Sponsoring Children in Africa

I often hear from people who would like to sponsor a child but just haven't taken the steps to do it. I like to talk about my experiences from time to time as a way to bring awareness to the need and also to help others who are thinking about child sponsorship.

About a month ago I wrote about my two new sponsored children in Zambia.

First up is Hiness who is 12 years old and in Grade 6.  Next is Lindunda who is 15 years old and in grade 7.
After sponsoring these two children, I felt led to help another one. His name is Humphrey and he is in Grade 2. I don't know his age yet.

These children go to school in Livingston, Zambia.

I have written my first letters to these precious young children and am excitedly waiting to hear back from them.  I've been spending a fair bit of time shopping for appropriate things to send to them every few months so that I can have them on hand for when I am ready to send them other letters.


All 3 of these children go to Christian School in Livingstone, Zambia. If you can help, the school needs many more sponsors for children. I have the link at the bottom of this post.

I also sponsor two boys in Kenya (Peter and John, who I've written about before).  I am also what is called a "correspondent sponsor" to a boy in Ethiopia named Haile.  Someone else whom I do not know, is his financial sponsor.  For whatever reason, the financial sponsor does not write to Haile and I have volunteered to write him and encourage him.

This is Haile in Ethiopis showing his development over the last 5 years or so. On the left is his most recent photo taken at age 21.

I've only been writing to Haile for 2 years.  He has been in the program for much longer than that.  Haile is 21 but only in Grade 8.  He suffers from epilepsy which makes it hard for him to really focus on his education.  In Africa many children have a late start in school.  Alternatively they have inconsistent school attendance due to lack of funds.  Families have a very hard time feeding their children and getting the money together for daily food must take priority to sending someone to school, especially when you factor in all the costs associated with education.  Even in Canada, so called "free" education comes with a huge financial burden for parents to pay for all the things that the schools cannot pay for. It is the same situation in Africa though the needs might be somewhat different.

Haile will be 22 years old in June and will no longer be able to continue in the child sponsorship program through Compassion Canada. I've been sending him a flurry of letters as we near his completion program.  I am trying to "pour into him" some scriptures and some encouragement as he transitions to life on his own.  Mostly I need to remember to pray for him as there is no way to contact him once he graduates or for he to contact me.  Hopefully the faith he has come to know through the program and some of the skills training he has received will help him in his future.  What I worry about besides the obvious things like food and shelter is about whether he will be able to seek medical help and continue to afford medications. I definitely need to keep him in prayer.

Compassion, has offices all around the world and many children who need a loving sponsor if you would like to sponsor a child through an established organization that can give you a charitable receipt.  It costs about
$ 38/41 (US/Canadian) dollars a month, plus the annual Christmas, birthday and family gifts to sponsor a child.  If you do not have funds, perhaps you could think about becoming a correspondent sponsor?

All children need to be encouraged, motivated, and inspired as well as held up in prayer support. You might be that one who can provide it to one special child through your cards and letters.  You can click here to reach the Compassion Canada page for sponsoring children. At the top of the page, you can select the country in which you would like to sponsor a child. If you are not Canadian, at the bottom of the page, you will find links to other country websites where there are Compassion offices.  If you want to be a correspondent sponsor, you can send an email to the appropriate office and let them know you are interested in writing to a child (see the Contact Us page at the website). It can take awhile to be matched up with a child in this situation but it is well worth the wait.

Don't forget too that there are many grassroots organizations in Africa that try to help their own. These ones do not have an organization in foreign lands to help them provide charitable tax receipts but they need your help nonetheless. When you give this way you can "cut out" the middle man and avoid most administration expenses although not entirely.  You can be assured that your funds are going to real needs on the ground.  There are no administration offices with their attendant costs so your help will go directly to those that are in dire need of support.  Even so those in the community that help to get the help to those that need it also have needs for food, shelter, travel and costs associated with delivering the particular help.

If you would like to help one or more of the Zambian children at the Christian School in Zambia, sponsorship is $11.50 a month. Please click here for more information.

Many of you will know that from time to time I go on self-funded missions to help the grassroots people in Kenyan villages.  This means helping people with many of their day to day needs and in diverse ways (food, clothing, school supplies, jiko stoves, seeds & fertilizer, medical needs, travel and costs associated with school and medical helps). It can be expensive especially in a country like Kenya.  But these people desperately need help.  If you wish to help in any way and in any amount, please do contact me at my email here or by leaving a comment.

