Tag Archives: education

Shelley Callahan | September 17, 2020

Child sponsorship is one of the most effective ways to help a child living in poverty and it also has many rewards for the sponsor. We want to offer a comprehensive guide on why sponsoring a child has such a lasting effect on impoverished children and how you can get involved in changing a child’s life.

Child sponsorship is one of the most effective ways to help end child poverty.

What is child sponsorship?

Child sponsorship involves pairing a supporting donor with a child in need. The donor (who we refer to as the sponsor) donates every month to support their sponsored children with basic needs such as food, clothing, hygiene items, and educational assistance such as tuition or school supplies.

Does child sponsorship work?

Child sponsorship is one of the most effective ways to help end child poverty. When you sponsor a child for $35 a month, you are not only meeting the most immediate basic needs of that child, but you are providing them with an education that will allow them to go on to higher education or obtain employment in the future.

The sponsorship relationship enables a sponsor to help support an impoverished child through monthly contributions and the exchange of correspondence with a sponsored child if the sponsor so desires. A sponsor’s friendship and encouragement are priceless to a child in such circumstances. Indeed, many children value the relationships they establish with their sponsors as much as they appreciate the financial support they receive from them. There is also an opportunity to build a relationship between a sponsor and a child that can be quite profound.

Who implements the Children Incorporated sponsorship program?

Our sponsorship program is managed by our staff in our office and our 300 volunteer coordinators at our affiliated projects in 21 countries around the world. Our volunteer coordinators work closely with our sponsored children to ensure their particular needs are met and relay those needs to our sponsors.

How long can someone sponsor a child?

Ideally, a child is sponsored throughout their school years leading up to higher education or when they leave our sponsorship program between 18-20 years old. Due to the transient state of many families and the difficult circumstances of the regions where they reside, we cannot always guarantee how long a child will remain enrolled in the Children Incorporated sponsorship program. However, we make every effort to provide services to children for as long as possible.

What information does a sponsor receive about their sponsored child?

We will send you updated information and an updated photo about once a year, although the frequency may vary depending on the child’s location. The typical progress report includes information about the child’s grade level in school, hobbies, and interests.

In what ways does a sponsor correspond with their sponsored child?

Corresponding with your sponsored child can be a delightful experience, and we encourage letter writing between sponsors and their sponsored children. Our project volunteers will translate your letter, if necessary, and deliver it to the child you sponsor. You are welcome to write as often as you would like.

Your sponsorship can have an amazing impact on children living in poverty. Consider sponsoring with Children Incorporated today.

The children enjoy learning about the lives of their sponsors. Writing about your own family (children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, etc.…) is always a good place to start. The children also like to learn about your part of the world, what you do for a living, your hobbies and interests, and about any pets you may have.

How do you choose a child to sponsor?

It is entirely up to you! Sometimes our sponsors chose a child based on age or location, or they chose a child who has been waiting the longest for a sponsor. The decision is yours. We work in 21 countries with children from ages 5-20 years old who are enrolled in schools worldwide. We would love to work with you to match you with a sponsor child that will give you both a meaningful relationship.

What is the best child Sponsorship organization?

Children Incorporated, of course! For more than 55 years we have been providing resources to children in need in the United States and abroad because we passionately believe that every child deserves education, hope and opportunity. As a recognized reputable organization, we believe in full transparency of our financial management. This protects the trust that you place in us as stewards of your generosity.

Are you ready to make a difference in the life of a child in need? Become a sponsor with Children Incorporated today!

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | September 13, 2020En Español

Last year, Children Incorporated Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, and Director of Development, Shelley Callahan, visited our affiliated project, the Centro de Orientacion, in Manizales, Colombia.

“It was terrifying to think that these children and their mother lived in such an unsafe place,” said Callahan.

During their trip, they met with a family of two of our sponsored children who were living in a difficult and dangerous situation — and one from which they desperately wanted to escape.

