World Vision Issues

In late November, I had to place an inquiry because I hadn't heard from one of my World Vision kids, Alphonsine, in over 5 months.  This, of course, was after receiving a letter at least every other month during my entire sponsorship of her.  And, it was also after a big mix-up at her ADP, where there were apparently 2 Alphonsines and I was getting incorrect letters that clearly weren't from my Alphonsine (mentioning siblings and parents, of which my Alphonsine has neither).
Anyway, World Vision told me they were implementing a new letter system, and that it was causing a temporary slow down in receiving letters.  Ok, that seemed legit, and I knew other sponsors were hearing the same thing from WV.  They submitted my inquiry, and I received a long letter from Alphonsine about a month later.  So, it ended up being a 6 1/2 month gap of zero letters, but I assumed the system was improving.

Last week, I realized it has been 5 months since I heard from Marina, my WV child in the DR Congo.  The last letter she responded to was a letter I sent in May 2014, almost 9 months ago.  Since then, I've sent 5 letters to Marina, but received 0.
In fact, Marina has been my least prolific letter writer.  I received that last letter from her in late August 2014, and prior to that, I received a letter in the very beginning of May, so a nearly 4 month gap (1 week shy of 4 months).  I placed an inquiry to World Vision on Tuesday, 1/27.  I received the auto acknowledgement on Wednesday, 1/28.  I still have heard nothing from them, and it's the morning of Tuesday, 2/3/15.

I am aware that child sponsorship is not about the letters you receive, which is why I still have my World Vision kids.  However, A LOT of Compassion sponsors chose to sponsor with World Vision because they claimed a true reciprocal letter writing system--for each letter a child receives, they would write a response to their sponsor.  Last I checked, WV was still claiming that on their website. People also raved about their customer service.
To be completely honest, I don't even care if I receive a letter every month, but when I'm writing roughly every 6 weeks, I do expect a letter back every other month, or every 8-10 weeks.  And I'd probably write more often if I happened to be receiving regular letters from either of my girls with World Vision.  Interestingly enough, the World Vision letter system hasn't seemed to slow down the correspondence between Willy and me.  Willy is also in Rwanda, just like Alphonsine.  I received a letter every other month from Willy in 2014, and there were a couple months that I received 2 letters from him.

For whatever reason, it bothers me when companies promise one thing, and then don't deliver.  I have no problems with my Children International kids.  CI promises 2 letters/year, and I've received that amount plus extra letters from all of my kids.  They are delivering on their promise.  That being said, I am still in my first year of sponsorship with Children International, and I know that my first year of sponsorship with World Vision was great, letter-wise, as well.

New Year!

I begin 2015 with 7 sponsored children.  Three through World Vision, three through Children International, and one through United With Hope.
I've developed a nice ongoing sponsorship routine with 7 kids.  I'm not planning on adding any new kids in 2015, as 7 seems to be a good number for me to keep up with long term.  I write every 5-6 weeks, sometimes online, sometimes a real paper letter with pictures, etc.  I am able to send extra financial gifts with only 7 children, as well, and that is a plus for me, because it's pretty important to me.
There have been several times during the past few months that I worried I'd need to drop some or all of my sponsored children, due to looming bills that seemed huge.  But everything always seemed to work out.  Either the bill was much smaller than anticipated, or we somehow had the money.
I think back to when I returned to sponsorship in August 2013.  I remember thinking I'd have time to write twice a month.  Ha!  The good news is, I don't even feel a bit guilty.  Sponsorships through World Vision and Children International don't have kids coming into a center each week, so to get a letter to the child, either the family has to come and pick it up, or center staff have to deliver it to the family.  Writing twice a month would create a lot more work!   I feel I've struck a nice balance with writing every 5-6 weeks.  The kids still get regular letters from me, but I'm not overwhelming the system.

Welcome Bhuvana!

I just realized I never posted a picture of Bhuvana, the little girl I sponsor through United with Hope.  When I received word that Jayaprakash was leaving the program, I chose to sponsor  Bhuvana.  Isn't she adorable?

Goodbye Jayaprakash

I received sad news yesterday, as my newest sponsored child, Jayaprakash, is leaving the program due to school and family commitments.  I sponsored Jayaprakash through United With Hope, which runs an after school tutoring program.  The children are helped with their school work (tutoring is a big thing in India), and given an evening meal.

