Hope for Wilmer

You may remember reading about Wilmer in the blog post “Sixteen to Life.” While his mother was in jail, Wilmer was forced to quit school and struggled to take care of his younger sisters.

I remember interviewing this family in Honduras. In a small, resigned voice Wilmer told us about the days they went hungry and how alone they felt while their mother was away. As the interview came to an end, I urged Wilmer to go to the Children International community center just five minutes away from his home and enroll for sponsorship. He took that to mean that his sisters could be sponsored. When I explained that he could be sponsored too and might have the possibility of returning to school, his sad eyes lit up a little. But then he said something that broke my heart. “I’ll have to ask my mother.” I knew what those words meant. My eyes welled with tears and I had to excuse myself for a moment. I was losing hope for him or his sisters ever enjoying the benefits of sponsorship that could ease some of their hardships. We thanked them for their time, and I slowly walked away from their home feeling sad and defeated.

I still think about Wilmer and his sisters. A story like theirs is not easily forgotten. I looked up his record the other day just to see if he’d taken that one crucial step, and there it was, staring at me on the computer screen. At the urging of our field staff, Wilmer finally made his way to the community center and enrolled himself for sponsorship.

It may have taken Wilmer a while to go to the community center and enroll, but it didn’t take long for Wilmer and his little sisters to find sponsors. In fact, when I told our new writer, Garrett Kenyon, about Wilmer's story, he immediately decided to make Wilmer his very first sponsored child. I’m sure things will still be difficult for Wilmer and his siblings, but knowing that they are sponsored renews my hope that their lives might just be a little bit better.

From Student to Teacher: Spreading a Little Hope

Posted on behalf of Sarah Trapp.

For many college students, getting up at 7:30 on Sunday morning can be a difficult task, but sponsored youth Jherlyn Cadimas rolled herself out of bed for a good cause. Along with around ninety other youth, most of them Hope Scholars, Jherlyn participated in a youth initiative to tutor more than one thousand elementary school children in Manila. Jherlyn taught math, science and English to struggling fourth grade students.

Although a student herself, teaching was definitely a challenge for Jherlyn. With the help of a Hope Scholarship, she is studying Business Administration, a far cry from fourth grade materials. She had to prepare, review lessons and read elementary school textbooks in order to make a connection with the children and help them succeed.

When Jherlyn asks the questions, students like this little boy are eager to answer.

In the end, it was all worthwhile for both Jherlyn and her students. Little by little the children participated more, and they started improving their scores. Parents noted their children’s increased enthusiasm for reading and learning. Even Jherlyn gained more self-confidence through the experience saying, “I felt the children trusted me. I feel happy that I have been able to help them in my little way.”

Jherlyn explains a lesson to this happy young pupil.

Like many sponsored youth who volunteer, for Jherlyn, helping these children was her way of giving back for all of the support she has received though the sponsorship program. “As I have received, so I want to share,” she says. And what better way to give back, than to share the gift of knowledge with children who might otherwise be left behind?

Reporting assistance and photos by Joel Abelinde, Communications Coordinator in Manila.

In the News: Graduating with HOPE

Posted on behalf of Priscila O'Shee

Thanks to being awarded a HOPE Scholarship during 2007, more than 90 sponsored youth were able to finish vocational courses taken during the summer. Auto mechanics, cuisine techniques, customer service and English, electrical installation and Web design were the courses offered.

“I took the web design course since I am studying the specialty of design at my technical high school, but this course was much better; I learned to use new programs my school would have never taught me because it has much fewer resources”, said Priscilla Rojas, one of the graduates.

Taking these courses offers our sponsored youth more possibilities of getting a job after graduating from high school, and it also gives them guidance regarding what they would like to do in the future since it gets them interested in a specific field.





Priscila O'Shee is the Communications Coordinator for Children International's agency in Valparaíso, Chile.

