Compassion Australia's video: Alon s Story Inspiring Blind Mother Compassion Australia

The remote island of Alor looks like an idyllic paradise. Yet for the people that inhabit this island on the eastern fringe of the Indonesian archipelago, life is anything but easy. Families struggle and opportunities for children like eight-year-old Alon are limited. But through the local church and child sponsorship, change is coming through Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program. Alon lives with his parents and three brothers. Each evening, his mum, Santiya, carefully scrapes cassavas and throws them into boiling water to cook. "I don't know if it is clean or still dirty," she says. Her unfocused eyes are a milky white: Santiya is blind. She lost the last of her vision six years ago. The guilt of being unable to help her husband provide for their family weighs heavily upon her. "I often think about whether I can do what other people can do." The hardest part is not being able to see the faces of her four boys. Not seeing how their future can be any different. Her husband, Philipus, walks six hours every day to bring candlenuts down from the mountain. He's planted cloves and coffee and is optimistic they will thrive. But small-scale farming is uncertain. "I am always concerned if there will be enough," he says. He wants a different future for Alon and his brothers. "You need to be clever," he tells them firmly. Despite his determined emphasis on education, his second son dropped out of school in grade four. The fees were impossible for the family to afford. But change is coming. The local church has begun partnering with Compassion to register children into the Child Sponsorship Program. Alon was one of the first children in his community to be sponsored. "Alon will have a better life," says Philipus. "This is because of God. I can only thank God." Sponsor a Child: http://cmpsn.co/youtubesponsorachild Visit Our Website: http://cmpsn.co/compassionaustralia Subscribe to Our Channel: http://cmpsn.co/subscribetochannel Follow Us On Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CompassionAU/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/compassionau Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/compassionau Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/compassionau