The good news is, there are three girls who are waiting for a sponsor through this program.  I have asked to sponsor one of those girls now that Jayaprakash has left.  Once I get confirmation, I will share her picture here!

Thank you from Barsha!

I received a response about the gift I sent to Barsha, my child in India sponsored through Children International!  

Here's what was purchased:

2 sets of clothing for Barsha, 2 sets of clothing for her siblings, 1 sari for her mother, 1 box of health drinks for Barsha, many grocery items for the family.

Another letter from Willy!

Wow, I just mentioned how I was expecting another letter from Willy relatively soon, and one arrived in the mail today!
This makes 10 letters received from Willy in less than 14 months of sponsorship!  I am so impressed with how correspondence has been going with the Simbi ADP in Rwanda through World Vision.

Willy's 2014 Progress Report

This is sweet Willy, my very best writer, from Simbi ADP in Rwanda.  Willy is 4 years old, and apparently now has a younger brother, who he helps babysit.  Willy does not attend school yet, so his progress report did not have as much information in it.  When Willy grows up, he would like to be a driver.  His community grows lots of beans, and his favorite food is rice.  They eat meat on special days like Christmas day.  Willy helps at home by fetching water and babysitting, and his bedtime is 8:30pm.

My last letter from Willy arrived on August 13, so I am expecting another one any day now!

Alphonsine's 2014 Progress Report

This is the cute photo that accompanied Alphonsine's 2014 progress report.  I love it because she is wearing the dress she purchased with gift money I sent at the end of 2013!  

Having never received a progress report from World Vision before, I had no idea what to expect.  It's meant to be a cute design, but it's a lot of information spread out over a huge piece of paper that is folded up.  This blog post is really helping ME get all of the information together in a nice, organized list ;-)

Alphonsine will turn 5 on October 2 this year.

Alphonsine is in nursery school, and she goes to school at 8:00am by foot.  School is about 1/2 km from her house.  She is in school from 8:00am until 11:00am, and her best subject is English.  Alphonsine wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

For lunch and dinner, Alphonsine eats sweet potatoes.  Her favorite food is rice, and her community grows a lot of beans.  On special days like Christmas, they eat rice and beans together.

Alphonsine likes to sing and play with friends at school.  She helps at home by fetching water for her Grandmother.

I haven't received a letter from Alphonsine since June 12, so I am hoping one is on the way to me.  I believe I can place an inquiry on October 12, which isn't that far away!  This has been the longest stretch without a letter from Alphonsine during my entire sponsorship of her.

I love surprise photo updates!

One of my favorite things about Children International is that you never know when you might get to see a surprise photo update of your sponsored child!  Photos update every year as a rule, but 2 of my 3 CI kids have had photos update in the past few months, well before the one year mark.  I love it!  I'm realizing that, for me, photos are very important and a great way to help me feel connected to the little ones who don't have a ton to say in their letters.

Here is Ruerhene's adorable new photo!

School has started, and I've received 3 annual progress reports!

Things have been crazy at home lately with school starting, but I have received annual progress reports for 3 of my World Vision kids.  Alphonsine, Willy, and Marina's progress reports have arrived in the mail, and I will post about them as soon as I scan in their new photos!

In the meantime, here is a pic of my 3 beans on their way to their first day of school!

Happy Birthday to C!

I need to take a time out from sponsor kids to wish my youngest, C, a happy 4th birthday!  These pics are from earlier this week when he earned his little dragon's orange belt at taekwondo.  He broke a board with a roundhouse kick and was so proud of himself!  Normally, kids his age use a front kick or a hammerfist, but he decided to be an overachiever!

Just heard back from my gift to Ruerhene!