Turning A Humble Dream into a Reality

Posted on behalf of Tony Lorcha, Children International – Legazpi

A week before graduating from his local public high school in Legazpi City, Philippines, 16-year-old Loreto Apuyan started to get very excited about going to college. Then, one day when he returned home from school to tell his mother about his plan to enroll in the local university and pursue a degree in computer science, he was struck with a deafening silence. Loreto’s mother told him he wouldn’t be able to go.

“I felt hopeless when I learned that my mother didn’t want me to enroll in college,” Loreto sighed. “But what could I do? My parents don’t have the resources to support higher education,” he acknowledged.

“One thing that revived my strength was the scholarship application I submitted to our youth coordinator for a HOPE scholarship,” Loreto said. “I didn’t lose hope that I would be called for an interview...and it happened.”

During his interview, Loreto shared his shelved plan to study computer science at the university level. He explained how his mother launders clothes for just $2 a day, while his father earns only a dollar more as a construction worker.

“Living in poverty is really hard,” Loreto told the agency’s interview committee, “but it gives me so much motivation to move on and reach for my dreams....”

When Loreto was selected as one of the 50 HOPE scholarship recipients in Legazpi City, he was determined to finish his studies and help his parents provide for the family’s basic needs. That’s why he decided to enroll in vocational education rather than the university.

“I’m a sophmore now at the San Francisco Institute of Science and Technology in the Philippines,” he said about the three-year Network Technician degree he’s pursuing. “With the HOPE scholarship, I have the assurance to finish my studies as long as I am able to comply with the requirements and maintain my high grades in school. The scholarship has provided for my daily meals, transportation, school project expenses, uniform and tuition,” Loreto attested.

Loreto is one of 734 HOPE recipients around the world who was awarded a scholarship worth as much as $350.

“I believe that HOPE scholarships uplift the spirit of youth to acquire college education in spite of poverty,” Loreto added, grateful that he can now see his dreams becoming a reality.

A City of Hope

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is doubtless one of the most recognizable cities in the United States. Founded in the mid-1700s, Pittsburgh is the second largest city in Pennsylvania and boasts a rich colonial history. The 2000 U.S. census reported that 312,819 people live within the perimeter of its 55.6 square miles.

One publication listed Pittsburgh as America’s most livable city for 2007. But imagine for a moment what life in Pittsburgh would be like if things were not just as they are…

• Imagine if Pittsburgh had virtually no access to medical services, leaving over 300,000 people to simply stay home and suffer when they are sick because they cannot possibly afford to visit a doctor or pay for medicine.
• Imagine if practically no one in Pittsburgh earned more than two dollars a day – but had to stretch this income out to pay for food, housing, clothes and any other expenses.
• Imagine if, instead of over 150 gleaming skyscrapers, Pittsburgh were made up mostly of crumbling, dilapidated shacks thrown together from scraps of lumber, plastic sheeting and rusty tin...
• Imagine if Pittsburgh were just another poverty-stricken city in just another developing country.

Poverty this stark and this overwhelming is hard to imagine on such a large scale in America. Yet, were you to gather the over 300,000 desperately poor children that Children International reaches out to in eleven countries around the world into a single city, you would have a population that easily rivals or surpasses that of Pittsburgh.

Figure in these children’s relatives and you have a tragedy of epic proportions.

With the help of our sponsors, we are providing reliable – and free – medical and dental care to children who would otherwise have nowhere to turn. We’re helping children trade the fields and the sweatshops for the classroom…fighting parasitic infestations…treating malnutrition…teaching job skills…funding micro-enterprise ventures for income generation…providing safe housing…in short, we’re turning this “city of tragedy” into a city of hope.

The obstacles are sobering and at times it seems like change is frustratingly slow. But while we can’t provide a quick fix for poverty, we are convinced sponsorship can make a significant difference in the long run. So please, get involved. You really can make a difference. You can help build a city of hope.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Meet María, from Quito, Ecuador:

"I would like to know my sponsor, because he is very generous to my family and me. I hope that my sponsor is very happy, and I would like to send him a big hug."

Photo by Andrés Barreno, Children International's communications coordinator in Quito, Ecuador.

Meet Raul!

