Lesly's Home Repair Project - Completed!!

I just received word from Aura's House that Lesly's Roof Project is complete!

Lesly is my daughter's sponsor child in Guatemala. They are nearly the same age and thick as thieves. :) Lesly's project was the first of my sponsor kids projects to be funded through Aura's House. My daughter helped out by donating her allowance and making and selling candies to raise extra money. But of course the support Lesly received from the donors at Aura's House was key to making this project possible. I can never thank them enough!!

Now the photos!!


Lesly with the supplies for her home repair.

Lesly's family received gravel and concrete to lay down a slab in the courtyard of their home. This will be a great help in keeping the home clean and dry since the courtyard got very muddy and stayed damp all through the rainy season. In the background of the photo you can see the tin sheets which were used to repair their leaky roof.


The new roof for Lelsy's house - keeping them dry!

Ta da! The new roof! Now the roof won't leak all through the rainy season. The family will be able to stay healthy and dry under their new roof.


Lesly stands on the new concrete floor which will help keep the dirt out of her home.

I love this photo of Lesly, proudly showing off the new floor. Lesly's father Hugo was able to do the repair work on his home since he works as a bricklayer. It must have been satisfying for him to finally be able to work to improve his own home! And I'm sure that Lesly's mother Aura especially appreciates the new floor since it will help keep the mud out of her home during the rainy season.


Lesly showing off her new propane stove.

How cute is Lesly in this photo?! I'm constantly amazed at what a sourpuss Lesly looked like in her first Children International photo. Despite that my daughter insisted that Lesly was the one for her. I guess my daughter knows that you can't judge a book by it's cover - Lesly hasn't stopped smiling since we sponsored her! Lesly's smile is so charming.

Aura probably really loves this new propane stove. I hope it has made cooking for the family easier for her. Previously the family cooked over an open fire. Anyone who has been camping and tried this knows how tough that can be. Try cooking like that everyday! So I'm sure this new stove is a huge blessing for Aura. The family also received some water containers to help keep their water fresh and clean. Their water comes from a community faucet so storage is always an issue in that situation.


Lesly with her new bed!

I love this photo too. It makes me think of Alice in Wonderland after she drank the bottle labeled "Drink Me" that made her shrink to "very small". Lesly looks like a little miniature person on that big bed! It's so nice to think of Lesly sleeping in a new bed and not getting dripped on by a leaky roof!


Lesly with her new bedding.

Lesly also got some new bedding. My daughter was really pleased with this because she thought it was "so beautiful".

My daughter wanted to pass her message along to all of the people at Aura's House who helped launch the project and all of the donors who helped make everything possible. She said:

"I felt very good seeing the photos of Lesly. Lesly is a very nice girl to know. I'm proud that I was able to help her. I feel really good about Lesly having a new bed. It means so much to me that you helped Lesly to get all of her new stuff. Thank you so much."

And on behalf of Lesly and her family I thank you too!

Lesly's Birthday Presents and Other Updates*

Whew! Summer has well and truly kicked in around here. Mother Nature finally stopped with the incessant rain she'd been pouring on us for literally a month, and now has decided to try to sweat us all to death instead! It's 90 degrees and humid. Ick.

The school to summer transition has settled down so I can catch up on what's been going on since my last post....

The hideous heat hasn't stopped me from working on a ginormous knitted blanket though. I'm always so out of sync with the knitting seasons... sigh.

Last week I knit two (of four planned) large log cabin blocks and of course promptly changed my mind about how I want the blanket to look. So I've switched over and begun a log-cabin-of-many-colors blanket. This one will be a single, huge log cabin block and will hopefully use up most of my stash of Elann Sonata. That stuff is excellent for blankets.

Speaking of blankets - Mike who won the blanket for Nyslin's project requested that I donate the blanket to a charity. I chose Project Linus. I'm sure that my blog friends already know about Project Linus but I'll include the link anyway. I dropped the blanket off with the local chapter last weekend.

And Steve, who won Jester's project blanket, says he has received the blanket it looks good in his apartment.

