Saturday, August 31, 2013

Archita's Letter


It's only fair to post a shot of Archita's first letter that arrived this week, since I posted Nayan's.  Archita's letter was written by the project social worker, but she drew me a nice flower.  On the flip side of this letter, I discovered that Archita's favorite colors are blue and green, her favorite game is ringball, and her favorite food is rice, dal, and chicken curry.  
I found it interesting that she speaks a different language than Nayan.  Archita speaks Odhia, where as Nayan speaks Bengali.  
I already have letters written back to Nayan and Archita, but they probably won't get sent until Tuesday.  I do want to wait that long to see if I get an initial letter from Sabnam during that time, but also because that will be roughly 2 weeks after I sent their last letters.  Even if I don't hear from Sabnam by that time, I will still write her a new letter :-)

Thursday, August 29, 2013

BIG SURPRISE

I just recently posted abut how I expected the wait for my first letter to be relatively long, so you can imagine my surprise when, on Monday, TWO letters from my Compassion sponsored children arrived in the mail!
The first one was from Nayan, and here is the back of it.  The project worker wrote the letter, and he wrote the English alphabet for me!  Pretty good penmanship for a boy, lol.

On the other side of this letter, I found out the names and ages of his parents, and that he has a younger brother, Sayan, who is 1 year old.  Nayan's favorite color is orange, his favorite game is football, and his favorite good is rice and egg curry.  There was also a map to show which state he lives in (West Bengal).

Because of how quickly this letter arrived, I suspect it was first written when Nayan was registered with the project, and kept on file to be sent when word came that he had a sponsor.  But, even knowing that, it is special to receive a letter so soon!  That makes me hopeful that my first letter has already reached Nayan, or could be reaching him soon this week.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Happy Birthday to my youngest

Taking a time out from sponsorship blogging to wish a very happy birthday to my youngest baby, C.  He turns 3 years old today, and I suppose I shouldn't be calling him a baby anymore.
This is from his party, which we had over the weekend.  This kid loves cake and ice cream more than any other kid I know (that's what's all over his face).
He'll be off to preschool in just a couple weeks.
C loves cars, spiderman, and copying his big brother.  When big brother gets to be too much for him, he hangs out with his big sister, who is much more calm :-). 
I love watching C be included in his older siblings' play.  They used to exclude him because he was "a baby", but now they are like the 3 musketeers.

Monday, August 26, 2013

1st Packages to World Vision kids ready to go!


I have to admit that one of the things that drew me to World Vision sponsorship is that we could send our sponsored children small packages.  I like the idea of being able to send more than just paper items that can total 1/4" thick (Compassion's rule), although I can see how this could easily get out of hand and ultra expensive :-).  Compassion's rule keeps me in check, lol.
So, this morning, after I drop my 2 older kids off at soccer camp, the little guy and I will be heading to the post office to drop these packages in the mail to Alphonsine and Willy.
They are filled with coloring books, stickers, noah's ark sticker scenes, colored pencils, pencil sharpener, a pack of 2 new toothbrushes, a short note (wasn't sure if I should send a note in the package or not), and a picture of my kids from late 2012.  
I blurred out Alphonsine's child ID number and the address for World Vision Rwanda as I am not sure on the rules yet for World Vision, so I figured better safe than sorry.
Update: the price was $14 and change for each package to go first class to Rwanda.  Not cheap, but not outrageous, either.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Double whoops!

Well, Hubby needed someone who shared his birthday, so say hello to 3 year old Willy, also from Rwanda, but from a different community in Rwanda that Alphonsine.

Willy was sponsored "on purpose", as I wanted to sponsor a child from a world vision project that was still in phase 1.  It was also completely by chance that he has Hubby's birthday.  I don't know if I saw his birthday and didn't realize it, but I really don't think so.  I thought he had a March birthday, so again, when his birthday popped up and it was Hubby's birthday, I was a little shocked.  I am usually pretty observant, and this kind of thing just does not happen to me.
Ok, now we're really done!
We have 5 sponsored children--1 for each member of our family.  To me, that sounds like a great stopping point.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Patiently waiting

I started sponsoring my 1st two kids on August 7, my 3rd child on August 12, and my 4th on August 22, so I am aware that I have a long wait ahead of me until I receive their first letters.  I've read that it can take anywhere from 2-6 months to receive your first letter from your sponsored child.  Still, I am practicing the patient wait--well practiced from our years of foster care and adoption.
It seems that sponsorship, just like foster care and adoption, is a gigantic exercise in patience :-)

