Living In Fear Of Disability Before her son was sponsored by Amigos and she joined a Farming Group, Christine’s life was miserable. She led a hand-to-mouth existence, barely scraping enough together for her and her family to survive. Here, Christine tells her story. “Before Amigos started supporting us, I lived in fear every day. I had four children and to my shame, two were born disabled: one of them had Lowe syndrome (a condition that affects the eyes, brain and kidneys), and my fourth child, Faith, was born with hydrocephalus (excess fluid on the brain). “Faith is largely paralysed; she is five years old, has stopped growing and can’t sit or stand. As the sole breadwinner, my family relied on me to support them and I was terrified of having another child with disabilities to care for, so I aborted every pregnancy after Faith was born. When the opportunity came to join Amigos, I didn’t tell anybody about Faith as I believed that I had been cursed. My son, Reagan, was enrolled for the sponsorship programme and everything changed for me and my family. “The training changed my mind-set from a negative one to a positive one and, combined with the conservation farming training, I started to really believe that my life could improve. To start, I planted 2 acres of land with maize and got 26 bags of corn, earning me £550! Our Amigos training told us that in order to make the most of every opportunity we need to be ambitious and creative, so I opened up a retail shop selling basics like soap, sugar and salt - I am now making good profits. “Because I was happier and able to support the family, the father of my children has come home and together we have had another healthy bouncing baby who I love so much. We rented 2 acres and planted more maize, from which we earned £1,000. This enabled us to buy a plot of land and build a 5-roomed house, where we now live happily. “I expanded my business further by buying a fridge and a popcorn machine, and life has continued to improve. Now, I’m able to provide for my family, pay school fees and meet all the medical bills. “My husband and I have full love for our disabled children, whom we now see not as a curse, but a gift from God. I am grateful that Amigos introduced me to a different world. What I have achieved was bigger than my dreams. I stopped aborting, my husband returned, I have a house to live in and funds enough to cater for my family. Thank you, Amigos! “I am thankful to my sponsor for all that he has done for me. Because of you I can go to school every day and I now have three goats. I am so rich.” Manage Cookie Preferences