Poverty: Keewani Cook to speak in Hamilton on how child sponsorship helped her escape

Keewani Cook escaped poverty thanks to child sponsorship.

A Filipina woman is speaking in Hamilton this weekend to share her inspiring story of how child sponsorship lifted her out of poverty.

As a child, Keewani Cook used to sit on the bamboo floor and under the coconut leaf roof of her home in the Philippines eating just rice with salt - sometimes with soy sauce.

Cook’s parents couldn’t afford her schooling and some days she would go to bed hungry. She also lost three of her siblings to treatable medical conditions because her family could not afford healthcare.

She lived just like all the other children in her village.

“When you grow up in poverty, you don’t really think about it because all your friends are poor. All of the community is poor. I thought it was just normal. Sometimes you get hungry, but everybody gets hungry.

“Me and my sister would beg our parents to buy us an apple, even a rotten apple, but my parents could not afford it.”

This was Cook’s reality for seven years until she began attending a Compassion Project at a local church and was then sponsored.

Having a sponsor changed her and her family’s life – they ate healthy food every day and were able to access free healthcare. It also gave Cook the opportunity to get an education, including at university.

Today, Keewani is a physiotherapist who sponsors four children with her husband. She also speaks at events worldwide to raise awareness about the effectiveness of Tearfund’s child sponsorship programme, and how millions of children across the globe have been lifted out of poverty as a direct result.

“I’m a living, breathing testament that sponsorship works.”

In New Zealand, around one in 30 households sponsor a child through a charity.

Tearfund New Zealand’s child sponsorship lead Louise Haines said the talk was an opportunity to learn about the life-changing impacts sponsorship can have.

“This tour will help bring the picture of the child on your fridge to life.”

Cook is speaking at Crossroads Church in Hamilton on Sunday, June 23 at 6pm. There will be a Q&A and guests are welcome to join a shared potluck dinner after the talk.

Tearfund NZ is a faith-based aid and development organisation, advocating against injustice and poverty, serving vulnerable and oppressed communities across Africa, Asia, and South America.

They especially advocate against modern slavery, work to restore hope and peace during crisis by providing aid, offer child sponsorships, education and support as well as collaborate with farmers and entrepreneurs in low-income communities.

For more information visit Tearfund.org.nz.

Caitlan Johnston is a former Te Awamutu Courier and NZ Herald journalist who now works freelance and is a volunteer for Tearfund New Zealand.