Sponsor Kids

The Help That's Hard to Talk About

Monday, November 9, 2009 by CI Staff

Sponsoring a child through Children International is so much more than a monthly contribution, a photo and a couple of letters. It’s an entire network of sponsors and dedicated field staff who really care about each and every child we serve. Javier Cárcamo, Communications Coordinator in Guatemala helps us illustrate this point:

Sponsorship provides support for diverse circumstances and needs, and sometimes, it’s the only support that families receive when they face emergencies and tragedy. When the Children International team must cover an emergency, our involvement goes far beyond just doing our jobs. In moments of uncertainty, when families are confronted with a loss, framed by despair, poverty and the anguish of not being able to do anything, Children International is there to give support and a comforting hug.

This is the case of Ludwin, a sponsored boy of just 8 years, who comes from an impoverished family. Sadly, Ludwin passed away recently due to a prolonged illness. Since the detection of his illness, Children International - Guatemala made a series of efforts to help him improve his health - exams, tests, treatments, transportation to specialized treatment centers, medicines, food. But after several months, we got the devastating news; the specialists had given Ludwin only a few weeks to live.

This information pulled at the hearts of our committed staff at the community center. A moved Field Official, Nelson Cali, realized that Ludwin would not live to see his next birthday. With great sorrow, but the intention to give Ludwin a moment of happiness amidst the inevitable, staff members took up a collection of gifts so Ludwin could celebrate his last birthday properly.

The community joined the celebration full of happy moments, yet our hearts were heavy. There were dozens of gifts, toys, stuffed animals and items of clothing. A cake with candles. A clown who donated his regular performance fee to the family. Two piñatas, only one of which Ludwin was able to break open, and candy, lots of it, which little by little got a smile out of Ludwin. Only he knew the pain that forced him to remain seated during much of the party.

They were hours of joy for Ludwin. Perhaps this was the best memory that accompanied him until his last breath when he finally could rest from his suffering, surrounded by all of his gifts in his little bed.

The help that sponsorship provides in these heartbreaking cases allows families like Ludwin’s to get support for the funeral costs, which for a poor family is an expense that is almost impossible to cover. Many sponsors and donors don’t know that their support is the only thing that the sponsored families can count on when they are confronted with these situations, and only in this way is it possible for them to provide their loved ones a dignified last goodbye.

Right now there are dozens of cases of children who are receiving specialized medical attention around the world, and in other cases for various reasons, a loss is mourned. It’s comforting to know that when facing this pain, all the sponsored families can count on Children International to offer the help that sometimes is hard to talk about.

Great News from Consumers Digest

Monday, November 2, 2009 by Jim Cook

We’re excited here at Children International about Consumers Digest having just identified us as 22nd in terms of charitable efficiency in its annual guide to charities. That puts us in some very good company given the number of charities doing great work today, and we’re very proud of that.

Consumers Digest is a widely read and well-respected publication that really provides a great service to the giving public, enabling people to make informed decisions about where to put their charitable contributions. It is one of a number of organizations that either rank or list charities.

The listings or rankings of all these organizations are necessarily based on quantitative measures; and while those are good indicators, they tell only part of the story.

The full picture is complete when one is able to see the programs in action, preferably over time. That’s when the qualitative aspects can be seen. In our case that plays out in our field locations, most of which are in other countries. There one can see the children we’re helping and how we’re helping them. The conditions in which the families live is also a valuable input to the overall picture and those conditions paint a clear picture as to why the help we’re providing is so necessary.

One of the most impressive things to me every time I travel to the field is the dedication and commitment of our field staffs. Working under often extreme and almost always adverse conditions, they do a great job day in and day out. Again, this isn’t something that lends itself to a ranking system but if it did, I humbly believe we’d be Number 1.

