On the 5th Day of Christmas My Sponsor Gave to Me...

5 Supplemental Meals

A Christmas wish worth writing down.

I remember Christmas as a time of anticipation. After Thanksgiving, mom would go to work with a military efficiency that would make any drill sergeant proud. Soon our house would look like a Christmas grenade had been thrown through the living room window. Fragile porcelain reindeer perched on every surface, creating a minefield for young knees and elbows. Shutting a door would dislodge a plateau of holly or bring a clump of mistletoe down on your head. Passing airplanes could calibrate their instruments by the multi-colored glow of our front lawn. Clark Griswold had nothing on my mom.

The rest of us stalked warily through the house, knowing that a simple “can you help for a minute?” would translate to hours of grueling holiday labor. After the initial onslaught, mom would slow down enough for us to resurface. If she was disappointed that we didn’t share her zeal for decoration – she rarely let on. I would have been too busy to notice anyway. By then I was engaged in the serious endeavor of creating my Christmas wish list.

In few areas of my life did I display the attention to detail that I gave my yearly wish list. It all seemed so important. How was I supposed to pay attention in school when at home my one-armed Spiderman figure was facing down a gang of super-villains without the new Spidey-mobile? How could my army of battered stormtroopers be expected to mount a credible defense against the Rebel Alliance without an Imperial Walker or at least a couple of T-Wing fighters to ride in? Didn’t anybody realize that the fate of the entire universe could hinge upon a single item on that list!

I tried to be reasonable. After all, we were a middle class family. My parents could hardly be expected to take out a second mortgage or forego buying presents for my siblings in order to properly outfit my Batcave. In an attempt to placate Santa, I was forced to limit the list to only my absolute Needs. It was tough, but I soldiered on.

As the big day approached, I prepared to confront reality. It was rarely a match for my imagination. But no matter how many toys were left off my list, when the gifts had all been opened and the living room floor reduced to a paper-strewn battlefield – I always felt something very near contentment.

Looking back on those days, I can’t help being a little embarrassed. Like the majority of us, I went through life with no concept of the difference between a “need” and a “want”. I never had to struggle through the day with an empty stomach or fall asleep wondering where I would find my next meal. Food, shelter and clothing were provided for me with such little fanfare they barely warranted consideration.

I’ve done some growing up since then. I’ve witnessed the devastating effects of poverty and seen the face of true need. Accordingly, my values and priorities have matured. I’ve found that more pleasure can be derived from helping others than from helping myself. That’s what led me to Children International.

It’s comforting to know that once a child is sponsored through CI, they can receive supplemental meals from their community center up to three times a week. I love imagining the weight lifted off the shoulders of a mother or father when they realize their child doesn’t have to face malnourishment and starvation. Knowing that sponsorship keeps these kids from slipping through the cracks warms my heart in ways extravagant gifts never could. And then there are the other ways CI helps these kids – with things like clothing, healthcare and education that benefit them far beyond their next meal.

I still have a lot of growing up to do. It’s impossible to go from taking food and shelter for granted to understanding the plight of the impoverished overnight. But I can take comfort in the knowledge that the day my wants became about fulfilling others’ needs, I came a long way.

Here’s to hoping you get everything on your list this year.

Posted on behalf of Garrett Kenyon.

Update on René

Thanks to our great readers, we are excited to report that René now has a sponsor! We’ve also received several donations that are sure to be well-received. However, the family still needs a lot of help. If you would like to help René and his family through this difficult time in their lives, our field staff in Guatemala has suggested some items that the family needs:

Clothing and groceries for the entire family: $300
A gas stove, cabinet for clothing, table and chairs: $300
Tin walls, a new roof and concrete flooring: $500

We know times are tough and any small amount you can donate will add up to huge relief for this family. Your help is sincerely appreciated.

Please email us at blog@children.org or call 1-800-888-3089 to donate.

René needs a hug

Lea la versión en español abajo.

A couple of weeks ago Javier Cárcamo, our Communications Coordinator in Rural Guatemala, visited a family that left a lasting impression on his heart. This is the sad story that he shared with us in hopes of making a difference.

René Corvera is a seven-year-old boy whose childhood was following its normal course in a humble home made of wood and laminate sheets in rural Guatemala. He was surrounded by his siblings and under the care of his parents, Doña Emiliana and Don Manuel, a hard-working man who earned a living buying and selling scrap metal.


