Resilient. That’s the word that Mergitu, a Compassion Nurturers staff member, used to describe 1-year-old Ididiya. Her strong, resilient spirit comes from her mother, Tirunesh.
When Tirunesh was pregnant with her little girl, she walked miles toward the promise of food. Her 6-year-old son had not eaten for days. He staggered with weakness. After the 45-minute walk, she found more disappointment. The promised grains were already gone.
A kind stranger gave her sugarcane on the walk home. More empathetic neighbors took her to the local government for help, where an officer got her registered at the Compassion Nurturers center in her local church.
Being registered at the center truly saved their family. Tirunesh began receiving flour, cereals, even meat and eggs. She could finally give her family the healthy diet they needed. “I used to not eat for days,” she remembers. “Now, I eat with my family.”
Tirunesh doesn’t have to struggle to find food anymore. Through the moms' group at the Nurturers center, she took a small loan to buy chickens that she’ll breed for a local market. “The eggs are the most sustainable and marketable outputs of this business,” she says. “They are for the future, for my family’s table and especially for Ididiya, so she can grow strong.”
This first birthday party is a celebration of Ididiya’s growth, of Tirunesh’s perseverance and of the faithfulness of our loving God.
Mergitu says it best: “Ididiya is resilience in a small frame, and her mother is the most hopeful woman I have ever known.”
Thank you for planting the seeds of hope that have grown in this family.
Ididiya has now graduated to the sponsorship program.
There are more moms and babies to help. If God is calling you to do even more, you can help open and sustain more centers to welcome more moms and babies. Give now.
