Child Charities

As bloggers, Kelly and I like to use the blog as an opportunity to provide a more close-up, personal view of the work that Children International does. So when Javier Cárcamo, our Communications Coordinator in Guatemala, sent us René’s story, we knew the blog was the right medium to reach out to our sponsors.

Last November we introduced you to René. René, his parents and three siblings lived in a home built with scrap materials situated on a small plot of land that they still hadn’t been able to pay off. The loving patriarch of the family often worked far away to bring in what little money he could to put food on the table. Although life was difficult, things were going okay. Until one day, when René’s father didn’t come home... (To read the complete story, please visit CI’s original blog.)

We asked you, our readers, to help René and his family in any way you could, and you really came through. In addition to getting René sponsored, we raised enough money to provide the family with 5 pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of jeans, 5 shirts, a wardrobe, a dining room table and chairs, food staples, a gas stove and gas, money to pay off the land, and finally, construction materials to rebuild the home. Amazing job blog readers! Your generosity has made a huge difference.



And what makes this story all the more special is what happened after the donations came in. After carefully allocating the contributions where they were most needed, there was no extra for labor. Without hesitation our field staff and sponsored youth all donated their time and energy to rebuild the family’s home. Our network of sponsors, staff and sponsored children and youth really came together on this one! You can view the construction process in the slideshow “René Gets His Hug”.  Once again, on behalf of René, his family and the staff in Guatemala and Kansas City, thank you.

Special thanks to youth reporter, Manuel Xoyón for his work in documenting the construction of Rene’s new home.

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Actualización: René recibe su abrazo

Como blogueros, a Kelly y a mí nos gusta usar el blog como oportunidad para brindar una perspectiva más cercana y personal del trabajo que hace Children International. Por lo tanto, cuando Javier Cárcamo, nuestro Coordinador de Comunicaciones en Guatemala, nos envió la historia de René, nos dimos cuenta que el blog era el medio ideal para solicitar la ayuda de nuestros padrinos.

El noviembre pasado les presentamos a René. René vivía con sus padres y tres hermanos en una casa hecha de materiales descartados y situada en un pequeño terreno que todavía no lograban pagar por completo. El padre amoroso de la familia a menudo trabajaba lejos de la casa para ganarse lo poco que podía para poner comida en la mesa. Aunque la vida era difícil, las cosas andaban bien…hasta que un día el papá de René no regresó a casa…(Para leer la historia completa, por favor visite el blog original de Children International y lea la versión en español al final del artículo en inglés.)

Les solicitamos a ustedes, nuestros lectores, que ayudaran a René y a su familia de cualquier forma posible, y ustedes realmente respondieron de corazón. Además de lograr que René fuera apadrinado, también juntamos suficiente dinero para comprarle a la familia 5 pares de zapatos, 3 pantalones jeans, 5 camisas, un armario, una mesa con sillas, alimentos básicos, una estufa de gas con cilindro, dinero para pagar su terreno y, finalmente, materiales de construcción para reconstruir la casa. ¡Excelente trabajo lectores! Su generosidad ha hecho una gran diferencia.



Y lo que hace que esta historia sea aun más especial es lo que sucedió después que entraran las donaciones. Luego de destinar cuidadosamente las contribuciones a las necesidades más urgentes, no sobró dinero para la mano de obra. Sin pensarlo dos veces, el personal de nuestra agencia y los jóvenes apadrinados donaron de su tiempo y sus esfuerzos para reconstruir la casa de la familia. ¡Nuestra comunidad de padrinos, personal y niños y jóvenes apadrinados realmente se unió para lograr esto! Usted puede ver el proceso de la construcción en el ensayo fotográfico “René recibe su abrazo”. Nuevamente, de parte de René, su familia y el personal en Guatemala y en Kansas City, gracias.

Agradecemos especialmente al reportero juvenil Manuel Xoyón por su trabajo al documentar la construcción de la casa nueva de René.

Eric Newman, Director of Sponsor Administration for Children International, recently had the opportunity to visit our child sponsorship agency in Manila, Philippines. Below he gives us a glimpse into his trip.

The smiling face of a sponsored child eating a warm bowl of chicken soup and a plate of rice in one of our Manila feeding centers that feeds hungry children was great to see as we visited one of our Service Area Centers in the Philippines. And it was equally rewarding to see a group of sponsored youth giving an energetic, enthusiastic presentation, proudly telling about their many activities, which include service projects, leadership training and community education. But then I was pleasantly surprised to learn about a new aspect of the sponsorship program…something of which I had not previously been aware.

We were introduced to a young man named Michael, one of the newly elected officers of the recently created CI-Manila Alumni Association (CIMAA) for former members of the international children's charity. Just formed in December, this group is comprised of graduates of our sponsorship program. I learn that the fledgling group already boasts 57 members, which include a teacher, a nurse, an architect, an art director and a call center agent. There are members who meet locally, as well as members who now live abroad and communicate with the association through an E-group. The members of the group have tasked themselves with serving as mentors – big brothers and big sisters – to the sponsored youth in their area. One of their first endeavors has been to provide job interview training for the sponsored youth who are preparing to enter the workforce. What an inspiration to see the alumni of our sponsorship program not only achieving success in their own lives – breaking the cycle of poverty – but also giving back and passing their experience and lessons learned on to our sponsored children! My guess is that we’ll see this concept continue to spread, and we’ll be hearing more about the CI alumni in the future.