May you and your family have a Blessed Easter Season and May God speak to your heart as you consider

what you can do to help a vulnerable family in Africa today.

Simple Pleasures

"That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest." ~ Thoreau 

"Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires."  ~ Lao-Tzu

Hello friends,

How are you today? I hope you are all having a fantastic week. I have been busy doing a little knitting and a lot of crocheting.  Today was a good day as I took a break from that.  Yesterday was a good day too as I had a chance to clean my kitchen floors and do some laundry.  It felt good to 'catch up' on house work for a day.  Do you ever notice how housekeeping feels good when you haven't had time to do it and you get a chance to catch up? Or is that just me?

I just got back from errands and grocery shopping.  I sent my mother a small care package of a hot water bottle wrapped in a cosy leopard print cover and a toothbrush.  Since the weather turned cool she has been complaining of being very cold.  No amount of blankets and wraps seems to help.   I can totally understand as I've been feeling a bit that way myself. The weather changed suddenly this year rather than gradually and no doubt we are both feeling the brunt of it.  I thought a hot water bottle might help her as she is not allowed to use an electric blanket for safety reasons.  She also needed a new toothbrush. Even though she has two somewhere in her room or bathroom, the staff never seem to be able to find anything.  Poor mom has also been having a lot of breathing issues lately.  She is using an inhaler but it doesn't seem to help much. If you would say a prayer for her that would mean so much to me.

At the post office I also weighed all the hand crafted items I've been making for my Etsy shop.  Some of you will have seen a few of the items I've been making.  I'm hoping to raise funds for the Missions of Hope through the sales.

Right now I'm making a quick dinner of stir-fried ground beef (minced beef) with chopped vegetables (baby carrots, onions, celery and fresh green beans). I like to stir-fry all this with soy sauce and put it on top of small new potatoes with skins on.  I don't know if they have new potatoes outside of North America. They are just basically small, immature potatoes.  The skin is not yet hardened and thick and they are quite delicious!  I also have some baby greens, English cucumber, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts and a yellow apple for a basic salad.

After a few days of being mostly indoors and feeling oh so tired, it is such a joy to have a nice simple day where I don't feel too bad.  Adding to my feeling of joy is a short letter I received from one of my sponsored boys, named John. John lives in a slum near Nairobi, Kenya. He is 9 years old and today the letter I received is one he wrote me all by himself.  Usually someone else writes a letter for him.  John wrote his letter in English and I am so proud of his nice, neat printing.

I was also blessed to receive a letter from the daughter of my childhood Sunday School teacher.  My former teacher is about 90 years old and though she is in good physical condition, her memory is no longer good. Her daughter is packing up her mother's things and moving her into her home to look after her better.  While she was packing her mother's things she came across a note I sent back in November 2011 and decided to write me.  I'm so glad she did.  I'm also glad I've been writing to my former teacher while her memory was still intact.  It was one of my goals to let her know how much she meant to me and how her faithfulness impacted my life in a positive way.

The weekend starts tomorrow.  

My wish for you is that you have time for some simple pleasures.

Blessings and hugs.

One Child at a Time

My friend Charles put me on to this film. After seeing the trailer I remember hearing about this story on CNN news. It touched me then and it touches me now. I think you will agree.

If you haven't already considered child sponsorship please do. Compassion International is one organization I can recommend.  If you can't make a multi-year committment, please consider a donation to Missions of Hope which also does a lot of good in Kenyan villages to help children and their families.  Blessings to you and yours.

Precious Ones

Thank you to my new followers. There have been a number of you lately and I am very blessed by that!

I finally had the chance last week to organize the correspondence and little things I save for sending to my sponsored boys in East Africa.

These little ones, and one not so little one, are precious to me and I enjoy receiving their letters. Though it is hard to believe, I think they also enjoy receiving my letters and the little things I send to them. It lets them know that someone far away cares for them and is praying for them and their families.

My newest sponsored boy is actually now a young man. His name is Haile and he lives north of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. He has a father, mother and 5 siblings.  Haile is 20 years old and will continue to be sponsored until he is 22 years old. He writes to me in in his native language which I think is Amharic.  Someone translates his letters for me to read.  When I send him my letters in English, someone must translate them for him to read.

Haile has a different financial sponsor and I volunteered to be his correspondent sponsor because for whatever reason, his financial sponsor does not write him. I'm blessed to be able to write to this young man and encourage him in the faith.