From sponsored child Raul, age 6, in Valparaiso, Chile:

What do you like to do for fun? What makes you happy or sad?

I like to play with toy cars and horses and with play do. My favorite food is chocolate ice cream. It makes me sad when my mom leaves..that's all.

What do you want to be when you grow up and why?

I would like to be a dentist, because I like to see how the mouth is on the inside.

What you would like to say to your sponsor for the help he or she provides you? What do you want your sponsor to know about you?

I would tell him thank you for all that he has given me and I would tell him that we are a big family, we are 8 in total and we live in a small house.

A Family Not Easily Forgotten

Posted on behalf of Erin Fitzgerald.

Ana María never strays far from my mind.

Even though it has been eight months since I visited her and her family in Guadalajara, Mexico, I still think about her often. And I can still see her dejected face yearning for help.

When I met her, she and 17 family members shared a tiny, dilapidated shack with dirt floors and an open fire to cook what little food they had. The family was plagued by little education, low income and health problems.

Heavily pregnant and not feeling well, Ana María didn’t say much when I interviewed her. But she didn’t have to. Her pleading eyes were enough to explain her desperation. For food to feed her husband and four children, for help with medical care, housing needs, educational support, and so much more – all issues that seemed overwhelming even with sponsorship support.

Sometimes I wonder why I am fortunate to lead such a different life from the families in our program like Ana María’s. Why am I lucky enough to live in a decent house and eat three meals a day while she and her family struggle so much?

On the surface, it doesn’t appear that Ana María and I have much in common. But when it comes down to it, we’re not that much different. We both care about our families and loved ones. Like everyone else, we just want to get ahead.

But unlike me, for Ana María getting ahead often means just having enough money to feed her kids.

Read more about Ana María and her family in the Spring 2007 issue of Journeys magazine. To read an online version, click here.

Hope Through Housing: Part 3 of 3

Posted on behalf of Tom Owens

The notion of creating value through housing is an important one, especially when you consider that close to one billion people around the world live in inadequate housing. Substandard houses are unsafe, unhealthy and dangerous. Living in them is a constant worry, especially with children in the house. These are hardly places where families can prosper.

And besides impacting their health, security and peace of mind, a new or improved home is often the only asset of any value that many poor, working families have. A lot of these families have small-scale businesses that are based in their homes, so a good roof, for example, can help keep materials and inventory dry. The house is a foundation for the family to improve their future.

As one grateful housing recipient exclaimed, “¡Siempre soñaba con tener mi casita de material, pero ustedes ahora me han hecho este sueño una realidad!” (“I always dreamed of having a well-built house and now you have made this dream come true for me!”)

As much as I have seen this scene repeated over the years, it still never ceases to impress me. It reminds me how easy it is to take for granted our comfortable daily lives – a dry roof, running water, a warm house in the winter, electrical outlets in every room. It’s a dream that remains beyond the reach of so many. And it’s where Children International can make a huge difference in the lives of others.

Tom Owens is the Director of Grants for Children International.

Hope Through Housing: Part 1 of 3

Posted on behalf of Tom Owens

“¡Gracias! ¡Que Dios les bendiga! Jamás pudiéramos tener una casa digna sin la ayuda de ustedes.”

“Thank you and God bless you! We never could have had a decent house without your help.”

These are the words of appreciation that I heard over and over at the inauguration of Children International’s housing project at Villa Esperanza (Village of Hope), just outside Barranquilla, Colombia.

It was hotter than blazes that day last October when I was on hand to officially turn over the keys to houses that Children International helped 250 families build in Villa Esperanza. I wondered why there was so much sweat rolling down my back while all of the local people appeared so cool and comfortable under the shade of the canopy.

A really good deed: Tom Owens hands over the title to a new home

As we handed over the titles to the houses to each family representative I also had a chance to reflect on what Children International’s work means to so many thousands of people around the world. I first visited Villa Esperanza in 1997 when it was a new squatter settlement. Forced from their rural homes by political violence, hundreds of families arrived in Villa Esperanza in the late 90’s. Eventually the government granted them title to their land, but their houses were of decrepit materials, makeshift construction and mostly dirt floors. Children International brought sponsorship to Villa Esperanza and began to create a community volunteer network to help run the programs.

