Tag Archives: child poverty

Shelley Callahan | March 7, 2017En Español

Aimee learned a lot of things too early in life as she watched her father nearly succumb to leukemia, his resulting painkiller addiction, and the financial and psychological quicksand her family struggled in as a result.

Growing up in a small town in Eastern Kentucky, Aimee was surprised to find herself and her family staying with neighbors while her dad suffered in a nearby hospital. It seemed so sudden, the onset of his illness, and she remembers an earlier childhood of warmth and togetherness.

Aimee’s senior photo

That wouldn’t be Aimee’s lot in life for several more years, unfortunately. She was in the sixth grade when her father was diagnosed, and her memories of his painful experience with a bone marrow transplant are still very acute. It was a troubling time for both Aimee and her younger sister, and she had a lot on her mind when the volunteer coordinator at her school told her she now had a Children Incorporated sponsor.

“I didn’t think much about it at the time,” she remembers. “Except that it was nice to get money at Christmastime, and it was nice having someone to write thank-you notes to. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I really recognized the importance of giving, and the importance of helping others in need.”

With her dad’s recovery came OxyContin, a newer drug that Aimee’s family didn’t know much about. They certainly didn’t expect it to take over their lives with addiction. Money got even tighter, and relationships were even more strained. Aimee’s gifts from her sponsor became some of the only things she looked forward to, and one of the only constants she had in her life.

“I have been through more than most people would want to go through in a lifetime,” states Aimee, matter-of-factly. “Having people who showed me that they believed in me when my family seemed to be crumbling apart… It encouraged me to do better and to strive to be more and do more for the world around me.”

“It wasn’t until I was in high school that I really recognized the importance of giving, and the importance of helping others in need.”

Buoyed by Support, With Eyes Still on the Prize

As she grew, the young woman with so much on her mind dedicated herself quietly to her studies, keeping a low profile in high school and making straight As. It wasn’t difficult for her to decide that her next step was college.

Alesha graduated from Morehead State University in 2011 with a major in Education and a growing desire to give back.

Thinking back on the calmer years before the turbulence began in her teens, she describes a certain scene. Aimee and her friend, both three years old, sit under a tree. Her friend, who is deaf, has been learning sign language, and she’s teaching Alesha words, while Aimee, in turn, helps her articulate those same words.

This scene stayed with Aimee as she tried to decide how to combine her educational know-how and her considerable service-oriented energy. The feeling of sharing in her friend’s triumphs was so powerful — she realized that to her, communication is the key to really helping children improve their lives.

Aimee with her family

The memories hit home in a different way many years later, when Alesha had begun her career in education. A little boy with autism struggled to tell Aimee what he wanted. The frustration he felt was so palpable, and his tears were so real, that Aimee had to step outside of the classroom and cry herself.

Now, she’s realigned her professional ambitions and is currently studying speech and language pathology. “I’m finding that the kids I most connect with are the ones psychologists shy away from because of their communication problems,” she explains. It’s a difficult job, but it satisfies a need in Aimee that began under that tree.

Opening Doors for Future Generations

At 28, Aimee is now the mother of two children and the partner of a man who shares her desire to lift other people up. She never met her Children Incorporated sponsor, who passed away before she graduated high school, and left her the money she needed to get through college. But she thinks about him and his family often.

“I know they are going to overcome and be strong individuals – but sometimes, in the grand scheme of things, people forget the importance of kindness to all.”

Their contributions to her life helped her put many of the important things in life into focus: I matter, and people care about me. As is often the case, life hasn’t always been easy for Aimee, but a memory of that support has helped her steer her personal life toward those who are similarly-minded, and her professional life toward helping as many children as she can.

For her own kids, Aimee wants them to know the drive she feels each day to make someone else’s life better. “Whatever life hands to them,” she says, “I know they are going to overcome and be strong individuals – but sometimes, in the grand scheme of things, people forget the importance of kindness to all.”

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN KENTUCKY?

