Erick is 4 years old and lives in Malawi.

He became the 9th child sponsored by Freely Give through World Vision from the 1st November 2008.

This was made possible with commissions received from those of you who bought through the links at freelygive.org. Thank you for your generosity

Erick is a HopeChild ( which means a donation of $40 a month)  as he  lives in an area with a high prevalence of HIV, and has been identified by his community as “vulnerable,” and requires extra assistance. This does not mean that the sponsored child has HIV.

How is HopeChild sponsorship different than traditional child sponsorship?
HopeChild sponsorship helps to decrease the impact of HIV and AIDS in child sponsorship communities. HopeChild sponsorship includes all the benefits of traditional child sponsorship, while helping to provide things like:

• extra support for families caring for orphans and vulnerable children;
• training for staff and volunteers who look after children’s emotional, physical, and spiritual needs;
• care for sick or dying parents and guardians;
• age-appropriate education materials to help children understand how to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS and to break down the barriers of stigma and discrimination; and
• vocational training for adults who have been impacted by HIV and AIDS.

AIDS is more than a pandemic. It is the greatest humanitarian crisis of all time. More than 40 million people are infected with the virus.

In Africa, there are 180,000 new orphans a month, mostly through AIDS. However, often a family member, neighbour, or friend in the community will take them in. In many cases, these children would consider their caregivers to be “parents,” and would not think of themselves as orphans.