Empower Newsletter | April 22, 2024

Dear Empower Family,

This year we are privileged to sponsor a most incredible and resilient young man. His name is Nathan and he comes from a small village in the littoral region of Cameroon called Mbokambo. My father’s family is from the Mbo tribe and many members of my extended family live there or visit as often as they can. On one such visit, my father’s cousin who resides in Atlanta, Georgia, saw a small child playing in the dirt by the side of the road. He asked where the child’s parents were and heard a story which he later shared with me.

 Nathan was born to a teenage mother with severe mental disabilities. His mother was ostracized by the community and never received the care she needed. This enabled his father, who remains unknown, to take advantage of her. It seems that his mother was never fully aware that she was pregnant and he was simply found crying in a pit toilet a few hours after he was born. He survived his early childhood by being passed around the community and receiving the food and clothes that different families could spare. When my uncle met him, Nathan had never been to school and he did not have a regular caregiver. 

Nathan finally started school this year. He is doing very well in his classes and has made lots of new friends. There are many stories like Nathan’s all over Cameroon and many children are not as fortunate as he was to survive and to touch the hearts of people who will take action on their behalf. 

We are deeply committed to protecting the privacy of each scholar sponsored by Empower. However, their stories fuel our passion and I want to share these with you in a way that emphasizes the change we are creating in their lives and the bright light each of these children are in the world. Your donations go directly to sponsoring the education of children like Nathan so that their orphanages and caregivers can simply provide for food and living expenses to the best of their ability.