So it's been happy blanketyness all round. :)

And in more good news my Income Generating Project for Joey over at Aura's House has been fully funded!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Joey's family of six somehow gets by on only $21 a month. Joey's family has the least income of all my sponsor children. And he is the only one of the children that is sponsored so he is the only one that gets the medical, health and educational benefits of sponsorship. Raising and selling hogs will make a huge impact on their income.

And the good news just keeps on coming because Kanika's project is completed as well. One of the other super sponsors, Dana, had the brilliant idea of holding a raffle. She raised hundreds of dollars for Kanika in the blink of an eye! Way to go Dana! I don't know yet how Children International and Kanika's family will use the money. Hopefully they will be able to at least start re-building their house. We will probably have to raise more money for Kanika in the long run but at least the family can get some significant relief right now.

We also recently received these adorable pictures of Lesly showing us what she bought with her birthday money that we sent. I love how she is nearly swamped by all the groceries in the first photo. It's sort of a Lesly version of "Where's Waldo". :)


Lesly with the spoils of her birthday shopping spree.

We should be getting an update on the progress of Lesly's roof project any time now. I can't wait!!


I just love Lesly's Cheshire Cat smile!

I talked about this in my last post but I've been thinking some more this past week about what my next step will be for my sponsor kids after I get all of their Income Generating Projects in place. So far I have funded (or am funding) projects for:

1.Harry
2.Maica
3.Jhonny
4.Lesly
5.Nyslin
6.Joey
7.Hermelinda (2)
8.Zoila
9.Ana
10.Jester

I have proposals in the works for:
1.Jenie
2.Glenn
3.Mary Joy
4.Flor
5.Javiera (special needs)
6.Carla
7. And hopefully and additional housing project for Hermelinda.

I'm also teaming up on a project for Alison with my sister who sponsor's Alison's brother Jhonathan.

I can probably get most of these projects launched by the end of this year. That's my goal anyway! After that, I am thinking I will concentrate on making sure that all the children have adequate bathroom facilities. Some of them do already but most of them share a community latrine. It would be much healthier of they each had their own - can you imagine not having a bathroom? I can't.

I have nothing in the works yet for my three newest sponsor children. I have to get to know them and their families better before I can determine what their needs might be. I'm sure I will end up doing an IGP for those three families as well sometime in the future.

And lastly - I finally feel like my eyes have gotten adjusted to the contacts. Now I can "See the world in HD" just like that annoying TV commercial... I've gotten pretty good at putting them in easily. Taking them out is harder but I'm starting to get the hang of it.

There you go. Those are all the updates I can think of/have time for right now. What have all of you been doing??

*If you are looking for creative blog post titles I'm afraid you are in the wrong place. :)

On the Subject of Dogs, Contacts, Charity and the Fugliest Sweater Ever Knit

I haven't had much time for blogging lately. We're in the middle of the inevitable end of the school year frenzy of activity. Every year we are pretty much booked solid for the last four weeks or so of school. It's exhausting but at least it's all nice busyness. :)

So I'll just sum up:

I don't talk about my kids on the blog so all I can say about them is that they are awesome!

Some other things I'm happy about:

1.I got contacts and I'm absurdly pleased. I'm convinced I'm actually better looking now that I have contacts. Maybe I'm just not as blurry? :) The only sad thing is that I can't find colored, daily wear lenses in my prescription. :( Bummer. I totally want to change my eye color everyday.

2.I got an update on my projects from Aura's House. There was a long but unavoidable delay but happily the totals have still gone up!

Aura's House update:

Ana's Project: $1419/2770 - we're over halfway there!!
Nyslin's Project: $389/550 - only $161 left to raise!!
Zoila's Project: $293/824
Joey's Project: $236/723
Lesly's Project: Completed!

Hopefully Hubby and I will have a chance this weekend to complete the quilted placemat sets and get them up in the Etsy shop. We should be able to raise enough money to finish Nyslin's project.

And I got some beautiful pictures of Ana today so I will post those ASAP. She is such a gorgeous girl!

