A few months ago, we reported on our partnership with the international nonprofit organization Wine To Water, which works to bring clean water solutions to some of the most remote parts of the world. Before Luis Bourdet, our Director of International Programs, and I left for our trip to India in August, I visited the Wine To Water headquarters in Boone, North Carolina, and took a training course on how to use Sawyer water filters, which when used properly, can last for up to ten years.
A Sawyer water filter provides clean water for up to ten years.
Requiring little maintenance and upkeep, the Sawyer filters were perfect for us to take to India to distribute to our affiliated projects. I could easily fit thirty of them in a suitcase — enough to give three or four to each of our volunteer coordinators in India, so that they could provide clean drinking water for the children in our program, reducing their risk of contracting illnesses such as typhoid or cholera.
Training day
When Luis and I arrived in India, we found that most of our projects, including the Grace Aaron Boarding Home in Bhoorgampahad, had wells on their properties and used groundwater as their source for cleaning and drinking water. In fact, Children Incorporated supporters funded the installation of the well and pump at the Grace Aaron Boarding Home about ten years ago so that the home would have a freshwater source for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. The problem with the groundwater there, however, is that it is not safe to drink, because sewage disposal in the country is ineffective, and wastewater from toilets is fed into the same water system from which well water is pumped.
On our first day in India, four days before we visited the Grace Aaron Boarding Home, where 68 girls in our program live, Luis and I held a training session for all six of our coordinators who work at our affiliated projects in and around Dornakal. I showed them how to properly assemble the Sawyer water filters and how to correctly use them. The filters require two containers — one on which to attach the filter, where the contaminated water is contained, and another for the clean water that comes out of the filter. All of our coordinators were enthusiastic about using the filters, and they were grateful to have them to start using right away at their projects.
Sanitary practices all around
The girls at the Grace Aaron Boarding Home now have clean water, too, which is essential to their well-being.
When we arrived at the Grace Aaron Boarding Home a few days later, our Volunteer Coordinator there, Mrs. Jesintha, had set the filters up in the activity room where the girls practice singing and dancing after school. Now all the girls have access to clean drinking water throughout the day, whenever they want it. As we toured the rest of the home, we saw that the structure had newly-updated bathrooms, which included tile floors and large hand-washing sinks, which are important in good sanitation practice, helping keep the girls healthy so that they can attend school.
On top of receiving nutritious meals every day and having a safe and sanitary place to live, the girls at the Grace Aaron Boarding Home now have clean water, too, which is essential to their well-being. What seemed at first like a small gesture — providing basic, easy-to-use water filters to our projects — I now understand to be a crucial part in providing basic needs to children living in poverty.
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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN INDIA?
You can sponsor a child in India 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 India that is available for sponsorship.
Bath County, Kentucky is known historically for the mineral and medicinal springs from which its name was derived. Unlike many other counties in Eastern Kentucky, Bath County is not a coal-producing area, and the main cash crop there used to be tobacco. This crop provided small farmers with a decent living with the help of the federal Tobacco Price Support Program, in which the government purchased surplus tobacco from farmers to ensure a yearly income for them.
“Sponsors give these teens hope and a window into a bigger world,” said Cindy. “The clothing and shoes received through sponsorship funds give these kids a sense of dignity and pride.”
When the Tobacco Price Support Program ended in 2004, small farmers were no longer secure supporting their families by farming tobacco, so they began to seek out other work opportunities. As a result, most tobacco farmers in the county switched to raising cattle, which does not require nearly as many laborers as tobacco farming does, so many jobs were still lost.
Unfortunately, the loss of farming jobs in Bath County isn’t the only thing that negatively affected the local economy there. Most of Cave Run Lake, built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1973, is located in Bath County – another potential source of income for families could come from tourist dollars generated by use of the lake; but all of the boat ramps, marinas, small restaurants, and gas stations around it are nestled on either the Rowan County side or on the Menifee County side. A path that was bulldozed on the Bath County side of the lake shows the start of construction; but many years after it was first blazed, subsequent work has yet to be done – and even Bath County residents have to leave the county to access the lake.
When parents aren’t being parents
On a recent trip to Bath County, our Director of U.S. Programs, Renée Kube, visited the only high school in the county, Bath County High School. Sitting on a large complex, the school has 589 students in grades nine through twelve. Seventy-four percent of those students qualify for free breakfast and lunch every day, which is a reflection of great poverty in the county. One in five Bath County citizens are living in poverty; and 29 percent of the children there are living below the poverty line.
