Tag Archives: education

Shelley Callahan | En Español

While spending a few weeks visiting our affiliated projects in New Mexico last year, our Director of U.S. Programs, Renée Kube, and U.S. Projects Specialist, Shelley Oxenham, heard over and over that because there were so few job opportunities in the communities in and around the Navajo Nation, the parents of our sponsored and unsponsored children there often have no choice but to travel outside of town – and sometimes even to other states as far away as Colorado — to find work on farms during the harvest season.

It is not easy for parents to be away from their children; they are forced to rely on other family members, like grandparents, to help out, and to ensure that their kids get to school and are cared for. In many cases, when parents must leave town for work, their kids’ school year is interrupted by the need for them to switch to a school that has a dormitory in which they can stay during the school week. While meeting with our volunteer coordinators at two of the schools that our sponsored children attend, the Ojo Encino Day School and the Pueblo Pintado Boarding School, Renée found that they were no exception.

While visiting the school, our Volunteer Coordinator Nora told Renée that there are hardly any jobs in the community, aside from very few school administrator and school staff positions.

The Ojo Encino Day School

The Ojo Encino Day School is located in a remote area of north central New Mexico; even the nearest post office in Cuba, New Mexico is almost forty miles away. Though situated outside of the Navajo Nation’s boundaries, this area is still very much considered to be “Navajo Country.” While visiting the school, our Volunteer Coordinator, Nora, told Renée that there are hardly any jobs in the community, aside from very few school administrator and school staff positions. Many parents travel a few hours away, either to Farmington or Bloomington, for temporary work – or even farther away, to Durango, Colorado, if it’s the only option.

After they met one-on-one, Nora introduced Renée to two sponsored children in our program. First, Renée met Eleanor*, who loves having a sponsor. She is a hard-working student in the fourth grade, and Nora said that Eleanor is responsible and polite. Eleanor lives with her parents and five siblings; both parents are unemployed, and struggle to provide for their family on a limited amount of assistance. Eleanor loves school, and wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

Next, Renée met Rachel*, who is also in the fourth grade. She is a little shy, but Nora said that she pushes herself to be a good leader and peer motivator for the other students. Rachel lives with her parents and little brother; her father has a low-paying job, and her mother is a homemaker. Their small house has no electricity or running water. Nora told Renée that both girls, like all of our sponsored children at the school, are very appreciative of their sponsors. The clothing and school supplies they receive mean so much to their health and education.

The Pueblo Pintado Boarding School

Our Volunteer Coordinator Cindra with two of our sponsored children at Pueblo Pintado

After visiting the Ojo Encino Day School, Renée traveled to the Pueblo Pintado Boarding School, which is 55 miles from Cuba. The school is one of Children Incorporated’s larger affiliated projects in New Mexico, with 263 children in attendance. While at the school, our Volunteer Coordinator Cindra told Renée that the harvest season affects the number of students enrolled in the school. It increases in the fall, during the potato season, when parents are away at work, because the students can stay in the dorm there during the week.

Cindra told Renée that one of her favorite aspects of our program is seeing the joy on the kids’ faces. She mentioned a little girl named Isabel*, who is in the second grade, and who loves shoes. Every time Isabel gets a new pair, thanks to her sponsor, she is overwhelmed with happiness.

Like all the children in our program, sponsored and unsponsored kids living in New Mexico face a great deal of adversity living in poverty; and it is even more challenging when parents have to travel for work during the harvest season, which creates a whole new set of obstacles for families. Thankfully, these children have their sponsors and our volunteer coordinators to offer them support throughout the year.

*Names changed for children’s protection.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN NEW MEXICO?

You can sponsor a child in New Mexico in one of two ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members, or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | En Español

Dzilth Community Grant School is located in Bloomfield, New Mexico near one of the four sacred mountains of the Navajo Nation. The school was built in the late 1960s by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and then it was converted to community grant status in 2005. The Navajo name of the school, Dzilth-Na-O-Hle, translates to “The Mesa that Turns” in English; it refers to a nearby mesa – an isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides — which seems to turn as the observer walks around it. The campus has a dormitory for the kids who live too far away to go home every afternoon. About half of the students who attend the school, which serves grades kindergarten through eighth, board there each week.

Dzilth Community Grant School is one of our most successful projects in New Mexico, and has been for quite some time now. Dzilth is blessed with two outstanding coordinators, Phyllis and Karen.

Unlike many of the areas in New Mexico in which our affiliated schools are located, this region of the state has more work opportunities for parents who have an education, certain skills, and transportation to get to and from jobs. Some commute to work in farms around Bloomfield, or at an oil field project in nearby Bisti. Other parents make and sell beaded jewelry during the summer tourist season, and then pick potatoes in Durango, Colorado during the harvest season.

