Seeds of Hope, Harvests of Joy

Often in life, we find ourselves engaged in acts of service whose outcomes we may never witness. Teachers pour time, energy, and wisdom into the lives of their students, guiding them through formative years, yet rarely do they see the long-term impact of their efforts. Doctors offer healing hands and medical care, restoring patients to health before sending them back into the world, unaware of the lives those patients go on to lead. In countless vocations and personal endeavors, we sow seeds with no guarantee of ever seeing the harvest. 

At Sunshine, we are deeply blessed to witness, time and again, the powerful transformation that takes place in people’s lives through our projects. Unlike many acts of service where the impact remains unseen, here we often get a front-row seat to the change. One of the most impactful initiatives was not part of our original vision at all. It was born entirely from the community itself. The idea didn’t come from us; it came from the people we serve. And in that, we were reminded that some of the most meaningful breakthroughs happen when we listen and follow their lead. 

The participating families in our Sunshine Villages Project in Muchenguentava planted their first cashew saplings three years ago. It takes a sapling three to five years to begin producing cashews for harvesting. Once this harvest begins, the families will be able to increase their annual income by a multiple of 100 (9,900%)! But when your family has no employment (or even the most remote chance of a job), no money, no food, and nothing to sustain their daily lives, three to five years can seem like an eternity. To help sustain our families through these initial years, we provided seeds for planting. The funding for these seeds came through our generous donors and supporters. This was all part of our plan. 

A community garden was never part of our original plan. But it was part of theirs. Members of the village approached us with a vision to clear a section of land near one of the water wells we had installed on the community cashew farm and begin a shared garden. They asked for nothing more than a chance to work the land together. Knowing that nothing can grow under the hot African sun without consistent access to water, we didn’t hesitate to give them permission. With hope in their hands and water at their feet, the garden was born. 

A few months after the seed planting took place, we had the pleasure to visit this garden. As my husband and I drove through the dry, brown, barren, dusty land, we came upon a green oasis. There were dozens of people of all ages- men, women, children, elderly. All were working together to water, weed, and tend the beautiful garden they had created. This was not a garden where each family had their own plot that they worked individually and harvested produce from. This was a true communal effort. Everyone worked together. Those who worked then shared in the benefit of their efforts. Don and I stepped out of the car to fully take in this amazing scene through our tear-filled eyes. 

We witnessed joy. We heard singing and laughter. We saw healthy, well-fed children running between the rows and rows of produce. We saw people of all ages working alongside each other to provide life for them and their families. This work is a multi-generational effort. 

Our staff is right there beside them. Victor and Chambule offer hands-on support, sharing agricultural knowledge, and guiding each step of the process to ensure that every seed planted has the best chance to thrive. By working together, we’re helping them turn effort into abundance and transform hard work into lasting harvests. 

We were called over to join a group of people that had formed, standing with the precious, life-giving water well behind them. They shared their gratitude through song and presented us with arms full of lettuce and kovi, harvested just that morning. Our eyes again filled with tears. May I tell you that there is no more humbling of an experience in this world than to be gifted with food by people who have no food! It is at times like this that I am thankful for my husband’s gift of speaking. I would have sobbed my way through any attempt to thank these people for their offering to us. 

          

This was July 2024. Fast forward to April 2025. We had a visitor from the US. We took him to see our Village Project in Muchenguentava. After spending time at the mini factory, we headed out to the community cashew farm. We first showed him the growing cashew trees, saving the community garden for the grand finale of the tour. We drove to its location, stopped the car, and sat in stunned, silent disbelief. 

The garden was gone, taken over by the bush. It was as dry, brown, barren, and dusty as the bush that surrounded it. We were devastated. We were dumbfounded. We were speechless. We were embarrassed. 

We returned to the mini factory to ask our staff what had happened. That’s when we learned the truth. Keeping a garden alive through the peak summer months simply isn’t possible. The relentless African sun scorches the soil, making it impossible for anything to grow. Ahhh... suddenly it all made sense. And yet, the explanation brought us no peace because it meant that for majority of months each year, our families would have to go without fresh vegetables, a vital staple in the Mozambican diet. 