“The home was in terrible condition. The children showed us a hole in the floor where the shack flooded every time it rained. They were at risk of the entire structure being destroyed in the rain. It was terrifying to think that these children and their mother lived in such an unsafe place,” said Callahan.

“When we returned to the United States, Luis spoke with our volunteer coordinator, Pilar, at Centro de Orientacion, to find out if the home could be repaired. She came back to him with the news that it couldn’t because the family didn’t own the property and therefore couldn’t make improvements on it. We were sure at the time there was nothing that we as an organization could do help improve their home.”

“What we didn’t realize at the time, is that Pilar was determined to get this family out of [harm’s way]. She contacted the local government to find out about housing options for the family, and within a few months, they were able to move. Once they relocated, Children Incorporated was able to provide support with household items as well as funding for some smaller necessary items so they could enjoy their new and safe home.”

About Colombia

Situated in the northwestern corner of South America, Colombia is rich in natural beauty, comprising rugged Andean mountains, lowland plains, sprawling Amazon rainforest, and coastline on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Archeological evidence suggests that humans have called this land home for thousands of years. Its modern history begins at the end of the fifteenth century, when Christopher Columbus and the first Spanish explorers arrived in the region, subsequently establishing the area’s first successful Spanish settlement in 1508. Spanish colonization continued for over 400 years.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Colombia gained its independence and established itself as South America’s first constitutional government. However, political instability in the mid-to-late-twentieth century led to the uprising of guerilla groups which have wreaked havoc through all manner of social injustice. Tragically, their targets are most often children. Kidnappings, human trafficking, recruitment as soldiers into paramilitary groups, and forcible participation in drug-trafficking rings are all too common realities for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in Colombia.

Kidnappings, human trafficking, recruitment as soldiers into paramilitary groups, and forcible participation in drug-trafficking rings are all too common realities for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in Colombia.

About Our affiliated projects

Rondon Center
Bogotá, Colombia

The Rondon Center serves as a beacon of hope to the surrounding community in Bogotá. The center’s mission is to provide a safe environment for the children of working mothers. By looking after the children’s immediate needs while providing the foundation for a brighter future, the center helps deserving families rise above the difficult circumstances from which they come.

Centro Primavera
Medellín, Colombia

Located in the large, industrial city of Medellín, Centro Primavera fills multiple roles, serving as a daycare and an afterschool enrichment center. While children receive nutritious food, medical care, and skills training, working mothers savor the peace of mind knowing that their children are safe, well cared for, and receiving the guidance and encouragement they need to become productive citizens.

Centro de Orientación
Manizales, Colombia

Centro de Orientación offers a source of hope in the large, central-highland city of Manizales. Established by an order of nuns, the center offers a place of protection and safety for impoverished mothers and their children. The facility functions as a community center to rehabilitate mothers who have fallen victim to the ravages of poverty, while helping their children become mature, confident, and educated young adults.

***

HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN COLOMBIA?

You can sponsor a child in Colombia 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 in Colombia that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | September 6, 2020En Español

In Honduras, where lack of adequate funding has led to inadequacies within the healthcare system, COVID-19 is a massive threat. For those Hondurans living in poverty, who rely on earning money daily to provide for their families, they often can’t stay home to protect themselves.

For those Hondurans living in poverty, who rely on earning money daily to provide for their families, they often can’t stay home to protect themselves.

Thankfully, our COVID-19 Response Fund and our incredible sponsors offer support to sponsored children, which relieves their parents from some of the enormous burdens they feel as they struggle to provide for their kids during a global pandemic. Our volunteer coordinators at our affiliated site in Honduras report to us that thanks to donations from Children Incorporated, they have provided hygiene items and food bags to families every week, which is helping to keep them safe and healthy during these unprecedented times.

