Letter-Loving
I sponsor two children from Children International, which is a great company that helps impoverished children around the world go to school and eat and get vaccines and other health benefits. Anyway, I've been sponsoring these kids for several years now; one is a little girl in Guatemala and one is a boy in India.
Jennifer, my girl in Guatemala, has always been the sweetest girl in the world. I started sponsoring her when she was 6 years old and just starting 1st grade, and now she writes that she's in 4th. She is so happy and she always writes to me fun stories about how she went to her grandparents and played in the sea during the summer. She'll frequently end her letter with "big hug and kiss!" I love getting letters from her. Below is the latest one I received today. (Please note that these are translated letters, as Jennifer speaks Spanish and Bhajan speaks some form of Bengali, I believe.)
Ms. Earl:
I want to tell you that I passed the grade and I am very happy because I am in fourth grade and I have learned a lot. I am very excited because you sent me your picture and I could see you and your cat. It is very pretty. Take good care of her. I hope you are doing fine along with your beloved family. Dear Ms. Earl, thank God my family and I are fine. I like playing basketball with my friends at school. My family and I are very grateful for the help you send us. May God bless you and your family.
I love you,
Jennifer
Isn't she just the sweetest thing ever?? I was feeling very bad about not being able to donate extra for Christmas presents this year (so I sent her a picture of me and Fat Belly Ellie), but then she wrote this adorable letter and I realize how much it is that I have and that she does not. I've been pretty preoccupied this past week with the inconvenience of not having a car, and the inconvenience of not having a full-time job, and the inconvenience of living with my parents so many miles from where I work. It's really been getting me down! But then I think, hey, I could be making $160 a month for a family of 5, like her family does, and be way worse off. Like way, way worse off.
My other sponsored child, Bhajan, is also great. When I first started sponsoring him (around the same time), he was 9 and pretty doggone unhappy. The organization sends you a picture of your child every year, and Bhajan always looked like he was grimacing. Jennifer has this sweet little dimpled smile and Bhajan looks like someone had just clubbed him in the foot and yelled, "now smile!" I mean, it's got to be rough for the poor kid. His family of 5 gets $85 a month. So I try to write as much as I can to him and be encouraging. It took a long time before he started writing about something besides how he's going to school and doing well. Below is my latest letter from him, which thrilled me to no end.
Dear Ms. Earl:
I start my letter with love to you. I hope you are well. We are all fine. It is winter here now. I am wearing warm clothes everyday. We have a brown window in our house. We have a goat at home. I feed her leaves everyday. I call her Milli. My family and I are very happy to get your support regularly. I am able to grow up with your support. We are grateful to you and I thank you for your support. I end with regards to you.
Yours lovingly,
Bhajan
Haha! A goat named Milli!! I love it. This is a huge step for Bhajan. He's never been comfortable enough with me to talk about any member of his family, let alone his goat. So this is very exciting. I hope that we can become more chatty in the future. I'm sure that both of these kids have people standing over their shoulders telling them to write to me, which explains the mention of "support" in both of their letters (and indeed, every letter I've ever received from them). I can just imagine a teacher walking around, reading their writing over their shoulders saying, "Mention the support! Thank them for the money!" They have to write twice a year, but if I write to them they'll respond.
All in all, I recommend sponsoring a child. It's $25 a month, and you can donate extra for their birthdays and holidays. They sponsor children in several South American/Caribbean countries, Zambia, India, and the Philippines. They also have a program to sponsor children in the US. You can go to their website and pick out a child, or you can call and have one assigned to you. I like Children International because they don't believe in trying to convert the heathen to Christianity, and they are sure to have a "Special Hug" holiday near Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, for the Indian children who aren't Christian and don't celebrate Easter and Christmas. Anyway, sponsor if you can, and if not, thanks for reading my blog! Kids are fun!
Jennifer, my girl in Guatemala, has always been the sweetest girl in the world. I started sponsoring her when she was 6 years old and just starting 1st grade, and now she writes that she's in 4th. She is so happy and she always writes to me fun stories about how she went to her grandparents and played in the sea during the summer. She'll frequently end her letter with "big hug and kiss!" I love getting letters from her. Below is the latest one I received today. (Please note that these are translated letters, as Jennifer speaks Spanish and Bhajan speaks some form of Bengali, I believe.)
