The Saho Family

My friend Nfansu Saho and I have been talking for the past two years as pen pals. I live in Santa Barbara California, and he lives in Gambia in a village named Kembujeh. If you were to ever speak to Nfansu you would quickly realize that despite the hardships he is faced with everyday, he is truly one of the most hopeful and positive people I have had the experience of knowing. Over the years we have shared with each other our ambitions and dreams but lately Nfansu has little time to think of those things and spends his hours trying to find a way to feed his mother and his siblings. Nfansu is the eldest of seven siblings and his mother is sick and his father's recent passing has left the world on his shoulders. Nfansu not only cares for his family but he often feeds the neighboring kids when they do not have enough to eat. With food being scarce, the rainy season this year not only took their methods of finding work, but it took their home. The yellow house I had seen in pictures not only a year ago has now become shambles of rock and metal. Their family now lives in a neighbors compound where eight of them share two small rooms and oftentimes they are only  able to eat once a day. I sat back and I looked at the pictures of Nfansu and his happy siblings and felt an overwhelming sadness as he shared a video of where he was now staying, the home itself was not suitable for the size of their family, but what struck me most deeply was that the smiles that emanate happiness and joy of his young siblings was now undetectable and replaced with sullen expressions on little faces. This past week has been more difficult than others and Nfansu and I figured out a way where I could send him money. I sent him 25 dollars, in which he had to walk half a day's journey to pick up. In the following days I received pictures of Nfansu and his siblings and the neighbor kids they now live with, eating food with smiles once again across their faces. This inspired me to find a way to keep those smiles present. Nfansu carries a weight that many of us will never know, he is a true leader and I ask that you help him spread health and prosperity as that is all he wishes to do. Any contribution made to this fund will be going towards feeding Nfansu and his family as well as finding the Saho family a new home to live in. Nfansu has told me “we are poor but people are living happily with strong faith” I only hope to find a way to keep this faith alive as it is one of the most beautiful and inspiring things I have come to know.

If you would like to receive a message of thanks or a photo from Nfansu and his siblings please contact me. 


this-is-the-current-living-situation-for-their-familyNfansu-is-pictured-in-the-white