Sponsoring and partnerships

"When Faith, just one year old, started having seizures, one of the most dangerous symptoms of malnutrition, her mother, Rahema, thought it was too late. Desperate, she left Faith and hurried to the nearest health centre run by Action Contre la Faim. Faith was rushed to the hospital run by Action Contre la Faim, where she was diagnosed with acute malnutrition, malaria and pneumonia. 

"Separating parents and children can be a delicate matter and can be a difficult and complicated experience even with the experience gained during the convoys. Aviation Sans Frontières volunteers need to be able to adapt to any situation and take multiple socio-cultural factors into account, including language barriers. In addition, some children don’t know how to use cutlery or have never walked in shoes before the day of their departure. We need to make sure that the journey, which is an important transition from their previous to future life, is as smooth as possible." 

My name is Pham Quốc Tuấn. I am 17 years old. 
When did you hear about AuditionSolidarité?
 I found out about the association in 2015. 
How have your hearing aids changed your life? 
With my hearing aids, I can hear clearly, speak better and study better. 
What are you studying and where?
 I am in the third grade in Dống Naiin the same class as hearing students. 
Do the hearing aids help you to follow the lessons? 
These devices help me a lot to study, listen and speak better. 
What do you want to be when you grow up? 
I would like to take over the family business of breeding and selling swiftlets, a prized bird in Vietnam. 
Anything to add? 
I would like to thank you because, through your help, I can listen better, speak better, study better, and I can become a good adult afterwards. 
Can you show us your hearing aid? 
Cảm ơn. (Thank you)
 

In the photo, Eyerus is on the right, sitting next to Tadella, also a member of the girls' group. "I heard a rumour that my father had accepted a marriage proposal for me," says Eyerus, 14. "I was very depressed and angry when I heard the news. Why did I have to get married? I didn't want to stop going to school." Eyerus is in grade 8 and her favourite subject is geography. In her spare time, she looks after her family or reads books. She brought up the matter with the headmaster of her school, who is the leader of one of the girls' groups supported by CARE. In these groups, community members come together to discuss, challenge and transform social norms and traditions. Eyerus then confronted her father Derso, 51, about the rumour. He told her that the reason for the marriage was to strengthen family ties. Eyerus then negotiated the issue with her father until he accepted her arguments. He cancelled the marriage proposal and returned the 7,000 Ethiopian birr (about 133 euros) that he had already received from the family. "I realised that our community had to change and that this was the only possible outcome," says Derso, looking at his daughter with pride. He agrees that his daughter should return to school. "Today, I even tell my neighbours that it is important for girls to continue their education." “It felt good to be able to convince my father to change his mind. I learned to negotiate at the girls' group. I also learned to believe in myself and understand the consequences of early marriage," says Eyerus. CARE has set up girls' groups in communities that teach girls life skills through discussion sessions. The girls gather and sit on small stones in a large circle. Air France Humanitarian Sponsorship has been supporting CARE France for nearly 10 years in its fight against extreme poverty and for access to education.

Tripoli is the poorest city on the Mediterranean and the second-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut. CARE Lebanon runs numerous projects in Lebanon. In Lebanon, which was a middle-income country until 2019, 82% of the population now lives in multidimensional poverty and 24% on less than USD 1.75 per day. One in four inhabitants is a refugee. In the Bab el-Tebbaneh neighbourhood, Fatima is raising her five children with great difficulty. Her husband is ill. She is doing her best to find help to send her daughters and youngest son to school. The eldest works to support the family. Fatima doesn’t have a gas cylinder, so she cooks by burning branches outside her house. It is common for children to go to school without having eaten. In Lebanon and around the world, CARE supports access to education for all. For nearly 10 years, Air France Humanitarian Sponsorship has been committed to CARE in its fight against extreme poverty.

Speaking to RFI, Vasline gives us a moving account of her experience with La Chaîne de l'Espoir in 2011. When she was seven years old and her parents found out she had a heart defect, their world fell apart. It was impossible for them to finance the operation. But La Chaîne de l'Espoir gave them hope, with an operation planned in France. "When we talked about La Chaîne de l'Espoir, my mother and all my family found a reason for hope." Twelve years later, Vasline has precious memories of her Parisian adventure with her host family. "I stayed in Paris for three months. I was welcomed by lovely people, I will never forget them. It was amazing." Since then, she has blossomed and found a new calling, as a medical student at the University of Brazzaville. "I see the world differently because I am the same as others now.” 