Luckily, I have 3 very busy children who have kept me very busy all summer long.  However, school starts soon, and while my kids are still each only in half day programs, it ends up leaving me with more free time than I'm used to, as this is the first year that they will each be in school 5 days/week.  My youngest will be attending a different preschool that meets 5 days/week for half days, and my 2 older children (who are actually in the same grade due to when their birthdays fall), will be in our local elementary school's pre-k classroom every morning, 5 days each week.
This should leave me with plenty of letter writing time during the week, haha.
Actually, this Fall will be the first time I will be at home every morning by myself, without any foster babies.  And, this is also the oldest that our youngest has been without having another baby in the house.  Wow, did that statement even make sense?  I guess another way to say it is "We've had someone 2 or under in this house for the past 5 years".  But now that our youngest is about to turn 3 this week, it's like a whole new realm of parenting.
There are no cribs set up, no sippy cups, no bottles, no baby board books, and a lot of "big kid" toys.
For me, fostering is very much like sponsoring with Compassion-- I feel as though I can always help "just 1 more", but for now, we are taking a short break from foster care after fostering for 7 years without a break at all.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Whoops!

I've been very eager to explore sponsorship in World Vision, as I know there are many, many people who choose to sponsor with Compassion as well as World Vision.  Both organizations are legit and doing important work.  But, because they work a bit differently, I was curious to explore the differences myself.  At first, I told myself that in January, I'd just check out World Vision and see if the next child I wanted to sponsor would be through there.
However, I made the "mistake" (really, no mistake at all) of researching World Vision and ended up sponsoring Alphonsine, a 3 year old from Rwanda who is living with her Grandmother.  I clicked to sponsor her, put in all of the information, submit it, and it wasn't until I was clicking through the "my world vision" section that I realized Alphonsine and I share the same birthday!  Yes, I think Alphonsine was no accident!

Meet Alphonsine, who will turn FOUR on my birthday this year!


Thursday, August 22, 2013

I am that annoying Compassion sponsor

Compassion sponsorship is relatively new to me, thus, everything Compassion related is new, shiny, novel, exciting, and very moving!
So, right now, I am that annoying Compassion sponsor to my friends and family.  I talk about it a lot, I research it more and more (because when you're a new sponsor, there is always something new and exciting to read, new knowledge to obtain, etc), and I do my best convincing to get others to sponsor a Compassion child.
So far, I have one friend sponsoring :-)
I am still amazed and speechless when I see the smiling faces of children who are clearly ecstatic to be receiving pictures and letters from their sponsors.

Check out these beautiful smiling faces:
http://blog.compassion.com/most-prized-possession/

Just, wow.

And, even though I've seen the youtube of Jimmy Wambua meeting his sponsor, I still tear up when reading someone else's account of seeing that first hand.

Being a Compassion sponsor can become overwhelming for a person like me, who has a great desire to help others.  I do a decent job of helping in my community (volunteering, dropping quality foods off at the food pantry, fostering young children who need a place to stay, etc), but until Compassion, I did not know a way to reach out further, and help children who are continents away.  So, right away, I want to sponsor more and more children.  It's difficult not be infected with this enthusiasm for the good Compassion brings to these children.
So I figure, in the meantime, while I am still getting my feet wet sponsoring my 3 little ones from East India, I can encourage others to sponsor just 1 or 2 children through a Compassion project.

Think about it.  It's really only $38 each month.  To many of us, that is nothing at all--barely noticeable in our budgets.  But sponsorship, along with regular correspondence, can change a child's life.

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

My loot arrived!

Finally, my order from Oriental Trading Co. arrived with all the loot I plan to send to my kids over the next few mailings!


These are shiny stickers, super slim coloring books, and noah's ark sticker scenes.  I cannot wait to get these out to my kids!  First thing going in with the new sponsor form letter are the sticker sheets, as they are the only things that fit into the envelope given by Compassion.  With my next mailing, I will be sending coloring books in larger envelopes, and then the Noah's Ark sticker scenes will be sent in October. 

Any leftovers will have to go to new children in January ;-)   I'm considering also signing up for the correspondence program, which means I would write to a child who is being financially sponsored by someone who does not wish to correspond with their child.  

So as of today, my 2nd sponsor letters are out the door to my kids.  Letters stuffed with 5 sticker sheets each.


Tuesday, August 20, 2013

This little one has really been on my mind


I keep coming back to this little girl, because I want to sponsor her, but I can't, so I'm hoping someone else will :-)

This is Amidatou, from Burkina Faso.  She lives with her mother and father, and there are 7 children in the family.  She is 4 years old, not currently attending school.

Most adults in her community make the equivalent of $20/month.  Common health problems in the area are malaria, coughs, meningitis, and typhoid.  The community needs tuition assistance and employment opportunities.