When Renée arrived at the school, she met Cindy, our Volunteer Coordinator, in the school’s Resource Center, along with Cindy’s assistant, Sandy. Both Cindy and Sandy work very hard to help the children in their care to get basic needs, as many of them come from neglectful households. Cindy told Renée that she thinks the children are having to grow up too fast – some of them have to fend for themselves completely.
Their parents or guardians are absent from their lives in different ways – sometimes physically, sometimes mentally or emotionally. In some cases, they are away from the home a lot, working minimal-income jobs; in some instances, they are disabled and unable to do much to support their children. Some caretakers, tragically, due to a serious drug problem in Bath County, aren’t looking after their kids as a result of their addictions. Last year alone, there were fourteen overdoses of parents of Bath County High School students.
According to Cindy, many of these families can’t even begin to imagine another way of life for themselves, and they teach their children to think no other life is possible for them, either. This fostering of this negative mentality is one of the many reasons why Cindy and Sandy value the Children Incorporated program as much as they do. “Sponsors give these teens hope and a window into a bigger world,” said Cindy. “The clothing and shoes received through sponsorship funds give these kids a sense of dignity and pride. Being sponsored is encouraging for the students to stay in school and achieve their diplomas.”
It is important for these impoverished kids that Cindy and Sandy see the value in our program, and what sponsorship does for those children. When teens live in poverty, but are expected to get their schoolwork done and take care of themselves with little to no support from family, it is invaluable for them to have sponsors. It helps them to not feel alone, and to receive the positive motivation they need to keep working hard, so that they can have better lives once they graduate.
Going above and beyond for kids
Renée and Cindy in the Resource Center
Cindy and Sandy do more than just help kids in our program receive basic needs – they also do a lot to prepare them for being on their own, as many of them practically already are. There is a washer and dryer in the Resource Center for the students to use to wash their own clothes, because many of their parents don’t do it for them. There is also a shower for the kids to use to clean up when they don’t have a usable shower at home.
Cindy also takes the students that she feels need extra attention on field trips, because she knows that many of them never leave their homes other than to go to school. She takes groups to a ropes course at Morehead State University for team building. She also takes some to a cosmetologist for haircuts and conversations about appearing professional for job interviews. She takes some teens to a restaurant – for some students, for the first time in their lives – where they can practice table manners.
It’s hard to think about what these children have to endure while they are still so young, with little to no guidance at home. Even before they graduate, some Bath County High School students are kicked out of their homes when they turn eighteen years old, because at that age, their parents stop receiving welfare checks with which to support them.
Now homeless, those kids go to school hungry and desperate. Thankfully, however, each school year, Cindy and Sandy help these scared and overwhelmed teens move into tiny public housing apartments, and they teach them to apply for welfare in their own names, so that they may receive that assistance until they graduate from high school; and our sponsors are there to provide additional support for these kids who are forced to grow up too fast when they really need it the most.
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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.
Growing up in a fairly average middle-class American family, I never went without food or decent clothing, and I always received birthday and Christmas gifts. My parents weren’t particularly wealthy, yet they were able to pay the bills; we had a solid roof over our heads and a sturdy shelter to protect us from the elements. I, like so many raised this way, took it for granted that everyone was provided for — that all children had toys with which to play. Then, I started working for children’s causes, and I discovered that my beliefs were badly flawed.
I am thankful, also, for caring people like you, who are right by my side on a journey to improve the lives of others.
Eyes opened wide
I will never forget my first visit to an underdeveloped country, where I witnessed incredible deprivation for the first time. The sight of thousands of tiny make-shift houses constructed of cardboard, wooden sticks, plastic tarps, and discarded pieces of metal and tin dotting the side of a barren mountain still remains as clear in my mind as when I first experienced it two decades ago. Likewise, I can still clearly see the face of the precious little girl from Eastern Kentucky whose ramshackle home I visited going on ten years ago now – her big, expressive eyes, the dirt on her cheeks, her disheveled hair, and the beautiful, heartbreaking smile she gave me, even though in reality, she had very little to smile about.
A life forever changed
This Thanksgiving, I am thankful, not for these deplorable situations, but for the fact that I had the opportunity to see them firsthand; and as a result, my life was forever changed. The poverty, hunger, and suffering that I had only heard about became very real to me when I saw these conditions in person; and I knew then and there that I would spend my life in service of others.