You can sponsor a child in Kentucky by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | March 2, 2017En Español

International Women’s Day is coming up next week, on March 8. It’s a time for us to reflect on the contributions women make to society, despite the massive challenges they face here and around the globe.

Anyone can see that women and girls are still less valued than men and boys in many cultures. Women – even educated women – still earn significantly less than men in the job market. And in some cultures, young girls are not even given opportunities for learning or growth so that they may support themselves and their families in the future.

At Children Incorporated, we work to break that cycle, helping to give children the opportunity to get an education so that they can, as adults, rise above poverty.

We’d like to think of this as a problem found only in impoverished countries, but the discrepancy is easy to track in America as well.

A recent story in the Dallas Morning News stated that seventeen percent of women and girls in Texas live in poverty. Sadly, that’s not out of line with the national average: 14.7 percent of American women are living in poverty — a significantly higher rate than that of men — according to the 2010 Census.

A lot of that has to do with the wage gap: women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar that men make. But it also has to do with a systematic lack of opportunities for girls, and that’s where Children Incorporated has been directing its efforts.

Education is the key

We already know that education is critical in reducing poverty rates. Many children live in situations where one or both parents are either uneducated, or at the very least, are undereducated. As such, these parents often have very low-wage jobs, with few or no benefits. Due to a lack of financial resources in the family, they have an incredibly difficult time moving up and improving their station in life. If only the parents were better educated and more qualified to hold higher-paying jobs with benefits and perks, perhaps the family could escape the trappings of poverty.

At Children Incorporated, we work to break that cycle, helping to give children the opportunity to get an education so that they can, as adults, rise above poverty.

Raising role models

One shining example can be found in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Last spring, Children Incorporated Director of Development, Shelley Callahan, and Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, visited Villa Emilia, a small compound just outside of the city that helps women and children who have been living on the streets turn their lives around.

When we educate girls, we give them a chance to have a better future.

The alleys of Santa Cruz are home to countless women who work the streets to keep their children fed. It’s hard and dangerous, and often illegal. The children grow up uneducated and homeless themselves. As they grow into adulthood, the boys can become laborers or field hands. The girls, however, often have no options but to take to the streets too — thus continuing the cycle.

Sister Pilar and the nuns at Villa Emilia find these families in the alleys and bring them to the community to live. The women are trained in garment making, the children are educated, and everyone is taught work ethic and life skills that they can pass down.

The Sisters also help families to build permanence and stability. When families move to Villa Emilia, they live in homes that are owned by the Sisters. However, with the wages they earn in the villa’s garment factory, the women purchase homes of their own, giving their children a fresh start living in a new home and getting an education.

Focusing on women has been paying off — the children wear clothes their mothers have sewn themselves, they live in houses purchased by their mothers, and they go to schools that are available to them because of their mothers’ efforts. These mothers have become role models for the girls — and the boys — of the next generation.

Focusing on women has been paying off – the children wear clothes their mothers have sewn themselves, they live in houses purchased by their mothers, and they go to schools that are available to them because of their mothers’ efforts.

Skills for life

In Lages, Brazil, Children Incorporated began supporting women of Grupo Art’Mulher, a community bakery that sells cookies, loaves of bread, pasta, and cakes. The group’s purpose is to teach business skills and a trade to mothers, who also earn an income for their work.

In its first year, twenty women received instruction on how to bake and how to sell baked goods. Grupo Art’Mulher began making a name for itself at the local market, and many members of the first class ended up getting jobs in the food industry.

That was five years ago, and since then, the program has only grown. The mothers of Grupo Art’Mulher have learned to support their families, and have learned cooking and business skills to pass down to their own children. They’ve also earned enough to give back – a percentage of the bakery income will be donated to start music and theater courses in a building across the street from it this year.

In some areas, like in Santa Cruz and Lages, we sponsor programs aimed toward women and girls specifically. But at all of our projects, we value girls and include them in our programs just as we do boys. We do not support work where intolerance or gender prejudice is known to exist.