There is a very simple solution that will provide for them…a shade cloth supported by wooden poles. Simple, but as with all things, it comes at a cost. $3,000 USD. 

If you are reading this now, you probably ate three meals yesterday, plus snacks. You will eat three meals today, plus snacks. You have no concern at all about providing food for your family. Yet 8,000 miles across the ocean, our families do not have this luxury. They go for days, weeks, months at a time without food to sustain them. And all it takes is a simple green shade cloth and some wooden poles. The resilence of the Mozambican people never ceases to astound me. How soft we are. How privileged we are. And we don’t even realize it! Yet we were determined to help… so we committed to seeking out a donor for this need. 

In the meantime, the late summer planting season arrived for 2025. Once again, with the help of our supporters, we were able to raise the money to provide each of our 120 families with seeds. They were purchased and distributed by our staff. The people got to work, again clearing the land that had been taken over by the bush and planting a new batch of seeds. 

Their work has paid off in what is now a life-giving, green garden flourishing in the middle of the dry, parched land around it. Not only do the families now have enough food to nourish themselves, but they’ve also grown a surplus, allowing them to sell produce and generate income. They have gotten more efficient and productive in their skills. 

During our visit last week, the people again blessed us with enough lettuce and kovi to feed our family for days and days...What an honor and privilege it is! 

While everyone gathered off to the side to listen to Papa Don speak, I noticed this little one sitting quietly among the garden plots, completely absorbed in playing with a small cashew tree. I couldn’t resist slipping away to capture the moment. It felt like a glimpse into his future. He has no idea yet, but the very tree he’s playing with today will one day help provide income for him and his family. It is a simple, powerful picture of hope taking root. 

Sooooo much good happens in this garden. We wanted to see this life-giving effort continue throughout the entire year, not just the months of May through September. 

 Here is the good news in all of this…Just as the planting and harvesting season for this year is drawing to a close, we were incredibly blessed to receive a donation from the Living Water Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Their generous gift will provide the materials needed to build a shade cloth over the garden! We just received word of the donation and will soon travel to Muchenguentava to share the news with the community. What a celebration that will be! We can already imagine the joy as the people receive this gift of hope and possibility. 

This is the Sunshine Approach… a long-term, holistic model that restores dignity, creates opportunity, and brings lasting hope to individuals, families, and communities. 

This garden began with nothing more than a dream. A dream born in the hearts of the people themselves. What has grown from that dream is a living testimony to perseverance, community, and partnership. We’ve watched dry, brown soil turn green, hunger turn to harvest, and despair turn into hope. And now, thanks to the incredible generosity of Living Water Church, this transformation won’t be limited to just a few months of the year. With the shade cloth in place, the garden will continue to thrive year-round, feeding families, generating income, and empowering a new generation. 

If you’ve felt moved by this story, we invite you to become part of it. There is always more ground to cover, more seeds to plant, and more families to serve. Together, we can ensure that hope continues to grow season after season, life by life. 

From Empty Beds to Full Hearts: The Journey of Sunshine House

 In the past years, it would take months, even up to a year, to fill a new Sunshine House with children. Part of this can be attributed to our foundation being “the new kid on the block” amongst the centers. When a child was orphaned or abandoned, Social Action did not think of us but placed the children at other, longer existing centers. Yet it seems that we have reached a turning point in this struggle. Having been in the area now for 11 years, we are starting to make a name for ourselves. So much so that our newly constructed Sunshine House 9, completed in May of this year, has already been filled with six little girls! Now that we have developed a reputation for providing excellent care for children in a family setting, they are beginning to take notice of our work. 

And…my brownies may have helped as well! 

After a particularly stressful month in which I was not the nicest of people (hard to believe…I know), I was repenting and praying in church. I asked God to show me whom I needed to love more. I was expecting to hear “Your husband” but instead I felt Him say, “Social Action”. I literally looked up in astonishment and asked, “Social Action?” And again I heard, “Social Action”. And then… “Bake for them”. I thought to myself, “You have got to be kidding me!” But again the words “Bake for them” entered my head. So I thought, “Okay, I’ll bake for them!” 

