A few weeks ago, we sat down for a rare video interview with two of our longest-serving social workers: a husband-and-wife team with 24 combined years of service on the ground with Restoring Hope.

We asked them many questions that day. But near the end, we asked them to tell us about one child whose story encouraged them. Without hesitation, and to our surprise, they both chose the same girl: Roshni.

The girl who wouldn't speak

Roshni* was one of the very first children Restoring Hope served. She joined in 2009, when our work was just beginning, before we transitioned to family-based care. Her family had been broken apart when her father left, leaving her mother to provide for and raise Roshni and her sister alone.

These social workers remember Roshni from those first months. She was often sitting apart, silent, unable to bring herself to interact with the other children.

Healing came the way it does best: slow and steady...

A nutritious meal every day.

School every morning.

Worship every Sunday.

Adults who would still be there tomorrow.

For the first time, Roshni had things she could count on. The social workers said it this way: "When we treated that girl as a family member—providing prayers and building relationships—that kind of [family-like] attachment happened."

Roshni* is pictured furthest right.

The hardest news

Then, five or six years into her recovery, word came: Roshni's father had passed away.

She had never stopped hoping for the best for him. In fact, she used to tell the other children that when she grew up, she wanted to find her father and bring him home to live with her mother again. The adults around her had gently encouraged that hope. But now it could never happen.

And the wound she had spent years healing tore open.

Our social workers ached along with Roshni.

With compassion, they continued counseling her, praying with her and absorbing some of her grief themselves. "When I heard that kind of news," one admitted, "I also felt very sad." Then, gently, they encouraged her to turn toward what remained: "You have to focus on your mother, because she's the only family member to take care of you right now. We are also part of your life, and our organization will be here with you."

In time, Roshni continued in her healing journey. She returned to her studies, and got involved in her church. She became a leader at our summer camps, gathering and teaching younger children with similar backgrounds. Pouring into them the way she had been poured into over the years.

Where Roshni is today

In a recent visit, Roshni couldn't wait to share her news: She had completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing! And she had interviewed for a job in her field and she had been selected!

Her sister, meanwhile, has also completed a master's degree and now works as a college lecturer. In their village, these two sisters are now the most highly educated people in the entire community—which is living proof of what a girl can become when someone believes she's worth investing in.

But what struck us about Roshni even more is what she has planned for the future.

"I want to do a good job," she told our social worker, "and help the other people who are like me."

She wants to care for her mother, who carried the family alone for so long. She wants to serve her church. And she wants to help other children walking the road she once walked.

One more small detail our social workers shared, almost as an afterthought: This past Fathers' Day, Roshni and some of the other young ones in her village attended their church and celebrated with their spiritual fathers—those who daily pray for them and remind them of how their Heavenly Father works in their lives.

A girl who lost her father twice, celebrating Father's Day.

That's what healing looks like.

And that's what happens when people like you partner with Restoring Hope.

The people behind the story

Roshni's transformation didn't happen in a month, or in a year. It took 15 years of patient presence. Home visits, counseling, prayer, school supplies. And pastors and social workers who refused to give up on a silent little girl.

We recently interviewed the two social workers who told us about Roshni at length—how they each found this calling as children themselves, what their days really look like and why the hardest part of their job is also the most rewarding. You can meet them in our new blog post here: From Grief to Hope—A Day in the Life of Our Social Workers.

*Pseudonyms are used to protect the identities of people and areas Restoring Hope serves.