Although there are job opportunities, many of our sponsored and unsponsored children’s parents lack the education or skills needed to successfully compete in the job market. There are also many older grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. For these reasons, many of the families of children enrolled in our program are living in poverty, and struggle every day to make ends meet — so support from the Children Incorporated program means so much to them.

A successful project

Dzilth Community Grant School is one of our most successful projects in New Mexico, and has been for quite some time now. Dzilth is blessed with two outstanding coordinators, Phyllis and Karen. They are managing 87 children in our sponsorship program, and the school comprises one of our largest projects in the state. When our Director of U.S. Programs, Renée Kube, and U.S. Projects Specialist, Shelley Oxenham, arrived at the school, Phyllis and Karen told them that the principal had said that they could meet with all the children enrolled in the Children Incorporated program in the library. A rare occurrence at projects in our U.S. Division, due to strict rules in school systems, Renée and Shelley were very grateful for the principal’s permission to pull the students out of class for a brief gathering.

Children at Dzilth Community Grant School are fortunate to have two wonderful volunteer coordinators to support them.

Renée addressed the group of children by thanking them for cooperating with their coordinators for updated pictures and progress reports, and especially for writing letters to their sponsors. She stressed how much the letters mean to sponsors, and asked the children to keep up their good work.

After meeting with the kids, Renée and Shelley had a meeting with Phyllis and Karen. Phyllis is an administrative assistant, and Karen is a data technician. They told Renée and Shelley that sponsorship funds are primarily utilized for the purchase of shoes and clothing, and then school supplies and hygiene items. They are also used to purchase food, when needed.

Phyllis and Karen also expressed a need for eyeglasses for children at the school. Dzilth Community Grant School used to have a partnership with the Helen Keller Foundation, which provided occasional mini grants for eyeglasses; but that partnership is no longer what it used to be. Renée said that she would look into seeing if our Hope In Action Fund could provide some assistance for this special need.

High hopes for Michelle

After the school visit, Phyllis and Karen took Renée and Shelley to the home of one of Children Incorporated’s sponsored children. They traveled quite a few miles away from the school, until they arrived at a muddy lane on which Michelle* lives, in a small neat and tidy house with her mother and grandmother. The mom works as an office assistant; the grandmother was once employed, but is now older and retired. Both women expressed their appreciation for Children Incorporated and Michelle’s sponsor.

While they chatted in the kitchen, Michelle’s mother and grandmother talked about how proud they are of her. She is an excellent student whose favorite subject is math. Michelle is also athletic; she loves basketball, and is very good at playing it.

They have high hopes for Michelle and her future. They dream that she will graduate from high school, and go on to college. Michelle has a special fondness for animals, and says she wants to be a veterinarian. Her mother and grandmother believe this dream can come true; and here at Children Incorporated, we believe it can, too.

*Name changed for child’s protection.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN New Mexico?

You can sponsor a child in New Mexico in one of two ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members, or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | En Español

Located in the idyllic mountainous Eastern Kentucky Coalfield, Magoffin County, where our affiliated project Salyersville Elementary School is located, holds the unfortunate distinction of having one of the highest poverty rates in the state. The coal mining industry once employed the majority of the area’s workforce. However, with the recent sharp decline of the industry, many area families have turned to small-scale and low-wage farming in order to provide for themselves; and unemployment and poverty have become intrinsic to Salyersville’s people.

Thankfully, our Volunteer Coordinator at Salyersville Elementary School, Alice, has the Children Incorporated program to rely on to help sponsored and unsponsored children receive basic needs, which not only helps kids, but their families as well. To explain the impact our program has on our sponsored and unsponsored children at the school, Alice wrote a letter to our Director of U.S. Programs, Renée Kube, about how important sponsors and sponsorship are to kids living in poverty.

Our sponsorship program has helped thousands of children in Eastern Kentucky.

Bringing smiles to kids’ faces

In her letter, Alice wrote, “Children Incorporated is truly a blessing to my community. It has brought so many smiles to the children’s faces. There are so many kids that benefit from this organization. Without help from this program, so many of our kids would do without. I am truly amazed at all the things sponsors through Children Incorporated do. To see these kids get packages from a ‘stranger’ that loves them is beyond them. It is breathtaking to see what just a note or card can do.

“Putting a smile on a child’s face is a miracle in itself. Coming from a family that has had its share of hardship, I personally know the feeling of not having material things like other kids. It makes me want to succeed as a volunteer coordinator for Children Incorporated. That helping hand makes more of a difference than anyone can ever imagine. Many kids and families take for granted the opportunity they have in being able to just go out and purchase new things for school — when other children have nothing. This program means the difference between a child being able to have their basic needs met for school and a child doing without.”

