No Birthday Cake For Amila

Amila turned 4, but without cake or presents. Her mum was ashamed to tell her that there wasn’t money for a party. Neither was there money for day care in their poor community in South Africa. Did anyone else see Amila’s tears? See the wonderful outcome of this true story.

Amila is an energetic and happy little girl living here in Capetown, South Africa.

“She’s always singing. And she wants to do everything I do,” said her mother. “Even if it’s something as simple as washing dishes.”

Amila’s parents always do their best to show her how much they love her, but when her fourth birthday arrived they were faced with a difficult choice.

“She asked us why there wasn’t any cake or presents,” said her mom. “I tried to explain that if we got cake we would have no food for the rest of the week. She just didn’t understand.”

Every morning Amila watched her friends walk to the local daycare centre. Her parents couldn’t afford the fees there, so she had to stay home.

“She cried and told me she wanted to go with her friends. It was just another thing she wanted that we could not give her.”

Hope in Action

Then Life Child, a ministry supported by CBN’s Orphan’s Promise, learned about Amila. We enrolled her in the daycare and paid all of her fees. Now during the day she’s learning lots of new things, and she finally gets to play with her friends.

Amila told us with a bright smile, “I love it here! At home I only have one toy, but here I have many toys and many friends.”

During one of their Bible lessons, the teacher asked the class who wanted to be Jesus’ friend. Every little hand went up, except Amilia’s.

“I didn’t raise my hand because first I wanted to go home and clean myself up. I didn’t want to be dirty when I met Jesus,” said the little girl.

Family Transformation

Soon, Amila’s parents gave their hearts to Christ, too.

“Amila is the one who taught us to pray, something we never did before,” her mum told us. “Through the daycare I have realised how important education is. But I know now the most important thing is the Bible and our relationship with God.”

And to help the family earn a steady income, CBN got Amila’s mom enrolled in sewing classes. Soon she’ll be starting her own business, so the next time Amila’s birthday comes around, she’ll have plenty of cake and presents.

“I love it here! At home I only have one toy, but here I have many toys and many friends.”