Photographer couldn’t leave an orphan and raised a beauty: How the fate of an abandoned girl with a photo has turned out 23 years later

The desperate situation of hungry people in Africa, decades later, has not changed, nor has the continent’s situation changed for the better. Not everyone gets aid from developed countries, and millions of people suffer from poverty and malnutrition. But one girl from Somalia, who was living on the streets and starving, was lucky to be taken in by a volunteer. How is she living twenty years later?

Saving the Hungry

Thousands of volunteers come to Africa to work to save people, feed them, and create the conditions for survival. They bring medicine, clothing, food. And many volunteers take the plight of their charges close to their hearts, because no one is indifferent.

So was the traveler who came to see African life with his own eyes. John Carey was not rich and famous, he came from America, from childhood he dreamed of a trip around the world. As John grew up, he began to support himself and make his dream come true. He had enough money to travel regularly.

John traveled to South Africa, where he wanted to see the luxurious cities of Africa’s most prosperous country – Cape Town, the capital city of Johannesburg. He gained pleasant impressions and took pictures that reminded him of his travels.

But he realized that not all of Africa lives so well; there is a dark side. Things are different in the poorest states with a below-zero standard of living. So Cary chose the country of Somalia to compare his experiences. He had no idea he had a life-changing encounter ahead of him. It was there that he met a homeless girl who struck him to the heart.

Adopted Daughter.

John saw the little girl in the street dust, who caught his eye with her desperate look. He wanted to take a picture of her. The purpose of this action was noble – he wanted to give the photo to her parents to please them. But the girl turned out to be an orphan, living in a garbage dump and eating leftovers. Some passers-by fed her, but the Somalis were so poor they couldn’t take the child in.

John was shocked to understand the situation. When he asked around and found out that the girl had been roaming for six months, surviving on her own at the age of several, he made a final decision. He understood that he had to save the child, there was no other option. The locals could not guarantee the little girl’s survival, for all their kindness – they had nothing to feed their own children.

John Cary went about the paperwork for the adoption. This period was not easy, the red tape was long, and the girl did not understand him – the child did not know English. Establishing a good relationship with the child also required patience and time. But all went well, and the new daughter went to the United States with her daddy.

Now the girl is 25 years old, she’s grown up beautiful, she’s in college. She’s doing great, and she doesn’t remember her first hard years of life. The girl plans to go to Africa to see her native land and at the same time help her compatriots in any way she can.