Building houses – and community – in Villa Esperanza

A few years ago we were able to access funding to begin house construction. Our network of volunteers was key here in mobilizing the community. We used a self-help approach were each beneficiary contributed the unskilled labor, the “sweat equity”, for the construction. We also organized the community into groups of 4-5 families each, sort of a solidarity approach, where everyone in the group helps build other group members’ houses on a rotating basis. It turned out to be a cost-effective way to build houses, and also had the positive effect of creating mutual respect and civic pride within the community.

Safety, shelter and hope: New homes and brighter futures in Villa Esperanza

I can’t say enough about the staff of our local agency in this project. They applied all their years of knowledge and experience to many long hours of organizing and implementing this program. It took away from their evenings and weekends, but they did it happily out of dedication and a deep sense of commitment to the people of the community.

Tom Owens is the Director of Grants for Children International. Check back tomorrow for part 2 of this 3-part post on Children International’s efforts to improve housing for sponsored children around the world.

Inauguration of the Nicole Lyn Anderson Community Center

On Wednesday, March 21, 2007 we officially inaugurated the newly constructed Nicole Lyn Anderson Community Center in Barranquilla, Colombia, in the community of Soledad.

The center is designed to provide services and benefits to at least 5,000 sponsored children – many of whom represent generations of the poor here in Soledad. The word soledad means “loneliness” – but it is lonely no longer. Happiness and hope arrived in the form of an incredible community center, which will serve children and families in need for decades.

Children International was not alone in its dedication to this project. Agency director Hermelinda Guarín succeeded in obtaining many local donations including building supplies, installation of electrical and water services and more. Of particular note, the Rotary Club donated a 99 year lease on the property.

An important feature of the center is its library. The library has been dedicated to a life long member of the Children International family: Dorothy Koch, who retired just a few months ago after 41 years of service!

Dignitaries, invited guests, children and their families arrived late in the afternoon while the sun was still hot, but the wind provided a breeze to keep everyone cool. The center has a large area in front of the main entrance paved with donated brick and the labor of volunteers. Hundreds of white chairs were placed under a large tent to shade the guests. The festive air was completed by the Navy band who treated the crowd to a very lively musical set complete with horns and percussion.

Also in attendance were several Children International staff from Kansas City including President Jim Cook. Representing Children International’s Kansas City board were Larry Lee and Joan Horan.

Make sure to visit us again next week to learn more about the woman the center is named after, Nicole Lyn Anderson, as her family shares their experience from this overwhelming and emotional event.

Brian Anderson, husband of Nicole Lyn Anderson, poses with their three sponsored children.

Still There Among the Dead

Good afternoon friends! Welcome to our new readers and to those who faithfully visit the blog. I want to take a minute and encourage each of you to share your thoughts, comments, opinions or even your experiences with Children International. Don't be shy! If you have a question about a story, drop us an email. Is there a topic you'd like to know more about? Again, leave a comment or send us an email. Kelly and I, along with a whole lot of other people, are here to help. And don't forget that you can sign-up with RSS so that you never miss a photo or a post!

Some of you may remember Remy from the last issue of Journeys, but we asked writer Scott Cotter to share just a little bit more about a story that inspired all of us to continue fighting this disease called poverty....

Another year has passed for Remy. Now it has been 20. Twenty years and not much has changed.

What started out as temporary – or so she thought – has turned out to be about half her life. Half a lifetime spent living in a Quezon City cemetery, eating there, raising children there, waking every morning to the same startling reality…that every part of life for her and her family is surrounded by death.

I’m not sure I could do it. Living in a rickety shack built over the top of the deceased. Or pulling a piece of cardboard over a concrete tomb every night so I had a place to lie down. But, truthfully, it hasn’t been easy for Remy either. When we were there in the Philippines on assignment, she gazed blankly at the wall when she described her sleepless nights, how she talks to the stranger in the crypt below her for comfort, and what it felt like to be so poor that escape was impossible. Her shame was palpable.