Born in Burkina Faso, little Asseta suffered from a serious heart condition. In Ouagadougou, for the teams of the Tengandogo University Hospital, supported by La Chaîne de l'Espoir, there was only one solution to save her: she had to travel to France to be operated on as soon as possible. This trip saved her life! "We hosted Asseta for a month and a half in Nantes where she was operated on. We are very happy to have contributed to her recovery. She came in very tired and scared, and left feeling much, much better. She has gained weight, is growing and going to school. She is five now, doing well, and with her whole life ahead of her!" Pascale Girard-Louault, host family

Four-year-old Karim arrived in February in the children's cancer ward of Dr Chantal Bouda at the Yalgado Ouédraogo Hospital in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) with a large, bulky mass on his face. His illness began 4 months earlier with just a toothache. Living in a rural area of Côte d'Ivoire, the family had been to a community facility several times and then to a district hospital two hours from their home. As his cancer – Burkitt's lymphoma, the most common in Africa and yet poorly understood – developed, his parents returned to their birth country of Burkina Faso. A week later, Karim was admitted to the oncology unit in Ouagadougou. "His general condition was very poor, with a huge, highly haemorrhagic and infected mass and difficulties breathing and eating," says Dr Chantal Bouda. The hospital began by treating Karim’s infection, correcting his anaemia and renourishing him. The cancer treatment started in March. He received his fourth course of chemotherapy in early April. "But this does not have to be fatal," says Dr Bouda. "If the diagnosis is made quickly and correctly, most African children with cancer can survive – as they do in Europe!" 

On a March 2023 assignment in Vientiane, Laos, the Enfants Du Noa team treated 55 young patients, among them Mei, aged 6, from Luang Prabang in northern Laos. Mei and her parents travelled more than 500 km to come to our consultation. She had a facial cleft through the lip and part of the palate. In addition to the cosmetic discomfort, Mei’s eating and speaking had been impaired since birth. During our mission, we were able to take care of her and surgically correct this malformation. Mei’s recovery was straightforward and she stayed in hospital with us for a few days for post-operative care. Mei and her parents were then able to return home.  

The two Syrian brothers Zain, 5, and Yazan, 3, both have cyanogenic congenital heart disease. Thanks to the involvement of a solid local network in Syria, the coordination of the teams at Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, Aviation Sans Frontière and Marie Lannelongue Hospital, and the immense generosity of a host family, Zain and Yazan were treated together and never had to be separated. Arriving in May 2022 on board flight AF 529, courtesy of the partnership with the Air France Foundation, the young brothers were able to rely on each other throughout their stay. Their treatment was an emotional and intense experience for the host family – and their first such experience. They left a strong impression, with the host father refusing to wipe away the traces left by the boy’s fingers on a window! The boys were successfully operated, transformed by the surgery and returned to school in Syria. They keep in regular touch with the family and seeing them grow up together is an invaluable reward.

Operation Smile: the story of Brice-Lane. In Madagascar, it is extremely difficult for children suffering from malformations, particularly cleft lips and palates, to receive treatment owing to a lack of resources and care. The children are often stigmatised, which affects their mental health and that of their families. Brice-Lane was born with a birth defect. In October 2022, he had his second operation with Operation Smile for Médécins du Monde, a medical, surgical and psycho-social programme that has been running for 25 years. 

I am a nurse and I took part in my first mission with Pédiatres du Monde in 2010 in Cambodia, when I was a student. I completed a further assignment in 2011 as a young graduate in Morocco. The weeks I spent with the teams of paediatricians, midwives and nurses have given me the desire to continue along this path and give my all for our young patients. I also did a longer assignment with another association in Burkina Faso. In January 2023, I returned to Benin with Pédiatres du Monde to support the local teams in the Applahoué region at the hospital and health centres, training on the equipment at the site and co-consulting on hospital rounds. The Pédiatres du Monde NGO is highly attentive to the requests of its local partners and tries to respond as best as possible. It calls on the skills of these members and candidates seeking to volunteer. I was able to pass on my knowledge and experience to these professionals in their quest to confirm and strengthen their skills. I also participate in fund-raising events and will be going on a new mission with Pédiatres du Monde as soon as possible!"