In areas for which we fundraise to create special facilities, such as the computer lab we helped get up-and-running in Mexico, or the school we built in Bolivia, female students are afforded the same access to services as the male ones. In Guatemala, we support a wonderful school where children are given vocational training of all kinds – and the girls are just as involved, if not even more so, than the boys.

Changing communities is a slow, but steady process, and all evidence points to the fact that more and more girls are receiving a good education. That will allow them to do better in life financially than their parents did, and to slowly change the outlook of the entire community in which they live.

Self-Sufficiency

The Pumwani slum of Nairobi is considered one of the worst communities in the world. Between 70,000 and 100,000 people live crowded together in shacks about the size of an American bathroom, with no water or electricity, and along streets of mud.

One of our projects there is St. John’s Community Center, where 200 children are taught academic subjects, as well as trades like woodworking, metalwork, sewing, and cooking so that they can get jobs and get out of the slums.

And sometimes success is easy to see in someone’s face. Callahan and Bourdet met a graduate of the program, Mwanaharusi, who learned to sew at St. John’s. She saved enough money to buy a foot-powered sewing machine and now has her own business making clothes and mending garments.

It’s a modest success by some standards; but in the darkest corners of the world, it’s a major victory. A girl born into poverty — in a country where girls are often not educated at all — finishes school, starts her own business and is able to support herself and her family.

Moving Forward

With every success like Mwanaharusi’s, we move one step closer to equality. But we don’t do it alone. With funding from our sponsors, and with continued attention to childhood poverty and income inequality – both at home and abroad – we will keep moving forward together, one step at a time.

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

You can sponsor a child with Children Incorporated in one of three ways – call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members, email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | February 22, 2017En Español

Shonto Preparatory School isn’t like other public schools. Located in northern Arizona, the school is in the heart of the Navajo Nation, and serves children who are economically poor, but rich in culture and history.

Most Shonto families don’t have running water or electricity, but they take daily classes to learn a language that was first written down only a generation ago. They have little money for clothes and school supplies, but they supplement their income by making and selling the art that represents their tribal history.

“Children Incorporated helps them be able to get clothes and school supplies and food.”

Marlita has worked as the media resource officer for Shonto Preparatory School since 1996, and she works as a volunteer coordinator for Children Incorporated, helping to connect sponsors to students who need financial support.

“Children Incorporated helps them be able to get clothes and school supplies and food,” she said. “Most of the families use [sponsorship funds] for clothes and shoes, but I have one family who uses the money totally for food – so I know they’re really hurting for food.”

An Employment Desert

Shonto is an elementary, middle, and high school with just over 600 students altogether. Virtually all of them are Native American, and more than ninety percent of them qualify for free or reduced lunches.

Marlita (right) with other volunteer coordinators in Arizona

Much of the reason for this poverty is that jobs are scarce, Marlita said. There are eight or ten jobs at each of the three trading posts in the area, along with a health clinic, and the two schools — but that’s about it. Even those few employment opportunities are hard to get; the clinic employees are mostly highly-skilled healthcare workers, and the schools require a college degree of anyone working directly with children.

There’s a Walmart, a coal mine, and a power plant about an hour away, but the coal mine and power plant are both slated to close. Most families supplement what little income they have by making and selling traditional Navajo art and crafts.

Cottage Crafts

“The Navajo are extremely talented with art – any kind of art,” Marlita said. “They do painting, beadwork, jewelry, metalworking, rug weaving – and, of course, pottery.”

A few local artists earn enough to make a living at it, and a couple of them have become internationally known; but for most, arts and crafts just help to make ends meet.

Home gardens help, too, and corn is the primary backyard crop. The local species requires very little water, which is fortunate, because most residents depend on the rain, not irrigation or hoses. The local corn isn’t eaten by itself, though – it’s too tough. Instead, it’s ground up and cooked with other ingredients.