I am also thankful that I, personally, do not have to deal with being cold and thirsty and uncared for. I do not have to worry where my next meal will come from, or if my dwelling place will withstand a simple rain or wind storm. I do not have to question whether my children will have decent clothing to wear to school, or if I will be able to find transportation to my place of employment.
I am thankful, also, for caring people like you, who are right by my side on a journey to improve the lives of others. Together, we can make a difference. Together, we are strong. Together, we can change the lives of children and families all around the world, and offer them hope for their futures.
I am thankful in so many ways, and I am truly blessed.
From the heart,
Ronald H. Carter
President and Chief Executive Officer
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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD THROUGH CHILDREN INCORPORATED?
You can sponsor a child 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 who is available for sponsorship.
As the end of the year approaches, I can say that the Children Incorporated staff as a whole is amazed by what we have accomplished thus far in 2017, thanks to our incredible sponsors and donors. When our President and CEO, Ron Carter, sent out a letter in December of 2016 asking our supporters to help us reach our goal of providing 1,000 pairs of new shoes to sponsored and unsponsored children at our projects in the coming year, we never dreamed the response would be so tremendous.
Just three months after launching our Shoe Fund campaign, our supporters had already donated more than $35,000 to ensure that children in our program in Latin America, Africa, and Asia would receive new shoes. We can’t thank you enough for what you have done for these special young girls and boys.
The importance of shoes
There are a lot of basic needs that children go without on a daily basis – something we understand all too well. Providing basic necessities, like clothing, food, hygiene items, and educational support, to kids is the foundation of our sponsorship program, and we believe that each and every one of these aspects is incredibly important in helping children have a greater chance to succeed in life. So why did Mr. Carter want to focus in particular on getting shoes to kids in need?
“Over the years, we have heard many heartbreaking stories about children who are unable to attend school because they don’t have wearable shoes.”
“Over the years, we have heard many heartbreaking stories about children who are unable to attend school because they don’t have wearable shoes,” says Mr. Carter. “In some cases, children attend school only every other day because they have to share a single pair of shoes with a sibling. We have always made a point of providing good, solid shoes to these children, knowing that shoes can be very expensive. As such, the Children Incorporated Shoe Fund campaign has been one of our most meaningful endeavors.”
Because of you, we have provided children at our affiliated projects the Pedro Poveda School, Guarderia El Angel, the Lourdes School, the Santa Clotilde Orphanage, Villa Emilia, the Montero Home, and the Cristo Rey Mission in Bolivia with shoes this year. Thanks to you, children at Hogar Santa Julia and Hogar Santa Maria in Mexico have brand new shoes to wear to school. If it weren’t for you, children at the Dandora Community Center in Kenya, the Rainbow ‘Erdata’ Center in Ethiopia, Chrishanti Lama Sevana in Sri Lanka, La Milagrosa in Costa Rica, and Santa Isabel Ana Seton in Guatemala wouldn’t have received new footwear, either.
To date, we have provided 1,235 pairs of shoes to kids in need, and we will continue distributing shoes in the upcoming months.
Thank you for all that you do to help children – we couldn’t do it without you.
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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 in that is available for sponsorship.
Through my work with Children Incorporated, I have become accustomed to not always speaking the same language as our sponsored children. The language barrier doesn’t keep me from doing my job of reporting on the burden of poverty that they face in their lives, however, because what they can’t communicate with me, I can see for myself at their homes, schools, and in their communities. I hear stories from our volunteer coordinators about the kids’ families’ daily struggles. It wasn’t until I traveled to India in August, though, that it occurred to me just how important it can be for children to learn English in school.
Boys at the English Medium School and Hostel are learning English starting at a young age.
On our second day in Dornakal, a small town located in the eastern region of the state of Telangana, Luis Bourdet, our Director of International Programs, and I visited the English Medium School and Hostel. When I first heard the name English Medium, I was curious about it, because I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant. Many of our projects are named after recognizable locations or people; just the day before, for example, we visited the J. Calvitt Clarke Home, named after our founder’s father. I asked Luis about the origins of the English Medium name; he explained that English medium describes a type of education system in which English, rather than a regional language, is the primary medium of instruction.