This tough work consisted of going from house to house asking for old tin, batteries, cans or containers to sell by the pound at the recycling plants, an exhausting job at which he could make around $5.00 a day.

Sometimes his work meant making long journeys to other areas. When he had to travel, their father would lovingly leave what food that he could, money for unforeseen expenses, and kind goodbyes for his children and wife. Distance was no obstacle for Don Manuel, who constantly called his wife on a neighbor’s phone to tell her that he was fine and to send his best wishes to his children, especially to René, the child he was closest to. René would run to the neighbor’s house to just hear his father’s voice on the phone.

An irresistible opportunity to get a better price for the scrap metal he had accumulated motivated Don Manuel to leave one morning before dawn. He packed a hat and his favorite shirt, and before leaving his house, he hugged and kissed his children, except for René, who was fast asleep. It was perhaps four a.m., and the sun had not yet begun to light up the corn stalks they lived among. Don Manuel set off with an unknown course as his tired figure disappeared into the cornfields on the horizon.

The first day came and went, and there was no call. The children waited in vain for a message from the neighbor.

By the second day, Doña Emiliana was tormented with worry. René was sad because his brothers and sister thought that their father had abandoned them.

The third day destiny had its sights on René. Somehow the day’s newspaper found its way into René’s little hands. Not knowing how to read, and curious about the pictures, he began looking through the paper, page by page until a picture of a piece of clothing caught his eye. In his innocence, René was filled with happiness and he went running to find his mother excitedly shouting “My daddy! My daddy!” but when Doña Emilia saw the photo, she collapsed in an attack of nerves. There was Don Manuel on the page of the newspaper with a headline that read “Man Found Dead.”

Doña Emiliana’s painful cry was all the explanation that René received, and he took off running into the cornfield crying and screaming “Daddy! Daddy!” René’s sister ran after him until she caught up with him by the side of the road. René was suffering from a torrent of sadness.

How can I explain in words the sad cry of a child when it only comes out as a painful moan? René wasn’t able to tell me much. His smiling face changes when he talks about his father. “I loved him so much,” he tells me and he bursts into tears that he dries with his dirty sleeves.

Things have become very difficult for this family since that day. Three months have passed. Doña Emiliana’s work as a tortilla maker doesn’t bring in enough money to support their precarious home. They only owed just a little more to have the land that they live on paid off; slightly more than $100 which they still haven’t been able to scrape together as the interest on the loan keeps building.


Sadness, uncertainty, hunger and grief are destroying the family. The two sponsored children dropped out of school. The house is falling down, and the money that they make from selling their hens isn’t enough to pay for water or to put food on the table.

My eyes are about to spill over with tears as Doña Emiliana tells me her story and I look at that house. The heartfelt cry of the little boy is tearing at my head. As I put myself in René’s place, I feel undecipherable pain. The pain of losing the one you love the most, without having had the chance to say goodbye...And tomorrow? What will become of this little boy tomorrow? When I asked little René what he wished for the most, sobbing, he told me, “I want my daddy to come and give me a hug, like I dreamed last night.”

Rene needs a hug and the love of a caring sponsor. Javier tells us that the youth group and local university have been providing a few supplies and items of clothing when possible, but the family’s situation is extremely bleak. If you cannot commit to sponsorship, even a small donation could make such a difference in his life. Thank you for reading Rene’s story.

Email us at blog@children.org or call 1-800-888-3089 to contribute.
********************************************************************************** René necesita un abrazo

Hace un par de semanas Javier Cárcamo, nuestro coordinador de comunicaciones en Guatemala rural, visitó a una familia que dejó una impresión duradera en su corazón. Ésta es la triste historia que compartió con nosotros con la esperanza de hacer una diferencia.

René Corvera es un niño de 7 años cuya infancia transcurría normal, en una humilde vivienda de madera y lámina, rodeado de sus hermanos y al cuidado de sus padres, Doña Emiliana y Don Manuel, un hombre muy trabajador que se dedicaba a la compra y venta de chatarra.

Ese duro trabajo consistía en caminar de casa en casa pidiendo restos de hojalata, baterías, láminas, latas o botes, para luego venderlo por libra en las plantas recicladoras, agotadora labor con la podía reunir unos $5.00 diarios.