About Honduras

Nestled in northern Central America, Honduras was once home to several Mesoamerican peoples – most notably the Maya. This ecologically diverse land – with its rainforests, cloud forests, savannas, mountain ranges, and barrier reef system off the northern coast – teems with life. Its wealth of natural resources is equally impressive, including a variety of minable minerals and agricultural exports such as coffee, tropical fruit, sugar cane, and lumber. Moreover, its growing textiles industry serves an international market. The nation’s wealth of natural beauty and resources, however, belies the dire poverty in which its people live. In fact, Honduras holds the unfortunate distinction of being one of the poorest nations in Latin America. This is due in part to its longstanding political instability, social strife, and economic issues, including fluctuating export prices, rising inflation, and unemployment. Other contributing factors include frequent natural disasters, widespread poverty, disease, and inadequate education, which results in a high rate of illiteracy.

Our affiliated Sites in Honduras

Siguatepeque Primary School
Siguatepeque, Honduras

Offering families in need food and hygiene items has been critical to their survival during COVID-19.

In the small, rural town of Siguatepeque, unskilled workers receive only a few dollars a day, a tragically typical wage. The poorest residents subsist on a daily diet of beans and corn, which only propagates the widespread malnutrition among area children. In 1970, a local church group recognized the dire need for education among the town’s most impoverished children and established Siguatepeque Primary School. Today, the school serves as a beacon of hope, not only providing for these deserving children’s most basic immediate needs, but also offering them the tools with which to build a promising future.

Maria Reyna Home
San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Founded in 1942 as a girls’ orphanage, the Maria Reyna Home cares for the area’s orphaned, abandoned or neglected children. The home serves as a safe haven, away from the slum housing, hunger, disease, crime, and pollution that are all-too-tragic realities in this region. Through education and moral support, these deserving girls receive the opportunity to rise above the difficult socio-economic circumstances from which they have come.

El Refugio Welfare Center
El Progreso, Honduras

El Refugio Welfare Center was established here in response to the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. This natural disaster claimed thousands of lives, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides. The damage was so extensive, in fact, that the Honduran president estimated that the storm set the nation’s economic development back a full 50 years. The progress of rebuilding homes and schools has been very slow, and residents here still grapple with the aftershocks of homelessness, disease, and heightened poverty. For this reason, El Refugio Welfare Center is a place where many of the town’s impoverished and abandoned children come to receive food, clothing, and educational assistance.

***

HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Honduras?

You can sponsor a child in Honduras 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 in Honduras that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | August 28, 2020En Español

Not unlike many of the other 21 countries in which we work, parents living in poverty in Bolivia are struggling to support their families while they are out of work. Many of Bolivia’s citizens live off of what they can sell daily in their communities, the COVID-19 lockdown has meant a lack of income — and an inability to buy vital resources for their children.

Many of Bolivia’s citizens live off of what they can sell daily in their communities, the COVID-19 lockdown has meant a lack of income — and an inability to buy vital resources for their children.

Thankfully, our COVID-19 Response Fund is supporting families during this time, making sure they are getting food and hygiene items on a regular basis while the nation patiently waits until it is safe to go back to work.

A Note from Cristo Rey Mission

We heard from our volunteer coordinator at our affiliated project, the Cristo Rey Mission, about the support our donors are providing to children and their families in our program:

“Good afternoon! I want to inform you that the Children Incorporated program is supporting children with the distribution of food and hygiene items. The situation of the pandemic in Bolivia is very complicated. Families suffer a lot because they are people with very low resources. They generally lived on what they earned from what little they sell. Now it is forbidden to go out to sell and they have nothing to subsist on.

As you can imagine the families are very grateful for the support they received. Thank you for your help!”

Parents of ous sponsored children in Bolivia are incredibly grateful for the support from our sponsors.

About Bolivia

The small, landlocked nation of Bolivia comprises rugged Andes Mountains and vast, high-altitude plateaus to the west (including a portion of Lake Titicaca, the largest high-altitude lake in the world) and lush, lowland plains of Amazon jungle to the east.

