On the 6th Day of Christmas, My Sponsor Gave to Me…

Six Dental Fillings

The dentist. Eek. Just the thought of it instills sheer terror in me. The sound of dental tools scraping the plaque off my teeth is like fingernails running down a chalkboard. It literally sends chills down my spine.

Needless to say, visiting the dentist is one of my least favorite chores. But it’s something I take for granted. I have the luxury of pulling out my insurance card to receive regular dental cleanings and keep my teeth healthy. I don’t think twice about it.

But I should. Because so many others around the world aren’t as fortunate as I am. Some families literally live each and every day uncertain of what the next will bring. Will they be able to find any work for the day? Will they earn enough to buy food to feed their children? Can they afford to take their daughter to the doctor if she gets sick?

Families facing extreme poverty can’t afford to purchase toothbrushes and toothpaste. They might even struggle to access clean running water needed to rinse out their mouths. They often don’t understand the importance of keeping their teeth clean because they’ve never had the luxury of visiting a dentist. Some children have never even been to a doctor.

Something as small as a toothbrush can make a big impact on a child’s health.

Children International recognizes the impact of oral hygiene on health, and we provide dental care to a number of impoverished children in our program. Our community centers with dental clinics are kid-friendly environments, with age-appropriate educational materials. We help make it possible for children to receive hygiene supplies like toothbrushes. And we teach families how to brush their teeth.

Given my own fear of the dentist, I’m always surprised to meet sponsored children who actually look forward to their dental checkups. Even if they need six fillings or extractions, they appreciate the care and attention they receive. They know if it weren’t for Children International and their sponsors, their teeth might go unbrushed and their toothaches untreated.

Visiting the dentist might not be quite as good as opening a gift come Christmas morning. But for impoverished children, it’s definitely more of a treat than a chore. Now if only I could learn to appreciate the dentist as much as they do….

Posted on behalf of Erin Anderson. Photo by Joel Abelinde of our Manila, Philippines, agency.

Operation YPENCIL

Posted on behalf of Joel Abelinde, Communications Coordinator in Children International's Manila, Philippines agency.

Ever thought of children helping other children to communicate better with their sponsors? This is what YPENCIL (Young People Enhancing Children to Improve their Letters), a group of youth volunteers, is doing.

Junalyn Ban-eg, a Field Officer in Manila, Philippines noticed that while many children write very good letters to their sponsors, some children still have difficulty. She thought that the older sponsored children who write well could help others to improve their writing skills.

Wasting no time to set her idea into motion, Junalyn found three youths from each area with a knack for writing. She conducted a training on letter writing, highlighting ideas for what children may write about in their letters, the format of the letter and what kinds of paper to use, among other things. “They were very willing to learn and to assist other children,” Junalyn noted. “We encourage children to write about themselves more to their sponsors,” she added.

“The initiative has had some noticeable results,” Junalyn observes. “There was a noticeable improvement in content and neatness in the letters younger children write. They are also able to share more personal information about themselves. Because there is not much difference in age, the younger children are more comfortable in their company,” Junalyn happily states. The initiative also helped Junalyn to achieve her goal of getting 100% of the children who were due to write letters to complete them each month.


Sponsored youth, Cheryl Ann Barcelon studies hotel and restaurant management at a nearby college. She is among the 19 members of the group. Two days a week, she comes to the field office to help younger children write to their sponsors. “I initially thought that it is difficult to help children write their letters. I am very happy that I am a part of this group. I am happy helping children write to their sponsors. I am also learning and improving my English,” she said.

Evelyn from Quito

Sponsored child Evelyn is a girl who knows exactly what she likes and what she wants to be:

"I have fun doing my homework, especially when I have to do drawings. I like school. I would like to be a teacher. I could be a good teacher, because I used to help my friends with their homework. School is very important."

Photo and reporting assistance by Andrés Barreno, Communications Coordinator in Quito, Ecuador.

Question of the Month

Please take a second to share your thoughts about a disturbing trend in the world’s health.