Another interesting measure is impact over time. I vividly remember something said to me by our field director responsible for sponsored children on islands in the Philippines…he said that while sponsorship was making a big difference in the lives of the sponsored children every day, the biggest impact was measured over time—for instance, he said, anyone really evaluating our programs should compare how people manage their health now compared to ten years prior when they were still using very primitive, ineffective cures and techniques compared to a more enlightened approach today. And all that was thanks to persistent teachings and the introduction of modern practices by our staff.

I also believe that the amount of time we are in the communities where we work is a valid program effectiveness measurement. We’ve been in many communities for nearly thirty years. I still think of our Ecuador agencies as “new” ones and we began working there in 1989—twenty years ago! That consistency of presence and service has enabled us to become part of those communities and a steadfast and dependable support for children from a young age to their graduation at age 19.

All that said, we are most appreciative of Consumers Digest’s mention of Children International. Being Number 22 is good…great, really.

But there is so much more!

Jim Cook

Staff Bio: Meet Patricia Huerta, From Guayaquil, Ecuador

Monday, October 26, 2009 by Kelly Nix

Patricia Huerta graduated from the Catholic University of Guayaquil, Ecuador with a degree in interior design. However, her early career took a very different course, leading her to work for the Canadian consulate in Guayaquil as well as serving in Human Resources and as an assistant manager at two different banks.

She and her husband welcomed a daughter…and then another. Recognizing the importance of spending time with her children, Patricia took a break from her career to become a full-time mom. But after her daughters were older, she returned to the professional world – this time to work for Children International. Although she started as the director’s assistant, in 2007 Patricia took on the challenging role of Communications Coordinator for our Guayaquil agency.

“I love visiting children and youth at their homes and to be in their neighborhoods with their special particularities and similarities,” shares Patricia. “I like to talk to them and listen to their thoughts, wishes and ideas. I feel proud when our sponsored children and youth express themselves better than many kids with better economic resources and education; maybe they're more mature because of the difficulties they face in daily life, and they do recognize and acknowledge the support CI is giving them.”

Going to the field for stories involves advance planning, particularly to secure the use of the agency vehicle and its driver – who also serves as Patricia’s bodyguard in the sometimes dangerous neighborhoods she visits. “Before an interview I go to the community center to collect the staff who will guide us to the house to be visited, sometimes the Supervisor, other times one of the assistant and in many occasions, the volunteers go with me to the houses,” she reflects. “Talking to the volunteers is the best; they're nice and they know helpful information that could lead to a good story. We visit the houses, take photos, talk to the family and go to the next house or return to the community center. If the driver doesn't have other vehicle requests, I stay in the community doing interviews, talking to children and taking more photos. I love my job!”

Sometimes the job is incredibly rewarding, as was the case when a former sponsored youth, Diego, stopped by to let the office staff know of a prize he is being awarded by the Nobis Foundation for his service when he was in the sponsorship program. And some days it’s incredibly sad…like when she got the news about a sponsored youth who lost his battle with tuberculosis. “I visited him twice, as I heard he had tuberculosis; I wanted not only to write a good story, but to know if he was taking good care of his health with the help of the Agency doctors. Unfortunately he couldn't make it and I feel so sad because he was a valuable young man whose only illusion was to return to school and to rejoin the youth group at the community center – activities he had to leave when he became ill.

“I think that bringing the stories direct from the field, and sending a photo of the reality our children and youth live in, is one of the best resources CI has to let the world know the importance of its labor to help needy children,” adds Patricia. “I feel so good when I see one of my photos published in Journeys or in other CI publication; it's like a dream come true for me.”

When It Hurts the Most

Monday, October 12, 2009 by Jim Cook

On a daily basis I hear and see things from our field staff that let me know that sponsorship is a bright spot in the lives of our children and their families. Out of everything we do, these accounts/reports make my job as Children International's president truly worthwhile.

There are times, though, when the anecdotes and images are far more difficult to digest, when something doesn't turn out for the best or, here recently, when Mother Nature roars in and takes what is most precious.