Despite its wealth of natural beauty and resources, Bolivia bears the scars of centuries of conflict, beginning with the Spanish conquistadors and followed by almost 200 years of wars and internal military coups. Political and economic instability have brought about considerable poverty, resulting in widespread malnutrition, crime, and disease.

Our work in Bolivia

Children Incorporated works with twelve projects in Bolivia: Colegio Don Bosco, Cristo Rey Mission, Gattorno School,Guarderia El Angel, La Inmaculada School, Lourdes School, Montero Home/School, Pedro Poveda School, Sagrado Corazon School, Santa Clotilde Home, Santa Rosa School, and Villa Emilia/San Juan.

La Inmaculada School
Sucre, Bolivia

Established in 1928, the La Inmaculada School offers support for girls from impoverished homes in Sucre. The school provides a refuge where young women can receive educational support from a caring and compassionate staff. The Children Incorporated sponsorship program also works within the community surrounding La Inmaculada School to help provide food baskets, uniforms, and other essentials to boys who attend local public schools.

Lourdes School
Santa Ana de Yacuma, Bolivia

Founded in 1950, the Lourdes School is dedicated to providing education, care, and safety for children in need in this troubled community. In a difficult world where families struggle with few employment opportunities and malnutrition is rampant among the children, the Lourdes School is vital to families’ survival.

La Recoleta School
Sucre, Bolivia

La Recoleta School has been serving Sucre’s impoverished children for more than 80 years. Many of these children live in slum conditions. Their homes often lacking running water, electricity and even the most rudimentary sanitation. Very few families in this area are able to pay for tuition or purchase school supplies. Children Incorporated works in conjunction with the La Recoleta School by assisting with tuition and basic necessities to help improve the lives of children in the area.

Montero Home/School
Okinawa, Bolivia

In 1976, the Montero Home/School was founded as a girls’ home by local religious leaders to assist children of Japanese settlers, as well as native Bolivians. Today, the school has expanded its mission, providing a safe refuge and learning center for impoverished girls and boys in the area. Some children who come to Montero Home/School have never experienced the comfort of a bed, a bath, or a nutritious meal — let alone an education. Here, children receive these basic needs, along with the opportunity to rise above the difficult socio-economic circumstances from which they have come.

Thankfully, our COVID-19 Response Fund is supporting families during this time, making sure they are getting food and hygiene items on a regular basis while the nation patiently waits until it is safe to go back to work.

Gattorno School
Sucre, Bolivia

Founded in 1882 by the Catholic Order of the Daughters of St. Anne, this prestigious school has long been a place where impoverished children of Sucre receive an education in a safe and supportive environment. The Sisters here strive to provide for the children’s immediate basic and educational needs so that students may have the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty.

Cristo Rey Mission
Sucre, Bolivia

The Cristo Rey Mission serves as a safe haven for the children in the impoverished Sucre neighborhood that surrounds it. This social service center assists children, emphasizing education and skills training. At the center, children receive the encouragement and support necessary to help them excel in school.

Colegio Don Bosco
Sucre, Bolivia

Families are receiving bags of food and hygiene items on a regular basis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recognized as one of Sucre’s best schools, Colegio Don Bosco serves impoverished children in this troubled region. It has been operational for over 100 years, originally as a rectory for parish priests and then as a school for orphaned boys. Today, it serves boys and a growing number of girls from both affluent and poor families. For many of the impoverished children here, Colegio Don Bosco is their only hope for a future beyond the confines of poverty. Since many of the families that send their children to Colegio Don Bosco cannot afford the yearly tuition, your Children Incorporated sponsorship is vital in covering this and other basic needs.

Villa Emilia/San Juan
Santa Cruz, Bolivia

The History of Villa Emilia starts with the remote, jungle community of San Juan de Yapacaní, which was founded in the 1950s by Japanese immigrant farmers. Here, nuns from the Order of Adoratrices founded the San Juan Mission to provide support for the local impoverished families. Eventually, the population grew beyond the capacity of available work, and many families migrated some 75 miles to Santa Cruz. There, the same Adoratrices Order established Villa Emilia to provide continued assistance to these vulnerable families. Today, children enrolled at Villa Emilia receive counseling, community support, and housing in a beautiful complex of small units. Adults also participate in skills-training and job-placement programs.