Esta labor implicaba en ocasiones realizar largos viajes a otros departamentos, ocasiones en las que el padre amorosamente dejaba los alimentos que podía, dinero para imprevistos y afectuosos gestos para sus hijos y esposa. La distancia no era obstáculo para que don Manuel llamara constantemente a su esposa, al teléfono de un vecino, avisando que se encontraba bien y enviando saludos para los niños, en especial para René, el más cercano de sus hijos, quien corría a la casa del vecino para escuchar la voz de su padre.

La irresistible oportunidad de obtener un mejor precio por la chatarra acumulada, motivó a don Manuel a salir una mañana de madrugada. Empacó una gorra y su camisa preferida, y sin más que dejar en su casa, dejó un beso y un abrazo para cada niño, menos para René, quien dormía profundamente. Eran quizá las 4 de la mañana, y el sol aún no alumbraba los sembradíos de maíz entre los que viven. Don Manuel partió con rumbo desconocido, hasta que su figura cansada se confundió con las milpas del horizonte.

Pasó el primer día y no hubo llamada. Los niños esperaron en vano un aviso del vecino. El segundo día, y ya la angustia atormentaba a doña Emiliana. René estaba triste porque sus hermanos pensaban que su padre los había abandonado.

Al tercer día, el destino quiso marcar la vida de René. De alguna forma llegó a sus manos el periódico del día. Sin saber leer, y curioso por las ilustraciones empezó a pasar hoja por hoja hasta que una vestimenta conocida lo detuvo. En su inocencia, René se llenó de alegría y fue corriendo en busca de su madre gritando –Mi papá, mi papá, pero cuando doña Emiliana vio la foto un ataque de nervios la desplomó. En la hoja del periódico estaba Don Manuel y el titular de la noticia era “Hombre aparece muerto”.

El amargo llanto de doña Emiliana fue toda la explicación que recibió René, quien salió corriendo entre la milpa llorando y gritando –¡papá!, ¡papá! La hermana mayor de René corrió tras él hasta alcanzarlo a orilla de la carretera. René estaba sufriendo una tomentosa tristeza.

¿Cómo puedo explicar con palabras el triste llanto de un niño, cuando es un doloroso quejido? René no alcanza a decirme mucho. Su sonriente carita cambia cuando habla de su papá. –Yo lo quería mucho, me dice y estallan en llanto que seca con sus bracitos sucios.

La situación se ha tornado muy difícil para esta familia desde ese suceso, del cual han pasado ya dos meses. El trabajo como tortillera que realiza doña Emiliana, no genera los suficientes ingresos para sostener su precaria vivienda. Una cuota apenas hacía falta para terminar de pagar el terreno en el que vivían. Una cuota de poco más de $100 que aún no ha logrado reunir y cuyos intereses siguen creciendo.

La tristeza, la incertidumbre, el hambre y el desconsuelo están destruyendo esta familia, los dos hermanos apadrinados dejaron de ir a la escuela; la casa se está cayendo también, y la venta de sus gallinas no es suficiente para pagar el agua ni para dejar alimentos en la mesa.

Yo, tengo los ojos a punto de explotar mientras doña Emiliana me cuenta su historia y veo esa casa. El sentimental llanto del niño me está desgarrando la cabeza porque al ponerme en el lugar de René siento su indescifrable dolor. El dolor de perder a su ser más querido sin haberle dicho adiós ¿Y mañana? ¿Qué será de este niño mañana? Cuando le pregunté qué es lo que más quisiera, y me dijo sollozante: -Que venga mi papá a darme mi abrazo, como lo soñé ayer...

Countdown to Action

In just two short days we will ask our Children International blog readers to join us for Blog Action Day. United with over 8,000 other bloggers around the world, this day is our opportunity to do something to make a difference in the global fight against poverty.

Wednesday you will be able to view a blog and slideshow with just a few of the many children who face not only the hardships that poverty places upon them, but must also deal with physical and or mental disabilities and diseases.

If you haven’t already shared our commitment to helping poor children with your friends and family, now is the perfect time. Please join us on Wednesday as we take action to help these special children.

A Time for Action

Blog Action Day is coming soon, and this year’s topic is poverty. We have joined forces with bloggers all over the world to bring attention to poverty and do our own small part to combat it. In the days leading up to October 15th we’ll introduce you to some very special children living in poverty and show you how you can help through Children International’s blog.

