Children International is Amazing!

Meet my newest (and, I swear, last for now) sponsored child, Jazmin E, from Ecuador!

Jazmin is 13 years old, and will turn 14 on Jan 15, 2011. What drew me to Jazmin in the first place was the fact that she's athletic- her favorite pastime is playing soccer! I was a soccer player when I was a child and teenager, and it's still my favorite sport. I see a lot of boys who list soccer as their favorite pastime, but few girls, so that made Jazmin stick out for me. In fact, she stuck in my mind so much that I checked the CI (Children International) website daily to see if she'd been sponsored.

One day, Jazmin's photo was no longer available on the CI website. I thought, fantastic! Someone has sponsored her! However, a couple of days ago I learned that just because a child is no longer available through the website, doesn't mean that they've been sponsored. The children are rotated off and on the website on a regular basis.

I didn't have Jazmin's ID number- only her first name, approximate age, and country, as well as a dead link to her CI "profile". I sent CI an email asking for help- could they tell me if Jazmin was sponsored? And if she wasn't, could they please sign me up as her new sponsor? I wasn't sure they'd even be able to help me, since I didn't have her ID number or birthday and just generally had so little information about her. (Someone later pointed out to me that because I had the dead link, I did have the ID number, because the ID number is contained in each link. But I didn't know that at the time. I thought it was semi-hopeless.)

Less than 24 hours later, I received an email from CI. I am now Jazmin's sponsor! I am so happy, and so thankful that CI was able to do this for me, despite the limited information I gave them. I love this organization!

Samuel Through The Years

This is the first photo in Samuel's file. He's six years old here. The photo was taken 4/11/2003.

Samuel just a few days after his seventh birthday, 2003.

Samuel, age 7, 2004.

Samuel, age 8, 2005.

Samuel, age 9, 2006.

Samuel, age 10, 2007.

Samuel, the day after his eleventh birthday, 2007.

Samuel, age 11, almost 12.

Samuel in October 2009, when he was 12 years old (just about to turn 13)!

And finally, the most recent photo I have of Samuel, dated 6/22/10. Samuel is 13 in this picture.

Postcards to My Sponsored Kids

I bought a whole bunch of Washington, DC (my city!) postcards to send to my sponsored kids. I realized I want to keep a record of my letters to them, as well as of course keeping the letters from them. So here it is for, well, me and whoever else cares, ha ha: my first correspondence with my sponsored kids.

Padmashree (Jefferson Memorial with cherry blossoms)
Dear Padmashree,
I received your nice letter. Thank you! I am glad you and your family are well. It's fun to ride a bicycle, isn't it? [She mentioned learning to ride a bike in her welcome letter to me.] I enjoy it too. This postcard is of the Jefferson Memorial, in Washington, DC, which is near my home. The cherry blossoms bloom in spring and we have a festival. It is beautiful. I think of you often and hope you are doing well in school and are happy and healthy. Your sponsor and friend, Nicole A[lastname]

Egda (Washington Monument with cherry blossoms)
Dear Egda,
I hope you had a happy birthday! Did you get my card with stickers? Are you happy to be seven now? I thought of you on your birthday. What grade are you in at school? I hope you enjoy school. I did when I was your age. I hope your family is well. My family is all well. What is your favorite color? Mine are orange and blue. Do you like soccer? I do very much. I also like to read and write. I think of you often and hope you are healthy and happy. Your sponsor and friend, Nicole A[lastname]

Hachita (Lincoln and Washington monuments with brilliant orange sunset)
Dear Hachita,
Hello! I hope you and your family are well. I and my family are very well. It is summer here and very hot. I enjoy the weather. I do not like the cold or snow that comes in winter. What kind of weather do you like? Here is some more about me. I live with my husband, Adam. I love to read and write poems. I like to do things outdoors, too. My favorite colors are orange and blue. My favorite sport is soccer. I have one brother, Eric. He is 22 years old. In school my favorite classes were languages. I am so happy to be your sponsor. I think of you often.
Nicole [lastname]

Francisco (Smithsonian "Castle" with bright flowers)
Dear Francisco,
Hi! I am Nicole, one of your sponsors. [This is the boy I'm part of a group sponsorship of.] I want to say I am very happy to be one of your sponsors. I think of you often and hope you are healthy and happy. What grade are you in? I hope you enjoy school. I did when I was your age. I love soccer, too. We have that in common. Hablo un poquito espanol, tambien. Adios!
Nicole [lastname]

Samuel (Capitol Dome and Washington Monument with fireworks)
Dear Samuel,
Hi! I hope you and your family are well. We are fine here. My name is Nicole and I am your new sponsor. I live near Washington, DC, the capitol of the USA. This is a picture of our fireworks which we have every Independence Day, July 4. What grade are you in? Do you live in a village or a city? I live in a village near the city. I think of you often. Study hard, be healthy and happy!
Your sponsor, Nicole [lastname]

My first letter to Padmashree

This is the first letter I wrote to Padmashree, my sponsored child from India. I wrote it online- Children International has a cool feature where you can log into your account and write a letter to your child online. The letter gets sent to the child's field office, where it's printed and translated for the child. Isn't that cool? Anyway, this is my first letter, dated May 13, 2010.