Ms. Earl:
I want to tell you that I passed the grade and I am very happy because I am in fourth grade and I have learned a lot. I am very excited because you sent me your picture and I could see you and your cat. It is very pretty. Take good care of her. I hope you are doing fine along with your beloved family. Dear Ms. Earl, thank God my family and I are fine. I like playing basketball with my friends at school. My family and I are very grateful for the help you send us. May God bless you and your family.
I love you,
Jennifer
Isn't she just the sweetest thing ever?? I was feeling very bad about not being able to donate extra for Christmas presents this year (so I sent her a picture of me and Fat Belly Ellie), but then she wrote this adorable letter and I realize how much it is that I have and that she does not. I've been pretty preoccupied this past week with the inconvenience of not having a car, and the inconvenience of not having a full-time job, and the inconvenience of living with my parents so many miles from where I work. It's really been getting me down! But then I think, hey, I could be making $160 a month for a family of 5, like her family does, and be way worse off. Like way, way worse off.
My other sponsored child, Bhajan, is also great. When I first started sponsoring him (around the same time), he was 9 and pretty doggone unhappy. The organization sends you a picture of your child every year, and Bhajan always looked like he was grimacing. Jennifer has this sweet little dimpled smile and Bhajan looks like someone had just clubbed him in the foot and yelled, "now smile!" I mean, it's got to be rough for the poor kid. His family of 5 gets $85 a month. So I try to write as much as I can to him and be encouraging. It took a long time before he started writing about something besides how he's going to school and doing well. Below is my latest letter from him, which thrilled me to no end.
Dear Ms. Earl:
I start my letter with love to you. I hope you are well. We are all fine. It is winter here now. I am wearing warm clothes everyday. We have a brown window in our house. We have a goat at home. I feed her leaves everyday. I call her Milli. My family and I are very happy to get your support regularly. I am able to grow up with your support. We are grateful to you and I thank you for your support. I end with regards to you.
Yours lovingly,
Bhajan
Haha! A goat named Milli!! I love it. This is a huge step for Bhajan. He's never been comfortable enough with me to talk about any member of his family, let alone his goat. So this is very exciting. I hope that we can become more chatty in the future. I'm sure that both of these kids have people standing over their shoulders telling them to write to me, which explains the mention of "support" in both of their letters (and indeed, every letter I've ever received from them). I can just imagine a teacher walking around, reading their writing over their shoulders saying, "Mention the support! Thank them for the money!" They have to write twice a year, but if I write to them they'll respond.
All in all, I recommend sponsoring a child. It's $25 a month, and you can donate extra for their birthdays and holidays. They sponsor children in several South American/Caribbean countries, Zambia, India, and the Philippines. They also have a program to sponsor children in the US. You can go to their website and pick out a child, or you can call and have one assigned to you. I like Children International because they don't believe in trying to convert the heathen to Christianity, and they are sure to have a "Special Hug" holiday near Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, for the Indian children who aren't Christian and don't celebrate Easter and Christmas. Anyway, sponsor if you can, and if not, thanks for reading my blog! Kids are fun!
Verity, I love this. I have always wanted to adopt, but my husband doesn't. It makes a lot of sense from his perspective, because, since we are much better off than a lot of his family and extended family, they often come to us for support. I wanted to start sponsoring a child also. I looked into a school that we know in Zambia that does a great job with the kids, but they ask for $65 per month. (I guess perhaps they don't have big donor grants to cover overhead costs.) I couldn't afford it. Maybe I'll look into Children International. A friend of my dad's was sponsoring a girl through them in Zambia, and I actually got to visit her. They showed me their school and community center there and it really seemed like they were doing a good thing. A staff member accompanied me to this girl's house and it turned out that she wasn't actually going to school at the moment, due to a clerical error. I'm so glad I visited! My friend was donating money for this girl, but somehow her name was not appearing on the school's list of who was supposed to be there. They cleared that up, but it just makes me worry about BIG organizations. I know they're doing a good job, but it's hard to really know what's happening when they're so far away and they are taking care of so many people.
ReplyDeleteThis post made me cry! I remember you mentioning this years ago and thinking "I gotta do this" but then forgetting about it. I won't forget this time. Right now, I'm in a literacy program in the U.S. where I have a 5th grade pen pal and we read books together. I mean, that's cool and all, and I'm glad I do it, but this is so great. I can't wait to get started. What sweet letters. I wish they wouldn't make them write the support stuff, but I get it.
ReplyDelete