Keep checking back for more information as the day approaches. Together we can do great things to alleviate the burden poverty places on children throughout the world.

Handing Out Hugs

Today is Special Hug Day, the day we set aside each year to honor the families of our sponsored children. Each family receives practical items to make their daily lives easier and more comfortable.

Take a moment to view this slideshow of last year’s Special Hug celebration. And please accept our heartfelt thanks for helping us send our sponsored children and their families a useful token of our appreciation for them.

Through Hard Work and Hope

He started his working life in a bakery.

Up at 3 A.M. to have the bread made on time. What little money he made went mostly to feed his siblings and keep them clothed and healthy. It was the best an uneducated young man could hope for at the time.

Tired, dusted head to toe in flour, I envision him dragging his body home every day, willingly handing over his day’s earnings with a loaf of bread.

Soon, another opportunity happened along and he was quick to take it. It meant more money, better hours and there was a little room for growth. To start, all it required was pumping gas, checking tires and oil, and scrubbing a lot of windows. It was called full service – and that’s exactly what it was too.

It was a good opportunity for an uneducated rural Missouri boy still dealing with the difficult and not-too-distant memories of WWII. People would come by the gas station and shout to Little Oz, a handle he earned early on because of his father, Oswald.

But I knew him simply as Dad.

While working at the gas station, Dad got an opportunity to apply at the Chevy plant in Kansas City. It meant a 50-plus mile trip by bus every day but the pay was decent and there was real potential for him there. With that kind of job, he must have thought, he could start building a foundation that would allow him to eventually support a family. And there he stayed…for the next 45 years.

While I’m not quite sure what my father ever thought about his job, his hard work and dedication gave my brothers and me opportunities he never had.

The thing is, as hard as Dad worked on that factory line, he was no more dedicated than a good deal of the fathers – or mothers for that matter – who toil day in and day out in slums around the world in hopes that their children will someday have opportunities they never did.

I’ve met them myself in the villages of India, the shanty towns of Honduras and slums of Colombia. Some work in banana plantations for 12 hours a day, six days a week. Others ferry passengers on beaten and broken bicycle taxis. They work cutting sugar cane, hauling bricks, selling fruits and vegetables on street corners in the searing heat; most are willing to do whatever it takes so their families survive.

A decent wage is hard to come by for most of them. Like my father, many of them have never completed a basic education, yet they face circumstances where hard work and dedication don’t often amount to much.

It’s good to know that some do get ahead. Sheer force of will or ingenuity does it sometimes. Others take advantage of small loans and business training provided by Children International. They learn a skill, are trained to run a business and then given the opportunity to make something of it. Not surprisingly, many of them do.

Today, Labor Day, is for all the parents, here and elsewhere, who work themselves to the bone in the hopes that their children can eat, stay healthy and maybe, just maybe, have it just a little better than they did.

My hat is off to them. And to Dad…thanks.

Posted on behalf of Scott Cotter.

Liliam Still Needs Our Help!

I hope everybody had a fantastic weekend! Despite dire forecasts of heavy rains, Kansas City stayed dry and sunshiny…with unseasonably cool temperatures. Lovely!

It promises to be a busy week, but top on my list is reminding our readers about Liliam Lissette, our featured child from August 4.

As you may recall, Liliam is 12 years old and lives with her parents and her brother in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She has been waiting for a sponsor for over three years.

Liliam’s dad works as a street vendor, and the family struggles to survive on the barely $100 a month he’s able to earn. But in spite of her family’s difficult situation, Liliam loves to sing and dance and works hard on her studies.

We’ve yet to find a sponsor for Liliam, so once again I’d like to appeal to our readers to help us get the word out. Some of you have even printed out pictures of children we’ve featured before and pinned them to your bulletin boards at work. Whatever you’re able to do will be greatly appreciated…and as always, Sarah and I are standing by to personally help Liliam’s new sponsor get started.

Thanks for your help…we – and Liliam – appreciate it.

Bloggers On A Mission: Meet Richard

Our featured child this week is Richard, from Tabaco, Philippines, who has been waiting for a sponsor for two years. Richard is 11 years old, and lives with his mom, dad and three of his five siblings (the other two are grown) in a single room. His bed is a woven mat on the floor.