Instead of doing the baking myself, I got the great idea to ask our teen girls to bake brownies for them. I felt it would be more impactful if the brownies we would give to them were made by the children that they assisted. We did the baking on a Thursday morning. The girls knew the brownies were not for them but would be a gift of appreciation to the people who work in the Social Action office. Using my recipe, they mixed and baked and prepared pans of brownies for me to take to the office the next day. I also prepared a little note of thanks and added in photos of the girls baking. 

 Delcio and I took the brownies to two of their offices the next day. The social workers were amazed and gushed with enthusiastic gratitude, telling us that no one had ever before brought them a gift. The brownies were very well received. It also gave me the opportunity to tell them about the beautiful new Sunshine House 9 that had just been completed and was in need of children to fill the beds. 

 In less than a week, we received four new children, two pairs of siblings! A friend of mine exclaimed, “Those brownies really did work!” 

This left only two empty beds in the house. And we knew exactly for whom these beds were reserved. 

Way, way back in February, we were approached by a local foster program asking if we had space for two little girls. The girls were only two and three years old. Each one had a different father, who never fulfilled his role in their lives. Their mother was mentally unstable and incapable of caring for children. She abandoned the girls with the grandmother and left to another province. 

At that time, we were just starting the construction of the new house and knew the space for the girls would soon become available. In the meantime, we could place them with one of our existing families while the house was being constructed. So we met with the grandmother, and it was decided that the girls would come to live in our Sunshine family. Yet, when we went to collect the girls to bring them home, Grandmother was not there. We found the girls in the care of a neighbor. The neighbor said Grandmother had gone out and would be soon back. We waited. After about an hour, we called Grandmother. She said she was on her way and would be there soon. We waited. Two more hours passed by. Now when we called Grandmother, she did not answer her phone. We could not take the girls without her signature on the document, so we finally had to leave the girls behind and return to Matola. 

The next day, the grandmother came to our office in Matola to speak with us. She apologized profusely for not being there the day before. She then went on to explain that all of her sons had agreed at a family meeting to place the girls in our care. But one son, who lived in a far-off province, was not in attendance at this meeting. When he heard, he declared that he would come in April and take the girls with him. The grandmother shared that she had no doubts this uncle did not have the best interests of the girls in his mind, but that in fact, she strongly felt that he intended to benefit financially from the sale of the girls. According to culture, she had no voice in this decision and could not stand in his way. Delcio and I prayed with her for the wellbeing of the girls and left it in God’s hands. 

April came and went; we did not hear anything from Grandmother. We assumed that the girls were gone, lost in the ugliness that poverty brings to the people held captive by it. In June, she contacted us…the uncle never came for the girls!!! We moved into action to complete the necessary documents and prepare for the girls’ arrival. 

Part of these preparations involved finances. We did not have the money in our budget to add on more children. I knew of some people who might be interested in supporting the girls and sent off a note to them. Each person did not even hesitate to accept sponsorship for the monthly expenses of the girls. We also needed a bed for them to sleep in. A local businessman unknowingly came through just in time. His daughter had outgrown her beautiful bunkbed, and we were more than happy to help him get it out of the house! The bed was delivered and set up the day before the girls arrived! It even came with the mattresses. Everything we needed was provided just when we needed it!

A happy, smiling Gabriela and a timid Miracel arrived last week. It was our joy to welcome them to our Sunshine family. 

The Sunshine House 9 family is now complete…and in record time! Mother Gloria and sisters Tiara, Percina, Zeneide, and Juscelina have joyfully accepted the girls into their little family. Our hope now is that they will live happily ever after.

So now I am left with just one question...what should I bake for Social Action next???