As hard as it is to imagine, Typhoon Ketsana took the life of a sponsored child - this is when it hurts the most. By presenting our sponsors with this heartfelt report from Carmelinda Carpio, our communications coordinator in Quezon City, I hope to honor the memory of those who lost their lives in these devastating storms while paying homage to our brave staff in the Philippines who were there in an instant to ease the pain of loss and provide families a bit of relief.

Eight days after losing her life to drowning from typhoon Ketsana’s flood that filled her parents’ home, sponsored child Flordeliza was finally laid to rest along with her paternal grandmother, mother, and 4 younger siblings.

From the wake to the settling of funeral dues to the burial itself, the agency was with Flordeliza’s father, Miguel, along the way to console him…especially during his darkest hours. On Sunday morning, Agency Director Lei Orioste and field officer Marilyn Samolde, who handles Flordeliza’s community, personally attended the funeral rites for all seven of the deceased and gave words of comfort to Miguel and Remedios, the lady who took care of Flordeliza and two other siblings on weekdays.

No word is enough to describe the grief that he is facing now, but Miguel appreciates every little act of concern and comfort for him.

Miguel, who during the first few days of the wake had to go out looking for financial help, was finally able to spend time with his loved ones right after the agency gave its pledge of handling his financial burden.

At the cemetery, sensing that someone had to facilitate the ceremonies and knowing that Miguel could no longer say a word, Lei Orioste told the crowd that they could pay their final respects to the deceased family. She also thanked them for coming and for showering Miguel with support. She then helped organize the burial for each coffin.

At around noon, the coffins were laid to rest beside each other. Although he couldn’t clearly express it, Miguel is thankful that his loved ones were buried close to each other.

No words of comfort can ever equal the amount of sorrow he is currently under, but at least Miguel can now move on and no longer think of where to ask for help. His family can now rest in peace and he can start rebuilding his life. According to Miguel, he will move to another place and take over his family’s old business.

The agency will continue to check on Miguel in the days to come. Our field officer will also pay him another visit during the placing of gravestones on each of his loved ones’ tombs.

Please keep our families and staff in the Philippines in your thoughts and prayers in these indescribably tough times.

- Jim

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.

A Note from Jim Regarding the Philippine Disaster

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 by Jim Cook

I thought I might contribute some information about the Philippine flood disaster. Today, after evaluating excellent assessment reports from our two agencies in Metro Manila, we have made the decision to send over $500,000 in cash and $1.6 million in badly needed supplies to provide further emergency relief and to help people begin to rebuild their lives.

This is a significant contribution that addresses similarly significant destruction caused by the flooding. Our sponsored families are disproportionately affected because they are forced to live in very marginal locations and situations. Areas that are often prone to flooding with homes not built to withstand the force of floodwaters.

I should also add how proud I/we are of the amazing efforts our staffs there have made. Within three days, under the most difficult of circumstances, they have accounted for all the sponsored children! In addition, they were there almost immediately passing out emergency supplies. One staff member reported a flood victim saying how reassuring it was to see familiar staff there with emergency supplies!

Thanks to all for your interest and support!

Jim Cook

A Life Half Emptied, Slowly Being Filled (Part 2)

Friday, September 25, 2009 by CI Staff

After Soledad’s parents traded her to a man twice her age for a bottle of moonshine, she never imagined she’d find a way to escape her misery. Then, years later, in a desperate attempt to help her kids, she discovered Children International…

Taking matters in her own hands, Soledad enrolled three of her children in Children International’s sponsorship program: 6-year-old Maritza,* 4-year-old José,* and 9-year-old Ana.* Through sponsorship, her children receive school supplies and uniforms, material support and health care.

Ana* is perhaps the luckiest. Children International covered the costs to repair a heart defect she’d had since birth. (Staff members at our Quito agency even donated blood to her when they learned there was a shortage at the local hospital.) Help like that, Soledad admits, gives her reason to believe in a better future.