Richard’s dad works hard as a laborer, and his mom works just as hard doing laundry – but between the two of them they are barely able to bring home about $30 each month. His older brother is sponsored.

You can imagine what an incredible relief it will be for the family when Richard is sponsored and gains the security of reliable medical and dental care, as well as help with his education.

Richard’s favorite pastime is playing basketball. How about we get some teamwork going and try to score a 3-pointer for this young man? You know the drill…print out this story…share it with your coworkers, friends and family…let them know that helping Richard’s future can be as inexpensive as a cheap cup of coffee (less than 75 cents a day!)…and before you know it, he will be connected to a caring sponsor.

If you or someone you know would like to become Richard’s sponsor, just write us at blog@children.org. We’ll handle your request personally.

P.S. Do you know someone who would like to sponsor but can’t quite afford it on their own? Why not suggest they share their sponsorship with a friend or relative?

Bloggers On A Mission

Good morning, all!

I hope you had a great weekend. Here in Kansas City we’re pretty much waterlogged!

As you may have noticed, the CI bloggers are on a personal crusade to help find sponsors for some of our children who have been waiting the longest. That’s why you’ll be reading about these children on a regular basis.

We understand that many of our blog readers already sponsor several children and may not be personally able to take on another sponsorship; however, we’re hoping you can take this information to friends, family and coworkers and ask them to help. And of course, if you’re registered for the Lift One Project, each new sponsor you find through your project adds to your chances of winning a trip to visit one of your own sponsored children!


Today we’re featuring Lizeth, who is 12 years old and lives in Manila. Lizeth has been waiting for a sponsor since May of 2005…three long years. She lives with her mom and dad, three brothers and one sister in a one-room house. Just like many children in her circumstances (her family’s income is only $133 a month), Lizeth has no bed and sleeps on a mat on the floor.

If you have the answer to Lizeth’s dreams of finding a sponsor, please drop us a line at blog@children.org. We’ll set the sponsorship up personally.

And…thanks.

Can You Help Twinkle?

I want you to meet a special girl named Twinkle. She is from Manila, Philippines, where she lives with her mom and her seven-year-old brother, James.

Twinkle's dad is not in her life, and according to the information provided by our agency in Manila, she and her family get by on just $42 a month.

Twinkle is 10 years old. Here's the really tough part. She's been waiting for a sponsor for three full years -- nearly a third of her life!

It's ironic that a girl with a happy name like Twinkle should have such a difficult life. So...

Will you help? You can make a difference in the course of Twinkle's life by becoming her sponsor today. And of course, I'll personally handle setting you up as her sponsor. Just drop me an email at blog@children.org.

Thanks!

The Cost of Food

A month ago I was in Honduras interviewing sponsored and non-sponsored children and their families. Amidst the stories and memories, one theme kept coming up: the struggle to feed their children. Countless families mentioned “the crisis” and one family even lamented that they go hungry two or three days a week.

The food crisis is causing the country’s citizens to react. In fact, while we were there, a nation-wide strike shut down San Pedro Sula and other main cities in Honduras for seven hours. We were left stranded in the hotel, unable to cross the angry picket line to get to the families we serve. Burning tires and protesters blocked the main entrances and exits of the city. People were throwing rocks, water bottles and even bags of human waste. Police responded with tear gas. One of the main reasons of the march was the high price of basic food items.

I watched it all unfold on TV, but the anger and desperation of the protestors was palpable. When your children are hungry, instinct takes over.
Just last night I spent $75 on groceries that might last me for two weeks. I couldn’t help but think what a blessing it would be for those families in Honduras to have $75 dollars to buy the food they need. Many scarcely earn that much a month.

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

The Power of a Dream

Neeta Goel, Program Director for Children International, shared these thoughts with us about a recent visit she paid to sponsored families in India. We though you’d enjoy her reflections.

Several mothers left their chores to come chat with me excitedly, and question why I have been missing so long. It was the area’s worst summer day so far – the temperature touched 43 degrees centigrade (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit), and as the tin roofs of the homes blazed, I wondered how the families can even survive. Small wonder all kids are down with diarrhea, and are throwing up constantly almost.

