Child Sponsor Program

Take a Picture. It'll Last Longer.

Monday, November 16, 2009 by Sarah Trapp

That's exactly what our Communications Coordinators do every day. We get awesome photos in from them all the time, but unfortunately, there's no way we can use all of them. No need to let them go to waste! Here are some of the latest and greatest they've submitted.

Our Lusaka, Zambia community centers offer sponsored children medical and dental care, school tutoring and balanced meals, but many times, kids just come to hang out with their friends. I chose this photo not just because of the kids' smiling faces, but because of what they're watching on TV. Made me chuckle.

Volunteer mother Patricia Cuascota was leading Quito Communications Coordinator, Cecilia Carrión, around the neighborhood to take photos when she got a call that her daughter had fallen and hurt herself. She apologized profusely to Cecelia for not being able to continue the tour as she said turned to go home. No wonder Cecilia named this photo "Volunteering is an act of generosity."

Kids in our feeding program in Quezon City, Philippines aren't afraid to dig in! Photo by Carmie Carpio.

Patricia Calderón, Communications Coordinator in Barranquilla, Colombia couldn't help but snap a photo of cousins Andrea and Cheli. "They caught my attention when I found them coming back from running an errand, holding hands as if they were taking care of each other. They were wearing their uniforms and ready to go to school," Patricia says.

When Communication's Coordinator, Nivedita (Neenee) Moitra, takes her camera out into the neighborhoods of Kolkata, India, everyone wants to be in the picture.

Recovery Efforts Continue in the Philippines

Friday, October 9, 2009 by Kelly Nix

Children and families in the Philippines are still struggling to recover a measure of normalcy in the wake of typhoons Ketsana and Parma.

Staff from Children International’s Manila and Quezon City child sponsorship agencies continue to carry out disaster relief efforts – an overwhelming challenge due to the enormity of the losses, which, sadly, include the lives of a sponsored child and most of her family.

Manila Agency Director Cynthia Tiotuyco visits with flood victims.

Two top-priority efforts are food relief and medical assistance. Thousands of dollars of food items have been distributed to affected families, and thanks to the generosity of a local drug manufacturing company, children and families have also benefited from the donation of thousands of dollars in medicine.

Staff works to keep families healthy despite difficult circumstances.

Preparing to distribute emergency food supplies.

Our agencies are also helping with in other ways. Families who lost everything they owned are receiving help with materials to repair their houses; additionally, many children and families are receiving items like blankets, clothing, footwear and – of critical importance – school uniforms and supplies, so no more time is lost from school than is absolutely necessary.

Replacing children's lost or damaged school supplies is critical.

We are looking at ways to make life safer for families in the future. Our agency staff is working with local government officials to identify more secure sites for settlements that, prior to the typhoons, were located in flood-prone areas such as riverbanks and sewage canals. The agencies have also registered with the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs and the National Disaster Coordinating Council to ensure all relief efforts meet international and national standards.

Grateful children smile after receiving emergency rations.

Our sponsored youth are no less involved. Local Children International youth council members are working to launch preventative education efforts to address issues like improper garbage disposal, which has been identified as one of the factors that contributed to the widespread flooding during the typhoons.

Please check back Monday for a special message from Children International President Jim Cook.

Photos by Children International's staff in the Philippines.

Hog for Kids: Helping Needy Children

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 by Sarah Trapp

Gustavo Fernandez made a pit stop at Children International's headquarters to discuss his Hog for Kids program which benefits children living in poverty in the Dominican Republic.

Thanks for your generosity and for taking time out of your day to hang out with Children International's staff, Gustavo! What a cool way to make a difference in the lives of children.

Got a Plan to Help Needy Children?

Monday, July 13, 2009 by Jim Cook

We’ve recently been doing strategic planning at Children International. I think maybe this is the longest strategic planning process ever experienced by an organization as we began it about ten months ago! Shortly after we began “thinking strategically” way back then, the economic world as we all knew it changed dramatically. And not for the good, in case I need to add that.

And so, rather than try to craft a plan that would take us out the next five to ten years during a time when the playing field was shifting violently, we decided it would be prudent to take our time and keep our eyes on the horizon while not ignoring that big, nasty wave that was about ready to crash over the ship!

And we’ve succeeded in that pretty well, having come up with a pretty sound preliminary plan draft that has the goal of helping more children, better. And obtaining more contributions from more sources to make that happen. Our commitment to one-on-one sponsorship is stronger than ever.

And because of that, many of our strategic goals surround the objective of making the sponsorship experience even more gratifying and enriched for our sponsors, as I have always been committed to rewarding the generosity and commitment they demonstrate with their selfless acts of support for their sponsored children month in and month out.

A very good way of delivering and enhancing that personal sponsorship connection is through the Internet and our site at www.children.org. If you’re reading this blog, you “get” that. But my concern is that a lot of our sponsors don’t, for reasons that no doubt run the gamut, but the fact is, they don’t visit the website where they could enhance and deepen the sponsorship experience through the many opportunities it offers.

Our website has constantly expanded and improved over the past few months and years and, as I hope you agree, has a lot to offer. Even as you read this, we’re hard at work to make it more content-laden, and to take advantage of new and better technology so sponsors can have better information sooner about their sponsored children and the communities where they live—in short, to make visits to the site an even more exciting, texture-rich experience that sponsors want to enjoy often!

Beyond the sponsor’s own experience, a benefit of their greater involvement via the website is, we hope, more and easier advocacy which translates directly into more children being reached through sponsorship. Our challenge, then, is to somehow get as many sponsors as we can to visit www.children.org on a regular basis. Their increased involvement that way can only result in good things for them and for children out there on the waiting list!

If you, our blogging family, have any thoughts about how to better engage sponsors and contributors on www.children.org, we’re very receptive to weave your ideas into our strategies!