Dear Padmashree,
Hello! How are you? I hope you and your family are well. My name is Nicole and I am your new sponsor. I live near Washington, DC, the capitol of the USA. I don't live in the city, though. I live in a house near the woods. I like where I live because the woods are very pretty and there is a river nearby. Deer, birds, and squirrels come to our yard and they are nice to watch.I live with my husband, Adam, and our pets. We have two cats and a guinea pig. The cats are named Boogles and PK and the guinea pig is called Quinn. I will send you some pictures so you can see them!In my free time I like to write poems, read books, spend time outside, swim, and play music.I am very happy to be your sponsor and I'd love to learn about you and your family and where you live!
Yours truly,
Nicole A[lastname]

Samuel

The nice people at Children International have already added Samuel to my online account, which means that I don't have to wait for the sponsorship packet to come in the mail, but can check out his family report online!
I had some things wrong in the previous post: Samuel doesn't have 5 siblings- he has SEVEN. Also, his favorite pastimes are playing with friends and siblings, and playing with jacks, as well as dancing and singing. I don't know where I got sports from.
Samuel's parents are both deceased. I asked for more information about Samuel's living situation, but CI wasn't able to give it to me. I know he lives with his seven siblings- his brother Anthony, 22, and six sisters: Teresita, 27; Melissa, 20; Marife, 17; Angela, 15; Teresa, 11; and Glecie M, 10. I don't know if any other adults live in the house, or if it's just the siblings on their own. I do know the family income is only $65 a month- that works out to just over $8 per person, per month. Less, if there are more family members living in the household that I don't know about.
The home is a single room, with corrugated metal walls and roof. The floor is concrete, and the floor (with a mat) is where Samuel sleeps. There are two beds in the home but he doesn't use either of them. They use a private well for water, a latrine for sanitation, and electricity is available, but the family can't afford it.
Samuel goes to school- I don't know what grade he's in yet- but his favorite subjects are art and languages.
This past weekend I picked up a bunch of postcards with scenes of Washington, DC on them. (I live in a suburb of DC). I'm going to send one to each of my sponsored kids- I think they'll like them!

A Decision

Today, I made a decision I've been thinking about for a long time. Today's the day I decided to quit smoking. I've quit in the past, sometimes for months at a time, but I always started back up again. This time it's going to be different. This time I have incentives. If you look to the left you'll see my first incentive.
His name is Samuel, and he's from the Phillipines. He's my fifth sponsored child. I just took on his sponsorship today, after making my decision to STOP buying cigarettes. I did a little math- my brand of cigarettes is over $7 a pack. I smoke about half a pack a day. That's over $100 per month that I spend on cigarettes!
That's a totally unnecessary expense, and I could be using that money for so many other things! I decided to sponsor at least one more child with the money I would otherwise be spending on smoking, because then, when I'm temped to smoke, I can look at the photo of my child and think "You're WAY more important to me than a cigarette is."
So, meet Samuel. More information about him in a few days- I know only a little bit about him so far. I know he was born on Oct. 17 (we share a birthday), and I believe he is 13 years old. I know he lives in the Phillipines but I don't know in what area, and I know he lives with relatives other than his parents but I don't know who, or where his parents are. I also know that he has 5 siblings and he enjoys playing sports.

Francisco De Jesus

Meet Francisco! He's a child I'm part of a group sponsorship for. We sponsor Francisco through Children International.
Francisco lives in Cartagena, Colombia, with his mother, a homemaker, his sister Evelyn Paola, 9, and his little brother Samy Alberto, 2. His mother is expecting another baby as well. The father does not live with the family- he abandoned them. The family's income is just $50.00 a month.
Francisco is 7, and will be 8 on October 27. He attends school, where his favorite subject is Art. He also likes to play soccer. His chores are running errands, and he also likes to draw.
Francisco lives with his mother, siblings, and several other family members in a tiny wood home with a metal roof and a dirt floor. There is a kitchen, a bathroom, and one bedroom in the home. The home has running water and an indoor toilet, and electricity use is regulated. (This means that they have an electric meter, and therefore can control the amount of electricity they pay for.) They cook on an electric burner.

I'm very excited to do this group sponsorship, because I've never done one before. I am pretty much at the point where I can't afford to sponsor another child all on my own, but doing this group sponsorship will give another child some greatly needed help in his life.