Her seven children have never known another life than the one surrounding them now. And they probably never will. There is simply no room in the congested confines of a big city for someone who only has a few dollars to his or her name. Even with our help, the costs are just too staggering and spaces too few.

I think of Remy often. We’re about the same age, though you’d probably think her to be quite a bit older than me. I guess you could say time has betrayed her – in more ways than one.

Hope Rising from the Ruins

Copán Ruinas was no disappointment. Because of its remote location, accessible over rugged – and often dangerous – washboard roads, we have not visited this beautiful town in the heart of the ancient Maya empire as frequently as we have other areas served by Children International in Honduras. Nonetheless, sponsorship is alive and well here.

We thought we’d share with you some photos we shot on location today. Although nothing can compare with actually being here, perhaps these will help you feel a little closer to the sights our sponsored children see every day.

For all of us, it was exciting to see families waiting in line to enroll their children in the sponsorship program (did you know that, with around 4,760 sponsored children, Copán Ruinas is our largest service area in Honduras?). You’ll see a picture of a mother waiting patiently as her son’s paperwork is completed, which promises to bring positive changes to his life for years to come. And we’ve included a picture of newly sponsored child, Ronal, as he and his mom write his very first letter ever to his sponsor! Hopefully this will be the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

Certainly, what we saw today affirms for us the work we do and the considerable contribution sponsors make toward the lives of the children of Copán Ruinas. And we expect to see the same positive signs as we continue our travels through Honduras.

We’ll be here two more days, talking to families, seeing how sponsorship impacts lives and telling the stories we uncover…so make sure you check back for more updates from the field.

The Children International community center in Copán Ruinas is not hard to spot.

Starting a new phase in life: Enrollment in Children International’s sponsorship program promises steady support for children’s mental, emotional and physical development.

Ronal, who just found out that his waiting is over, works on a masterpiece to share with his new sponsor.

Say, “Queso!” Sponsored children have their photos snapped so their sponsors can stay up to date with how big they’ve grown…

This dusty road stands in stark contrast to the lush semi-tropical growth in the beautiful background.

Children International cameraman Javier climbs on top of a sponsored child’s house to record a home improvement project.

Headed for Honduras

I’ve never been to Belize…but my luggage has. Unfortunately, while my bags were enjoying a few days of vacation in paradise, I – along with my fellow Children International team members – was in the sweltering tropical heat of Honduras, making do with a single change of clothes.

But if you’ve done much international travel, you know lost baggage is just part of life. The sobering part was that while I considered myself to be hopelessly short on clothing, the two sets of clothes I had (one to wear and one to wash!) represented a more complete wardrobe than many of the children I had come to visit had ever owned all at one time.

That was a couple of years ago. Today, Greg, Damon and I are on our way to Honduras once again. Greg and I have been several times, but this will be Damon’s first visit. With a 6 a.m. departure from Kansas City and a training session scheduled from 3 to 10 p.m. in San Pedro Sula, it promises to be a long day.

We’ll spend the next three days visiting our community centers throughout the San Pedro Sula area and interviewing sponsored children and their families. Each child has a special story to tell, and we wish we could visit with each one; but because we sponsor thousands of children in the area, we’ll only be able to squeeze in a few.

This trip will be particularly exciting because we’ll be touching base with several children who have been featured in our various publications, such as Journeys, eNews, etc. In fact, for some of you, the very first letter you ever received from Children International featured a little Honduran girl named Damaris, whose family couldn’t even afford to buy her a good pair of shoes. You may also recall Sonia, whose sad green eyes conveyed the pain of being shunned by other children because of the horrible burns that covered her face and body.

Sponsorship has been life-changing for these children. There are others too…Darwin, who also was shunned because of his raw, exposed colostomy; Jennifer, who had barely eaten in months when Children International found her, her rail-thin body a mute testimony to the terrible malnutrition that was slowly destroying her.