A Place to Belong

Whenever a new child joins our Sunshine family, I write their story. It’s a way to remember, to share with others, and to help me process the moment. Each homecoming is a celebration, but also a reminder of heartbreak. Behind every child's arrival is the painful reality that they couldn’t stay with their God-given family. The reasons are most often devastating: abuse, abandonment, death, illness, or trafficking. 

The story of five-year-old Zeneide and three-month-old Adelia follows this sadly all-too-familiar pattern. Their father abandoned the family, and their mother, due to severe mental illness, is unable to care for them. That’s when we were asked to step in. 

But through their homecoming, these two little girls have brought a new awareness to me that I had as of yet not fully recognized. Over the past 11 years of developing our Sunshine House program, we have come to see benefits to our families that we never foreknew. Miracles that only God could bring about. Our children are not only being blessed by the safety and love of our Sunshine Homes Program...they are also a blessing to their house mothers as well. Our homes provide hope and a future to our children, but through Zineide and Adelia, I realized that our mothers are also coming out of a life of suffering, pain, and abandonment. Their place as Sunshine mothers gives them purpose and a reason to live.  The security and love they so desperately lacked in their previous lives is now restored through the children they have accepted. 

My heart shattered as I watched their biological mother place baby Adelia into the arms of her new house mother, Monica. She exhibited not a hint of remorse or sadness. It was like she was simply passing on a sack of potatoes. 

For Monica, however, this moment was the fulfillment of a long-held dream. Upon our first encounter, through tear-filled, soulful eyes, she shared with me that her deepest desire as a woman had always been to have children of her own. But this desire was not to be. She lost all hope when her husband abandoned her for another woman who could give him children. Since she could not have children of her own, she spent her time with the children who lived around her, pouring her love into them. With a beaming smile, she told me that the local children loved coming to her house to play and that therefore her yard, and her heart, were always full. 

When Monica arrived to take her place as a house mother in our Sunshine family, she came armed with a bag of lollipops. Our Sunshine children are always curious to greet a new mother or child. It did not take them long to show up at our new house #7 to meet Monica. She for sure won them over with her lollipops! They made sure to stop by every day!  

Monica's role as a house mother in the Sunshine family has given her the opportunity to have children of her own. Even though she has lovingly mothered five girls—Marcia (18), Katia (13), Ginoca (12), Carla (11), and Yusna (10)—for the past two years, her heart still longed to nurture a baby. 

Adelia is the answer to that longing. 

I worried about Mama Monica at first. Adelia had never been bottle-fed and would also have to adjust to a new caregiver. Would Adelia accept a bottle? Would Adelia keep Monica awake all night? But Monica’s gentle, devoted care made the transition seamless. Adelia quickly adapted and has been a content, easy baby from her first night. Monica now beams with joy. She frequently sends me photos of a smiling baby Adelia touched up with hearts and stars. It is clear, Adelia has brought light to a place in Monica’s heart she thought would remain dark and empty. 

After placing Adelia in our seventh Sunshine house, we went a short distance to big sister Zeneide’s new home...a house completed just the week before. She joined Tiara and Percina, who welcomed their new sister with open arms, showing her to her room, pajamas, and stuffed animal for her first night. 

There were happy smiles and giggles all around…until it was time for us to leave. As we drove off, Zeneide chased after our car, crying and begging us not to go. Mama Gloria didn’t hesitate but moved right into action. I watched in my rearview mirror as she scooped her up and rocked her gently, holding her close. 

That night, I could barely sleep thinking of her. But the next morning, I returned to find a joyful little girl who ran to hug me before dashing right back inside to play with her new sisters. Like so many children before her, Zeneide quickly sensed that she was now safe and loved. Thanks to Mama Gloria’s tenderness and love, she can finally just be a child…free to play, laugh, and grow. 

In welcoming Zeneide and Adelia, we are reminded that while every child’s story may begin with sorrow, God, in His mercy, is always rewriting their chapters with hope, healing, and the promise of a brighter future. In this case, He rewrote the life story for these two little girls and for their new mothers.