The center was cool, since it is made of cement and bricks, and not tin or aluminum. The kids came running in and for the few moments that we had electricity, the fan made the heat a little bearable. One mother spoke to me about her 6 kids – 4 are in school, with younger and older siblings united in the same grade, due to late starts for some. The mother tells me that it is her dream to see that her children don’t stay uneducated and disadvantaged like her. She has several daughters, and wants them all to study, contrary to what her community thinks. She confides that this dream creates problems for her with her extended family, but that she can’t seem to give up.

While I speak to her, in front of us, I watch this other mother and her four-month-old baby. We are providing food for this baby, and yet his arms and legs are little more than sticks. He keeps screwing up his face as though he wants to cry, but can’t seem to find the energy to do so.

The mother smiles shyly at me when I ask what else we can do to make sure her baby is healthy. “Nothing,” she says. “You all have done enough.” She explains her husband sends her some money once in a while, but it is never enough. She wants to work, but her kids are too small. I look at her and see this exhausted young girl with four kids, struggling to come to terms with being a mother, when she is hardly over being a teenager herself.

We sit in silence for a while, as I watch the four kids arrange themselves around her and fall asleep in the heat, each one making sure at least one little hand touches her, almost to reassure themselves that their mother will not suddenly disappear while they are asleep.

I am broken from my reverie when she suddenly she says with uncharacteristic force, “I really want to do something for my children. I want them to grow up and be independent.”

Just for a second the fatigued expression changes, and I see a determined young woman emerge.

Dreams – how powerful they can be.

Delivered Right to Your Inbox

posted on behalf of Sarah Trapp

We hope you’ve had a chance to read through the May edition of eNews, and we hope you’ve enjoyed every last word and picture. If you haven’t had a chance to look it over, check your email inbox. I bet it’s sitting there, just waiting for you. Here’s a quick taste of some of the uplifting, informative and heartbreaking stories we bring to you this month:

CI News at Work – Get to know three of our awesome Communication Coordinators and the work they do in this photo piece.

A Child’s Life in Manila – Read the story of a strong little man who works to support his family by collecting garbage on the streets of Manila.

Because of our dedicated Enews readers, Rico now has a sponsor!

Mind Over Poverty – There’s nothing we like more here at Children International than a great success story. With help from a loving sponsor, Jenny in Honduras is working her way towards a Masters Degree in Psychology.

But wait! There’s more! But you’ll have to open eNews to see the other great articles in store for you. Happy reading!

Photo by Christopher Balallo in Manila.

High…Fiber…Sponsorship??

I’m not a scientist, so I can’t begin to explain to you the technical reasons why the frail fibers in a rope become able to sustain great amounts of weight when they are combined…but I know it’s a fact.

The power of working together….

Just last week we saw three of our blog readers step forward and sponsor another child. Aside from the dramatic change this will produce in the lives of the three newly-sponsored children and their families, these three sponsorships have added their strength to the larger effort in which Children International is involved: the effort to eradicate child poverty.

Of course we know the problem is bigger than any one person or even any one organization can solve. But change is happening and good is being done, all through the combined efforts of individual sponsors. Your collective efforts have literally transformed communities.

So I’m asking you to help us add some fibers to the rope. Bringing about change is as simple as sharing the excitement of sponsorship with a relative, neighbor or co-worker. Best of all, we’ve provided an exciting new tool to help you do this.

Visit www.LiftOneProject.org today and set up your personal campaign. Each new sponsor you recruit equals a real child living in real poverty who is suddenly given hope for the future.

Once you’ve recruited your first sponsor, please come back to the blog and let us know. We’d like to celebrate with you!

What it Means to Be Alone

I just returned from nearly three weeks in Lusaka, Zambia, where my colleagues and I spent many hours working in the desperately poor communities of Chibolya and Kanyama. Children International’s community centers have made a remarkable difference in the less than four short years we’ve had a presence there.

One of the most touching stories I encountered was that of Mary and her four younger brothers and sister: Mwanza, 12, Clever, 9, Manase, 7, and Lavmo, 5. Mary is just 14, and she’s been both mom and dad to her siblings for nearly as long as any of them can remember.

These five children live completely alone. No relatives care for them. In fact, when their mom died and left them the tiny shack where they live, their relatives showed up just long enough to take whatever furniture was in the house and then left the children to fend for themselves.