Why are diseases like TB, malaria and typhoid making a comeback?

A) Antibiotic Resistance
B) Corrupt Political Regimes
C) Lack of Health Education
D) Low Priority for the Developed World

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Here are the results from last month’s question:

What is the best way to end poverty?


By a large margin, “educating children” was the most popular answer chosen by the blog’s inaugural, question of the month participants.

Most people would agree that the approach to end poverty must be creative and utilize many pathways and education is a very important pathway.

Through sponsorship you give a child an opportunity to learn. Our sponsors provide school supplies, uniforms and fee assistance. These are huge benefits for a poor family and help keep a hungry mind in school for as long as possible.

Oxfam estimated that for every year a child stays in school, 10% is added to their future, annual earning potential. Education can change the world and sponsors are helping to do just that.

Four Years of eNews

Posted on behalf Damon Guinn

This April marks the four-year anniversary of eNews. And, as editor, I couldn’t be happier.

We’ve made leaps and bounds since our first issue was published in April 2004. In fact, if you mentioned the word “blog” to me back then, I might have thought you were referring to the sound a pig makes when burping. Now here I am announcing the release of this year’s April edition.

While times and technology have changed, the basics of sponsorship have not. It’s still one of the fastest, most effective and personal ways to reach out and help children in need. And eNews serves that purpose by providing a vehicle for us to share stories about children and families who might otherwise remain faceless and forgotten. This month’s issue is a case in point.

We’ll introduce you to a couple of very deserving children named Mousumi and José who really need sponsors – otherwise, they may not be able to attend school. We’ll also tell you what’s happening at some of our sponsorship agencies this month so you’ll know exactly what benefits your children are receiving. Then there’s the story of Ibelia from Ecuador. Hers is a tragic tale of the toll poverty can take on helpless individuals.

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating four years of eNews by reading the articles and sharing them with your friends and family. Because, together, we form a virtual community that is actually addressing real world problems.

If you would like to subscribe to eNews, click here to sign up.

Meet Anghelo from Quito...

What do you want to be when your grow-up?

"I want to be a bricklayer because I see a lot of them in my neighbor. My mother told me that bricklayers build houses and I would like to build my own house someday."

Building Bridges

When Belkis tripped and fell while she was playing, it should have been a case of getting up, brushing off the dirt and going on with the fun. But when she began to scream in agony, onlookers knew something was very wrong.

That was four years ago, when she was only four years old. A trip to the hospital revealed that she had broken her leg…but it also revealed the reason why. A benign cyst had weakened the bone so it snapped under pressure.


I met this brave little girl as she lay in the hospital awaiting surgery. Then, we didn’t know what the outlook was for her recovery. But when I visited Colombia a few weeks ago, I met a smiling young lady who now runs and plays like any other child.

It was gratitude for the help her daughter received from Children International and her sponsor in this crisis that inspired her mother, Ada María, to become a CI volunteer. Life isn’t easy for this single mom, who was abandoned by her husband shortly after Belkis had her surgery. In fact, her makeshift wooden home collapsed last winter, and they’ve been living in a single room while they wait to rebuild it.

Belkis is not finished with her ordeal. She’s already had surgery for another bone cyst, and she’s scheduled for yet another. Her condition is genetic.

But Ada María is not complaining. She is excited about the sponsorship program and about Belkis’ future. Because of all the help she received in the hospital, Belkis dreams of going to college and becoming a doctor…and Ada María dreams that her daughter will get her wish.

“Education is the bridge between our current reality and my daughter’s future,” asserts Ada María.

And here at Children International, with the help of our family of sponsors – we’re in the business of building bridges.

Meet Mabel from Tabaco, Philippines

What do you want to be when you grow-up?

I want to be a teacher so I can teach children how to read.

Keeping a Sponsored Youth "Write" on Track

Posted on behalf of Miriam Lemus. Edited by Sarah Trapp.

Sixteen-year-old Erick from Guatemala City is a hardworking young man who began selling and delivering dairy products at the age of 8.

