Saturday, March 08, 2008

My Sponsored Daughters

This past week I got my newest sponsorship package. I've just finished filling out the folder for her, with a current photo and our information and tucked in a couple of coloring book pages for her.

So I thought I'd share these photos of my two girls:

On the left is Dalia, now 15 years old, from a family of 6, living in El Salvador. She's learning to do hair, and maybe will learn dressmaking. She's not attending school, since her mother pulled her out (I don't know why), but the Compassion Center is doing their best to teach her a trade, a way to provide for herself.

On the right is Aduri, 8 years old, from Bangladesh, who waited for over 6 months for a sponsor. Workers in her village earn up to $22/month. I can make more than that in an hour. How could I not send $32 each month to help support her and her family of 6?

I am their only sponsor. I send them letters and stickers and photos and postcards, and they send me about 3 letters/year. They know my name, I know theirs. It is a relationship.

If you haven't been over to Compassion's website to look at those beautiful faces, please take some time to do so, and see if you can find it in your heart and in your wallet to make a difference in a family's life. These people don't have access to health care, to free birth control, to food stamps or government assistance. They are fortunate if they have electricity and clean water. And if you can't sponsor a child right now, consider a donation to one of their programs: Their unsponsored child program, which helps care for children waiting to be sponsored, or maybe their Child Survivor Program, which teaches mothers prenatal care, and how to treat dehydration, etc.
THey have a program for AIDS victims, and one to treat/prevent malaria, and a program for assisting victims of the earthquake in Peru.

There are so many ways we can make a difference in this world, that sometimes we can get overwhelmed. This is one of the ways I have chosen to give back some of what I have been given. I also like to donate to USO for our troops, and Habitat for Humanity, because they don't just give houses away, they empower people to change their own lives.

THere are so many worthwhile causes out there. How do you choose who gets your assistance? What are your soft spots? Your favorite charities? Maybe some of you are looking for worthy projects or programs to help. I'd love to hear all your input!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so moving. Thanks for sharing.

MightyMom said...

most all of my charity work in time and money goes through my church.

MightyMom said...

however, I will add that we sent our "tithe" one paycheck to my cousin's daughter who's trying to go to "camp" in Canada next month and will occasionally give to particular things here and there.