Santa Clotilde Home
Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Founded in the late 19th century, the Santa Clotilde Home has long served as a safe haven for destitute and orphaned girls of Sucre. The nuns who operate the home provide the girls with accommodations, nutritious meals, and skills training. Thanks to the nuns’ dedication and the assistance of Children Incorporated sponsors, these children now lead pleasant and wholesome lives. Their immediate basic needs are met, allowing them to pursue an education.

Thanks to the nuns’ dedication and the assistance of Children Incorporated sponsors, these children now lead pleasant and wholesome lives.

Padilla School
Padilla, Bolivia

One of the nation’s poorest regions, located about 100 miles southeast of Sucre, is the town of Padilla. Most residents must rely upon subsistence farming for survival. Illiteracy was also widespread here until 1962, when nuns of the Daughters of Mercy established the Padilla School. This school continues to serve as a safe haven where children receive nutritious meals and an education that empowers them to rise above the difficult circumstances in which they live.

Pedro Poveda School
La Paz, Bolivia

At 12,000 feet above sea level, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. One of the city’s most impoverished areas is its slum neighborhood Villa Armonía. With no sanitation or potable water, disease and malnutrition run rampant here. Moreover, this area is located in a “black zone,” where landslides capable of demolishing several residential blocks at a time are common. The school provides them with a clean, safe environment, where students receive a well-rounded education.

Guardería El Ángel
Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Founded in 1982, the Guardería El Ángel serves as a daycare center for the impoverished children of Santa Cruz. The vast majority of these children come from single-parent homes — or at least homes where there is no responsible father in the picture. Often, working mothers have no recourse but to leave their children at home to fend for themselves all day while the mothers themselves work for pitiful wages in the city. The nuns that run Guardería El Ángel strive to provide each child with much-needed food, medical attention, education, and love.

Sagrado Corazon School
Sucre, Bolivia

Founded in 1912, the Sagrado Corazon School serves as a beacon of hope for this community. In the early 1970s, the school sought Children Incorporated’s help for a number of children who could only attend class at night because they had to work during the day to help their families. Gradually, such students have been added to the day school program thanks to the generous assistance of Children Incorporated sponsors. Children Incorporated and Sagrado Corazon School continues to pursue our mission to place education within the reach of children in this part of Sucre.

Santa Rosa School
Yotala, Bolivia

Yotala is an agricultural suburb of Sucre that is prone to drought, which not only diminishes the crop yield, but also forces families to purchase water for drinking and bathing. Many in this community are very poor. They rarely manage to grow enough food to feed their families and to sell at the market. It was founded to assist the children of Yotala’s subsistence-farming families, encouraging them to stay in school to receive the skills necessary to gain employment.

***

HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN BOLIVIA?

You can sponsor a child in Bolivia 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 in Brazil that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | August 26, 2020

We are pleased to invite you to a very special fundraising event to be held virtually on September 12, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. EST.

Themes from Childhood: A Classic Concert for All Ages will feature Children Incorporated Board Member Theresa P. Steward along with special guests and will benefit our COVID-19 Response Fund.

We hear from Children Incorporated President and CEO, Ronald H. Carter, who discusses more about the event:

“Theresa P. Steward is a member of the Children Incorporated Board of Directors. She is a classically trained musician; she holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Theresa also serves as pianist and organist at Grace (American) Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, which is also the church that I attend.

Grace Baptist has been a loyal supporter of Children Incorporated for more than a decade, supporting our work each December with funds raised from their mission market. They have also partnered with us on our work to support families in need in Puerto Rico.