Some residents also sell food on the streets to make money. For instance, a few people sell burritos outside the school every morning.

But most have very little money, so Children Incorporated sponsors help the children receive the needed items their parents struggle to provide.

Shopping Trips

Marlita manages the shopping for those with sponsors. When the children’s funding comes in, she meets the families at Walmart, where they’re told how much they have to spend, and what it can be used for.

Each family then makes their own decisions about what they need most – shoes or backpacks, shampoo or bread – and then they meet her at the checkout line.

“I review their purchases to be sure everything is appropriate,” she said. “Sometimes I have to tell the students, ‘No, I’m sorry, that’s not acceptable.’ But for the most part, they are buying clothes and shoes and school supplies.”

But most have very little money, so Children Incorporated sponsors help the children receive the needed items their parents struggle to provide.

Marlita takes a look at their food choices, too, counseling them on nutrition as she decides what may be purchased with Children Incorporated funds.

“I tell them that pop is not okay, but juice or even Kool-Aid, I’ll accept,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard, because sometimes the families don’t understand – it’s what they’ve been used to getting.”

Once everything has been rung up, Marlita pays for it with the family’s gift card, which was purchased with the child’s sponsorship funds.

One of the benefits to waiting in the checkout area is that she sees everyone who comes through the store, and she’s always greeted by former students.

“They’re always excited to see me,” she said. “I get to keep up with a lot of them that way.”

Of course, since Walmart is more than sixty miles from Shonto, some families can’t get there. Some send their shopping lists to Haviland, and she buys their items for them. And a few older students are allowed to do their family shopping online from the school, with Haviland’s assistance.

The children and Haviland are used to managing without direct parental involvement. Many students live with grandparents or other relatives, either because parents have had to take jobs far away, or because they’re not in the picture at all.

Cultural identity

Some families still live in the eight-sided hogans that the Navajo have traditionally built, but nowadays, most live in one-room homes made of wood or concrete blocks – though they’re little more than sheds.

An exterior picture of the Shonto school campus

“It used to be that very few kids had running water and electricity, but they’re becoming more and more common,” Haviland said. “In a survey a year ago, more of them said they have water and electricity – but not necessarily at their house; it’s often at another relative’s house they go to.”

One of the challenges faced by educators and aid workers is how to improve the children’s quality of life without erasing their cultural identity. To help maintain the children’s heritage, the school now mandates that everyone take a Navajo class every day.

Traditionally, the language is oral, and was never written down until the 1930s (which is why it was used by U.S. code talkers in World War II; since it wasn’t written, it couldn’t easily be learned by non-native speakers). When Haviland first came to Shonto, most children spoke Navajo, but not English. Over the years, however, the Navajo language has been dying out. Now, few children speak it, and few older people can read or write it.

Respecting families’ language, food, arts, and culture while also ensuring children have shoes that fit and healthy meals to eat is an ongoing challenge; but financial support from Children Incorporated makes it possible, Haviland said.

A Helping Hand

In her trips to Walmart, she watches her students learn to make good spending decisions, and get to pick out their own clothes and school supplies. And she gets to see these life lessons pay off in the form of former students who greet her as successful adults.

And she doesn’t always have to make the sixty-mile trip to Walmart to see it.

“We have former Children Incorporated students who work at the school,” she said. “One is a teacher. I didn’t know until he said, ‘Yeah, when I was a kid, I was in the Children Incorporated program.’”

“Shonto is a wonderful community,” she added. “The people are very friendly and sociable – they just need a hand.”

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Arizona?

You can sponsor a child in Arizona by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org.

Shelley Callahan | February 8, 2017En Español

We are delighted to announce a new partnership that will help even more children rise above poverty. The International Student Exchange (ISE) has chosen Children Incorporated to be one of two partners selected for its new “Giving Back” initiative, which includes a six-figure contribution to support our domestic programs.

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ISE volunteers at the airport with a special sign.

