Making a Difference for Oliver
It was a hot afternoon in 2009, when a small girl, thin and dirty, dressed in tattered clothing, and wielding a garden hoe larger than herself, emerged out of the bushes onto the dusty, red earth road. Chris Hoar, CARITAS For Children's founder happened to be traveling down that same road and when he saw her, he called out, "Stop the car! Stop the car!"
The little girl, named Oliver, five years of age, had been working in the field as she had been doing since she was able to walk. Oliver is one of five children of a young, widowed mother. Her mother had no formal education and was struggling with illness. Without the help of Oliver's father, the family was no longer surviving on subsistence farming. Sending the children to school and paying for school fees was an impossibility.
Oliver, when Chris met her near the field where she was digging A young life should be full of possibilities and promise. Yet, children born into poverty in East Africa or Haiti, share similar fates - struggle and lack of opportunity to change their lives. Reaching five years of age is a victory over the odds.
Sr. Immaculate, the Regional Director of CARITAS For Children in Uganda, knew that if Oliver had any chance of rising up from her situation it would be at Stella Maris Primary Boarding School where she could learn and grow in a safe, healthy environment.
Health issues prevented Oliver's mom from providing proper care for her children. Even if CARITAS For Children had helped to enroll Oliver at a day school, her mother was not in a position where she could get her little girl or any of her other children off to school each day. Chris wanted to help and sought to enroll Oliver in CARITAS' child sponsorship programs.
The home Oliver shares with her mother and siblings He set out to find a sponsor family for her, and Joel and Barbara opened their hearts to Oliver.
Now, seven years later, Oliver is thriving at Stella Maris Primary Boarding School in Nkokonjeru with the love and support of her sponsors. She has nutritious food, a stable, spiritual environment, a warm bed, and a quality education. But sponsorship is not one sided - Joel and Barbara have also been blessed abundantly through their relationship with this little girl half a world away.
OIiver with her classmates at Stella Maris Primary Boarding School "For Oliver, the change in her is amazing and it is not just about academics. From reading her letters we can see the difference in her as her handwriting improves and her drawings progress. She is happy, confident and looking forward to the future. It is so rewarding to know that our support, love and encouragement for Oliver has empowered her to make such a positive change in her life. We were so moved by this relationship that we also decided to sponsor her siblings which has been a very gratifying experience to witness their progression." - Joel, sponsor of Oliver
Oliver in a new dress in 2012. 
Click here to see children in need of sponsors.