Hungry Children

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.