Annie Brima

Country: Sierra Leone

My birthday is 2015-01-02

Status: Paternal Orphan

I want to be the President.

I enjoy playing with friends.

My favorite subject is English.

Annie lives with her aunt and two siblings in the village of Tombo in Sierra Leone. Her father passed away, and her mother left several years ago, leaving Annie and her two siblings with an aunt. Her aunt works as a petty trader, so she often does not have enough to provide for Annie's basic needs. Annie loves to play with her friends! Her favorite color is red, and her favorite food is rice and potato leaf. She likes learning the English language and hopes to become president one day. Annie's biggest prayer request is for wisdom.

Most parents struggle to provide their families with more than one meal a day, so the cost to send their children to school is not easy to come by. Typically, those who can afford to send one or two of their children to school will choose to send only their sons. Girls whose parents cannot afford to send them to school will be left at home to tend to daily chores and their smaller siblings while the parents are away earning their daily wages. This lack of education and supervision makes girls just entering adolescence very vulnerable to teenage pregnancy. Girls who have not been given access to education are often left with no option but to marry at young ages to be financially supported by their husbands.