My First Letter from Padmashree!

I just got my first letter (Child Welcome) from Padmashree! It's written in beautiful Bengali script and reads:

"Dear Sponsor, I send you my love and regards. I hope you all are well. We are all fine. I am doing well in studies. I study in grade 7. I also play hide and seek with my friends. I am learning to ride on a cycle. We are very happy to have you as my new sponsor. We thank you for it. I pray to God for your wellbeing and good health. Yours, Padmashree Mondal"

Isn't that an awesome letter? Also, on the back there were two questions with several answers for the kids to check. For the question "On holidays I like to" she checked "Help at Home", "Play", and "Study". For "My favourite season" she checked "Winter". From Wikipedia I learned that winter in Kolkata (where Padmashree lives) lasts only about 2 and a half months, and low temperatures range from 12-14 degrees C (which is about 54 °F – 57 °F).
It's so interesting to learn all this information, because now I can start to think about the future. For example, I read that education in India is free up through Grade 8. I hope that Padmashree will want to continue her schooling after that, and that's something I'll probably be able to help with financially.

Egda through the years

This is Egda now. This photo was taken on 5/11/10, just about a week before I started sponsoring Egda. She's nearly seven years old in this picture. In fact, TODAY, the 24th of June, is Egda's seventh birthday!

This is without a doubt my favorite photo of Egda. I saw this photo while browsing on the CI website, looking at children in need of sponsors, and I couldn't get that face and smile out of my head. I waited a few days before I finally gave in and sponsored her. This is the photo that made me do it. This photo was taken when Egda was either just about to turn six or had just turned six, in June or July 2009.

Looking so grown up, Egda is five in this photo dated 7/24/08.

In this photo Egda is four years and four months old. It was taken on 10/25/07.

In this photo, taken on 11/30/06, Egda is three and a half.

The first photo in Egda's album. It was taken on 7/31/2006, when she was just barely three years old. Look at that baby face!

Padmashree through the years

This is the most recent photo of Padmashree that I have. It was taken on 8/17/09, when she was eleven. Well, she's still eleven, but she'll be twelve on August 12, 2010. I love this photo too- she looks so happy! I hope her photo is updated soon- CI (Children International) usually updates the photos around the child's birthday month.

I love this picture! It was taken on 8/14/2008, just two days after her 10th birthday. She looks so cute in this picture and I love the bright yellow dress and the little grin. This photo, like the next two, dates from before I was Padmashree's sponsor.

This photo of Padmashree is dated 7/25/2008- she was nearly ten when this was taken. Starting to loosen up and (almost) smile a little.

This is the oldest photo I have of Padmashree, dated 7/20/07. She's almost nine years old here. I heard from another sponsor that it's customary in India to look very solemn when one is being photographed- I think that's what she looks so terribly serious in this photo.

Hachita

Meet Hachita Nchumba! She is my newest sponsored child. I sponsor Hachita through Child Hope Zambia. (http://childhopezambia.blogspot.com/) She is 13 years old, and will turn 14 on August 29th. She is in the fourth grade. Hachita speaks Tonga and is learning English in school. She lives with her father,mother, 3 brothers and 4 sisters. I don't know the family's monthly income, or the names of her parents or siblings, yet.
Hachita's favorite school subject is Social Studies, and she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. Her favorite color is Black, and she likes to play netball, which I'd never heard of and had to look up! For chores, Hachita cleans the house.
I just wrote her my first letter and put it in the mail today. Child Hope Zambia has a template for a letter you can write to your sponsored child, in Tonga, which is really interesting. It was fun to write!
Through this organization, we get at least four letters a year, along with multiple pictures of the children with the items our sponsorship has provided them with. A sponsorship of a primary school student or an Early Childhood child is just $9 a month, and a sponsorship of a secondary student is just $15 a month! This provides the children with a school uniform, a hygiene kit, a school bag and school supplies, shoes and socks, and pays school fees for the year. It's an awesome organization and I encourage everyone to sponsor a child! What else would you do with $9 a month, or $15? I know I personally will not even miss the money, and knowing what a difference it will make to Hachita is such a good feeling.

Egda Karina

Well, I know I said I could only afford to sponsor one child when I wrote my last post, but soon after that I was incredibly fortunate to be hired for a full-time position at my job! (Before, I was only working part-time, sometimes as little as 16 hours a week.) So with my additional income, I decided that I wanted to sponsor another child through Children International (CI).

So...meet Egda Karina! She's six years old, lives in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and will be seven on June 24th. She lives with her mother, baby brother Brayan, 8-year-old brother Jorge, and 15-year-old brother Pedro. They all live on $200 a month, in a home with only one room and one bed.