I've been SO pleased with Children International.  Much like World Vision, the time to hear back after you give a monetary gift to your sponsored child is very reasonable!
I sent Ruerhene and her family a monetary gift on July 7, and as of yesterday, August 25, I had a thank you note written by Ruerhene's Grandmother, 3 pictures, and a full typed report of what was purchased, along with the project worker's notes about the family's reaction.  So far, this has been the most detailed and complete report/thank you I've received from any sponsorship organization.
Here is my super cute Ruerhene along with all of the items purchased with my gift to her:

The official report let me know that Ruerhene and her family were able to purchase the following:

• 8 blouse/shorts/underwear for Ruerhene
• 1 pair of shoes for Ruerhene
• 1 bag for Ruerhene
• 2 slippers for family members (I am assuming those are the flip flops)
• 38 assorted food supplies
• 12 hygiene and laundry items
• 2 transportation

This is a community where 85% of a family's average monthly income is typically spent on food.  Food prices continue to rise, but incomes remain low.  Add to that, the monthly income for Ruerhene's family is much lower than the average for the community.  So, I was very pleased that they were able to purchase so much food!

A year into sponsorship with World Vision

I am one year into sponsorship with World Vision, as I started sponsoring Willy and Alphonsine on August 22, 2013.
Overall, I've been pleased with World Vision.  Right now, there seems to be a letter drought, but I have confidence letters will pick up because of how consistent letters were back at the beginning of my sponsorship.
Willy, who is now 4 years old, has been my very best letter writer, across all organizations.  Over the past year, I have received 9 letters from him, and 2 extra photos.  I also have received his updated yearly photo.
Alphonsine is actually my next best letter writer, and I received 7 letters from her, along with SEVEN extra photos!!  I love how many photos I receive from her ADP.  It's awesome to see her with my letters, see her at school, and of course, with the items she and her Grandmother purchased with money I've sent.
Marina, who I have been sponsoring for 9 months, has sent me 5 letters, and I've also received her yearly updated photo and another photo, and 1 extra photo of her with gifts purchased with money I've sent.  Marina's letters are pretty short, and often say the same thing over and over again, but I am hoping they will become more personal as time passes.
I am still awaiting first letters from Saw Ler and Fedila, as I just started sponsoring them in June of this year.

I've really been enjoying my sponsorships with World Vision.  I believe in the work they are doing, and have confidence that they are making communities better.  Even with the recent slow down in letters, I am still receiving more letters than I was while sponsoring through Compassion, so I can't really complain.  I don't send packages directly to the children that often (about 1-2/year for each child), but I LOVE that it's an option for me.
I also like that World Vision sends me cards throughout the year to sign and send to my sponsored children.  It's a nice extra, and helps when I am feeling like I have nothing to write to my child--I still know they will be receiving something from me.
While I don't plan on adding anymore World Vision children right now (I'm happily exploring other organizations), I am still very pleased with them, and I would not be opposed to adding new WV kids in the future.  I am looking forward to having long term sponsorships with my 5 WV kids.

Say Hello to Jaiprakash!

Meet my newest sponsored child, Jaiprakash, who is sponsored through United With Hope.  I have wanted to sponsor with them for a very long time, and finally got around to asking about it.  

Jaiprakash is part of a tutoring and feeding program through UWH, and I have already seen more pictures of him than any of my other sponsored children.  We receive TONS of pictures, and I love it!  I love the little smirk on his face, and I also love pictures like this:

My Jaiprakash is the one with the big laugh, 2nd from the right, in the shorts.  Love it!  

He seems like a boy who is full of laughter.

Jaiprakash is 9 years old.  His father is a carpenter, and his mother is a homemaker.

2 letters and a new photo update from Barsha!

I just started sponsoring precious Barsha at the end of June through Children International, and I've already received 2 letters from her as well as this cute photo update!  I thought for sure I'd already posted this photo update to the blog, but it must have slipped through the cracks!
The photo update was really a great surprise, as they are only supposed to get a photo update once a year, and Barsha's last picture was taken in February 2014.

Meet John!

Meet John!  John is my newest sponsored child through Children International.  He is 6 1/2 years old and lives in the Philippines with his mom, dad, and 3 siblings.  John is from the Tabaco community, which seems very different from Quezon City (where my Ruerhene is from), and I am excited to learn more about both communities, as I have high hopes for visiting the Philippines in the future.  

His family cooks over an open fire, and their roof is made out of palm leaves.  Electricity is available in his community, but his family cannot afford it, as their monthly income is only $34 (very low for that area).  Their water source is a community well, so no running water in the home, either, but I am thankful that there is a community well.

What a difference!

After ending my sponsorships with Compassion because of their horrific customer service and inability to deliver on their promises to sponsors, it was so refreshing to see THIS in my email this morning.