A language of opportunity
Although English is not the most spoken language in the world (Mandarin comes in at number one, followed by Spanish), it is an official language in a large number of countries, and it is estimated that more than one billion people use English to communicate on a regular basis. It is the most widely-used common language for communication among peoples of differing nationalities. Even beyond conversational usage, fluency in English can be incredibly important because it can lead to more opportunities in life, especially for our sponsored children, who already face a great deal of adversity,
coming from poor families.
Fluency in English can be incredibly important because it can lead to more opportunities in life, especially for our sponsored children, who already face a great deal of adversity, coming from poor families.
The United States is a primary leader in the worlds of technical innovation and economic development, and English is the language most often employed in both of these fields. English is also one of the principal languages featured in the realm of science — and approximately fifty percent of content on the internet is in English. When a child learns English at a young age, he or she may have better job prospects as an adult, which can lead to an increased standard of living. Also, if impoverished parents were given the opportunity to learn English and teach it to their kids, their children would be better equipped to compete in the global workforce, and therefore help break the cycle of poverty.
Mr. Franklin, our Volunteer Coordinator, stands with a former sponsored child near the English Medium Hostel.
I thought about the Indian children enrolled in our program who are not being taught English in school now, and who might not start to learn it until later in life, particularly if they wish to pursue higher education. I considered how that could possibly keep them from being able to successfully compete for employment in the future. Not all schools in India are of the English medium variety because, in part, they are more expensive to run, as salaries are higher for those who speak English, including teachers — which continues the unfortunate cycle of the importance of learning English paired with not enough opportunity to do so.
English medium on the rise
Mr. Franklin, our Volunteer Coordinator at the English Medium Hostel, an energetic middle-aged man with curly white hair, showed us around the home when we arrived. The building itself is two stories high; the boys’ dorm is on the second floor, and the study room and kitchen are on the first. All of the 39 boys that live at the home, who range in age from five to seventeen years, are enrolled in our program, and are benefiting greatly from sponsorship: not only do they have the opportunity to attend school, but also to learn English, which can give them an advantage in life.
When we spoke with Mr. Franklin about the English Medium School that the boys attend, he explained that gaining admission into this academically-challenging school is an achievement; he maintains a strict schedule at the home so that the children have plenty of time to study in both the mornings and afternoons. I asked if he thought that all of the 440 million children in India might ever be able to have the chance to go to English medium schools. He told me that the schools are gaining popularity throughout the country, as urban middle-class Indians who have recognized that English is a global language are sending their children to English medium schools, increasing the demand for them. Additionally, he continued, many families living in poverty are sending their children to English medium schools due to the poor quality of education in government-run schools where only native languages are taught. I am hopeful for all the children in India that this trend will continue so that they all have the knowledge of the language they need to get ahead.
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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN INDIA?
You can sponsor a child in India 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 India that is available for sponsorship.
After spending a long day visiting two projects outside of Hyderabad, Luis Bourdet, our Director of International Programs, and I prepared to travel even further into India’s rural landscape to a small town called Dornakal, in the state of Telangana, where we would be visiting six more homes. Before we left, Luis had explained to me that our projects in Dornakal are nestled in a cathedral compound run by the Diocese of Dornakal, which is a sector of the Church of South India, the largest Protestant denomination in the country.
We were picked up early in the morning by a young priest, Reverend Pratap, with whom Luis had worked on his last trip to India three years prior. A few hours later, when we arrived at the Dornakal Diocese Compound, we were greeted at the bishop’s home by the bishop himself, Reverend Doctor Prasada Rao, and our volunteer coordinators, as well as many of our sponsored children.
The boys enjoy three nutritious meals a day together at the home.
Three of our affiliated projects, established more than thirty years ago by our founder, Mrs. Jeanne Clarke Wood, are in walking distance to one another, within the walls of the compound. As Luis and I met with the bishop and our coordinators, we were looking very forward to visiting each project over the course of the next three days.
In remembrance of J. Calvitt Clarke
After the coordinators left, we sat down to lunch with the bishop. Reverend Doctor Prasada Rao has been affiliated with the Diocese of Dornakal for three years, and he explained to us that in that time, he has seen the cost of food and boarding for the children rise; but unfortunately, the Church has not received any additional funding from outside sources. For now, he relies on donations from the congregation and support from Children Incorporated sponsors and donors to ensure that the children have a safe place to live, food to eat, and that they are able to attend school. As I have seen so many times before with our work around the world, without sponsorship, these children would not have the opportunity to go to school.
