On the Eighth Day of Christmas, My Sponsor Gave to Me…

Eight Teachers Teaching

Growing up in Arkansas, where summers were hot and humid and mosquitoes swarmed the streets like a plague, I longed for the cold snap that accompanied Christmas. It was the ’70s, and we could always count on downy seasonal snowfalls.

Every year, my friends and I would pray for snow days, when we could forget about school and go sledding, build igloos and launch all-out snowball wars. We lived to suit up in our overstuffed coats, bib pants and moon boots and wander the snow-packed streets like a roving band of misguided Eskimos. Who needs school, we scoffed, when we could make our homes in snowdrifts and live off snow ice cream?

Even now, as fresh powder blankets Kansas City, I long for those carefree days when school was cancelled. But then, I grew up in middle-class America. I had the luxury of blowing off school to pretend I was an arctic explorer trudging through a desolate landscape.

Now I realize how shortsighted I was. Each day I’m reminded that sponsored children don’t have the “privilege” of brushing off school to indulge in make-believe. Many are truly trapped in inhospitable environments, where they’re lucky to attend school rather than skip it. And education is often their only means of escape.

Even in my home state of Arkansas, where Children International has a sponsorship program in Little Rock, simply getting to – and staying in – school can be an arduous journey for boys and girls from impoverished households. But, thankfully, our education program stands out like a shining star that guides children in the direction of academic progress.

Little Rock is a particularly bright spot because we work in partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) and six public schools. That unique relationship connects sponsored children with college students and certified teachers who provide tutoring and other constructive activities during our after-school program, or Kids’ Club. Sponsored kids who would probably be home alone or out on the streets have the opportunity to participate in literacy workshops, computer classes, a chess club, art and dance activities.

“Everybody wants to be in it,” Renee Herd, one of our site coordinators, told me when I had a chance to see the Kids’ Club in action at Little Rock’s Bale Elementary School last year. That was great news considering that I had once heard the chancellor of UALR, Joel Anderson, say that 73 percent of the students in the after-school program showed improved performance in their schoolwork.

There are other highlights, too, like the college prep course we offer to graduating youth, the year-round GED, nutrition and computer classes for the parents of sponsored children, and educational summer camps to name a few.

Sponsorship really does provide so much more than school uniforms, supplies, access to scholarships and library resources…it gives underprivileged kids the perseverance to forge ahead, no matter what obstacles may come, and the power to believe that something more promising, maybe even dreamlike, lies just over the horizon.

Getting an education is the greatest adventure of their lives, and you’re the ones who are making it possible.

Posted on behalf of Damon Guinn.

Just added: Children International hosts a Christmas coat drive for underprivileged families in Little Rock.

A Chance in a Lifetime

Youth Hit the Ground in New York

Every August, the United Nations welcomes youth from around the world to celebrate International Youth Day. The day is the culmination of a focus on activities to further the United Nations’ World Programme of Action for Youth.

The day’s events help encourage and empower young people to work with governments, non-governmental agencies, schools, and businesses to make a difference in their world.

This year, three Children International sponsored youth are invited observers at the United Nations program in New York City. Read below as Shelia Mahony, CI program officer for youth and education, accompanies the youth on their special journey.

For most of us, a visit to the United Nations is a once in a lifetime experience. For three girls from different ends of the earth who have fought every day to overcome poverty, the thought was only a dream. Today that dream became a reality when two of the three sponsored youths landed in New York City.

Telma, from Guatemala, was the first girl to land at LaGuardia Airport. Normally, her vista on life is filled with shacks and dirt roads. The smile stretching across this normally shy and quiet teen’s face told us that she knew she wasn’t in Guatemala anymore.

I picked up Leslie, from the Philippines, next. Leslie is the youngest of the three girls and couldn’t hide the excitement of having another chance to travel to the United States even after finishing a 24-hour airplane trip.

The girls are thrilled to have a chance to see each other again. They hugged and shrieked as only teenage girls can do. This is a miracle meeting since they met at last year’s International Youth Conference in Kansas City, and, because of their families' lack of funds, never thought they would meet again.

And now another dream comes true as they are reunited with the third member of their dynamic trio when Vakeyia, from Little Rock, touches down in the Big Apple. We are on our way downstairs for our first whole day together in New York City. We’re going to have a real New York breakfast – bagels and cream cheese!

What Sponsorship Means

In March, we shared with you a story about Vakeyia, a sponsored teen from Little Rock, Arkansas, who was awarded the Presidential Civil Service Award.

Voted valedictorian of her graduating class, Vakeyia shares with you what sponsorship has meant to her as she graduates and looks forward to college. As you’ll hear, she realizes that this time might not have come for her if it hadn’t been for the support of her sponsor.

Congratulations and best wishes to all of our graduating sponsored teens!

Youth Wins the Gold!

A Presidential honor is top of the list of accomplishments for Vakeyia, a sponsored child through Children International, a Kansas City-based nonprofit child sponsorship organization.

Vakeyia, an 18-year-old high school senior, has been awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award for her community service work in Little Rock, Arkansas. The prestigious award was created as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.

Vakeyia sees her service to others as a way to a better life. " I have learned that the more you help people, the better you feel inside. 'Be the change you wish for the world,' is the quote that best describes what I have learned. I will take the knowledge that I have acquired and try to change the world for the best."

Some of Vakeyia's other accomplishments include:

• Class of 2007 Valedictorian
• President of her agency's Youth Council
• Delegate representing her agency at Children International's 2006 International Youth Conference
• 4-year scholarship to Hendrix College in Arkansas.

But the odds were not always on Vakeyia's side, as she is one of six children raised by her single father. Vakeyia could have fallen victim to violence and drug activity in her neighborhood, but with her father's steadfast support and the help of after-school mentoring through Children International, Vakeyia has kept her focus on one day working in the field of forensics.

James R. Cook, president and CEO of Children International, says, "We are so proud of Vakeyia's accomplishments. She is proof that sponsorship makes a real impact in the life of a disadvantaged child. Knowing Vakeyia, she will be successful in any career she chooses."

Posted on behalf of Dolores Kitchin from Children International in Kansas City, MO.