A Burden Slides Off Preteen Back of Girl through Child Sponsorship

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Against an angular backdrop of steep hillsides and spacious valleys, Sahlma waged an uphill battle. A load bore down on her small frame as the girl pressed onward. The preteen shouldn’t have been working as a porter, a physically demanding job that required transporting groceries, sand and firewood up and down the mountainside to people. She didn’t like being a porter. But how else could she provide for her siblings? Sahlma’s life, like her work, was a struggle.

Disaster Strikes

Sahlma was only 9 when disaster—in the form of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake—struck her community in 2015. With their homes reduced to rubble and their possessions buried, Sahlma’s family and their neighbors struggled to survive. Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionaries and government workers distributed food and tarps for shelter, which gave temporary relief. But with their village lying in shambles, how would these families provide for themselves?

Sahlma’s parents made a difficult decision: They went to find work in a nearby town, leaving Sahlma, her sister and her two brothers at home. Sahlma took on the burden of taking care of her siblings and maintaining the household.

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