It’s a good match. After all, we both bring strangers together to build bridges between social, economic, and geographic divides. Just imagine what we could do together.

“I am so impressed with ISE,” Children Incorporated CEO, Ron Carter, said. “The organization does incredible work all around the globe, and I look forward to the projects we will undertake together in the coming year.”

Ron Carter recently visited ISE at their office in Long Island, New York. Here’s what ISE’s CEO, Wayne Brewer, had to say about the partnership:

RC: For those unfamiliar with ISE, how would you describe the program?

WB: ISE is a not-for-profit organization that has been in existence for 35 years now. Our mission is “educating tomorrow’s leaders.” ISE brings in 2,800 students from over 45 different countries each year to spend a year in a public high school living with a volunteer host family. ISE works with international partners throughout the world who find and screen the students before sending us the 25-page profile of the student.

RC: How long have you been the CEO at ISE? Why did you join the organization?

As a language teacher, I was always thinking of ways to bring people of the world together.

WB: I have been the CEO of ISE for the past twenty years. I was a teacher and public school administrator before I became highly interested and started to work in the student exchange industry. I decided to go full-time in this wonderful work in 1988. I worked for another exchange organization as Vice President and CEO before taking on the challenges of ISE as CEO in 1997. As a language teacher, I was always thinking of ways to bring people of the world together. I found the vehicle of student exchange to be the perfect way to demonstrate to foreign students the kindness and caring nature of the American people. I always tell people that ISE and its fellow organizations do more good than any government in bringing people of our world together. It is rewarding work!

RC: Why did ISE choose Children Incorporated as a partner?

A warm welcome for an international exchange student.

WB: ISE has always wanted to “give back.” ISE certainly achieves its goals, but it usually deals with children who have the means to be part of an international program. It is so obvious that there are many children out there who do not have basic needs simply to survive. Knowing that ISE can help with this is just another reason to maintain the success of its program. We chose Children Incorporated due to its mission and costs. We were very careful in choosing an organization that was extremely careful and attentive to the percentage of each dollar going to the children. Your organization had one of the highest percentages in this regard.

RC: This is a new charity initiative. Can you tell us more about why ISE started a fund for non-profits like ours?

WB: As a non-profit, we are limited as to the projects and purchases in which ISE can be involved. After we finalized our new building, the Board and I discussed what else we could do to help children in need in addition to our overseas programs. It did not take long for our Board to realize the great needs that are out there and how we could help. I believe that it adds another dimension to our organization and our mission.

RC: Can you share an example of an exchange that made a lasting impact on a person or community?

It may be a lofty goal, but it is one that can be realized if we all pitch in together.

WB: It is so evident in today’s world that we need to promote inclusion and understanding in our relations with the world population and leaders. Our program specifically tackles that objective so that our students return to their native countries with a positive and warm feeling about our country and people. To many, this should be the cornerstone of our foreign policy. I always tell people that we see this in action every year. When we take our incentive trip to a different country, our representatives are met with students and families from the past. Our representatives are invited to the communities and homes of their former students. What better way to promote world understanding? Many of our students now have high positions in governments around the world, so they are in a position to promote our goals and missions. As a personal note, two former exchange students who lived with my family are now members of our Board of Directors. They bring a great deal to our Board in terms of understanding and promoting the work that we do.

RC: What is the overall goal of this initiative?

WB: Our Board has asked me as well, “How do we measure ‘success’?” My answer is simple: We will send people out to see first-hand what our donation is doing to help your organization. I will be asking them to bring back to our Board the specifics of how we are helping. I am sure that this is going to be a long list. I see this donation as the second part of our mission to “educate tomorrow’s leaders.” Basic needs must come first before the benefits of education can be realized.

RC: Do you have a vision for what you want the world to look like?

WB: The people of the world must first understand each other, the world’s needs, and the world’s concerns. We must always keep a clear vision as to how we can help people so that their dreams and goals can be realized – a world in which all people can live together, understand each other, and care for all members of society. It may be a lofty goal, but it is one that can be realized if we all pitch in together.

