Star of the Week

  Yina is in her early 20s, and is from a small mountain village in Peru called Yanque. She is the oldest of seven children (six brothers!). Her parents are hardworking farmers, tending the fields of others. It is demanding work and pays little, so it was not easy for Yina’s parents to raise seven…

  Frank is a 20-year-old young man, who is fulfilling his dream of working in the field of maintenance of heavy machinery. Frank was born in Canocota, a very small town located in the mountains of Peru, some 3,600 meters (11,800 feet) above sea level. His town is extremely remote and only offers its children…

  This girl, like all of the Matsiko children, is very special to our hearts. Anjila was in the Matsiko World Orphan Choir that toured the USA before she ever received a sponsor of her own. Anjila was chosen to tour with Matsiko in order to help find sponsors for other children who make up…

  Prashamsha, comes from one of the poorest families in one of the poorest villages in Nepal. Living in an outlet mountain village in the remote town of Nepaltar, Prashamsha and her family could never imagine getting a formal education. Growing up and working daily with her family to simply provide food means she would…

  Anamika, is one of the countless many forgotten girls in Nepal who had no family support and no possible hope for a better future through an education.  Anamika lives with her mother who cannot afford to support herself, let alone her daughter’s needs. Her mom cannot afford to send her to school for an…

Sudikshya, lives in a very remote village in the mountains of Nepal. Her parents work to pick tea in the fields of their country with the hopes of feeding their family. If they are lucky they will eat once a day with a very basic meal. Because Sudikshya’s parents can barely afford to feed their…

  Jyoti is a very special child. Jyoti’s father is a carpenter and her mother works as a housemaid. Jyoti has three siblings and a grandmother all living together. Their meager income is just enough to provide them with their basic needs. It does not leave them with the ability to financially support the educational…

  Jitender is a very special, hard working child who is dedicated to changing the lives of the most vulnerable within his community.  Jitender lives in the slum colony of New Delhi, India, with his parents and 8 siblings. His father is a rickshaw puller and his mother a housewife raising 9 children. Life  has…

  Susmita and her family struggle with basic human needs just like her family before her. Doing whatever they can  to provide the most important and basic needs for the family. They work very hard every day without taking a single day off. They manage to provide a meal each day to try to keep…

  Ankita has a truly amazing story. She and her family are no strangers to severe poverty. Just like others experiencing severe poverty, our world’s most neglected and impoverished people, hope and dreams have very little meaning. Ankita’s family was so desperate that her father went to another country and worked as an indentured servant…

  When Prajina was a young girl, Matsiko found her working on the streets selling goods to support her family. Work is all Prajina and her family have ever known! For them, without the ability to read or write, this is the demanding life they’ve had to endure to feed their family. Thankfully, Matsiko became…

  Anchal lives with her parents and three siblings. Her father is a plumber and electrician, and her mother works as domestic help to support the family. Her parents can barely afford a good education or proper nutrition for their children. Unfortunately, in India, plumbers and electricians do not make the money they deserve.  …

  Alpha is a young girl who lives in the remote village of Nepaltar, Nepal. This village is a 5-hour drive on rough roads to get to the “big village.” Nepaltar has no electricity, hospital, or roads for driving. Alpha walks everywhere, including the 8-mile walk (each way) to school each day, but Sunday. With…

Sinju was 11 years old when his father passed away. As a result, Sujin lived on the streets with his mother and siblings. While Sujin helped his mother and family survive, he often wondered if he could ever live in one of the warm and comfortable homes like he saw other people live in.   …

  Sachin is the youngest of his siblings and Shivani’s (another Star of the Week) youngest brother. His father murdered his mother out of anger and left Sachin and his siblings orphaned and with no possibilities. Thankfully, Sachin was brought to the care of a Matsiko partner in India that cared for Sachin and all…

Shivpujan was an orphan living in the streets when he was found by a very caring individual and brought to a child care institution that Matsiko is partners with, where he was raised and encouraged to excel. Shivpujan’s Matsiko sponsor has been very encouraging and has supported Shivpujan so he can succeed in his studies…

With no information on the whereabouts of his parents, Santosh was left to fend for himself. He was a rescued child staying at a government-run children’s home in New Delhi, India. All efforts to trace his family went unanswered and in 2009 Santosh was transferred/joined a child care institution that partners with MCI. Santosh is…

Babita, whose bright smile lights up any room, lives with her parents and seven siblings. Her father and mother run a street shop selling food, within the area of their tenement home in India. As challenging as this environment is for any person or family, Babita has grown to be a very happy and encouraging…