Finally, as we left the Center we passed through a large crowd of very young children with their mothers, all eagerly awaiting their turn to register with our sponsorship program. Our staff, teamed with volunteer mothers of current sponsored children, was working hard to sign up this next group of needy children, who will soon become sponsored children and receive nutritious meals, grow into energetic youths and ultimately graduate and become the next teacher, or nurse, or architect.
 

 

By Garrett Kenyon

It seems like I just got home. While it’s been 10 days since we returned from the Dominican Republic, I still have clothes to wash and chores to finish. Work has been exceptionally busy as we try to capture all those little moments that escape the camera and the notebook before they disappear from memory. And while I’m here trying to put what I witnessed on my first trip with Children International into words – the world moves on. Sometimes in violent and unforeseeable ways.

Last Friday, just days after we visited, disaster struck the northern coastal areas of the Dominican Republic. Heavy rains caused rivers and streams in the regions of Gurabo and Jacagua to overflow. The surging water flooded entire communities, forcing some 12,000 people to evacuate their homes and killing at least 6 people. Thankfully, none of our sponsored children were injured in this catastrophe. But the homes of 44 sponsored children were damaged – and three of those families have had to be relocated to temporary shelter.*

When the families of sponsored children fall victim to disasters like this, they often turn to Children International for aid. Besides helping them find temporary shelter, our Emergency Fund will provide drinking water, hygiene kits, food and other essentials. Their children will continue to receive medical care and school supplies and uniforms when their classes start again. Often, our program is able to help families rebuild homes, assisting them in the purchase of building supplies. 

By Scott Cotter

Our first stop Tuesday was La Mosca. The Fly. It's a community built in the shadow of a gigantic garbage dump, where many of La Mosca's residents earn their very meager incomes as "buzos" (garbage divers).

Others who have been to La Mosca talk of the overwhelming stench and battalions of aggressive flies that crawl all over everything, including and maybe especially exposed skin. I guess we lucked out because neither were a problem during our visit with "Chilo" and her children, Gabriel and Ana Isabel.

Like so many others in the community, what little income they have is derived from what the children's father finds to sell in the mounds of garbage. And it isn't much, which has Chilo filled with anxiety. But as much as she worries about their income, she seems to be far more concerned about Ana now that she's 13. And I can understand.  In La Mosca, there are plenty of distractions and dangers for any child. But for a girl Ana's age, it's easy to fall in with the wrong crowd, leave school behind and end up married by age 14. In fact, it's commonplace.

There's some good news though. Ana and Gabriel are sponsored, which Chilo says is really helping the family, especially the health and education benefits they receive. She's also happy that Ana is involved in our Youth Program, which is working with young people in La Mosca to steer them clear of early marriage, keep them involved in positive activities and to make sure they have what they need and are motivated to stay in school. Chilo thinks it will have a positive impact. I do too.

As a side note, I'm happy to report that Evelyn, who is from our agency staff here in the DR (and has been a wonderful help), is just fine despite taking a rather nasty tumble down one of the steep hillsides in the garbage dump. She was covered in dirt from head to toe but came away laughing about what could have been far more serious.

Scott Cotter has traveled the globe reporting on our child sponsorship program. As a writer for Children International, Scott realizes there is more than one way to save a child...and one of his greatest contributions to our efforts to help children in poverty has been through the written word. Check out Scott's various feature stories on our website, children.org, and in eNews, Journeys and our other sponsorship publications. And don't forget to check back tomorrow for another blog from the CI team on the ground in the Dominican Republic!
 

By Patricia Calderón

One of the greatest satisfactions in life is giving thanks to God for blessings received, especially in the Christmas season. There are many ways of expressing gratitude, but the best of all is sharing what one has received with those who need it most.

Thanks for visiting our new blog. We hope that your new year is on its way to being one of the best. As one of the top charities for children, we strive to bring our sponsors and those interested in helping children in poverty the stories and insights they desire. And this blog is a great place to look for more insider information. For those of you familiar with our original blog format, you can still find all of our great content here - we’ve just made it better (and prettier) with a New Year’s makeover!

This new blog page has the look and feel of Children International’s homepage with a little added blog flare. You can add comments by clicking on the gray “Comments” button underneath each post, as well as read what others have to say. Give it a try and let us know what you think about our new look.

Kelly and I also have our own personal blog pages where you can read a little bit about us and see what we’ve been posting. Children International’s President, Jim Cook, will also be joining the blogging world and giving you his point of view on child sponsorship and how we help children living in poverty.

Peruse the links on the side of the screen, set up an RSS feed or even sponsor a child. We look forward to sharing even more with you through our blog. So here’s to a fabulous new year and helping even more needy children grow into healthy, educated and self-reliant adults through our child sponsorship program.