“I imagine England looks just like France” – Ibrahim’s sponsorship journey

At a quick glance, Ibrahim’s father’s shop is not very noticeable. Located on a muddy side road, it is tucked away behind houses and shops, even though it is still close to the village’s main road with the main market area and most other shops. But cars often pass by without noticing Flamaduli, Ibrahim’s father, who repairs anything from motorbikes to radios and works hard to support the family. It is just behind the shop where Ibrahim lives with his parents, two younger brothers and his younger sister. The family of six share two small rooms, furnished with simple beds and mosquito nets to keep malaria away. While Flamaduli runs the shop, often working long days under the scorching sun, his wife has set up a little stove in the courtyard’s corner, where she prepares fresh rice and vegetables that she purchases in the market. Living in small-town Senegal, a day’s bus journey away from the capital Dakar, Ibrahim, an eight-year-old student seems to live a normal life, but for a few years now, he has been a World Vision sponsored child.

“When I’m at home, I run errands and help my parents, and when I’m at school, I like to play football with my friends,” he says. “But I also like to write letters and draw pictures for my sponsor and I love receiving whatever he sends me.”

For Ibrahim’s family, sponsorship has been life transforming. “We have been able to keep Ibrahim in school and have all of his expenses covered,” Flamaduli says, thankful for the support the family has received over the years. “It’s a blessing to all of us,” he adds.

Staying in school, access to health services and having enough food for the whole family are just a few things that Ibrahim enjoys as a sponsored child.

“I’m so happy to have my sponsor in my life. Every time a World Vision volunteer comes to visit me and brings me letters or presents from my sponsor, I get very excited. It’s very special,” Ibrahim says, wearing an orange t-shirt and khaki trousers – both sent by his sponsor.  “I sometimes try to imagine what England, my sponsor’s home must look like. We learn a lot about France in school and I imagine England to be like France,” he says. “I keep everything that my sponsor sends me safe. It is important to me,” he adds.

Photos Credits: Delphine Rouiller