After eating, Luis and I, along with Reverend Pratap, took a short walk across a large, empty field to the J. Calvitt Clarke Home — named after Mrs. Wood’s father, a Presbyterian Minister who started working with impoverished children in 1938, when he founded China’s Children Fund to aid Chinese children displaced by the Second Sino-Japanese War. Because the mission had expanded to other countries, the name of the organization was changed on February 6, 1951 to Christian Children’s Fund, and then later to ChildFund International, a name which the organization still uses today.
As we approached the home, I thought about how amazing it is that Mrs. Wood had so long ago taken such a great interest in her father’s humanitarian work that she started her own organization. It was special to see Children Incorporated’s history honored in such a way in India. It was in 1964 that Mrs. Wood visited Guatemala for the first time, and witnessed the deprivation of children there. When she returned home, she wanted to do something to help.
Mr. Samuels said that he wishes there were funding to enroll more children in the home, too, because the needs of children in and around Dornakal are so great.
Out of her home in Richmond, Virginia, she established Children Incorporated and wrote letters to friends, family, and acquaintances asking for support for the 95 children she had met during her travels. Those children comprised our first affiliated project; and today, Children Incorporated supports over 300 projects in 23 countries. I can’t help but think that Mrs. Wood, who had great admiration for her father, named this project after him as a thank-you for having lead a life of example, so that she herself could go on to do her own work to help hundreds of thousands of children all over the world.
Monkey trouble
When we arrived at the home, Mr. Samuels, our Volunteer Coordinator, was waiting for us. A tall, thin Indian man with a full gray mustache and glasses, Mr. Samuels has been at the J. Calvitt Clarke Home since the 1970s. Today, 34 boys who come from incredibly poor families that cannot afford to take care of them, let alone send them to school, live at the home. Fortunately, all of them are currently enrolled in our program; they attend local schools where they study math, science, social studies, and their regional language, Telugu.
Luis Bourdet and Reverend Pratap greeting boys outside the J. Calvitt Clarke Home
As we toured the home, Luis told me that in the last ten years, Children Incorporated has built a dorm for the boys, as well as purchased cots and mattresses for them to sleep on. The home has a dining hall and study room, and there is a lot of land for the boys to play on in the afternoons. Mr. Samuels told us that there is a small clinic nearby where a nurse treats the children when they fall ill, mostly of illnesses like typhoid, due to a lack of clean drinking water or because of contaminated food.
As we continued talking with Mr. Samuels, we discussed the obstacles he faces as an administrator. He indicated that he is mostly concerned about a lack of funding for improvements to buildings on the compound. Other than the recently-constructed dorm, an undertaking that was facilitated by Children Incorporated supporters, there are cracks in the walls and ceilings of the other buildings on the property, which were built as many as forty years ago.
Mr. Samuels said that he wishes there were funding to enroll more children in the home, too, because the needs of children in and around Dornakal are so great. There are many poor families who make very little money farming, and that cannot afford to feed their children or send them to school. The home has empty beds, but Mr. Samuels doesn’t have the additional money required to fill them.
As I have seen so many times before with our work around the world, without sponsorship, these children would not have the opportunity to go to school.
In an effort to offer a solution to the problem, Luis asked Mr. Samuels why he doesn’t grow food for the children. It was obvious to Luis and I both that there is ample land on the compound property that isn’t being utilized. Mr. Samuels answered with one word: monkeys. Although seemingly harmless to some foreigners, for the locals, monkeys are pests. They roam the compound freely, in large packs, eating everything they find, making it impossible to grow crops or even have fruit trees from which to gather food. Mr. Samuels said that they are only able to grow tea plants, but not enough to sell to generate income.
As we left the project and walked back to the bishop’s home, I watched the mischievous monkeys climb around in the trees, and I thought about how even with the challenges that this project faces today, Mr. Clarke would be so proud of his daughter. I don’t know if he ever visited the J. Calvitt Clarke Home in India, but from what I saw, thanks to the support of our sponsors, donors, and Mr. Samuels, the home is doing amazing work to help poor children in India — children who, without the vision of people like Mr. Clarke and Mrs. Wood, would not otherwise have the opportunity to receive an education.
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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN INDIA?
You can sponsor a child in India 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 India that is available for sponsorship.
