For Their Families

Unbound.org explains how, in communities around the world, fathers step up to be there for their children.

So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)

As that Bible verse from the parable of the Prodigal Son reminds us, sometimes a father doesn’t wait for his children to come to him. He goes to them. He picks them up. He comforts. He teaches. He forgives and hugs and makes right.

He is there. That is what makes him Dad … Papá … Baba … Tatay.

Following are stories of three men from Unbound communities around the world. Each bears the burden of poverty but has not let it deter him from caring for those he loves.

These dads live in places where it’s not uncommon for men to abandon their families, where many are broken by unemployment or alcohol or the weight of cultural expectations. But these dads stay strong.

A load off his mind

Marwa is a subsistence farmer in Tanzania. When the precious and scarce rains make it possible, he grows kale, tomatoes, spinach and other vegetables. The family keeps some of what he harvests, and the rest is taken by Marwa’s wife, Robby, to a nearby marketplace to sell. The most she’s ever made in a day is $4.50.

Marwa’s son Wambura, 12, has had serious health issues since he was born. Marwa spent many anxious moments in the hospital at the boy’s side.

“I had a lot of stress thinking about him,” Marwa said. “I was never settled. … Now things have changed. I can relax.”

What changed was that Wambura was sponsored through Unbound. The benefit funds they received allowed the family to acquire health insurance. The boy still has medical concerns, but now they’re more manageable and without devastating cost.

“I can barely express how grateful I am,” Marwa said. “I pray every day for Unbound [sponsors] to continue and be blessed for how much they help people.”

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Joy from sorrow

Manuel, a sponsored elder from Guatemala, has had a life largely defined by loss. His father died when Manuel was 10. Manuel lost his wife after they had been together only nine years, leaving him with four small children. He’s outlived two of them.

But there was consolation in the deep relationship Manuel developed with his grandson Elmer, who he raised after his daughter Julia died 12 years ago. In a way, Julia continued to care for her father and son even after her passing. It was she who enrolled them both for Unbound sponsorship.

A man of deep faith, Manuel is grateful despite his losses.

“Early in the morning I give thanks to God for a new day and offer my day’s work to him,” he said. “At night, before going to sleep, I thank him for the day I spent, for everything I did, and to ask for a restful night and a new sunrise.”

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Making them his own

David came into the life of Lalaine and her children in the Philippines after the children’s father left. Now he’s a father to the older children and the younger ones he and Lalaine had together. He’s also a source of strength for his wife, and her partner in providing for the family.

“Without my husband, I think I cannot be able to do it all alone,” Lalaine said. “He gives me strength and determination to continue what we are doing, and we comfort each other whenever we feel weak and hopeless.”

At the height of the pandemic, there was no construction work for David, and Lalaine, a vendor, couldn’t sell food because of restrictions on public gatherings. But with help from emergency funds the family received from Unbound’s Quezon program, they got through the crisis and are back on track.

Today, Lalaine and David work together in their vending business. They sell siomai (Asian dumplings) and balut (fertilized duck eggs) from a rented cart. They hope that soon they’ll have saved enough to buy their own cart and expand the business.

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Sometimes a father doesn’t wait for his children to come to him. He goes to them. #CatholicMom

There are thousands of dedicated, hard-working fathers and mothers in the Unbound world struggling — sometimes against tremendous odds — to ensure a better future for their children. Learn more at Unbound.org.

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