Haile will soon be on his own and fending for himself in the world but for now he lives with his father and mother and 5 siblings.  He has been asking me to pray about a dam that is going to be built on the Nile. I think the young men along the dam route are hoping that they will be able to find work on the dam.

In this photo you can see Haile's letters in his language. At the top is a photo of the tall young man he is turning out to be. At the bottom is a post card of Canada's animal which I will send to him in a future letter.

Next is John. He lives in one of the slums of Nairobi Kenya with his mother and father and siblings.  John is 8 years old and  has a younger brother.  A baby brother was recently added to the family so there are 3 boys altogether.

John loves numbers.  So among other things, I bought him some number stickers. He will be able to practice counting and mathematical tables.  John is the second child I decided to sponsor with Compassion International Canada. I am his financial sponsor not just his correspondent and I am hoping that I can be a great encouragement to him over the years.

See the organizer. It has several tabs so I am able to keep stickers, letters, writing paper and envelopes and correspondence from Compassion International Canada  organized and easy to find.

The third boy I sponsor is Peter.  Peter lives in a village located north of Nakuru, Kenya. He lived with his father, mother, 3 sisters and 1 brother but sadly his mother died recently and so there are now 5 young children with no mother.  I feel very badly for him and his siblings and pray that all will be well with them. I hope my letters can encourage him and show him motherly love and concern.

Peter also loves numbers and wants to be a pilot.  I bought him some plane stickers.

My letter last week to all the boys included some appropriately themed paper gift bags (I didn't take photos of them). The bags will be a good place for the boys to store their letters, stickers, post cards and other little paper gifts I send.  This might seem like such a small and insignificant thing.  But in a poor village, you will not find these kinds of "extras" in a humble home.  Small incomes have to be spent on top priorities like school and school clothing and food.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about my boys.  I hope to write about them here from time to time, and about the wonderful work of Compassion International.

A letter and drawing from Peter.

If you have ever though of sponsoring a child, I can tell you that Compassion International (CI) is a wonderful organization to consider doing it through.  CI really goes the extra mile to try and make it easy for you to correspond with your child. You can check them out at their website here. There you will also find links to Compassion International offices in many different countries around the globe.

Compassion's Children

There are so many ways to help children in Africa and so many non-profit agencies both at home and abroad who provide opportunities to each of us to help these children.  

I choose to help orphans mainly through the Missions of Hope  whenever I can. But recently I also took on sponsorship of several boys through Compassion International's Canadian office. My sponsorship involvement is very new so I haven't received a letter from one of my boys yet. 

 

First I sponsored little Peter. 

Peter is 6 years old and lives near Nakuru, Kenya.  I didn't get a chance to visit Peter when I travelled to Kenya.  My sponsorship was too new for the organization to prepare everything in time for my visit. I am hopeful that I can visit Peter some day.

 
Two weeks after I sponsored little Peter, I felt led to sponsor John.

Doesn't John's smile just grab you? I really felt a connection with him and especially upon learning he lives in the slums near Nairobi. I also hope to visit little John in future.

 

During the process of learning more about Compassion and its sponsors, I learned that there are also many children who have sponsors but these sponsors do not write to them for whatever reason.  For example, a company might sponsor a child or several children but not assign anyone to write to these children.

I found out that volunteers are needed to correspond with these kinds of children who don't have anyone to write to them.  Through letters a child is shown love and care and can receive the encouragement to overcome the challenges they face.   The benefit to you and me is that we can take on child sponsorship in a budget friendly manner.

After only a month or so of waiting, I received an information package in the mail.  The package sent along a photo of the little 10 year old boy I will correspond with in Ethiopia. His name is Haile.

I am only permitted to send letters, cards and flat paper items to sponsored children in the mail.

I've already sent Peter a card for Christmas and a photo and information about me and will need to send similar information to John and Haile (minus the Christmas cards). I also plan to send all three boys  a postcard "fun" map of Canada and some "Canadian stickers".

I am very excited to embark on this new addition to my support of children in Africa. I look forward to a long association with these young boys and hope to be a positive influence on them.

In closing, I want to encourage any of my readers to please check out children on the Compassion International website for your country and consider sponsoring a child.  There are so many who need sponsorship. If you really do not have the funds to sponsor a child would you please consider taking on a correspondence child? You simply write to the Compassion office in your country and let them know of your interest in writing to a "correspondent child".  Can you imagine the excitement a small child has when they get a letter from a stranger across the world? A stranger who takes an active interest in who they are and encourages them throughout their childhood years. It is a simple joy we can have in life to bring joy to others and to receive joy in their joy.