Emergency Response Gift (Digital Download)

How your gift has helped Laughter Africa children in the past year:

Thankfully over the last year, there has not been any emergencies involving any street children.

One past recipient of the gift of emergency response is Salome. Salome lived on the streets for 2 years immediately after the death of her mother. We first met Salome on 17th October 2022, after a fire destroyed her shack in Cockle Bay. Salome and a lot of the other street children living in the area in Cockle Bay were staying in a shack as they had nowhere else to go.  Nine street girls lost their home that day. We took Salome and the other 8 girls back home to their family members and have been paying school for them ever since. Salome moved in with her uncle. She recently passed her WASCE (the equivalent of A-levels in the UK) and she is just looking at the different university courses available. Her dream is to become a nurse. Salome said, “I lost everything in the fire. I had lost all hope. Everything was destroyed. Then Laughter Africa came to my rescue and found me a new place to live. They were there when I had no one else. And now I am about to go to university. Laughter Africa changed the worst day of my life into the best day. Thank you!”  

Similarly, another recipient of the gift of emergency was Fatmata after there was a huge fire in Susan’s Bay on Monday 9th January 2023. We met her six years ago and she’s stayed off the streets ever since.  She said, “As soon as I saw the fire, I just ran and took my baby. My brother took some of the baby’s clothes. I was so scared. The whole house was destroyed. I had nothing left for me or my baby.” Her beautiful baby boy Idrissa was less than one month old at the time of the fire. Thanks to your kindness, we provided Fatmata with an emergency response pack which included clothes, toiletries and baby supplies. Sadly Idrissa tragically died in June 2023. Despite all this heartbreak, Fatmata kept fighting and she is about to receive the results of her BECE which she sat in July/August 2024 (the UK equivalent of GCSEs). She hopes to continue her education and will start SS1 in November 2024.      

Similarly, there was another fire in Susan’s Bay on Wednesday 24th March 2021. One of the young people affected was Hassanatu. We first met her six years ago when she was ten years old. She had stayed home in Susan’s Bay ever since her reunification. Her house burned down in the fire and she lost everything she owned. She had nothing left. We provided her with an emergency pack (which included school uniforms, text books, education equipment, female hygiene products, clothes, sanitation equipment, toiletries, buckets etc…). Hassanatu had it extra tough as she had her exams (the NPSE) a few months after the fire. However, she didn’t give up. Now fast forward three years later and Hassanatu is awaiting the results of her BECE. Hassanatu is one tough cookie!

Thanks to the gift of emergency response, we were able to help Salome, Fatmata, Hassanatu and all the other street children whose lives have been affected by different disasters. Thanks to your support, they were able to keep going and not have their education disrupted!