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Shelley Callahan | January 16, 2017En Español

Someone set fire to the playground matting at G.H. Reid Elementary School last summer. The fire spread around the equipment, melting and disfiguring most of it, and leaving the 750 Richmond, Virginia public school children with few options for outdoor play.

But when bad things happen, good people often start showing up to help. Hundreds of volunteers from various Richmond organizations, including Children Incorporated, stepped up to help out last November.

But when bad things happen, good people often start showing up to help.

Together, they rebuilt the playground in just one day.

Community support

Renée Kube, director of U.S. Programs for Children Incorporated, explained that the project was led by KaBoom, a national nonprofit that builds playgrounds, especially in low-income areas.

“We had been told by our volunteer coordinator at the school that funding had been secured from KaBoom,” she said. “But KaBoom requires community buy-in — additional community funding and also hands-on help — so what they really needed from us was warm bodies to come and work all day.”

They also needed maintenance funding, and Children Incorporated pledged to provide that as well.

A one-of-a-kind design

But it was the children who designed the playground, which was based on ideas and drawings submitted by students at the school. Because the children created their own ideas and voted on what they wanted, the Reid Elementary School playground is one-of-a-kind.

The playground under construction

The CarMax Foundation and KaBoom put in most of the upfront money and materials, and on November 3rd, Kube turned up to work, along with her Children Incorporated co-workers, Shelley Oxenham, U.S. Programs Specialist, and Chuck Smith, U.S. Sponsorship Manager.

They were among about 250 volunteers who built the playground from the ground up in just one day. One of the jobs Kube, Oxenham, and Smith were tasked with was painting maps and game boards onto the playground surface.

A global concern

They painted maps of the United States and of the world, a hopscotch board, and other game lines on the blacktop. Fortunately, Kube said, they didn’t have to be experts on global geography in order to get the maps down.

“KaBoom sent people out the day before to plan out where things would go,” she said. “They decided where to put the monkey bars and swings, and they drew out the outline of the maps for us.”

When the work team arrived on November 3rd, they painted the maps, after some redesign.

“One of the volunteers looked at the map of the world and said, ‘That’s not right,’” Kube recounted. “He was Dutch, and he said that part was wrong – so we said, ‘Okay, you’re in charge of Scandinavia.’”

They also needed maintenance funding, and Children Incorporated pledged to provide that as well.

An enthusiastic audience

In addition to the playground, the team built a swing set, a giant Connect 4 board, and a trellis with a bench and cubbies. They also painted the maps and blacktop games, and repainted the lines on the basketball court. They cleared out a garden area, and removed trash and debris from the site.

While the volunteers worked, the children tried – mostly without success – to concentrate in their classes.

“It was tremendously exciting,” Kube said. “The kids were peeking out the windows to watch it going up, and at the end of the day, they were leaning out of the school buses, looking at this new equipment so longingly.”

“They had to wait several days for the concrete to set before they could use their new playground, but since then, it’s been well-used and appreciated,” Kube said.

Ongoing maintenance

Our staff members Renée, Shelley and Chuck

The heavy use the playground will get is one of the things Children Incorporated has pledged to keep up with. With 750 children running across its surfaces every day, the paint won’t hold up forever – and neither will the mulch spread around it.

Children Incorporated will provide funding to repaint and re-mulch the playground as needed – and they may even provide the manpower, too, Kube said.

“We just built it in November, so maintenance is not an issue yet,” she said. “They’ll look at it at the end of the school year and see what needs to be done. We will definitely be providing funding for mulch and maintenance – and, if needed, we’ll be doing the work ourselves.”

Other community groups may put in the physical labor too, Kube said. One church in the area said they couldn’t raise maintenance funds but could provide volunteers to help spread mulch once Children Incorporated purchases it. The paint job may go the same way.