Welcoming Jose and Juscelina to our Sunshine Family

It is always a joy to welcome a new child into our Sunshine Houses. These days are filled with happiness, knowing that the child is now safe, cared for, and has a future. But they are also emotionally heavy. It is never easy to witness the suffering children endure in this broken world. While we are grateful to help those brought to us, we’re constantly aware of the countless others still in need. 

Meet 3-year-old Jose and 5-year-old Juscelina. 

Just a week ago, their case was brought to our attention by a social worker who urged immediate placement. The children were living in horrific conditions. Though both their biological parents were alive, their home was far from safe. The mother was described as mentally unstable and incapable of caring for them. The father was aggressively violent, beating his wife daily in front of the children, leaving deep emotional wounds. The family had no home, no food, no money...nothing. Like so many families in Mozambique, they were merely surviving day by day. 

Our Sunshine Approach Foundation primarily cares for orphaned children who have no family left to support them. However, we also make room for children like Jose and Juscelina; those with living parents who are unable to provide proper care. It is estimated that nearly 80% of children in orphanages worldwide still have a living parent. Jose and Juscelina had a father and a mother, but they were parents in name only. 

When Social Action expressed urgency in placing the children with us, even before all paperwork was complete, we knew the situation was serious. Typically, they insist on having every document in perfect order before any placement occurs. We’ve waited weeks for other cases because of delays. But this time, the urgency was clear: the children had already been removed from their parents and were temporarily living with a social worker, something we had never encountered before. 

Delcio and I met the children, their parents, and the social workers last Tuesday in a public location. When the father first saw us, the mother and the social workers told him, “Olha! Eles não são ladrões!” ("Look! They are not robbers!"). This statement isa heartbreaking reflection of the fear that child trafficking brings to families here. The workers explained who we were and what we could offer the children. The father listened quietly and thanked us for caring. 

From the start, it was clear the father was aggressive. Several times during our brief meeting, he raised his hand to strike his wife. The social workers intervened, warning him that such behavior was criminal and would be reported. We made it very clear to them: if we accepted the children, their parents could never know our location or the name of our foundation. The safety of all our children must come first. 

The mother’s behavior was puzzling and deeply sad. It wasn’t her mental state that struck us most, but the way she came prepared to hand the children over, clothes packed in a small plastic grocery bag. She kept pushing both the children and the bag toward us, as if to say, “Take them. Take them now.” 

After our meeting, we went to the local government office to seek permission from the chefe do posto (the local chief). But due to other obligations, the social workers couldn’t finalize the process until Friday. 

Then on Thursday of the same week, we were scheduled to receive two other children. When we arrived at the office of Social Action, we were surprised to see Jose, Juscelina, and their mother waiting for us again...plastic bag in hand, urging us to take them. It was odd. And it was heartbreaking. But we still lacked the father’s official declaration and the final government approval. So, once again, we had no choice but to leave them with their mother. 

By Friday, the father had submitted a signed declaration relinquishing his parental rights and consenting to place the children in our care. Everything was in order, yet we were told we would have to wait until the following week due to the fact that the chefe and social workers were busy. 

Then came today, Monday. Delcio received a tearful call from the social worker who had been sheltering the children and their mother. She told him that the mother had run away over the weekend, leaving the children behind. No one knew where she was. 

Suddenly, it all made sense. 

The mother had been preparing for this. She needed to escape her life of abuse. But first, she made sure her children would be safe. She made an incredibly difficult decision, a decision born from desperation but also love. 

Delcio moved quickly into action. That same day, the social workers, the father, and the chefe do posto finalized all approvals. 

Jose and Juscelina are now officially part of our Sunshine family. 

Please join us in welcoming them with open arms. It is our joy and honor to offer them, and all 35 of our children, a loving home, an education, medical care, daily necessities, and most importantly, hope for a brighter future. 

With each new child, our hearts grow fuller, but so does the need to provide. If you, your business, or your church would like to learn more about sponsoring a child or supporting a Sunshine House family, please contact us. We would love to share how you can help bring healing and hope to these precious lives.

