Still waiting

Not much to blog about right now on the Compassion and World Vision front.

I am still awaiting 1st letters from Sabnam, Alphonsine, and Willy, and I sent out online letters and pictures to my World Vision kids this weekend.

September 7 marked 1 month as a sponsor for me!

Tomorrow, my little guy starts preschool, and I might have to ask Compassion for a correspondence child or two in order to keep myself busy!  It will be the first time in 5 years that I've had all children in school every day, even though they are not in school for a full day yet.

Other than that, I keep checking Compassion's group tours to see if they are going to add a group tour to East India in 2014.

Feeling hopeful

It looks like Isabelle from Togo, the girl who has been on my heart lately, has been sponsored!  Fingers crossed that she doesn't pop back up on the site!

Happy Birthday, Nayan and M!

Happy, happy birthday, to Nayan, and my first born, M!  Nayan and M are both 5 years old today!

Sponsoring a child with the same birthday as my daughter also makes me think a lot about the advantages she has, simply because of where she was born.  M has never known hunger, has never worried about being able to go to school, or have enough clothing, toys, etc.  She's always known a safe, warm, dry home.  She's been to Disney World, she's been to the beach, and heck, she's even been out of the country and on an airplane already!  School is a given--we don't know people who have to choose between feeding their families and paying tuition for school/buying school supplies/uniforms.

Both Nayan and M love to draw and paint, and both are pretty good artists who have wonderful penmanship (for newly turned 5 year olds!).

I started sponsoring Nayan in the beginning of August, and immediately sent a birthday gift of $30 to him with my initial sponsorship.  I figure it will get there after his birthday has already passed, but at least he will know I was thinking of him and his birthday from the start.

I hope that the next picture I receive of Nayan will show a bright and happy smile on that handsome face!

More letters on the way!

Today I mailed each of my Compassion kids their 3rd letters!  I have been doing pretty well on the every 2 weeks writing schedule for all 5 of my sponsored children.  This week's mailing includes a letter (of course), 4 mini coloring books for each child, and a recent picture of my kids on C's birthday.  Of course it helps my motivation tremendously that I've already received letters from Archita and Nayan.
This week, my kids are starting back to school, and it's also made me think about how easy it is in this country to get a decent education. We fuss about finding a nice home in a good school district without even thinking about how the absolute worst school district we could find is still better than much of what these kids in developing countries are getting as far as education is concerned.  We take for granted that our kids will have access to toilets and clean water at school.
It's very interesting to me how much Compassion and World Vision have helped me put into perspective.

Their only sponsor

I've been thinking recently, about how many children are actually sponsored all the way through their graduation from Compassion.  So many things can happen-- sponsors can come and go, children may leave their project for a multitude of reasons, projects sometimes even close.  How wonderful would it be to have the opportunity to become a child's sponsor as their very first sponsor in the Compassion program, and continue to sponsor that child through their graduation.  Maybe even be their sponsor in the leadership development program should they get in?  That would be so special!
So, I emailed Compassion to find out if my children had ever had a previous sponsor, and got a very quick response that I am, in fact, all 3 of my childrens' first sponsor!
It sort of gives me another sense of connection with my Compassion kids-- these 3 are my first Compassion kids and I am their first sponsor!  Somehow, that makes it more real for me, and makes me even more committed to sponsoring my children as long as they are involved with Compassion.  It would be a dream if one of my Compassion kids got into the leadership development program!

I wish I could sponsor them all...

I keep going back to Compassion's website to see if this precious little girl is still waiting for a sponsor.  She's been waiting for nearly 1 full year to be sponsored!
This is one of those times I wish I could just sponsor all of the kids who call to me!

This is Isabelle, and she's 5 years old, from Togo.  She lives with her mother and father, and there are 5 children in the family.  Adults who are lucky enough to be employed in Isabelle's community earn the equivalent of $10/month.  Isabelle's community needs electricity, potable water, health centers, schools, vocational training centers, and income-generating activities.  Sounds like the basics of life to me!  

If you think you might be able to sponsor Isabelle, please, follow this link to start her sponsorship for $38/month.

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/child-biography.htm?needKey=TG2100150

Need ideas for letters/goodies to send to your kids?

Through Compassion's blog, I discovered this little gem on Pinterest.

http://pinterest.com/compassion/second-friday-letter-writing-club/

A pinterest board full of ideas for when we get stumped.

As a new sponsor, I haven't been stumped yet, but I'm sure that day will come when I feel I have nothing original to write about or send to my children.
I don't spend much time on pinterest, but I can tell you that the Compassion pinterest page is filled with pins that sponsors could look through for hours!