In Bertoua, with Estelle: one mother, seven children in her care

In Bertoua, emergencies do not all look the same — but they recognize one another. After our first steps with the Bello family, our volunteers opened another door: Estelle's.

Estelle is a single mother. Four children, from six months to twelve years old. And under the same roof, three orphans she also cares for. Seven young lives depending on one pair of shoulders.

November 2024: the meeting

The home is borrowed — precarious, unsanitary. Food is scarce. The children are not in school. Medical care is out of reach. This is not a “case file”: it is a daily life.

I write to you from Belgium. It is our volunteers on the ground who saw, listened, and passed on what needed to be remembered — not to display misery, but to decide on a first useful gesture.

December 2024: concrete food aid

Understanding is not enough. In December, we returned with essential food supplies: rice, oil, staples — enough, for a time, to meet the immediate needs of a house both too full and too empty.

The report on this mission is here:

This is only a beginning

Food aid is not a destiny awakened. It is a safety net. A breath. What comes next is already clear to us: schooling from the 2025/2026 academic year and school kits; medical consultations for the mother and children; support for Estelle toward a lasting income-generating activity.

At Awaken Destiny, we do not only want to ease the moment. We want the mothers we meet to be able, one day, to stand on their own.