A thoughtful gift

“I would like to say thank you for everything that you do for our kids. With your help, our kids can have a brighter future.”

Alice continued, “I will never forget when one of my new students got a care package from her new sponsor. This girl was very hesitant to open the box. I explained to her that it was a gift from her sponsor, and I told her they wanted her to have what was inside. This girl, with a tear in her eye, says, ‘Why would anyone buy me something?’ My heart broke. I wanted to break down and cry. As I sat there with my heart in pieces I stood up and grabbed her in my arms and hugged her, and asked her, ‘Why not?’

“As she opened the box, she looked with the biggest eyes. It was filled with clothes, art supplies, toys, and snacks. She leaned over into the box and grabbed a box of snacks and said, ‘Wow! I finally got snacks for school. I can’t wait to show my daddy. He will be so excited.’ As she went through her box of goodies, she showed me each piece and kept smiling and hopping around with excitement the entire time. She had to lay all her clothes out and look them over. She rubbed the soft footie to her face, and I truly cherished every moment she pulled something new out of her box.

“I would like to say thank you for everything that you do for our kids. With your help, our kids can have a brighter future.”

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN KENTUCKY?

You can sponsor a child in Kentucky in one of two ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members, or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | En Español

The purpose of our Higher Education Fund is to assist young people enrolled in our sponsorship program with financial support so that they can attend college, university, or certification courses once they graduate from high school. The assistance they receive is one of the best ways to help break the cycle of poverty because higher education gives them the skills and training they need to make a living wage or better when they enter into the competitive workforce.

How the program works

Children Incorporated has helped sponsored children to obtain a higher education since our very beginning – but only in a small way until 2011, when we expanded the program. Volunteer coordinators in both our U.S. and International Divisions may nominate young people in their last year of secondary education. These students are considered high achievers who the coordinators believe to have the capacity and desire for higher education, and the drive to complete the certificate or degree that they aspire to obtain.

Our Higher Education Fund helps former sponsored children achieve their dreams beyond high school.

Once accepted into our Higher Education Program, these young people may pursue any course of study at an accredited institution. Their support may be renewed each term, provided they present official documentation of passing grades and continued enrollment. Today, past beneficiaries of our Higher Education Fund work in a variety of capacities – from state troopers to hairstylists, to teachers, to speech pathologists.

Funds provided by Children Incorporated, thanks to our sponsors and donors, are critically important for these young adults to be able to enter into and remain in college or university until they achieve their respective certificates or degrees. For these special Higher Education Fund recipients, the results include more favorable opportunities for them to find jobs in their communities.

Two special university students

Funds provided by Children Incorporated, thanks to our sponsors and donors, are critically important for these young adults to be able to enter into and remain in college or university until they achieve their respective certificates or degrees.

Two very special former sponsored children are currently recipients of assistance through our Higher Education Fund. Natalie* from North Carolina was nominated by her former volunteer coordinator at the high school that she attended as an “excellent, calm, and conscientious” twelfth-grader who was active in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Her parents, who struggled financially to raise three children, are now bringing up a grandchild. The father does odd jobs, and the mother is a home health aide; so the support that Natalie receives from Children Incorporated is essential in her pursuit of higher education. Natalie now attends Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. She is working on a degree in business administration, and has an A/B average.

Kathryn* from Kentucky was nominated by our volunteer coordinator at her high school because she was “a very bright girl who gets along well with her peers, and is active in band; choir; the Junior Homemakers; and the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).” Kathryn currently attends Eastern Kentucky University, and she is working on dual degrees in English with a concentration in creative writing, and broadcasting with a concentration in film. She maintains an A/B average as well.

We are so proud of all of our Higher Education Fund recipients, and we look forward to supporting more young adults in the future in achieving their dreams!

*Names changed for individuals’ protection.

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How do I donate to the Higher Education Fund?

You can contribute to our Higher Education Fund 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 donate to our Higher Education Fund.

DONATE TODAY

Shelley Callahan | En Español

Last year, Andreia Beraldo, Children Incorporated’s International Affiliated Site Specialist, and I traveled to Costa Rica to visit our affiliated site Santa Luisa in the small town of Bratsi (Bambu). A five-hour drive southeast from San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital in the Talamanca Mountains Region, the town is located along the country’s border with Panama. Bratsi is mostly inhabited by the indigenous Bribri tribe, and it is close to the Sixaola River, which separates Costa Rica from Panama by just a short boat ride.

The area produces various crops including bananas, plantains, cacao, and a variety of tropical fruits; agriculture provides little income for the families in the region, however. Among the houses and schools within the Bratsi community is the Santa Luisa home for the elderly, which not only serves the aging population, but also provides support for children in the community.

