George and Constantine began coming to Denisa Care Center when they were ten and six years old.
The brothers were being raised by their father, who was sick with tuberculosis, and their elderly grandmother. Both their father and their grandmother struggled with alcoholism.
Since their father was too sick to work, the family survived on a small amount of welfare from the government.
Having a daily meal at Denisa makes a big difference in their daily lives. The boys would often try to save their food to take home to their grandmother, so soon they were being sent food to share with their family.
Not long after beginning at Denisa, their grandmother died and the boys were left alone with their very sick father.
Sadly, within a month of their grandmother dying, their father also died. A relative then took the boys in.
The trauma of extreme poverty, losing loved ones and abandonment was severe and the boys were very shy and insecure for several years.
But, eventually, as they continued to experience the love and acceptance they found at Denisa Care Center, George and Constantine began to blossom. They both began to show improvements in their grades and exhibited a new-found confidence.
Without a safe place to grow through their tragedies, George and Constantine's story would probably have a different outcome. Many other children like George and Constantine continue to struggle alone. You can provide a safe place for children to grow. Will you give today?
Kaytie Fiedler
Executive Director, Open Arms International US
P.S. We are raising $150,000 to support the care of children in hard places in Kenya and Romania, and we can't do it without you. Will you answer the call to be a child rescuer with us? You can give right now when you click this link: www.openarmsinternational.org/growing