What a novel idea (insert sarcasm here)--creating a survey to ask sponsors how you're doing!  Imagine the results if Compassion would do such a thing!  My guess is Compassion isn't doing it because they want to continue to play dumb about all of the dissatisfaction among their sponsors and projects that aren't following the correspondence guidelines.

I've only been sponsoring through Children International for 3 months, but this email, asking for my input in a survey format, with boxes for typed explanations on my answers if I wanted to give additional details made me feel valued and heard as a sponsor.  I did have some suggestions for Children International, but it mainly had to do with their website, not with their actual sponsorship program.

Children International is $10 less each month for a sponsorship than Compassion is, yet sponsors get high quality photos printed on photo paper, an online community just for Children International sponsors that is pretty busy, and has CI staff that regularly comment on questions asked, detailed family reports, and from what I've been hearing from other sponsors, just as many or more letters as sponsors receive through Compassion.  The children also get things like dental care, medical care, school supplies, etc.

I think, personally, I am more comfortable with models like Children International, because they do not partner with local churches.  Instead, they set up centers themselves, and I imagine it's much easier to oversee everything, and ensure that each community is following guidelines.  I wonder if sponsors ever hear of community centers being closed because of misappropriated funds?  My guess is no, unlike with Compassion.

A year into sponsorship with Compassion

It's been about a year since I decided to start sponsoring again with Compassion International.  So, where am I, a year into sponsoring?
I have zero Compassion kids.
Last week, I made the decision to end my partnership with Compassion, and funnel money toward other organizations that I was happy with.  This decision was not made lightly.  I thought about it after I received a "thank you" letter from Vincent, my little guy in Togo, that simply said "Thank you for the gift."  Um, it was a $100 family gift.  Maybe not a lot to Compassion, but Compassion's policies are clear.  Any gift in any amount entitles the sponsor to ask what was purchased with the gift money.  And, any gift over $60, entitles the sponsor to a picture of the child with said items.  So, I emailed Compassion to ask that an inquiry be put in for this gift.  This was the response I received initially:
"You are welcome to write back to Vincent and ask what he and his family purchased with the money you sent. It may take just as long for us to request the information from the field staff as it would to get a letter back from Vincent."

Wow. So I was supposed to write back to a 5 year old and ask him what he purchased with the $100 instead of Compassion asking the center to do its job? After an online rant on the "get satisfaction" part of Compassion's website, they did change their tune and agreed to put in an inquiry for me, but intimated that this was above and beyond what they should be doing in their response on that site.

Having had enough, I figured I'd tally up all of my inquiries and also count up how many inquires I'd asked for that I received pushback on from Compassion's customer service department.

I didn't count the 2 gifts I'd just submitted for 2 children's September birthdays. I tallied up everything else. I'd given 6 extra financial gifts in total. Of those gifts, I had to place 4 inquiries because I either hadn't heard anything after 6 months or I received a very generic "Thank you for the gifts". Of those 4 inquiries placed, I received pushback from Compassion's customer service department on 3 of them. Now, one of those financial gifts was for a correspondence child who I released almost exactly 6 months after I sent the gift. I still had not received a thank you for that gift from him, and that would have resulted in another inquiry had I not released all of my correspondence children. I did receive a letter from that child about a week before I released all of my correspondence children, and there was no mention of the gift in the letter. So really, it would have been 5 inquiries out of 6 financial gifts sent. Does that seem right or fair? Does that seem like Compassion is working to keep its word to sponsors? And, of those inquiries placed, I was initially told by Compassion staff that I could NOT place the inquiry on 3 of those inquiries.

And, let's be clear. I was not asking for anything Compassion hadn't promised its sponsors. I never asked for an inquiry to be placed before the 6 month mark. I wasn't demanding pictures for a $30 birthday gift. I was simply asking Compassion to follow its own guidelines.

During the past year, I also had to place 2 inquiries for kids who hadn't written in 6 months. Again, I received pushback from Compassion's staff on one of those inquiries. The staff member suggested I write to a 5 year old and ask her to write to me more. As if I don't put "I'm so excited to hear from you" in every letter I write to every child.