Theresa and various other musicians have staged four previous concerts at Grace Baptist for charitable purposes. Those concerts, which were held in person, have been great successes, raising thousands of dollars in support of various missions and ministries. Themes from Childhood is the first of these concerts to be held virtually, and Theresa has designated that all profits from it will be donated to Children Incorporated in support of our COVID-19 Response Fund.

I have had the pleasure of attending all of Theresa’s concerts at Grace Baptist Church, and I have been astounded by the talent she and the other musician’s display. I have been blown away by what Theresa shares. She chooses music that is familiar, fun, and uplifting, and her performances are warm and welcoming. I encourage all fans of good music, whatever their tastes may be, to tune in and share in this event.”

Please plan on tuning in on Saturday, September 12th at what will surely be an unforgettable event!

***

How to attend the event

Please visit either the following Facebook or YouTube link on Saturday, September 12th to watch live:

https://www.facebook.com/gbcrichmond

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChAd9AwM8gzX7Tc6_oT6jCw

Shelley Callahan | August 26, 2020

Dear Friends,

People often ask me how the Children Incorporated sponsorship program works.

I love having the opportunity to share with them, for it’s my belief that our operation is one of the best. For more than half a century, we have been addressing the most basic and immediate needs of children in the United States and in numerous other countries.

I love having the opportunity to share with them, for it’s my belief that our operation is one of the best. For more than half a century, we have been addressing the most basic and immediate needs of children in the United States and in numerous other countries, and our work has been honored with superb ratings from all of the major charitable monitoring groups as a result.

One thing that I value is that, unlike other child sponsorship programs, Children Incorporated does not pay our coordinators who work directly with our sponsored children. We work with a network of caring individuals, already employed by the schools and centers with which we are affiliated, and they include our program in their targeted efforts to improve the lives of those in their communities. This allows us to keep the portion of funds that go directly to helping children as high as possible, and for nearly 55 years, due to our system of using volunteer coordinators, we have succeeded in this effort.

Without your help, unsponsored children go without life-changing basic needs.

Additionally, our volunteer coordinators know the children and families we serve, often on a personal basis. They usually live within the same communities, and in many instances, have known or been familiar with the children included in our sponsorship program for a number of years. Many of the communities remain small and either church- or school-centered, so our coordinators develop a keen awareness of the families’ struggles and observe these struggles on a first-hand basis. In many of our international programs, as well as at some of our Native American sites, the children attend boarding-type schools where they actually live with those who work as Children Incorporated volunteer coordinators. This personal knowledge adds a special layer of uniqueness to the type of services we provide, for rather than dolling out cookie-cutter benefits to the youngsters, Children Incorporated addresses the needs of each child individually.

When we connect with a school or child-care center, we ask the coordinators to identify a group of their most needy or most at-risk children for enrollment in our sponsorship program. The coordinators work with the children’s parents and guardians to get them added to our roster of children who become available for sponsorship, and we then begin seeking caring individuals and groups to meet the needs of the children and families. Sometimes it takes months or longer for us to find enough sponsors for each child, so we created the Shared Hope Fund so that all of the children begin receiving the assistance they need as quickly as possible. The Shared Hope Fund is now one of our most important funds because it allows us to provide for those children enrolled in our sponsorship program, though not yet linked to individual sponsors, as they wait. The dollars raised for Shared Hope make it possible for unsponsored children to receive the very same benefits as sponsored children, sometimes for months on end.

Will you please help us by supporting the Shared Hope Fund today? It truly makes a difference in the lives of children whose needs would be unmet without Children Incorporated’s assistance.

Every donation today changes the life of a child tomorrow. Please consider donating to our Shared Hope Fund.

From the heart,

Ronald H Carter
President and Chief Executive Officer

***

How you can donate to our shared hope fund

We enroll new children in our program every day, and finding enough sponsors for all of them is one of our greatest challenges. The global need is so profound that some children wait months for a sponsor. Donations made to our Shared Hope Fund provide immediate assistance to children awaiting sponsorship.

DONATE TODAY