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| Three SOS boys in Liberia |
June 30, 2011: Triplets Abednego, Meshach, and Shadrach -- named after triplets in the Bible -- were brought to
SOS-Liberia in 2009 at four years old. Their biological mother, Tarwoe Yarngo, had lived with missionaries in the Liberian capital of Monrovia for some time before her death in 2007, when she left them in the custody of the church. No one knew anything about the father.
But the missionaries wanted the boys to live in safer conditions than they could provide. They applied to transfer the triplets elsewhere, a process that took two years. Then, one day, the director of the SOS Children’s Village in Juah Town informed the caretakers that a vacancy had come up.
Shadrach is the smallest of the triplets, all of whom were so fortunate to have secured a home in SOS-Juah Town, located in Liberia’s interior. He had been disadvantaged while in utero, when, because of the triplets’ positioning, his right foot bore his brothers’ weight. Thanks to corrective foot surgery he had received at a Catholic hospital upon entering SOS-Juah Town, Shadrach's right foot was starting to catch up with his left.
Thriving Under theProtection of SOS Children's Villages
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| Two SOS children swinging on a playground |
Shadrach’s teachers and SOS Mother are especially protective of his right foot. At recess he’s told not to engage in rough exercise; at home his SOS Mother urges him to avoid running.
But that’s not who Shadrach is. The smallest triplet, whose performance in school has been very high, likes to be active and independent. He swings on the playground, plays soccer, and runs freely around the village. Of the triplets in SOS-Juah Town’s House 7, Shadrach is the fastest.
While Shadrach has defied expectations, all three of the boys -- like their namesakes, whose faith in their God saved them from the flames of a blazing Babylonian furnace -- have defied the grim fate that would likely have been theirs had SOS not been on site to help.
Challenging Conditions
SOS gives boys like Shadrach and his brothers hope for a bright future in a sometimes difficult environment. Located in Liberia’s Grand Bassa County, SOS-Juah Town opened in 2000 but was shut down in May 2003 by fierce fighting and the precarious situation in the country's interior. SOS mothers and children moved back to their homes in 2005.
Give boys like Abednego, Meshach, and Shadrach a warm home, a loving family, education, and a shot at a future.
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