This is Padmashree. She's eleven years old and lives in India. Her family, which includes her father (a day laborer), her mother (a maid), and her two older sisters, who are 12 and 15, lives on about $43 a month. They live in two rooms with mud floors and a tile roof, cook using a wood-burning stove, and sleep on wooden beds. I am sponsoring Padmashree through Children International.
At first I was a little skeptical about sponsoring a child, but I did my research and found that Children International does exactly what it promises- helps extremely poor children around the world by providing them with material needs, education, and health care. I decided to sponsor a child. Actually, I want to sponsor about 100 children, but right now one is all I can afford! Maybe in the future I'll be able to add one or more others, but we will have to wait and see.
I chose to sponsor a child from India because, to be honest, I don't know too terribly much about the country, and I want to learn. I'm already reading lots of articles and web sites and books about India! I wanted to sponsor a girl because, as a young woman, I think I will relate better to a girl and be a stronger role model.
I've already written one little letter to Padmashree. I used the letter-writing feature on the CI website, which is a feature that I love, by the way. I didn't have any photos ready to send to her, but next time I write I plan to send her some photos of myself, my husband, our cats, and the area around our house.