“I haven’t been able to do much in my own life,” she says, “but I’m working hard so my kids can at least achieve reasonable careers – maybe not something extraordinary, but something where they can have a good life.”

She’s helping her two oldest daughters, María,* 14, and Nadia,* 12, study to be seamstresses at a school near the airport, and she hopes she’ll soon be able to make a down payment on a sewing machine so they can perfect their trade and get good jobs.

Now when Soledad looks out into the distance, she no longer sees her life disappearing before her eyes. With the support of sponsorship, she sees opportunities for her children, and that’s enough to fill her heart with hope.

*Names have been changed to protect the indentities of those mentioned.

Damon Guinn is a senior staff writer with Children International.

A Life Half Emptied, Slowly Being Filled (Part 1)

Thursday, September 24, 2009 by CI Staff

Every day glimmering jets fly past 31-year-old Soledad’s* home on a steep hillside in Quito, Ecuador. Soledad watches wistfully as the planes take flight and sail into the distance, all the while wishing that she, too, could fly away and forever flee her grim circumstances.

From her lofty vantage point, you’d think Soledad was on top of the world – but the truth is, she’s near the lowest point in her life. And she finds it hard to rise above her station.

At the tender age of 13, Soledad’s parents traded her for a bottle of moonshine. The man who acquired her – a man twice her age who calls himself her husband – has threatened to kill her if she ever leaves. He not only robbed her of her value as a human being, he immediately impregnated her, and continued to do so until the prospects of leaving were too costly to consider.

But Soledad does dream about leaving and taking her six children with her. If only she had the means. Very few landlords will rent to a single mother with more than two children, she says. So she does what any good mother would do. “I make myself struggle for the sake of the kids,” she confides.

While her husband is off getting drunk, Soledad works long hours as a maid to pay for her family’s food, utilities and $70 monthly rent. She manages to scrape together about $110 each month, but that barely covers the needs of eight people.

Still, she fights on, going so far as to challenge her husband about his lack of support. “I said if you’re the father, then help them go to school. And he said, ‘Well, they’ll go if they want, or if they won’t, they won’t.’ I’m not going to stand for that! They’re going to have school one way or another.”

*Names have been changed to protect the indentities of those mentioned.

Damon Guinn is a senior staff writer with Children International. Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of Damon's post.

Meet the Communications Coordinator from Cartagena, Colombia

Monday, September 21, 2009 by Kelly Nix

Marelvis Campo, Communications Coordinator for our child sponsorship agency in Cartagena, Colombia, has been part of the CI team for the past eight years.

Marelvis holds a degree in Journalism and Social Communication. Prior to joining Children International, she worked in radio and television in local and regional markets within Colombia. She began working for CI as an intern, but very soon, says Marelvis, “I realized this was where I needed to be; I needed to apply everything I had learned to the organization to show people the work Children International does to help the poorest and neediest children of the city.”

Children International’s Communications Coordinators (CCs) are the field correspondents who report on the stories and news items that later appear in our print and Web publications. According to Marelvis, a typical day for a CC might include visiting community centers, where they are joined by community volunteers prior to launching out into the community to visit children’s homes for photos and interviews. They walk through the neighborhoods seeking information, taking pictures, chatting with people and interviewing children and their families to gain a better understanding of how the program is impacting their lives. Then, at the end of the day, they travel back to the office and begin to compile the information they obtained to be transmitted to our writers in Kansas City.

When asked about her favorite memories of her job, Marelvis immediately speaks of working with a young girl with osteogenesis imperfecta, or Brittle Bone Disease. “In spite of her disabilities, she was able to finish grade school, and she’s close to graduating from high school,” she recalls. “When I learned of her story, I interviewed her and she told me she dreamed of having a computer so she could do her homework. I shared her wish with a friend who works for a local newspaper. Stirred by this girl’s efforts and by her mother’s great love for her, my friend wrote a special Mother’s Day feature about the girl’s mother. As a result, a kind reader donated a computer for the girl so her wish could come true.

“One very special moment for me,” reflects Marelvis, “was when I realized that even small efforts mean a great deal to the people for whom we work.”

From Lows to Highs in Ecuador

Thursday, August 20, 2009 by CI Staff

Forgive me if this post is a little long, but it’s after midnight, and I’m still reeling from a broken heart...

After two hectic days of interviewing sponsored children and families in Guayaquil, and encountering the extreme poverty faced by families there, my colleagues and I packed up our gear and headed to Quito. Now here I sit, at 2:00 in the morning – thousands of feet higher and several degrees cooler – trying to condense the intense emotions I’m feeling into a few meager paragraphs.

Our first day in Quito was supposed to be light. But that wasn’t to be. Before I could even acclimate to the altitude, the first interview of the day took my breath away.

Driving high up into a hillside neighborhood named La Colmena, or “The Beehive,” because of the clusters of poor families who live together in single buildings stacked like honeycombs, I was startled by the contrast to the homes we’d just visited in the low-lying river region of Guayaquil. Whereas impoverished families in Guayaquil typically live in split-cane shacks perched over dusty roads, those in Quito mainly occupy concrete tenements that cling to steep slopes that swarm with traffic. And it was there that we met 10-year-old Jessica.

Fellow writer Deron Denton and I wanted to interview Jessica because she had recently received one of the wheelchairs a group called Free Wheelchair Mission donated to sponsored children with disabilities, and we were curious to know how it was helping her get along. Our answer waited at the top of a dizzying set of narrow stone stairs that led to a claustrophobic, attic-like apartment Jessica shares with her petite grandmother, Doña Carmen.

Despite the steep surroundings, Jessica’s grandmother, 63 and barely five feet tall, used to carry her granddaughter up and down the hills to school and physical therapy every day. Pushing the wheelchair wasn’t much easier, she said, but it gave Jessica freedom to move around at school without someone to support her. When we asked who helped Jessica up the stairs to the house, the room grew quiet.

Jessica’s mother had passed away and her father, Juan Luis, had mysteriously disappeared a few months earlier, explained Doña Carmen. The police searched for him but to no avail. All she and her granddaughter could do was wait and worry about his safety.

That’s when Jessica got up and stumbled into her bedroom to show us the picture her father had drawn for her. A big smile flashed across her face as she told us what a good artist he is, but her smile turned to grief as the thought of his absence brought tears to her eyes. When I asked her what her father last said to her, all the heartache she’d been bottling up inside came rushing out in a wave of tears. Two staff members, Maria and Cecilia, rushed to her side and took her in their arms while Deron and I furiously wiped away the tears from our own eyes.

The pain of Jessica’s loss filled the room as we desperately tried to console her. And yet thanks to Maria’s and Cecilia’s kindheartedness and expert reassurance, Jessica’s smile soon returned, and she was able to find comfort in the pink sunglasses we gave her as a gift.

And now, as I sit here typing this post, bleary-eyed and heartbroken, straining to imagine a happy ending, there’s no doubt in my mind that Jessica’s loss would be unbearable if she didn’t have sponsorship to connect her with people who love and care for her. Because even at those times when life can’t seem to sink any lower, the spirit of a young girl like Jessica can still soar to new heights if you and I are there to lift her up.

By Damon Guinn. Photo by Children International Communications Coordinator in Quito, Ecuador, Cecilia Carrión.

On the Ground in Ecuador: Revisiting Reality

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 by CI Staff

As a former Communications Coordinator for Children International in the Dominican Republic and coming from a poor family myself, I thought I knew everything there was to know about extreme poverty; and, therefore, that it wouldn’t affect me all that much to see once again the way sponsored families live. Until now, that is...when I had the opportunity to travel to Ecuador with some staff members from Children International. It was a trip that made me face once again the reality of living in extreme poverty.

I was very moved by some of the stories of the families that we visited during our first trip to the field in Guayaquil.

