A Room of Her Own

Fariely stands in front of her family’s house, before the construction of a new room.

When Fariely, 9, was asked what she wanted to purchase with a special gift from her sponsors Diane and Chris, her answer surprised her Child Champions. Fariely attends the Centro De Esperanza Bethel Hope Center in Moca, Dominican Republic.

Usually, kids her age ask for toys or candy, according to Hope Center Director Yuleisi. But Fariely wanted a room of her own so she could sleep without sharing a room with her parents.

Immediately, Yuleisi and I decided to visit Fariely’s home to try to understand why that was her dream.

Fariely and her parents live in a tiny house without interior walls that would normally separate spaces. They use curtains to divide the sleeping space from the kitchen area and they must share a bathroom with their neighbors. Nobody has any privacy.

Despite living in a small house, Fariely’s family manages to keep things clean and organized. These are the two beds that they slept in before the construction.

The family lives in poverty and they barely earn enough income to buy what they need. A bigger house was out of the question for them.

Fariely’s dad, Fabio, works as a driver and her mom, Dominga, cleans houses when the work is available to provide for their family. But despite their lack of a decent income, they keep their small house tidy and organized. Each space is decorated nicely, and I was struck by the feeling of peace, love, and harmony in the home.

Yuleisi was inspired by this hard-working family to try and find funds to combine with the sponsors’ gift to make a room for Fariely possible.

“Fariely’s parents are good parents,” she says. “They are some of the best parents we have in our Hope Center. They are always involved in the activities we do and every time we came to visit their house, even though it is so tight and tiny, it was clean and organized. All the hand crafts or presents made at the Hope Center by the kids or Child Champions, you would see them around their house. Fariely keeps all the letters she receives from her sponsors, and all these showed us that they really value the Hope Center and what we do for their child and this community.”

This is the outside view of the new room that was built for Fariely.

The sponsors’ gift covered a good part of the cost of adding a new room, but not all of it, so the Hope Center searched for other donors and help from the country office to make this possible.

They managed to raise enough money to build a new room onto the house, and after a few months, Fariely had her very own bedroom.

Adding this new space to their house brought so much joy and purpose to this family. The room was built on a piece of land behind their house that was part of an inheritance of her dad’s. The room was built with cement blocks and a zinc roof, providing a beautiful and solid structure in case they want to continue adding on in the future.

Fariely sits with her parents on her new bed in her own room.

The donations were also enough to buy Fariely a beautiful bed and a dresser as well. This construction was something the family never thought would be possible due to their dire economic situation, but seeing it become a reality motivated them to want to continue fighting and dreaming.

When asked how the parents felt about Fariely attending the Hope Center and having sponsors who are willing to provide for her, Fabio said, “The Hope Center, it is a blessing for us. There are so many things she had learned there. She even learned how to read in the Hope Center.”

Dominga added, “I am truly grateful for her sponsors. They are a blessing for her life and ours.”

This family has been tremendously blessed by this gift.

Fariely sits on the floor of her new room while looking over her sponsors’ letters.

“I feel so grateful, we have no words,” said Fabio. “The only thing we can say is thank you.”

Fariely is a shy girl, but we could see the joy in her eyes after seeing her new room.

“I feel happy because I can have all my things organized and I can finally sleep alone,” Fariely said. “I love everything in my new room, but my bed is my favorite thing.”

Her room is a dream for every girl, with beautiful colors, a unique and comfortable bed, and big windows that add a fancy and fresh touch. This would be the first time she would be able to sleep in a separate room from her parents.

This gift gave Fariely not only her own room, but it also dignified her life in an extraordinary way as she now has some privacy.

“To my sponsors, Hope Center, and donors I say thank you,” she said.

We say thank you, too, for making a girl’s dream become a reality. We believe that after this important present Fariely will be able to dream big, and that’s exactly what we want for all the children in our country. We want them to believe, to dream, to thrive. We want them to understand that their dreams matter, and that they can come true.

Sending gifts to your sponsored child might seem like a small gesture of love, but you can’t imagine how big of an impact you are creating in the life of your sponsored child and their family. You are making them understand that they are as important as other children with better economic situations. You are making them feel valued, heard, and they know that their dreams matter.

Shine a light into the life of a child like Fariely. Sponsor a child today!

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