“We want to keep it attractive, and we want to keep it safe,” Kube said.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Richmond?

You can sponsor a child in Richmond, Virginia by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | November 30, 2016En Español

Let’s get right to it: We would be nowhere without your support. Sponsors make it possible for Children Incorporated to help hundreds of thousands of children around the globe rise above poverty.

Kids like Abel, the tenth grader that I and Luis Bourdet visited last June in Ethiopia, depend on sponsors for supplies and flourish because they know someone out there cares about them. Abel is in the top five of his class!

Sabrina holding a picture of Abel

We contacted Abel’s longtime sponsor, Sabrina Timperman, about her connection to Children Incorporated and her relationship with this rising star. Timperman is a veterinarian and lives in Manhasset, NY.

Q and A with Children Incorporated

CI: Why did you get involved with Children Incorporated?

ST: When I was a little kid, I remember watching commercials on Saturday mornings about sponsoring a child. I’d always tell my mom I really wanted to sponsor a child, but we never did. Still, the commercials stuck with me. I decided as soon as I was able, I would do it- and I did. I signed up in 2007 when Abel was very young. I always wanted children but never had any myself. Instead, I saw an opportunity to help a child in need.

CI: Did you specify specific characteristics of the child you wanted to sponsor (age, gender, country) or was Abel assigned to you without specifications?

ST: I was assigned Abel at random. I searched online for Children Incorporated and signed right up. I’ve never looked back.

I searched online for Children Incorporated and signed right up. I’ve never looked back.

CI: It’s been almost ten years-what have you learned about Abel?

ST: Abel is 16 and in the tenth grade. He loves math and wants to be an engineer someday. He’s very smart and could go far if given the opportunity. He lives with his sister and mother in a government-owned house in the slums that costs about $35 a month to rent. His mother supports the family by selling small, plastic housewares and dishes on the street.

CI: What do you know about the slum where Abel lives?

ST: Someone in his family is sick, and I know that some of the things that I send are making a big difference. I hope it helps him survive in a world that is very harsh. They don’t have a lot. The money is providing him with food, clothes, books, and school.

CI: Do you communicate with him directly?

Abel’s school photo as a young boy

ST: Yes! He writes letters to me in English. His letters are short, but I cherish them. Abel tells me which sports he likes, like basketball. He has a sister; someone in his family is sick but not sure whom. I’ve always wished we’d had been able to contact each other more. I know he goes to school and studies hard.

CI: What do you wish for Abel?

ST: I have this vision that in 30 years from now when he is an adult, one time before I die, I would love to see him. It is so interesting to be with someone for so long having never met them. I’ve watched him grow up. I have his pictures in my room of him getting bigger and bigger. I hope I have given him a chance at a better life.

CI: What advice would you have for someone who is reading about you and Abel, and is considering sponsorship?

ST: I think that it is extremely rewarding; it is money well spent. I could go buy myself a latte, but this small amount of money is changing someone’s life, and it is the difference between that child eating or not- and we all have to do our part in making others lives better and this is a meaningful way to do that. You walk away going, “I changed someone’s life today, and I helped give them something that they wouldn’t be able to get in another way”. The money is helping to make a difference and that is important even if you don’t ever meet the child. It’s a little money for all of us, but if we put it together, then we can be impactful and make a really big difference. And hopefully, they can be sustainable and more self-sufficient in a way and they can continue to succeed and move forward.

Meet Abel

“Hi, my name is Abel. I am in the tenth grade. My favorite subject in school is physics. My teacher describes me as active, sociable, and an excellent student. I enjoy reading and playing soccer. I live with my mother and sister. I live in a small, old rented room that has no running water or indoor plumbing. When I grow up I want to be an engineer. Sponsorship is important to me because it helps with my school fees and other expenses so that I can attend school regularly without a problem.”

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN ETHIOPIA?

You can sponsor a child in Ethiopia in one of three ways – call our office and speak with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381, email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child in Ethiopia that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD