The Raito family is immediately striking for both their size, and their poverty. This family of nine lives in a small village in the state of Odisha. The land here is completely undeveloped, and most people make their living through foraging or subsistence farming. Parents Jyoti and Junnu grew up here as impoverished kids with no education. Their lives have always been hard. They own no land and live in a small shack on the mountainside. Their only joy has come from their family; they have been blessed with seven healthy children.

But all the love in the world cannot provide food or shelter. These parents have struggled to provide throughout their kids’ lives. Their only income is from collecting firewood or fruit on the mountain to sell in the village. Their three oldest children dropped out of school to search for work. With little education, they still live at home and the prospects for their futures are dim. The four children that remain in school range from 12 to 6 years old. Without assistance, it is inevitable that they will follow the same bleak path as their siblings. 

Jyoti and Junnu never had the benefit of an education. Living in such a rural village, all they know is the daily battle to survive. But the FFA is eager to help them do more than survive. This hard-working family could make a meaningful income raising chickens for eggs and meat. The support of a sponsor would give them the means to start to a new life. A sponsor would literally change the lives of all nine members of the Raito family, turning them toward a future filled with hope and possibility