One of Children International’s volunteers lives nearby, and she does what she can to look after the children, who survive any way they can. Mary goes through the neighborhood looking for opportunities to wash dishes or do laundry for her neighbors, and the older boys, Mwanza and Clever, roam the streets looking for odd jobs or just begging for food.

The day before we visited these orphans, Clever had gone to the city market to beg. When darkness fell, it was too dangerous for him to go home – so he slept all night in a ditch in the city market. Nine years old.

We’re excited because we’ve found sponsors to help Mary, Clever and Manase get on the right track. You should have seen Mary’s smile when she realized she would be able to fulfill her dream of going back to school!

But we still need to help Mwanza and Lavmo. Would you consider sponsoring one of them today? It’s bad enough to be a child living in desperate poverty…but it’s even worse to be all alone.

If you’d like to sponsor one of these children, please drop an email to blog@children.org. We’ll handle your sponsorship personally.

Photo by Scott Cotter.

Question of the Month

While there is no right or wrong answer, we'd love to hear what you think. Each month we will post a thought provoking question to gauge the collective opinions of the Children International community.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Look for an analysis of this question and the next "Question of the Month"... well, in a month!

We'd love to continue the conversation in the "comments" section below.

On the Ground in Colombia

By the time you read this, I'll be on an airplane traveling back to the United States. But right now the wind is howling around my hotel in Cartagena, Colombia, as the night sea breeze assaults this ancient city of pirates, castles and the Spanish Inquisition.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Last week we landed in Barranquilla, about 80 miles from here, where we spent several days before moving on to Cartagena over the weekend. Despite the possibility of rain (which never materialized) in the forecast, the weather was beautiful as we ventured out into the impoverished communities interwoven around and throughout these bustling cities that represent a fascinating mix of colonial grace and industrial progress.

My role in this trip is translator, and I'm one of three Children International employees (the other two being Gretchen and Brian) from the home office in Kansas City who are here to accompany a film crew from Toronto, Canada, as they visit our sponsored families and our facilities in Colombia. Kim, Michel, Alain and Mark are pros who have traveled the globe doing this kind of work, and traveling with them is a blast. (Don't be fooled by the names -- Kim, Michel and I are all guys!) We're also accompanied by Lisa, a great sponsor from Seattle.

We've seen some pretty gut-wrenching stuff...families so poor they live in shacks made of nothing but tarps and sticks; a family who was displaced from their home in the middle of the night by paramilitary forces and had to flee -- some of the children naked, the mother hobbling along on a recently snakebitten leg, and the father clutching a towel to his abdomen to sop up the blood that rushed from the bullet wound inflicted by the paramilitaries; a single mom who struggles to raise her two-year-old daughter who suffers from sickle cell anemia; a mom who walks 14 kilometers each day selling coffee for a living while her three young children stay alone in her tiny wooden shack in the backwaters of a filthy swamp, where the worst kinds of criminals roam and men and women settle their disputes with guns, knives and machetes; and a dying mother whose head is grossly disfigured by a massive cancerous tumor, and whose leg holds a festering wound where a rat crept into her house and attacked her a few days ago.

But we've also seen hope, reflected in the face of confident graduates of Children International's sponsorship program and in the smiling faces of happy schoolchildren for whom sponsorship has provided the uniforms and school supplies they need in order to attend school. And this same hope shines from the eyes of moms and dads who see in sponsorship the opportunity for the children to have a better life and a better future.

I had the chance to visit today with 8-year-old Belkis and her mother, Ada Maria. I first met Belkis four years ago, when a team of CI employees visited her in the hospital as she awaited surgery for a broken leg, the result of a cyst that weakened the bone. Children International was able to help provide the surgery she needed, and today she runs, jumps and plays like any other child.

Belkis' mom has hopes that her daughter will someday fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor. In Ada's words, "Education is the bridge between today's reality and my daughter's future."

Like most moms, I think Ada Maria is right. And it's very satisfying to know that we'll be able to help build that bridge.

P.S. I'll try to share some pictures with you when I get back.

Happy Birthday! Children International Celebrates One Year of Blogging

Poverty is a worldwide problem of truly epic proportions. Here at Children International, we are proud to add our voices and efforts to those of the dedicated non-profits from many nations who have made it their business to take on this insidious foe.

