Orphaned and abandoned children need loving homes and families. Help us provide the support they need.

Throughout Africa in 1981, increasing poverty was breaking up traditional family structures and forcing children to fend for themselves in the streets. Tumanie, along with his younger brother, were among the lucky ones to be rescued by the new SOS Children's Village in Bakoteh, The Gambia.

Despite the new arrangement, Tumanie grew very fond of his surrogate SOS mother. He said, "in fact, all the SOS mothers in the village looked after me as if I was their own son. I answered to all of them. It was truly like being raised by a village. They taught us so much; the abandoned babies would come into the village and we would have to help wash the diapers and babysit them. We all pitched in to help each other."

Life in the village was good. Tumanie and his SOS sisters and brothers, had every opportunity to thrive in academics, sports and music. After high school, Tumanie developed an interest in accounting which eventually led him to a position as an account clerk at the SOS Training and Production Center, where he worked for five years.

Today, Tumanie is a successful adult, living and working to take care of his four daughters and other family members.

Tumanie wishes to express his gratitude to you by saying, "I wish I could thank everyone who put a penny into me. A big thanks to all of you for what you are doing—it is something bigger than you can see."