A home in the jungle

The children were very excited to receive their new mattresses!

When we arrived, our Volunteer Coordinator at the time, Sister Bertalina, showed us around the grounds of Santa Luisa, which are well-kept and full of chickens, roosters, and fruit trees – all of which provide food for the residents of the home. Santa Luisa is funded and run by the government. Ten staff members help care for upwards of 25 elderly residents at a time, and the four Sisters that live on the property help to oversee operations, as well as to provide support through our sponsorship program for the children in the surrounding communities and their families.

For the past nine years, during five of which Sister Bertalina was at Santa Luisa, the 83 children in our program there have been receiving food, clothing, shoes, and school supplies upon monthly visits to the home. After showing us the Santa Luisa grounds, Sister Bertalina took us to visit the home of two children in our program, only a few minutes’ drive away. The visit took us into the jungle, where at first glance, it didn’t seem that a path off the main road existed at all. Blanketed by large banana trees, the road was narrow and muddy, and it took us up a steep incline. When we arrived at the wooden two-bedroom house, which was built on stilts on the side of a hill, we were greeted by the father, who held his small son in his arms. His wife and their other son were out for the day.

The one mattress that the whole family shared was torn, and it really needed to be replaced because of water damage.

New mattresses for Christmas

The father explained that the roof leaks whenever it rains, so they have to bag their clothes up and tie those bags to the rafters in order to keep their belongings dry during times of precipitation. The one mattress that the whole family shared was torn, and it really needed to be replaced because of water damage. As we left, Sister Bertalina mentioned that she wanted to buy mattresses for many of these families who sleep on the floor or on foam padding — families that have the same issues with rain and humidity ruining their mattresses.

Thankfully, once Andreia and I returned home, Sister Bertalina submitted a request for support from our Hope In Action Fund to purchase mattresses for all of our sponsored and unsponsored children at Santa Luisa. This past Christmas, the mattresses arrived, and each of the families picked up one brand new mattress each. We are so grateful to our donors and supporters that we were able to help these families with an urgent need.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN COSTA RICA?

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

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | En Español

The town of Newcomb is situated in the Navajo Nation, amid the incredible desert background of northwestern New Mexico. For many of the small number of residents that live in the town – less than 400, according to the U.S. Census Bureau – there is little opportunity for steady employment. A trading post, which includes an impressive Navajo artifact museum, and a fish hatchery are some of the only options for work. Due to a lack of jobs, many families are living in poverty, and struggle to provide for their children.

A special donor offers his support

sponsor a child in need in New Mexico

Students recieve basic needs they would otherwise go without, thanks to their sponsors.

Funded by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tohaali’ – which means “where the water flows out” in Navajo, named for a nearby creek – has approximately 130 students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. Thirty of those students live in a dormitory on campus during the school week. Since the school is not close to any of its surrounding communities, many families have to travel quite a distance to take their kids there. On a recent trip to visit the Tohaali’ Community School, U.S. Projects Specialist, Shelley Oxenham, met with our Volunteer Coordinator Cecelia. Cecelia told Shelley that one of the schools’ families doesn’t have a vehicle; so after every weekend, the parents walk with their kids for the four miles it takes to get to the dormitory.

Cecelia explained to Shelley that the Children Incorporated program is very important for students, because it helps to provide them with food, warm clothing, shoes, school supplies, and hygiene items – things that their parents can’t afford to purchase for them. Beyond helping our sponsored children on a monthly basis, Cecelia was also able to rely on Children Incorporated when an emergency arose a few years ago.

Our Sponsorship Manager Steven Mitchell acted quickly, and contacted a very special donor who contributed $5,000 to purchase a trailer for the family.

She recalled a special circumstance in which a family suddenly became homeless. Cecelia called our office to see if we might be able to help. Our Sponsorship Director, Steven Mitchell, acted quickly, and contacted a very special donor who contributed $5,000 to purchase a trailer for the family. When the family saw the trailer, they couldn’t believe their eyes; they felt so overwhelmed to find that they did have a home after all – after having gone through such a terrible ordeal in losing their previous residence, and having had nowhere to go.

Shopping is the hardest part

Before Shelley left the school, Cecelia explained that the hardest part for her is doing the shopping, because the closest town with a decent store is Farmington, which is a little over an hour away. Our sponsored children’s parents try to meet Cecelia at the mall to spend two to three hours shopping there, making sure to get exactly what their children need in the correct sizes; but transportation is a barrier for many families, so there are many times when Cecelia does the shopping herself. Regardless, Cecelia is incredibly grateful for the support the children get from their sponsors, and she knows that without it, they would often go without basic essentials in their lives.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN NEW MEXICO?

You can sponsor a child in New Mexico in one of two ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members, or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD