From Ugly to Beautiful – Relearning Nika’s Name

Meet Nika Bonita. Bonita—beautiful—is a name given to fight the battle and save her self-esteem.

The first thing that draws your eyes toward Nika is her blonde hair in a sea of black curls. She stands out in a crowd. Unique. Different.

Her family says this hair of hers makes her ugly. Nika Fea—Nika the Ugly. And they have refused to let her go to school because of her ugliness. “She is too ugly to go to school today,” Nika’s mother told Jason.

What do you say to that? How do you respond to a mother who refuses to see beauty in the face of her child? To a mother who cannot read and doesn’t understand the gift of education. To a mother who doesn’t desire more for her child than what she already has. What do you say to that mother so that the soil of her heart begins to be turned toward the possibility of a brighter future for her children?

“Then what do you want for her? Ugly and ignorant or ugly and intelligent,” Kurt, a Freedom missionary, challenged–surprised by his own choice of words. Yet, the mother conceded and Nika has been at school every day since.

And every day since, the Freedom team has added the surname “Beautiful” to her first name, “Nika.”

“Buen dia, Nika Bonita,” Jason, founder of Freedom, says to her as Nika turns her back to him and puts her feet on top of his, reaching for his hands.

She smiles because she is starting to believe Jason tells the truth. “I am Nika Bonita.”

You sponsorship of Nika Bonita will allow her to continue to hear the voice of God through the missionaries of Freedom. She will grow, she will learn, she will be the first in her family to read, and she will discover a God who created her Beautiful.

Will you part with $50 each month for Nika Bonita?