CI Google Group Members Take the Cake

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 by Sarah Trapp

And they send it too! Not an hour ago, I got paged to the front desk. Was I in trouble? Who could possible want to talk to me? But when I got there a big, sugary surprise was waiting.

Children International’s Google Group has really taken off this year, and our members amaze me continually with their generosity and dedication to the sponsorship program. Recently on the Google Group, sponsor Steve Hogan announced his plans to travel to Chile to visit his sponsored girls, and extended an invitation to fellow group members. He graciously offered to meet with and take pictures of their sponsored children in Chile. Many took him up on the offer too.

So why the cake? Well, our staff in Chile organized a little party for all of the sponsored kids who were making the journey to our community center to see Steve. Naturally, our Google Group members were touched by the thoughtfulness of our Chile staff and Lori Kays, our sponsor visit coordinator. When this post from sponsor Stephanie came across my email screen this morning, I was definitely curious:

I've cooked up a surprise as a thank you to CI for throwing a party for our kids in Chile and for working so hard to make sure that they can meet with Steve. I think it's going to be a great day for the children and I hope the surprise will make day the day fun for CI as well. :) So any CI people reading this....Shhhhhhhh! Don't spill the beans!

“Oh, I can keep a secret,” I smugly thought to myself. Little did I know that this fabulous cake was on its way to our headquarters!

Sarah Trapp - Google Group moderator, Greg Jones - Sponsor Services Representative and Lori Kays, Sponsor Visit Coordinator pose with the cake.

This gesture is just one more reason why I know that Children International sponsors are the best. Thanks for the cake and for everything you do for your special needy children...Now guess what I (and many other staff members) are having for lunch?

To join Children International’s Google Group and interact with our wonderful sponsors, please visit our group.

Meet Paul Hooper

Friday, April 17, 2009 by Kelly Nix

Born to parents who were among the earliest Peace Corps volunteers sent out by President Kennedy, working as Regional Director for CI’s child sponsorship program in the Africa Region comes naturally to Paul Hooper.

Paul stands in front of the Nile River during a visit to Uganda, Africa.

Paul holds an International MBA and spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer serving impoverished communities in Latin America. His wife, Julie, who works as a marketing manager for Children International, is also a veteran of the Peace Corps.

Recently, Paul shared with me one of the defining moments in his career:

“A couple of years ago I happened to be in Zambia when a young girl named Tina was being treated for a rare form of cancer. Our local staff had taken her to see every specialist possible, and they all concluded that she would need an operation to remove a large tumor from her belly, but that there was virtually no chance of her surviving the surgery. I visited Tina in her humble home one afternoon and took her a load of groceries that her sponsor had paid for and some candy valentine hearts – the kind with the little messages on them. She pulled one out of the box and asked me what it said. I told her it said “You’re Special”. Her sunken eyes lit up and she started to beam with pride. Tina died a week later.

The generosity of her sponsor brought a little joy to Tina's last days.

Without CI Tina’s final days would have been spent alone and hidden in shame from her neighbors. But thanks to CI, Tina died knowing that she was special and that someone out there, someone she never met, cared dearly for her.”

Netting a Profit: Special Donation Changes Lives in India

Thursday, April 2, 2009 by Kelly Nix

Take a trip back into the Children International video archives to learn how a generous charitable donation from a single child's sponsor made a difference in the lives of six families and their children living in poverty in India -- and helped them start netting a profit.

Update: René Gets His Hug

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 by Sarah Trapp

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.

A Note from Garrett

Friday, March 27, 2009 by CI Staff

Dear Sponsors,

As the pillars of international commerce shiver and quake and the tremors spread throughout the world, billions of people are being forced to rethink their finances. We have entered an international period of belt-tightening the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades. Unfortunately, the people inevitably hurt the most from this trend are those at the bottom. The one’s for whom dropping their standard of living means going without the essentials of life. Every day we hear from people who feel they need to drop their sponsorships to save money. We know it’s not an easy decision, and it’s always a sad occasion to have to tell a child they’ve lost their sponsor.

Fortunately, we also receive letters from people telling us how, when money got particularly tight, sponsorship became an even more essential part of their life. How their own financial hardships only strengthened their commitment to their children. We need to hear stories like these. They give us hope in a time when each day seems to carry more bad news.

Soon, we will be posting a story on our homepage, written by one of you, about how you’ve been able to hang on to your sponsorship despite these difficult times. If you have something to share on the subject, please send your stories and comments to gkenyon@children.org. Your entry might be chosen to appear on our website, where your words could inspire thousands of other sponsors to recommit to helping the children we serve.

As always, we appreciate your generosity and the selfless devotion you show to your sponsored children.

Sincerely,
Garrett Kenyon
Children International

Easter Gifts That Change Lives

Monday, March 16, 2009 by Kelly Nix

You've most likely heard from us in recent weeks, as we contacted all of our sponsors to enlist their help with this year's Easter gifts for sponsored children.

Although not all countries where we work celebrate Easter the same as it is celebrated in America, this day has taken on special significance for them through Children International. That's due to the generosity of our sponsors, who provide them every year with gifts that, though simple, really make a difference in their lives.

In many countries our Easter gift consists of school uniforms, supplies or shoes. These are items that are essential, as often children are not allowed to attend school without them. This can pose real problems for parents who are so desperately poor that buying school supplies can mean not being able to buy food for the family. One mom in the Dominican Republic wept as her daughter received her Easter gift, saying, "Now my daughter can go to school with decent clothes."

So...from us to you...thanks. Easter is just another example of your generosity, and we -- and hundreds of thousands of sponsored children -- sincerely appreciate it.

Children International's sponsorship program provides essential items for children living in poverty. Please visit our website, www.children.org, for more information on how you can help needy children.