Ellen is one of our "Desert Flowers" from Sierra Leone's capital Freetown. Since three years the 13-year-old has been part of the sponsorship program "Save a Little Desert Flower". Ellen lives with her mother Isatu and was born on 13 November 2006 as the last of a total of six children. Her father died when she was much younger. The time immediately after the death of her father was hard. Since mother Isatu could not take care of all the children, she had to send some to relatives.
Only since the support of the Desert Flower Foundation the everyday life of the family improved. Ellen's mother even managed to set up a retail business and to take care of the household with the little income. Ellen attends the EB Williams Junior Secondary School in Freetown. In July this year she will take the exams for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E.) so that she can then go to the Senior Secondary School. With the money from the donations, Mother Isatu is financing Ellen's school attendance, has bought all her school materials and the uniform. Isatu makes sure that her daughter really goes to school regularly. She has also promised never to introduce her to Sierra Leone's Bondo Secret Society (influential secret society of circumcisers).
The example of Ellen shows how our sponsorship project "Save a Little Desert Flower" has a lasting effect. Thanks to your donations we were able to save Ellen from the terrible ritual of female genital mutilation (FGM) and save her from a lot of pain and suffering. We invest in education. Because education stops FGM in Africa! We are firmly convinced of this!