I saw very nice people trying to make ends meet out of very little. We met families with sponsored children that have serious health conditions; families that survive day by day with only the bare minimum; volunteer mothers who care about their communities and believe in the sponsorship program; sponsored youth who have a chance to step up and build a better future for themselves and their families; and sponsored children have faith in their sponsors’ contributions.

We also confronted the reality that there is a lot more to be done for these families. I realized that yes, there are differences among countries, cultures, food and ethnicities; but there is also a common reality that they all face: they desperately need help. But despite the sadness of these situations, I noticed that the families we visited were always so grateful for the little they have, always with a smile on their faces, always welcoming and trying to accommodate us and make us feel comfortable in their tiny houses. It was a valuable lesson that made me think about how much we have, and how sad sometimes people's lives can be...

I was also very impressed at how the staff interacted with the sponsored families, always trying to get the best interview, the best picture, and the best story. And I was happy to know that with the support of Children International’s programs and their sponsors’ contributions, these families have at least some of their needs covered.

I am so glad for this great opportunity and for experiencing for myself – this time as a visitor – how amazing, helpful (and sometimes life-saving) is the support that Children International provides to the sponsored families. This is, without a doubt, a sponsorship program in which I personally believe.

Vilma Nebel, a former Communications Coordinator for Children International in the Dominican Republic, is traveling with the CI team in Ecuador. Check back tomorrow for an update from Senior Staff Writer Damon Guinn.

The Return of Supergringo (Part 2)

Monday, August 17, 2009 by CI Staff

Only 13 at the time, Walter Mendoza had been hit by a garbage truck on the streets of Guayaquil and had awakened from a coma unable to walk or talk. Confined to a wheelchair that was all but useless on the steep, craggy dirt streets of his barrio, Walter found himself in a strange new world – incapable of functioning without another caring soul to direct his every move. I felt like I could relate, if only a little.

Lucky for Walter, and a hapless gringo like me, Raul Yunga was there to lead the way. As the veteran staff driver for the Guayaquil agency, Raul showed up every week after Walter’s accident to take him to physical and speech therapy and provide moral support. The two became fast friends, and as a result of Raul’s guidance, Walter now stands on his own two feet.

I can’t wait to ask Walter about the recovery he’s made when I meet him in person again today. And I hope Raul will be there to escort us to his young friend’s home and relive the memories. It’ll be a great way to kick off a return visit to Ecuador.

And this time, as I sit in the hotel lounge and read what Walter himself has to say about the help he’s received through sponsorship, I’ll take comfort in the fact that even when we feel vulnerable and alone, with the right support and determination, we can all stand tall. Right, Frank...

“For what is a man, what has he got?/ If not himself, then he has naught./ To say the things he truly feels;/…The record shows I took the blows/ And did it my way!”

***

Read the original article about Walter’s accident and the help he received from Raul and the sponsorship program.

Damon Guinn is a senior staff writer with Children International. Check back every day this week for updates from the team that is currently on the ground in Ecuador.

A Dream Come True

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 by CI Staff

In case you hadn’t guessed, International Youth Day activities are in full swing at the United Nations in New York, and eleven of Children International’s sponsored youth are in attendance. This is José Enrrique, our delegate from the Dominican Republic:

"I am very excited about this trip to New York. For me it's a dream come true. This is a unique and special trip because not everyone can have this opportunity that I have. They chose me because I have shown my dedication. I am a very lucky person.

My family supports me a lot, and they give me the confidence to do it well. I have a lot to share about the environment and the youth in my country. I'm going with an open mind, so that I can learn from others. I am very excited."

Check out our latest youth slideshow, “Bridging the Gap”.