Please consider sponsoring Amidatou for $38/month, or sharing her sponsorship link with someone who might want to.

UPDATE: Link to sponsorship removed as Amidatou has been sponsored!!  So awesome!  Thank you, thank you!



Look at these neat booklets!

It's sometimes confusing, and sometimes fun to see the changes that have occurred at Compassion since I last sponsored back in 2010.
One of the changes that I love is the addition of these booklets

This is now the child sponsorship packet, and I think it's a great improvement.  Instead of having a couple sheets of paper, I now have a booklet for each child, with their personal information and picture included in it.  Additionally, the booklet included kind of a form letter to send to my child, information about their regions, and countries, and letter writing tips as well as prayer tips.  There is a small list of FAQs at the back of the booklet.  I love that it stays together, all in one spot for each child.  The booklets also included card stock pictures of each child that I tore out and hung up on my fridge in anticipation of future letters :-)

I have the form letters from each of these booklets filled out (and I added a special note with each), and they're just waiting for my sticker order to arrive so I can include some stickers.  Once the stickers arrive, I'll be sending my 2nd letters off to each child.

I also donated to the Christmas Gift Program already, as we had the extra money this month, and I wasn't sure when the cutoff would be (I think as early as October?).  I wasn't sure what the recommended donation was, so I guessed $20 per sponsored child.  I'm sure I'll have a better handle on things next year, and I won't have to guess at an amount!



Monday, August 19, 2013

Meet Sabnam


So, I initially only thought I should sponsor 2 children, and take it from there.  However, I could NOT say no to this face.  I kept coming back to look at her picture, and eventually, just 5 days later, decided that it would not be an issue to sponsor just 1 more child.  Haha.  That's how it all starts, isn't it?
This is Sabnam, and she is 4 years old, and also from East India.  As you might have guessed, I do plan on participating in a sponsor tour to East India at some point in the next few years.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Meet Archita


This little beauty is Archita.  She is also from East India, and is 5 years old.  She is the 2nd child I chose to sponsor, as my initial intentions were to start with 2 kids.  I sponsored Archita and Nayan within minutes of each other.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Meet Nayan


This little guy was the very first child I chose to sponsor through Compassion.  He has the same birthday as my daughter!
Nayan is from East India, and he is a few weeks shy of his 5th birthday.   I wrote him his 1st letter the same day I chose to sponsor him, and also sent him a family picture.


Friday, August 16, 2013

Introduction

We are finally in a financial position that sponsoring a handful of Compassion children isn't a hardship for us.  This blog will be a place for me to be accountable for letter writing long term (I never have a problem in the beginning of a sponsorship), and not going overboard with Compassion sponsorships.

Right now, I sponsor 3 children, all from East India, as that has always been an area of interest for me.  I am always drawn to the kids of India, and specifically, East India. Since we are likely not doing any international adoption, I figure we could help the kids who have parents, but just need a lot of support.

We are foster parents who have also been blessed to adopt through the foster care system, and have (believe it or not) had wonderful experiences overall through our local county foster care program.  Our kids are now 3, 4, and 5 years old.  After fostering for 7 years, and having 3 very small children all right in a row, we are on the fence about closing our home or remaining open to be a safe place for more children.  Our kids are getting older, and we are just now exiting the haze of infant/toddlerhood with all 3.  It's nice.  It gives us freedom to pursue other activities, like child sponsorship.

A little over 3 years ago, I started sponsoring, but quickly realized that not only were we not in a financial position to sponsor, I was extremely busy with our 2 children who were both under 2 years old at the time, and I quickly found myself having signed up for 5 kids to sponsor, in addition to having a handful of correspondence children!  Way out of hand!  I shut the whole thing down after 3-4 months, realizing it was just not a season in our lives where we had the time or money for such a thing.

Now, we're in a much better position.  Yes, we have one more child, but the youngest is preschool age.  We now have no debt beyond our mortgage, Hubby has a better paying job, and we have a budget in place that allows us to reach out to others who need it.

My personal goal for sponsorship is not to move beyond 3 kids for the remainder of 2013, as the dollar amount for 3 kids is barely noticeable in our budget.  I'd like to write at least 1 letter a month, but not more than 2 letters a month (I don't want to overwhelm the kids or Compassion's translators/mail system/etc), and I want to make sure I send monetary birthday gifts, and donate to the Christmas Gift Fund every year.  And, I want every other letter to have some kind of "goodie" enclosed for my child to use and share with their friends.  Stickers, coloring pages, etc.  I'm also hoping that my kids get involved with these sponsorships, and will be excited to draw pictures for our sponsored children, make handprints, etc.