Edgar

At St. Andrew’s we have been sponsoring a child in a poor community for several years.  Firstly it was Lorenzo  Sonco Ticona but now it’s Edgar Villca Charca, both from Bolivia.  He lives in the rural, mountainous province of Khantati in the south-east where it is generally cold. 

Edgar is now 14, in good health, and at secondary school studying grade one. He lives with his mother and father who is a labourer and one sister.  He enjoys playing the zampona – a Bolivian wind instrument made of wooden pipes – and playing football with friends.

In Khantati things have begun to change for children for the better since the start of World Vision’s partnership with the community.  More families are able to grow nutritious food and so their children are better nourished.

Through World Vision Edgar has received books and study materials to help him with his education and personal development while schools have been supplied with new equipment and have become more welcoming places for children.  Teachers have received extra training so they can help children to reach their full potential and be successful later in life. Today, children and young people are learning new skills, and the community is working to end violence against children. 

Our support is transforming the lives of the most vulnerable children, including those who aren't sponsored. Some of those most in need are girls who are abandoned because of teenage pregnancies, as well as orphaned children. Now, schools make extra efforts to include them, and local groups work to reduce teenage pregnancies. 

There's still work to be done. There are still challenges in Khantati. For example, women face inequality and the work they do is not valued by men. It's tough, but World Vision and the community are working together to overcome these challenges. World Vision expect to be ready to move on from Khantati in 2023, once they know that the changes that have started will last, benefiting Edgar and his friends and their community now, and for generations to come.