“I like it because I can see new places,” he says. But Erick has bigger dreams. One day, he’d like to work in a bank.

His sponsor's care has had a profound impact on Erick (center, with his mother and his brother).

For several years now Erick has lacked the influence of a father in his life, and things haven’t been easy. Luckily, Erick can count on the support of his caring sponsor, Nathaniel. According to Erick’s mother, his sponsor has been there for Erick more than his actual father. Erick and his sponsor communicate regularly, and the bond is obvious.

“My sponsor writes me things, and I tell him about what I do here. He has helped me to get ahead, especially with my studies,” says Erick.

In addition to the regular benefits of sponsorship, Erick’s sponsor has also sent him special donations for things like furniture, groceries and even a bicycle. These special gifts and words of encouragement make a world of difference in Erick’s life. Take it from Erick: “I like having him as my sponsor, and I feel very grateful for everything.”

With a caring sponsor guiding him through kind words and material support, Erick is one step closer to achieving his dreams.

Have you written your sponsored child lately? Go to www.children.org and log in to “My Account” to send your child a few kind words.

Miriam Lemus is the communications coordinator for Children International's agency in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Sarah Trapp works at CI's home office in Kansas City, Missouri.

A Very Dear Friend

Posted on behalf of Patricia Huerta.

Receiving a special donation is a rare and special treat for most sponsored children. Even rarer and more special is when they receive visits from their sponsors.

That’s why Katherine, from Guayaquil, Ecuador, is such a lucky girl.


Besides receiving an abundance of special donations such as groceries, clothing, household supplies, furniture, mattresses, construction materials to improve her house and even cakes for her birthday parties and her graduation, she has received help with special training in computers and also with her college education. But most importantly, her sponsor visits her at least once a year.

Katherine dearly appreciates the gifts she has received, but there is something else she values even more: the privilege of having a friend who cares about her, who visits her and writes her affectionately. In fact, her sponsor, Gary, is like a grandfather to her.

“I feel so happy and grateful that my sponsor chose me,” states Katherine.

Gary’s help has made a tangible difference in Katherine’s life. For most of her life, she avoided smiling. “I didn’t like to smile; I started smiling when I was 17,” says Katherine, who is now 19. But her sponsor helped her obtain orthodontic treatment, and now she shares her beautiful smile with everyone.

To add to her reason for smiling, Katherine, who recently finished high school, is now studying Foreign Trade – with help from her sponsor – at Vicente Rocafuerte Secular University.

It means a lot to Katherine when Gary writes. “He’s the only person who writes to me….He’s very affectionate – he’s like a grandfather to me….He speaks only English and I need a translator to talk to him, but now at the university I’ll take English classes. I really want to learn to speak with my sponsor”.

Katherine’s mother, Eufemia, braved a bout with the dengue fever to meet with us and let us know how much she appreciates Children International and her daughter’s sponsor – and what they have done for Katherine.


“The help Children International gives is fabulous,” declares Eufemia. “People like my daughter’s sponsor get involved to help our Ecuadorian children. The affection they show the children is so great…we feel blessed.”

In Katherine’s words, “My sponsor is one of the greatest people in the world! I want to let people know that other children would feel as fortunate as I do if they could have a sponsor to be their friend, to show them that there are people out there who care about them.”

Patricia Huerta is the communications coordinator for Children International's agency in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

A Portrait Of India: Day 3

Posted on behalf of Jim Cook, President of Children International.

We’ve been working in and around Calcutta for over 25 years now. I’ve traveled here often and thoroughly enjoy the city that is like no other place I’ve ever been.

On my first visit here about 20 years ago, I thought I had entered a different dimension. I couldn’t believe my eyes, ears or nose. I couldn’t leave soon enough and wasn’t eager to return.

But now I look forward to visiting “Cal.” It’s quaint, it’s crazy, it’s colorful, it’s grim, it’s vibrant…it’s Calcutta. Or, as it has been renamed, Kolkata.