I’m a little sad that we won’t get to see Cinthia…she’s now moved to the capital city, Tegucigalpa. Cinthia was the little girl whose growth was so stunted by malnutrition that at 8 years old she could have passed for a toddler – and who would eat dirt in a desperate attempt to provide the nutrients her body craved. Our caring staff in Honduras helped her get into a nutritional rehab center, and she’s now enjoying a much better life.

Please check back often, as we’ll be updating the blog every day this week when we get back to the hotel after our field visits. We look forward to helping you catch up with our old friends and telling you about the new ones we’ll make as we visit one of the loveliest – and neediest – nations in the world.

Posted on behalf of Kelly and crew who at the moment are sitting in the airport waiting on their very delayed flight...

To Colombia…And Beyond

Well, the Children International team is back from Colombia after 10 action-packed days on the ground. I hope you enjoyed tagging along with them as they visited sponsored children and reported on the difference your support is making in Barranquilla and Cartagena.

If this is your first time visiting our blog, please check out the posts below and in the archive to read about what the team saw and experienced in Colombia.

Our Children International team for Colombia included Jennifer, Scott, Andrea, Erin and David. They’ll be sharing more photos and experiences from their trip in the near future. For now, though, I asked each of them to summarize the trip in a few words…

Erin: “What stood out the most during our trip to Colombia is the dedication of the local agency staff. When we visited sponsored communities, smiles, handshakes and hugs were frequently exchanged between the families in our program and Children International employees. It was obvious to me that working for Children International is much more than just a job for our local colleagues - just as it is for me.”

Jennifer: “My Spanish is sketchy at best. Simple phrases and lots of gestures generally convey my message. However with Maria, language was no barrier with us becoming fast friends. I’ll always remember her sweet smile and kind eyes as she plopped herself down next to me on a step and stuck by my side for the afternoon. With only her grandmother to watch over her as she grows, I’m excited for the opportunities sponsorship will offer her and all that she will achieve in the future. Children like Maria are why I work for Children International.”

David: “I saw that Children International really does bring out the very best in the volunteer mothers and the youth…the workshops give them a sense of self-worth and give them the power to help their own communities.”

Scott: "In Chubal, a dusty, isolated slum outside of Barranquilla, I was overwhelmed with the reaction our agency van elicited from the children. As we pulled off the highway and into the powder-fine dirt, a large group charged toward us, screaming and leaping into the air, their smiles an irresistible welcome mat. Our driver, Victor, said this is a common reaction because families think of our staff as their friends.”

Andrea: “I am always struck by the inner strength mothers have in dire and uncertain circumstances. They bear a heavy load, yet put on a brave face for their children and do the very best they can with practically nothing. They often lean on their faith and the hope that their children will have better lives. Sponsorship gives them hope.

And of course I still love the fact that no matter where I go, children are children and can find delight in the smallest of things…like looking at a tiny digital image of themselves on the back of my camera.”

What’s next?
We really hope you have enjoyed the posts and photos from our team’s Colombia trip. In just a couple of weeks we’ll have another team on the ground, this time in Honduras. We’d like to hear from you – what types of things would you like us to update you on while we’re there? Please drop us a comment or an email and let us know!

20 Years of Change

My first trip with CI was to Colombia - more than 20 years ago. I had never seen such wide-scale, overwhelming poverty. I simply adored every child and empathized with the mothers who had so very little to provide for their children and only the slightest glimpse of hope they would ever fare better. Of course I was hooked.

I've visited here several times over the years and have witnessed significant change. Horrible roads have become highways, phone service was laughable then but today the cell reaches nearly everywhere. Cars and buses are newer, yet the horse drawn cart is also still quite common. Where there was virtually no middle class, today apartment buildings have sprung up all over, representing a burgeoning tier of young, well-educated professionals. A new mall in Barranquilla is proof enough of the dramatic transformation taking place.

And while many things have changed, some things remain the same.

