Youth Development

A young woman, Che, sits at her study desk as her father, a single parent, lovingly brushes her long, ebony hair. He expertly ties it into a ponytail, so it doesn’t fall across her eyes as she studies. Despite her disabilities related to dwarfism, Che studies a lot!
For 12 years of public school, she thrived on achieving high results on her assignments. Her hard work recently paid off with her acceptance to Da Nang University of Economics. Che’s father smiled through tears when they received the news of her entrance exam scores.

An estimated 773 million people are illiterate worldwide. The lack of an education poses insurmountable obstacles throughout their lives. Education serves as a lifeline for children and youth in crises and emergencies. It is more than the right to learn; in fact, a proper education can benefit the community at large.

A Thousand Summers works with some truly amazing young people because of donors like you. Isabella, known to her friends as Izzy, is definitely one of them. This remarkable young woman from WaKeeney, Kansas, is already on her way to proving that there are no limits to what she can achieve. We hope you enjoy her inspirational story.

Little Brother Lucas and Big Couple Amber and Brock are a shining example of the impact mentor relationships have. Occasionally we match a child with a married couple who want to mentor together. Brock and Amber were matched with Lucas in 2011 when he was only 7 years old! As a single mother, Lucas' mom enrolled him as a Little because she wanted Lucas to feel more fulfilled by having a positive male role model in his life.