Whatever you call it, it’s unique. Get here if you can. But be open to witness life in a way you’ve likely never experienced it before.

It has taught me a lot about change and how I approach it. During that first visit, I couldn’t have imagined I would ever find the city charming. But now I do. Change. Embracing change. I do now, much better than I did before and my Calcutta experience has a lot to do with that.

I visited the United States Consul General, Henry Jardine, here today. I try to visit our Embassy or Consul representatives in every country, just to touch base and inform them of our activities.

I especially like Consul General Jardine, whom I’ve visited once before.

He very much supports the efforts of charitable organizations like Children International and has been most helpful in making sure the Consulate is represented at special events we have in Calcutta and with helping sponsored youth secure visas for attending our Children International youth conferences in the U.S.

He indicated he’ll soon be ending his stay in Calcutta and will be moving on with his family, as is the way with the U.S. Department of State. But ever since my good friend, Richard Bank, formerly of the State Department and now in practice in D.C., urged us to establish relationships with our Embassy personnel, it’s been interesting to see how acquaintances like Consul General Jardine tend to show up in other locations where we conduct sponsorship activities.


Reminds me how connected all of us are. And how much we rely upon each other to make the world work. To make it a better place for as many people as we possibly can. I hope you’ll join me.

For more photos and to read his journal entries, visit Jim's Journal: At the Heart of Calcutta.

A Picture Of India: Day 2

Posted on behalf of Jim Cook, President of Children International.

As I look over my notes, I recall with sadness the mother who was holding a child obviously very young and very malnourished...or worse.


I really didn’t need my notes to recall this situation. It’s hard to put it out of my mind.

I entered what she called a home. It was a tiny, dark place with plastic sheets for walls and not much more for a roof. Grim. On a small mat in the center of this “room” was another child…impossibly small, especially considering the one she was holding.

I turned to the field worker with me who was familiar with the mother and she informed me the mom had been told to take the baby to the doctor earlier in the month. When we asked what the doctor said, her unintelligible, illogical answer masked the real story…and at the same time revealed it. She really didn’t believe in, or understand, or could afford it if she did, modern medicine. And she had taken the child to what is referred to, appropriately, as a “quack.”

We made a note to follow up very soon with a more “hands on” intervention. It’s a matter of life and death. Literally.

This sad tale illustrates something that is a frustration yet underscores the value of child sponsorship...that mother is doing the best she knows how to do. She needs to learn how to care for her child. She has never had the luxury of education about how.

Over the years, through our sustained presence, I’ve seen sponsorship change the way individuals in entire communities approach the their own health care and that of their families.

I look forward to seeing that happen here…and the sooner the better! I will be anxiously following this child’s situation. And I’ll keep you posted. But we may have not gotten to her in time, and I’m not sure there will be a happy ending.

As bad as it sounds, it actually gets worse. The father is a rickshaw puller…or more accurately, a rickshaw driver as he uses a bicycle rickshaw. Unfortunately he was pedaling his rickshaw in a part of the city that had banned rickshaws and was summarily arrested and jailed. This clear and present “threat to society” was in jail awaiting his fate while his wife and family slowly starved.

This family was also a product of the relocation group I mentioned yesterday. The lack of wisdom and basic human compassion of both the relocation and the jailing of this “lawbreaker” is appalling. Pedaling a rickshaw. Trying to earn a living in a manner that is so hard its incomprehensible to me. Yet he’s jailed for it!

Oh, and one more thing. The woman and her jailed husband are behind on their $10 per month rent and are being threatened by the “landlord” with eviction.

So, the next time you’re thinking you’re having a bad day, consider this poor woman’s plight...a child in her arms on the brink of death, a toddler badly underweight with not a lot of hope for good nutrition, a husband in jail and a landlord trying to throw you out of what is generously described as a hovel.

We’ll do what we can for this family. I will. But we haven’t yet raised a dime that would enable us to help. Their case underscores the need for a vibrant sponsorship effort in this area. Join me in helping if you can. Call a friend. Let’s make a difference.