Just outside the urban core, behind the colorful facades and brightly-lit shops strung along the main roadways, you'll still find a vast sea of poverty. Families move to the large cities believing they’ll find opportunity, jobs and safety. Too often what they find is unemployment, high prices and dwindling hope. They can’t go back so they pull together their meager resources and construct a ‘temporary’ shelter from scrap wood, metal, and plastic sheeting. They become invisible statistics to already overwhelmed government entities. Days melt into years…more families move here…and the slums grow ever larger.

Displaced and waiting: Omar and Hernando Romano outside their
home in the Santa Rosa community outside of Cartagena.

But it isn’t as hopeless as it might sound. Hope exists in these same neighborhoods all over Barranquilla and Cartagena. We were here 20 years ago, and we’re still here today…reaching out to the children day after day and providing much-needed material benefits, services and the guidance they need.

As you would expect, our programs have evolved over the decades. We've learned which services make the greatest impact on the poor and we've implemented many more vital benefits. The CI infrastructure is strong and sound. Newer community centers offer a large, full-service oasis for thousands of children and their parents, many of whom are still struggling with the far reaching effects of poverty.

Excitement grows for the children living near the new CI Community Center currently under construction in Santa Rosa.

I can only wonder which of the children I met 20 years ago are still living a life of poverty - likely with children of their own. And I can hope that at least a few of them found their way out - maybe living in one of those new apartments. The children and youth we've met on this trip have a much better chance than the previous generation. There are more educational opportunities in their communities; improved transportation makes it possible for many to explore what their cities have to offer. And, of course, sponsorship provides the roadmap and resources necessary to actually make it out.

A small business helps this youth and his mother keep the family afloat during trying times. A Hope Scholarship is also making it possible for him to seek a certificate in accounting.

We've met incredibly articulate sponsored youth with generous hearts, compassionate souls and dreams they can truly attain. I am so proud of them…and if you could meet them you would be too. I hope the stories and photos we've posted this week have helped transport you to Colombia and have provided some unique firsthand insight into the lives of those we help and how your help makes a real and lasting difference.

Smart, articulate youth are being awarded with CI Hope Scholarships every year. Javier is studying commerce and Maria early childhood. Giving back to their families and their communities is a common value instilled in the youth.

Posted on behalf of Andrea Waters, Children International photographer. Andrea has over 20 years of committed service to the organization, sponsors and the children who make up the Children International family.

An Oasis of Hope

Updated at 4:45pm on Monday, Feb. 5 from Colombia: Hello everyone! We reached our central office today in town and finally have access to a working internet connection, so as promised, here are the photos that I mentioned in the post earlier today...enjoy!

On a hot, sunny day in Barranquilla, we visited "La Sierrita," where more than 5,000 needy children receive help at a Children International community center.

Known simply as Community Center #1, it might more appropriately be called The Oasis. Though it is 17 years old, updates, new, bright paint and expansions have made it more modern and more inviting.

While we were there, it was filled with boisterous children who were receiving medical and dental exams and enjoying the spacious, shade-covered courtyard, or a book in the unique, octagonal library.

Because we are using a mobile device while we’re in the field, we won’t be able to post the photos we snapped until later today or tomorrow – so please check back. Meanwhile, though, we wanted to share the responses we got to a question we always like to ask of sponsored children...what would you like to say to your sponsor?

Luis Carlos, age 8 said:
"My sponsor changed my life! Thanks for the help with my surgery...it allowed my dream of speaking normally to come true!"

María Pájaro, age 7 and newly sponsored said:
"I love all the services that we are given and all of the nice things I see in my community."

Mileydys Corbarcas, age 6 said:
"I'm so happy that my sponsor chose me! I have a good, kind sponsor that gives me the opportunity to receive gifts and medical attention. I want to know my sponsor better."

María Guerrero, age 8 said:
"I only have happiness in my life since I've been sponsored. I feel like I have a lot of support and I'm important to someone far away."

These words, the hopeful and grateful thoughts of children who truly depend on sponsorship, affirm our efforts. They are the stories that highlight the change taking place in Colombia, and all the things that people like you make possible.

