Child Sponsorship Student Forced to Marriage at Age 12

WILLS POINT, TX – Discover how child sponsorship rescued Rashmi from child marriage and gave her a chance at a brighter future, where she found hope, love, and Jesus.

Rashmi, 12, had already lost both her parents, yet her uncle wanted to take away one of the few things she had left. His greed cared nothing about her dignity.

Tragedy Wouldn’t Leave Her Alone

When Rashmi was only 4, her father died, and two years later, her mother got remarried to a man in another village. Rashmi’s mother left her with the girl’s grandparents, never to return. Growing up, Rashmi was deeply saddened that her mother never even came back to find out how she was doing.

Joy crept back into Rashmi’s life in 2008, when she joined GFA World’s Child Sponsorship Program. As the young girl made new friends, grew academically and learned about Jesus, her heart filled with hope for a promising future.

But a few years later, Rashmi’s world collapsed from under her again. Rashmi’s father had left her some land, and her uncle Sanjiv wanted it for himself. He thought that if he arranged a marriage for Rashmi, he could easily take the land when she moved to live with her husband. Without Rashmi’s knowledge and despite her grandparents’ objections, Sanjiv found a man willing and arranged a wedding date. On May 29, 2012, Rashmi was forced to get married.

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