Update from the field...In a recent email sent to me from Neeta Goel, who is helping keep an eye on this family, she reported that our staff on the ground has been assisting them with food and medical assistance. Here are some excerpts the note she just sent to me: We began giving the mother and child some small quantities of food each day – milk, bananas, bread etc, and monitored her daily to make sure that the mother was actually eating the food, since she wouldn’t be able to nurse the baby otherwise. We monitored quantities too, knowing she would share the food with all her other kids, who were hungry too. There are no doctors in Bawana, except for homeopathic ones, and although we took the baby to these ones too, they refused to treat the child since they thought he was too sick. We then took the child to a hospital that is about six miles away from Bawana. The pediatrician confirmed that the child was severely malnourished and gave some medications that would help him put on weight. Although he still looks skinny to me, Shweta (a qualified nutritionist) confirms he is gaining weight slowly. The biggest change I saw was that he was smiling, and not screaming non-stop as I had seen him do previously. Anyway, that’s the progress within the last 2 weeks. We just completed the baseline survey and the medical exams today for all kids. Once we encode all the data, we will be able to share those reports with you too.

Tomorrow on the blog, Jim shares more thoughts from his recent trip to India. For more photos and to read his journal entries, visit Jim's Journal: At the Heart of Calcutta.

A Portrait Of India: Day 1

Posted on behalf of Jim Cook, President of Children International.

With our excellent field staff, today I visited a neighborhood obviously in the grip of harsh poverty, where we’re supporting the efforts of a badly-needed pre-school.

At this very small school, Shweta Tiwari, the staff teacher, is performing daily miracles with 15 to 20 students age 4 and under, I met with the children and their moms.


As I write this, I’m still stunned and saddened by what I heard from those mothers, one in particular. A striking woman whose clean, ivory colored sari belied the hell she has endured over the past few years.

As the articulate spokesperson for the group, she recounted how four years ago, the municipal powers informed her and the people in her neighborhood that they would be moved to a new location, as their “squatter area” was needed for new development. Progress!

Except the community the city called a squatter area was the only home she and her neighbors had ever known.

Soon the bulldozers came and the people were sent to an area far away, an area none of them had ever heard of, and certainly one to which no one wanted to go.

But go they did. Just like with so many things in their lives, they were left without a choice in the matter. That’s one of the problems of being real poor…choices are made for you. And to you…you’re left to just do your best what those choices are.

What they were in this case included renting a truck with your neighbors and moving what little you had to a new area where the current inhabitants would violently protest your intrusion.

The city provided no documentation of any type of new home or even the lot they might have been assigned. The home didn’t exist and the “lot” was determined by what can only be described as a desperate land grab of a piece of hard scrabble barely 10 feet square.

They received nothing. “Just get out,” they were told. So this poor woman, her mother and child moved out. Her world ripped out from under her.

And yet as she recounted this horror, she didn’t cry. She smiled.

I wanted to hug her and tell her how I hurt for what she has had to endure. I wish I had. But instead I just mumbled how sorry I was that she and her family had to suffer and that I hoped Children International would be able to bring something positive into what had been a pretty bad decade for her so far.

It seemed a feeble response when placed beside the magnitude of her story.

I visited her home later…it’s hard to describe how bad it was. Inside I was greeted by a goat eating something that looked like stuffing from a pillow. The stench was bad. Rats crawled through the area at night…she showed me the hole they used. I can’t imagine what the home looks like when the rains come, with such a porous roof. No toilet. Ten by ten is probably exaggerating its size. Dark.




Her name is Rafia. Her story is one that will stay with me…like many do.

She doesn’t deserve this. No one does.

I hope we can make a difference in her life…and the life of those other mothers in the room that day. I told them that it was now personal for me…meeting them and hearing their stories and looking into their dark eyes.

We must make a difference for them.