A Village of Hope: Villa Esperanza

Thank you for the wonderful responses and questions regarding our Colombia posting on Wednesday. The number of children we work with here in Colombia is overwhelming...over 40,000! As you can imagine, we will only see a few of them on this trip. We wish we could take personal greetings to each of them from their sponsors, but realistically, that is just not possible. But please know that, without exception, the children we’re meeting are eager to convey the same message to their sponsors: “We appreciate you!”

While what you are seeing may not be your specific child's home, the poverty here is so overwhelming that there's not much difference in how most of the families live. These photos and stories really represent most of the families we work with. And now a little bit about a community that we visited this week…

For the more than 2,000 sponsored children who live there, Villa Esperanza isn’t just a place they call home, but a place they find hope.

In this area, Children International provided the building materials and other resources for the construction of 250 new homes – permanent structures of concrete block. The sponsored families who live in these homes now have a place to call their own. Gone are the worries of crumbling shacks and the dangers of inadequate sanitary facilities. The worries have been replaced by a solid infrastructure. Running water, electricity and a modern sewage system provide welcome relief to families who never had such luxuries in the past.

While many residents came from rural areas of the country seeking refuge from paramilitary violence, others saw Villa Esperanza as an opportunity for a better way of life. Today, many of the sponsored families who reside here earn a living as construction workers or as street vendors selling miscellaneous items such as fruit, water and candies. And one enterprising mom has even started her own preschool for neighborhood children after completing her own education as an adult.

The Colombian spirit is easy to find here. Flowering trees line the streets, while brightly painted modern houses pay homage to a lively cultural heritage. For these children, hoping for a better home is no longer a dream. In Villa Esperanza, it is a reality.

Looking Forward...

When I started working for Children International, I didn’t know much about poverty in Colombia. But here are a couple of sobering statistics that I now know.

In Barranquilla, we work to provide over 21,000 children with benefits. The average income for a sponsored child’s family is only $111 USD a month. And while that is horrible, for almost 20,000 sponsored children in Cartagena, their family income averages about $66 USD a month. Sadly, a little more than a third of our sponsored children in Cartagena and their hardworking families sustain themselves on less than $2 a day.

Humbling statistics indeed, but there is hope.

For the next 10 days, a few of my colleagues and I will be visiting the slums of Barranquilla and Cartagena. We’re looking forward to meeting many of the sponsored children and their families whose lives have been changed through sponsorship. These trips are very intense and personal experiences for us and we want to share our journey with you.

Visit the blog over the next couple of weeks as we share the stories and photos of these incredible children and their families in Colombia.

Swamped by Poverty

Photo: Josefina and her daughter, Dayana, gaze out the doorway of their humble home in the Swamp of the Virgin.

There’s nothing easy about a life of poverty. But for people like Josefina Masa Julio, who lives in the Ciénaga de la Virgen (Swamp of the Virgin) in Cartagena, Colombia, the difficulties are compounded. Winter here is warm and rainy – a fearsome time for these swamp dwellers, most of whom are people who have been displaced from their former homes in other areas of the country due to violence; now they find themselves living in flimsy shacks of cardboard and plastic sheeting, surrounded by the stagnant waters of one of Cartagena’s poorest – and wettest – neighborhoods.

Dangers abound in the Swamp. Each winter rain brings horrors with it: snakes and other creatures are driven out by the rising waters, diseases are rampant and homeowners spend sleepless nights watching over their household goods for fear of losing their meager possessions to nature in an unguarded moment. But the greatest tragedy is counted in human lives. Just a few years ago, Josefina lost her four-year-old son to the floodwaters.

This photo was snapped shortly after I visited Cartagena some months ago. Marelvis Campo, the Children International Communication Coordinator in Cartagena who took the picture, tells me that not much has changed for Josefina and her remaining three children, except that her oldest son has now moved out and is living on his own. She still depends on the few odd jobs she manages to round up each week. But by helping Josefina’s family with school supplies, providing free medical care for the children and helping them obtain a nutritionally balanced diet, Children International is bringing stability and hope to their otherwise precarious lives.