Siddhi, a tenth grader in India, lives with her parents and three siblings. Her father is a plumber and an electrician, and her mother works as a domestic. Even though they work hard, Siddhi’s parents can barely afford a good education or proper nutrition for their children. Siddhi is the younger sister of Anchal, who…

Manjila has always dreamed of something more. As a young girl helping her family sell items on the street to make a living, she always wondered how she could be the one buying the products instead of selling them.   Manjila has always been talented and respectful to others. One day, Manjila heard that there…

Nisha comes from a hard working family, although they are considered “peasants” in Nepal. For generations, her family has worked hard farming or picking the crops on the farms of others. Because school costs money they do not have, school was always out of the question.   Even as a little girl, Nisha had poor…

In his own words … how Matsiko Children International has changed Francis’s life. I am Francis Melvin Manning Jr, born unto the union of Mr. and Mrs. Manning on the 11th of February 2003, in a non-medical facility at the Johnson Compound, Red-light, Monrovia. I’m the last of three brothers and they are primarily my…

Israel lives with a struggling family, like so many in one of our world’s poorest countries: Liberia. The family had challenges putting food on their table each day, and could not worry about the fact that the children could not attend school due to the school fees.   An educational sponsorship with Matisko allowed Israel…

Alicia’s mother, who is blind, sold her and her sister to a child trafficker as she believed the trafficker’s false promise of providing her daughters with an education to better themselves. Thankfully, Alicia was rescued from her captor, and was brought back to her mother.    Remarkably, Alicia’s entire family has been helped through the…

Alisha is an extremely kind and outgoing girl who absolutely loves to be with people! Alisha excelled in school through the Matsiko sponsorship program, and even toured a year with the Matsiko World Orphan Choir in the USA. Alisha’s family is very warm-hearted, but struggles financially, as do many in her village. Because of Alisha’s…

Prabina is 17 years old and lives in a remote village in the hills of Nepal, somewhere in the region of Ilam. Prabina lives with her mother and father. Working as pickers and caretakers on a private farm, the thought of receiving an education was only a fleeting thought, as the cost for school was…

It’s rare for a girl to be accepted to the school of engineering at the University of Liberia. But because of the empowering sponsorship program of Matsiko, Lois will become one of the first female civil engineers in this country. After growing up with a mother who can barely feed their family – that’s real…

For as long as he can remember, Sunnie has been the right arm of his mother, who sells vegetables every day at the local market. Sunnie’s mother could never afford to provide schooling for Sunnie, because of the expensive costs of $1.17 each day. Therefore, Sunnie would do what he could to help his mother…

My name is Meshach from Liberia, West Africa. In my family we are five children, two boys and three girls. I am the third child for my parents and the second boy. In my family, it has always been a custom that high school education was the limitation for everyone. So, growing up as a…

Telechia’s story is not unusual for the severe poor of Liberia – attending school was out of the question. Telechia’s single mother, who could barely find enough work to provide a daily meal for her children, couldn’t afford school fees. Telechia couldn’t go to school. When Matsiko Children International began its work in Liberia, Telechia…

  You wouldn’t believe it now, but Soni was a very shy girl growing up. She preferred to be alone and was shy and quiet. You see, Soni didn’t believe that she had anything to offer. When she was young, her parents abandoned her at a train station. Soni was very lucky in that a…

As a young girl, Shivani experienced an event so tragic that she has no memory of it: she witnessed her father murder her mother. Shivani, and her four siblings, were then abandoned by her family and orphaned. Found by authorities, Shivani was fortunate to be placed in an orphanage that would help care for her…

With a blind mother and no father, Lucio has supported his family for as long as he can remember. Because of severe desperation and the lack of opportunity for her children, Lucio’s mother sold his two younger sisters, believing that these traffickers would provide the girls with an education, so that they could better themselves…

Fiorella lives with her older sister and family who sell in the local market of Chivay, Peru, which is a small village roughly 13,000 feet above sea level in the remote area of the Andes Mountains. Fiorella is a small town girl, with hopes and dreams beyond our imagination. Oftentimes as a young girl, Fiorella…

Living in the small Andes mountain village of Yanque, Peru, Ursula was always a quiet girl who kept to herself. Ursula’s family, like most in the village, struggled for work and struggled to provide a consistent meal each day. With no running water and electricity in the house, Ursula’s family life was no different than…

For as long as he can remember, Manish was an outcast. Manish and his younger brother Abishek were orphaned and abandoned as young children. Alone, and seeking whatever help they could find, they ended up at a crowded public train station – an environment where traffickers lurk to exploit children, just like them. Thankfully, legal…