A last thought…as she described the bulldozers entering the area of her previous home, I could only think of the poignant photo of the student standing defiantly in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square in China years ago. And how this poor woman and her neighbors didn’t even have the satisfaction of knowing their plight was, at least, noted by the outside world—by someone who might care when it mattered—as was the case for that lonely student in front of the tank.

Well, even though it was four years ago, it matters now. And we’ll do what we can to help.

Tomorrow on the blog, Jim shares more thoughts from his recent trip to India. For more photos and to read his journal entries, visit Jim's Journal: At the Heart of Calcutta.

Meet Creilyn....

"I want to tell my sponsor thanks! The medicines are very expensive. If I were non-sponsored it would take a lot of money for health and dental services because in my country it is very expensive. The doctors take good care of us and are very affectionate. I also want to tell my sponsor I like to play and I am a very good boy."

– Sponsored child Creilyn, from Santiago, Dominican Republic

In The News...

Recently, contestants participating in the Miss Colombia pageant visited one of the Children International community centers in Cartagena. The contestants spent their time playing games with the children and working on various craft projects.






Photos by Shirley Arèvalo Garcìa.

Meet Angelica, from Manila, Philippines

Angelica, who wants to be a nurse when she grows up, says, "I like writing to my sponsor. I want to tell my sponsor about our school and about my family. Because he helps me, I want him to be close to me."

Photo by Joel Abelinde, our Communications Coordinator in Manila.

Meet Jesús David from Barranquilla...

Question: "What makes you happy or sad?"
Answer: "“I like to play soccer with my friends. I feel happy when I play with my friends. I feel sad when my family is sad for not having money to eat.”
– Jesús David, age 7

Democracy in Action

It’s hard to change the channel these days without stumbling across the latest polls, commercials or the latest “he said, she said” banter of politics. While it’s easy to take for granted the power of democracy, it’s still a goal that many world citizens still fight and die for today. And for the youth of Children International, it all begins with casting their first ballot.

At Children International, we feel our youth are the rising stars of tomorrow. That's why we concentrate on developing them as leaders and instilling in them the skills they will need to make a difference in their communities. One way we do this is by teaching the power of democracy.

In November, Youth Council elections were held in Cartegena, Colombia. Each of our 18 agencies has a youth council that is comprised of sponsored youth. The council is responsible for determining the direction of youth programs in each of their sponsorship areas. Council members are also nominated and two delegates are democratically elected to attend the International Youth Conference.

By engaging in the democratic process to elect their leaders, and then deciding the direction of their efforts as a team, they learn a great deal about leadership, a commitment to ideals and shared effort. In this way, youth council members become an inspiration. They provide positive role models for younger children and they strive to educate and help others.

To us, these enthusiastic youth are the world best and brightest hope for tomorrow.

Photos by Marelvis Campo, Children International Communication Coordinator in Cartegena, Colombia.

Coming Soon!

Children International works in some of the most fascinating places among some of the most fascinating people you can imagine.

We always look forward to publishing the next edition of our magazine, Journeys, so we can take you along to visit some of these places and meet some of these people. And this edition is no exception.

You'll meet Abhijit, a young boy in India, and take an insightful peek into daily life for families in the rural areas of the country. You'll travel to Guatemala to visit with Sabina, who over two decades ago became the very first child to ever enroll in what was then Children International's new sponsorship program; you'll experience vicariously the sights and incredible smells of the city garbage dumps outside Santiago, in the Dominican Republic, where families work under unimaginable conditions to eke out a living; you'll travel up a mountainside in Guatemala on a dark night in the middle of a tropical storm to see what it's like to be a family living in destitution while nature is at its worst...and you'll ride a motorbike down a smugglers' highway in Honduras with a Children International field officer as he makes his rounds (there's a really cool video to go along with this!).

All this and much more will be coming to your mailbox in the next three or four days. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together!

Meet Angkan...

What would you like to be when you grow-up?

"I would like to be an artist when I grow up because I enjoy drawing and putting human emotions and forms to paper." – Angkan, age 11, from Sahay