But of far greater importance than our efforts alone is the host of caring members of our sponsorship family who supply the financial support that is driving the changes we are bringing about. We help over 300,000 children…and that’s thanks to each of you, our sponsors.

As you know, we use a number of different media to keep you informed of our activities, the challenges we face, and the victories that are won along the way. But some time ago, we recognized that many of you wanted more. After all, you are part of the family; it’s important you have a means of interacting with us in a way that suits you.

So on January 22, 2007, we made the very first post to the Children International blog…and the response told us that our readers were eager to participate. In a few weeks we hope to hit our 200th post!

As moderators of the Children International blog, Jennifer and I enjoy bringing our sponsors and friends behind the scenes.

Through the blog, our readers are able to look at what we do from the perspective of the staff…share inside accounts from our communications coordinators in the field…become acquainted with critical cases of children in urgent need of medical assistance, housing or other special support…get the inside scoop when natural disasters affect areas where we work…become virtual team members when our staff from Kansas City – and even our president, Jim Cook – visits the field…meet our team of writers and other Children International employees…interact with other sponsors…and the list goes on.

And what is really exciting is how time after time our blog readers have taken the challenge to personally help children and families whose plight they’ve learned about through the blog. I can think of a family who no longer lives in a cemetery, a girl who has the wheelchair and other items she needs to deal with her disability, a family in Mexico who is climbing out of desperate poverty, and a family in India whose monsoon-damaged home is being repaired – all because our blog readers stepped up to the plate.

Thanks in great part to our blog readers, Awilda (pictured here with her mom and CI staff) now has a new wheelchair -- and a much brighter prognosis. Awilda hates to sit down low, so she always rides on top of her wheelchair!

Join in and make your voice heard today! Browse through our archives of past entries and read the latest posts. Then take a moment to introduce yourself and let us know what you think. We’re looking forward to meeting you! And to all the friends we've made over the past year...thanks.

Photos by David Nebel and Dayanara Reyes.

A Merry Christmas to All

“I thought if I would do good enough all year around, Santa would grant my wishes. And so every Christmas I’d wake up only to find the same empty sock I put up. Then the realization came to me. Santa wasn’t for real. And life isn’t easy.” – Leslie Mae Apuli, Philippines

Cold weather is here, and the Christmas shopping season has begun in earnest. And as much as I look forward to the season with all its sights, smells and memories, I’ll confess I’m not looking forward to the crowds at the malls!

Thankfully, Christmas is about more than just “things.” Nevertheless, gifts lovingly presented by friends and loved ones do serve to remind us that Christmas is indeed about giving – a valuable lesson, and one we would do well to put into practice the other 364 days of the year as well.

My family was not wealthy, and I’m sure there were Christmases when we got less than most other kids our age did. But there was never a lack of warmth and caring, and Christmas holds special memories for me because of that.

It’s sobering, though, to discover that Christmas isn’t all that special for a lot of people. Leslie Mae was just 14 when she came to Kansas City to represent her native Philippines at Children International’s youth conference. And when she stood up to give her speech, we quickly learned this was not just another teenager for whom Christmas was the next gadget, to be played with for a couple of days and then discarded out of boredom. Her words gripped us, and hardly a dry eye remained in the crowd.

“I thought if I would do good enough all year around, Santa would grant my wishes,” reflected Leslie Mae of her childhood growing up in poverty. And so every Christmas I’d wake up only to find the same empty sock I put up. Then the realization came to me. Santa wasn’t for real. And life isn’t easy.”

Now, over two years later, Leslie Mae is still talking about Christmas. “Before, Christmas was spent like an ordinary day. I remember looking forward to each day of the year as a child, wishing for gifts and bright lights to be decorated on our house. But there was nothing I could do than wish and watch other children excitedly spend the Christmas dinner with their families.”

Far from bitter over the deprivation she endured as a child, Leslie Mae is grateful for the generosity of the sponsorship family here in America – a family of caring people who have allowed Leslie Mae and hundreds of thousands of children like her to discover the wonder of Christmas.

“When Children International came, each Christmas brought with it a new hope for our family and other sponsored families,” adds Leslie. “Each gift that we received reminds us that the world had not given up on us, and that still there are people who care for us. Each Christmas becomes a motivation for us to strive hard and make our lives better every day.”

Photo and interview assistance by Anthony Lorcha, Children International's communications coordinator in Legazpi, Philippines.