago, he fell off the building where he was working. His legs and ribs were fractured, and he spent six months in the local hospital.  Currently he can still not walk; if and when he is able, the doctors say he will always need crutches.  It is unlikely he could ever find work again. Too many “able-bodied” men in this community cannot find work.

Shanitah’s mother is unskilled and illiterate, and like so many women living in poverty, she works in other people’s vegetable gardens in exchange for being able to take a little food home.

There was no money to send Shanitah to school, and it looked like she would never be educated. When the school administration became aware of her situation, they brought her into the school hoping we could find a sponsor for her.  

Shanitah is nine years old now, an age at which most students would have started second grade, but she is just finishing the last year of nursery and will begin first grade in February, 2024.

For a child who had no prior education, she is doing very well – consistently ranking third in her class. Her teachers say she learns rapidly, grasping new ideas easily. 

When she first came to school, Shanitah  was very shy.  Not anymore. She has tons of friends, and her best friends are all boys! She can often be seen during classroom breaks running after or being chased by boys – all laughing. 

Because all sponsored students must board at school no later than first grade,  a sponsorship would bring not only a future for Shanita, but decrease the number of people in the family sharing the little food that the mother brings home from other people’s gardens. 

Life has not treated this family kindly. You can make a difference for them all by sponsoring Shanitah.