A New Chapter for Our Sunshine Children

The 2025 academic year, which began for us in February, marked a significant turning point for our Sunshine children. Twenty of them transferred to a new school after the tuition at their previous school was raised beyond what our budget could support. 

As both a parent and a teacher, I understand how challenging it can be for a child to change schools. They must adapt to a new environment...different classrooms, teachers, routines, and expectations. Most of all, they must find their place among new peers. I was especially concerned because the new school is not only more disciplined but also far more academically rigorous than the one they left behind. Expectations are higher, and the adjustment was bound to be tough. 

Truthfully, I had wanted to move them years ago. But the school was too far for our younger children to walk. Thanks to our generous donors, that barrier has now been lifted...we have a van to transport them! 

So, with a hopeful heart, I prayed and held my breath. 

I believed they could do it. These children are resilient. They’ve overcome more than most people could imagine. But when they brought me their first set of test scores, my heart sank. The majority had failing grades, even the students who had previously been at the top of their class. My confidence wavered, so I prayed even harder. 

Last week, the second round of test results for the first trimester came in—and what a difference! One by one, the children rushed into our learning center, madly waving their papers in the air. Their scores had improved dramatically. Their joy was infectious...we danced, we hugged, we laughed, and we cheered together! 

But the most beautiful moment came when we saw how the children responded to the two students (we won’t name names!) who still hadn’t passed but had doubled their scores. Without hesitation, the other children surrounded them with cheers and a giant group hug. That moment moved me to tears. I have never witnessed such pure, heartfelt encouragement and kindness.

Our primary children proudly displaying their improved test results!

A Star is Born

Whenever Don and I settle in to watch a movie, we’re drawn to inspiring stories of individuals who triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. Films like The Queen of Katwe, Braveheart, Hacksaw Ridge, and The Blind Side immediately come to mind. We can relate to the struggle of facing overwhelming challenges and continuing to stand and fight, when it feels as though everything and everyone is stacked against you and failure seems inevitable. Perhaps that’s why these films resonate so deeply within us. But, much like the heroes in these stories, we’ve learned that giving up is never the answer. 

Each of our Sunshine children could easily be the subject of such a movie. Every one of them is an overcomer, rising above circumstances that would cause most of us to give up. If a movie director were ever to ask me which of my children would inspire others, I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to say, “Cecilia.” Cecilia is a young woman who has overcome more than her fair share of adversity, and she stands as a shining example of what it means to be an overcomer. 

Cecilia was the first of our Sunshine children. In January 2014, her mother committed suicide after their father had been killed in a car accident. This left the then 12-year-old Cecilia in charge of her younger siblings, Madalena, 5, and Antonio, 3. After her mother’s death, Cecilia and her siblings were taken in by their uncle, their father’s brother. He told them upfront that all he could offer them was a floor to sleep on and a roof over their heads, but that was all. He himself was very poor. His only income came from selling plastic bags in the markets. He could not offer them any food, education, or support of any kind. Cecilia recalls laying on the cement floor at night with her siblings sleeping next to her, overhearing her uncle and aunt fighting over their presence in the house. The aunt did not want them there. 

This is when we entered into the picture and heard of their situation. Thus was birthed the first of our Sunshine Homes where we create families by pairing together a widowed/vulnerable woman with four to six orphaned children. 

From the start, we recognized a fighter in Cecilia. She would do whatever she needed to do to succeed in life. We have seen her demonstrate this time and time again over the past 11 years. 

We enrolled Cecilia to study at a local private school, Cantinho do Ceu. She entered the school in grade 10. 

In Mozambique, only 1% of the children who start first grade will graduate from grade 12. The educational system is very lacking in all ways and is ranked 160th in the world compared to other countries. Cecilia would have spent grades 1-9 in a very substandard academic environment. When she entered grade 10 at Cantinho do Ceu, she rubbed shoulders with the elite of her peers. She was studying alongside colleagues who had been privileged to a solid, private education. She was disadvantaged and would have been very far behind her classmates. But she did not let this stop her. She caught up, kept up, and graduated. 