Compassion promises 6 letters per year to every sponsor, provided the sponsor is writing at least every other month. I've faithfully written once a month (or more) for the past year. My letter count for my kids I've had for about a year was as follows: Nayan wrote 6 letters, but one was the result of a gift inquiry. Archita wrote 4 letters. Vincent wrote 4 letters. Yeferson, who I had for 7 months, wrote 2 letters. Does anyone really think I would have received 4 letters in 5 months from him? It's clear to me and to most other Compassion sponsors that there is a huge problem with Compassion's correspondence. However, instead of customer service being understanding, and admitting "Yes, we are aware this is a problem, and we are working on it. We will submit this inquiry right away", they are giving sponsors pushback. Telling sponsors to wait 8 months after a gift has been received to get a response before they will submit an inquiry. Telling sponsors to simply "ask your child to write more" instead of submitting an inquiry.

I understand problems can arise in sponsorship programs, but the way Compassion has been handling their issues really makes me uncomfortable sending my money to them.




To compare, I've also had 2 World Vision kids for about a year (a couple weeks less than I've had my Compassion kids), and I've received 7 letters from Alphonsine and 8 letters from Willy. Marina, who I've had for 8 months, I've received 5 letters from. Heck, I've already received 2 letters from one of my Children International kids who I've only been sponsoring for 2 1/2 months! Also, with every gift I've sent to kids in other organizations, I've received a response well before 6 months, and it's always a detailed response, with a picture.

Based on all of that, and taking into consideration other sponsors' accounts of how Compassion has been dealing with them, I reluctantly decided to end all sponsorships with Compassion. It just didn't make sense to continue sending money to an organization that I had to fight with every time I sent a gift, and every time I didn't hear from my sponsored kids. And, amazingly, I felt so settled once I made that decision and sent that letter off to Compassion via email. In true Compassion form, I haven't heard anything back from them, and all my kids are still on my account as of this morning when the email I sent cancelling was on Thursday at 1pm, Colorado time.

Letters from Kenya!

This week I received letters from my plant a book kids, who I guess I have to start calling my His Hands Support Ministries kids or my Galilee kids, etc.  HHSM is a mouthful!
Early in the week, I went ahead and set up my recurring sponsorship payments for my 2 girls, Elizabeth at Galilee Primary School, and Naomi at Waddington High School.  Once I got their letters, I was so happy that I decided to give HHSM a try.
Elizabeth wrote me 2 letters, and in one, she wrote "I love you so much, that I don't want to hear that you are hurt".  SO SWEET.
Naomi, who is 16, wrote me 5 full notebook pages!!  She also enclosed another page with a drawing and explanation of Kenya's flag.  I loved reading all of Naomi's writings.  She enjoys swimming, reading, and traveling, and hangs out with friends on her breaks from school.
I am so glad I went out of my comfort zone to sponsor an older student.  I already feel very connected to Naomi as I've gotten so much information from her letters.
I've written response letters to both girls so far, but I'm waiting to mail them out.  School is closed for a portion of August, so I want to wait until I know they will be there to receive them.

Awesome letter haul day!

Today, I received 3 letters in the mail!  That's pretty much the most letters I've ever received in one day.  You'd think, with as many children as I sponsor, that I'd have days where more letters have been received, but nope, 3 is the high.
Anyway, I received TWO letters from this cute, Ruerhene, my Children International child in the Philippines.

Both letters were written by her mother, Catherine.  The first thanked me for sponsoring Ruerhene, and gave me some general information about her.  She is in kindergarten at the local public elementary school, and she likes to sing and dance and play with Barbies.  The second letter thanked me for my letter, and commented on it, which was nice.  I often wonder if some of my other sponsored children even read the letters I write.  I'm excited that Ruerhene's mother is the one writing.  I get the best letters from Willy, my sponsored boy in Rwanda (through World Vision), and I suspect it is also because his mother writes the letters.  I'm looking forward to a great letter writing relationship with Ruerhene!

I also received one letter from this little guy, Yeferson, my Compassion child in Guatemala.

It was the "When I grow up" template.  Yeferson wants to be a doctor when he grows up to heal his mother.  So sweet!  He also had a cough, and needed to go to the hospital!  I will have to ask Compassion if everything is alright with his family.  I hope his mother's illness, and his illness are not serious.