Four Gifts of Joy That Change Lives – And How You Can Help

Save the Children and a partner organisation were distributing food parcels in Western Rafah. All families staying in this area are displaced and currently living in temporary and makeshift accommodation.

Fardowsa is 12 years old and lives in Ethiopia, a country where drought and food shortages are placing girls at increased risk of child marriage. Water sources have dried up, crops and livestock supplies have diminished, food prices have risen and ongoing conflict in parts of the country has left many families struggling to support themselves. Girls often bear the brunt of the consequences, facing increased rates of gender-based violence and being forced to drop out of school or into child marriage. Fardowsa was able to stay in education thanks to a Save the Children supported school and is one of the young activists working in her Somali community to end child marriage and other harmful traditional practices including female genital mutilation (FGM). She says: "I believe that early marriage is not good but most young girls are interested in it because it is the easiest way to get money and a better life." “My message to girls getting married early is to remember that it has no advantage for you. It is better to focus on your education and your own life,” says Fardowsa. Save the Children is supporting girls like Fardowsa to avoid child marriage by helping them stay in school and providing cash grants to families. Fardowsa is one of the stories featured in Story Knits, a unique pre-loved knitwear pop-up store where every jumper tells the story of a child helped by Save the Children. The store, open from 1st-7th December in Covent Garden, celebrates the charity’s annual Christmas Jumper Day campaign. Maheder Haileselassie Tadese / Save the Children UK

Rashel lives with his mother Rashida and father in Sylhet, Bangladesh. This area is prone to flooding and life used to be difficult for the family, who regularly couldn’t afford enough food or clothes. Rashida has received seeds and other tools and training through the Suchana programme, to enable her to grow her own vegetable garden. Rashida grows the vegetables and her husband sells them at the market which has helped provide them with a steady income, and Rashida no longer has to rely on her husband’s salary. “We eat them [and] sold it in the market. Demand [for my vegetables] increased. My family benefited a lot.” Rashel is very proud of his mother’s vegetable garden and shows us around pointing out all the different vegetables. He tells us how it was much harder when they didn’t have a vegetable garden: “We didn't have a vegetable garden before, struggled a lot and used to buy from the market.” Rashida points out that life was difficult before, especially when the floods came. When the flood comes, in my area, there are lots of poor people who suffer a lot. During the flood, no one could eat. Besides, no one can go to work, I [couldn’t eat [either], I [couldn’t] even sell a thing during the floods”. However, through training Rashida is now able “to use the sack gardens that stay above the water. Even when the water rises, I grow vegetables in the tower garden and sacks. So, even if there is a flood now, my vegetables are not spoiled. I can sell the vegetables even during the flood. I sell ​​it at the right price, no one else does it like me.” When Rashel isn’t studying, he loves helping his mother grow the vegetables. “I help my mother with her work, water the plants. Help her in planting seedlings.” He loves his mother’s cooking and really enjoys when they all eat as a family. “When mother cooks fish, I enjoy it very much. My mother's gourd curry is very delicious.” Rashel loves going to school and learning: “I love going to school very much. I love studying very much”. He would really like to become an engineer when he grows up and wants to be able to support his family. Rashida is now able to support Rashel’s education with her income and buys him books and pens, as well as paying for the school fees. They are all hoping that if Rashel works hard, he will be able to get a good government job.

On 26 August 2026, a massive flash flood swept through communities along the Bhotekoshi–Trishuli river corridor in Nepal, with hundreds of people reportedly missing and thousands impacted. The full extent of casualties and damage is still being assessed; however, more than 10,000 households are reportedly affected. Save the Children has activated its humanitarian response and deployed an immediate response team. Sirish Burlakoti/ Save the Children