She then went on to university. When I first met her at the age of 12, I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said she wanted to be a lawyer so that she could help those in need and be a voice for the people who had no voice. Cecilia entered Universidade de Sao Tomas to study law. Her freshman year was a challenge for her, as it is for most college freshmen. It was no surprise to us that she worked and passed her first two semesters. Then came her sophomore year. It was February 2020…Covid hit and shut everything down only a week or two into her semester. She persevered on completing her courses online. For those of you in the Western world, “online courses” is an easy, doable way to study. Not so here in Mozambique. Lack of access to a computer, unreliable internet, and educators who do not know how to use alternative teaching and study methods make this type of study very challenging. But she did it! Covid has delayed her graduation for a year, but she did not let it stop her. 

At the end of her sophomore year, her beloved house mother, Zelda, died very unexpectedly. Zelda had been mother to Cecilia and her siblings for nine years. They were a family, rooted and united together in love. Zelda loved and cared for Cecilia, Madalena, and Antonio and helped them to heal from the loss of their biological parents. She raised them to be of strong and upright character. She poured her life into them. She was the best of mothers. They not only loved her, they cherished her. Her death was a severe blow to them. 

After Zelda's death, Cecilia wanted to be head of her family. We believed she was not ready yet. She had just turned 21 and still had two years of university studies to focus on. This was her priority. Having to care for the house, food shop, prepare meals, and raise her teenaged siblings would be too much of a distraction for her. So we brought in a woman to be the housemother. It did not work out well; to fill the shoes of Zelda was a lofty ask. It was going from bad to worse, so we moved this mother to another house with small children. 

We then brought in a new woman to oversee the household; a woman who was older, more experienced, and stronger. We informed the children that they were to respect and honor her, and we informed the new house mother to hold firm. It was going exceedingly well and everyone was happy. About six months into the new house mother’s arrival, it was discovered that in her zeal to accept the position, she “forgot” to tell us that she had a husband and teenaged children! We counseled her and she understood that her responsibility was first and foremost to her husband and children, so she chose to return to her home. 

Cecilia was now 23. We did not want to put her, Madalena, or Antonio through another loss. We felt she was ready to take on the responsibility for her family. We knew what Cecilia is made of, and we knew she would succeed. We also knew that Madalena and Antonio respect Cecilia and obey her. Their family had suffered enough trauma. It was time to let them be their own nuclear family. 

It has now been a year, and the three siblings are doing great! Cecilia gets up and is off to her final class in the city each morning. Madalena and Antonio get up and go to tutoring in the morning and high school classes in the afternoon. They all contribute and do the chores at the house. We are always around to oversee and assist in anyway needed, but they never have needed us yet! 

Covid was not the only potentially ruinous event to interfere with her goal to finish her university education and become a lawyer. The end of her most recent semester was disrupted by political and civil unrest that erupted in Mozambique after the elections in October 2024. Schools and businesses were forced to close for days and weeks at a time as the opposition party called for protests from the people. These protests turned violent and made it unsafe to go out. Students missed the far majority of their classes in November and December. When it came time for the final exams at the end of the semester in January, the students were forced to take the risk of going to school to take them so as to complete their courses. Even now, the situation is volatile. At the height of the violence, she looked at me with a helpless look in her eye saying, "First Covid, and now this?" Yet Cecilia, being Cecilia, forged ahead and has continued on. 

This semester, Cecilia is not only completing her final required course but also working diligently on her thesis, which she’ll present in May. Can you guess the focus of her thesis? It’s about improving the care of orphaned and vulnerable children through family-based care—a subject she’s deeply knowledgeable and passionate about. Once she finishes this final class and successfully defends her thesis, she’ll be ready to graduate! We’re also securing an internship for her to help launch her dream career. I can’t help but smile when I think of all she’s faced and overcome. It’s truly a privilege to walk alongside this remarkable young woman. While her story might not make it to the big screen, she remains a powerful inspiration to all who know her—especially to the 33 other Sunshine children, many of whom now aspire to become lawyers, just like her!