Speaking for Youth

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 by CI Staff

Sponsored youth, Ranjit Jana will be giving a speech at the United Nation's International Youth Day. Here is a little snippet:

Being part of the Youth Health Corps has afforded me many advantages – confidence and education and especially this trip and honor to represent Sahay at the United Nations. But only a few months back there was a disaster called cyclone ‘Aila’, which affected our village. My family’s farm was flooded and poisoned by the cyclone’s salt water. Children International extended maximum support to our community, and on behalf of my community members I would like to express my gratitude and thanks towards Children International. My sponsor has sent a special donation to seek other means to support ourselves in the meantime. I hope I am making my youth council proud! There is so much I have seen that I can’t believe. Thank you for the experience. It has already changed my life forever.

Ranjit, center, with members of his local Youth Program in India.

Children International's Youth Program

Friday, July 31, 2009 by CI Staff

Next week our sponsored youth delegates will be at the United Nations in New York for International Youth Day. Melvin Yubal, our delegate from the Philippines expresses what the Youth Program means to him:

The Youth Program is very important. It achieves a lot purposes. The youth program develops us. It gives us the chance to use of our talents and skills. In the program, we learn how to create, share our time and talents and nurture friendships. We learn to work together. We come to know a lot of information we can use when we are in difficult situations. The youth program functions as a support group too for those who want to change. This is also a venue for us to be involved in doing our share in addressing the issues that confront our fellow youth. All in all, the youth program accompanies young people in the process of growth.

Melvin leads a workshop for the Youth Program.

Photo by Joel Abelinde, Communications Coordinator for Children International in Manila, Philippines.

Sponsors Support Needy Children and One Another

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 by Sarah Trapp

When Kelly and I started Children International’s Google Group, we knew it would be a great place for sponsors to get together and share ideas. But slowly it has evolved into something more – a group of friends who support one another ... and each other’s sponsored children as well.

The sponsors on the group share the stories of their sponsored children and the needs they face. Reading the stories and seeing an opportunity to help even more, sponsors set up fundraising projects, and the results have been pretty amazing. Some of the smaller projects funded include fundraisers for beds, food, school items, tuition, nutritional supplements and clothing. Sponsors have also raised money for Income Generating Projects which allow families to start up businesses to help them break free from poverty. As sponsor and fundraiser organizer, Heather puts it, “We are working as a group to change the lives of many families.”

These smaller projects understandably get funded much faster than the larger ones, but they are all so worthwhile. Currently Heather and company are working to build homes for two families living in poverty. You may even recognize them from past articles from Children International. First is the Mulangu Family in Zambia, a family of orphans who live in a borrowed home with the constant threat of eviction. The other is Jenie, a sweet little girl in the Philippines who lives under a bridge with her family alongside drug dealers and gangs. With the help of the fundraisers, both families can have the joy of a modest, but safe home.

If you would like to help with any of the group’s ongoing projects or see photos of the difference these fundraisers have made, please visit http://makeachangemac.webs.com/. Pages like these are just one more reason that I know Children International's sponsors are the greatest.

H.O.G. for Kids Rolls into Kansas City

Monday, July 27, 2009 by Sarah Trapp

We’re in for a special treat today at Children International’s world headquarters. Professional photographer and Children International sponsor, Gustavo Fernandez, is making a stop in Kansas City on his cross-country motorcycle ride to help needy children through Children International. He calls the program H.O.G.® For Kids.

Gustavo is making stops in cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York taking pictures of children and asking their families to sponsor a child in the Dominican Republic like he does. His goal is to find sponsors for 50 children living in poverty, and we support him whole hog! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Visit Gustavo’s cool H.O.G. for Kids homepage to see more of his photographs, see where he’s been and learn more about his mission.

Gustavo with his sponsored child Erica and her mother, Santa, in the Dominican Republic.

A Sponsored Youth's Point of View

Friday, July 24, 2009 by CI Staff

Each year our Communications Coordinator in Guatemala, Javier Cárcamo, trains a new batch of youth reporters to write stories, conduct interviews and take photos and video. Here, 17 year-old youth reporter Edwin Canac Tzaj shares what life is like in his rural community and how sponsorship is giving him an opportunity he never thought he would have.

My community is a small and hidden place. We live at the base of a hill and all of the neighbors are happy, but you always have a desire to have a better life. Even though we are happy, it’s kind of difficult to live here, because there isn’t any work. Some farmers give work to day laborers so they can support their families, but there isn’t enough work for everyone. Some only find work in other villages, so they have to go far away early in the morning and they come home even more tired.

The women help their husbands working in the fields cutting peas and lettuce, and some just do whatever work they can find each day in the markets or at construction sites. Every morning the sun rises and women weave their güipils (a traditional Mayan blouse) to sell, although many women work in the fields too, carrying their babies on their backs.

Even still, life here is beautiful, but everyone hopes to have happier lives with good futures for their children and to be able to enjoy the weekends at church or just taking a walk around town.

Poverty in my community is due to the fact that there aren’t any good salaries or jobs. And that’s why many people can’t afford to send their children to school, much less give youth like us higher education - like my siblings and me, for example. Our parents don’t have any way to support us, although they have always tried very hard. But sometimes it’s been difficult to keep studying. I know we have to struggle and work for our futures, because many desperate youth have thrown themselves into vice, because they have no work, nor the love of a mother or father, or anyone to support them.

But sponsorship in my community is something that makes things different for many families. In my community there are more than 100 sponsored children and youth, and that has helped us to improve ourselves and have a greater possibility of becoming better people. I am very thankful to all of you, because you have lovingly given us help, and that is such a benefit for each household. You have helped us with school supplies and personal items.

Now that I have the opportunity to be a Youth Reporter, I feel even better about myself, because now I can communicate my community’s feelings. And this is something I never dreamed of before, because it used to be very hard for me to speak Spanish, because I speak an indigenous language. But thanks to the opportunity to go to school, I can write this –although I still get a little nervous. I am learning to take photos and talk to people without feeling embarrassed. And I’m really happy about that, and I’m very satisfied being sponsored by Children International. That’s why I wish you all success in each and everything you do each day.

Guatemala's Youth Reporters

Did you like this story? Want more? Send us a comment, and let us know. We’ll be sure to make this a regular feature.

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!

Setting an Example through Sponsorship

Friday, July 10, 2009 by CI Staff

It is both rewarding and encouraging to stop and think about what we are doing for world communities. We help poor families obtain access to essential needs such as nutrition, health services, education and leadership skills, to name a few.

This is a blessing for those families, and the smiles of thousands of children and the teary eyes of grateful mothers attest to this unwaveringly. However another important thing we do which we should be proud of is set an example for others. We uphold this work and have fought hard through challenging times that call for perseverance, patience, temperance, good will and faith. Our work continues with the support of many that have come to appreciate what we do and what this requires.

Interacting with a child in Kolkata (Calcutta), India.

We may not immediately see the impact we make since the seed we sow takes time to germinate, but we can certainly observe the seed that has already germinated which is the fruit of the labor of many started years ago. An example set years ago.

Our work and impact is visible and it speaks of what we as brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, friends and family should do to make the sun shine brightly upon the faces of many who do not have the benefits we have.

I too have taken up this cause with the sponsorship of Marlon, from Quito, Ecuador. I started sponsoring him on October 9, 2006. He is now 8 years old and lives with his mother. He also has two older brothers, Raul (17) and Enrique (18).

Rafael's sponsored child, Marlon, shared the visit to India by photo.

It has been rewarding to be able to provide his family with a range of amenities, from bags of rice to toys, blankets, water bottles, clothing, furniture and home improvements. These are the things that leave an impact and that tell a growing child that there is hope and that others do care.

Let us continue to be a shining beacon; let us continue to be an example; let us continue to rejoice as we see others taking up this cause as they start to see what this is all about...setting a good example for others to follow. One which aims to provide a better future for many – one with good employment opportunities, strong self-worth, the indelible touch of those who cared and the passion to continue to shine for others.

By Rafael Chelli
Bilingual Program Coordinator
Children International