3. My fellow sponsors (and friends!) from our sponsor group are helping me to raise money for yet another one of my sponsor children! Click on the link to see Jester's fundraising page. We have started a fundraising group using a "pay it forward" philosophy that has helped us as a group to raise funds for Special Needs and Income Generating Projects for six children so far! Jester's project is to set his mother Agnes up in a reatil clothing sales business. If she can get this business started she will be able to live with her children rather than her current situation where she has to work and live in another city. If you think you might be able to help with Jester's project that would be awesome. Any little bit helps and, like Aura's House donations, these are also tax deductible.

4. I'm also happy because I was able to make another Kiva loan! I think I have 8 going right now. And I am tickled pink that the one that has been the most successful so far has been the one I made supporting a crafts group in Bolivia. Go crafters!!

5. In non-charity related news - After much thought we decided to get Clementine and Sarah ready for summer with some pretty drastic haircuts. Here they are sporting their new looks:



Clementine had hair that a showdog would kill for. Her feathers were literally down to the ground. But it was a really big pain to keep up with because it tangled and matted very easily. She also gets the typical spaniel problem of ear infections so I thought taking away all that extra hair would help get some healthy air circulation going there.



You can't tell it from this photo but Clemmie loves her new haircut. It's like we cut off a couple of years of her age rather than her hair! She has been playful and happy and frisky like a puppy. Actually exactly the opposite of her usual self. :) Some dogs act ashamed and embarrassed when they get a drastic haircut. Not Clemmie. She gives her new look two paws up! We will be keeping her hair trim and tidy from now on.

We let Sarah keep her long ear hair. She doesn't have the same tangly type of hair as Clemmie and no ear infection problem. The rest of the fluffy hair had to go though.



Sarah always looked like a fat little muffin with all of her hair. Now she looks like a lowfat muffin. Both of the dogs are so soft and pettable now - they feel like bunny rabbits.

The verdict on the haircuts is: A+.

Sadly, there is also one item on the unhappy list:

I recently knitted the worlds ugliest sweater. I'll try to get a photo to show you (if you think you can hack it) before I frog the beast. It's pretty appalling. Not only did I knit the whole thing, but in defiance of logic I actually sewed it all together too. Shudder.

I had to cast on for a February Lady in Noro Cash Iroha and Silk Garden to try to erase the memory of the fugly sweater. It's really that bad.

Aura's House News and New Lesly Video

Lesly with her "summer vacation package" 2008

I thought I'd share this news from the latest Aura's House newsletter about my ongoing projects for Ana, Nyslin, Joey and Zoila as well as an update about Lesly's roof project.

"Hello there Aura’s House Community,

Here are the latest goings-on at the Aura’s House website. We’ve been making great progress on all of our current projects, with some just a few hundred dollars away from completion. For example, donations to Ana’s Income Generation project are still being tripled up to the first $1500 raised. The goal for this project is to help Ana’s disabled father start an electronics repair business. We’re just about halfway there! Also, we are only $306 away from being able to help Nyslin and family of Guatemala purchase chickens that would enable them to earn extra income and lift some of their financial burdens. Finally, there is just a little over $500 to raise each for Joey’s Hog Income Generation project in the Philippines and Zoila’s Chicken Income Generation project in Honduras. Thanks again to all who have helped these families so far get a little bit closer to a better standard of living.

We’ve also recently finished our Roof Project for Lesly and family of Guatemala on April 17, 2009. Thanks to our generous donors, Lesly and family soon will have a safe and sturdy roof that keeps them dry and healthy during Guatemala’s rainy season. Our goal was $393 and $554 was raised in total. The extra funds will go towards other pressing family needs such as food and clothing supplies. Stay tuned for photos and updates of the gifts purchased!"

I'm very excited about Lesly's project. I can't wait to hear how the family reacted when they learned they would be getting a new roof! Lesly's father Hugo will be doing the labor himself. I think Children International will also send before and after photos so we can really see the improvements in their home. Yay!

Check out this sweet video fellow sponsor Steve made for me of Lesly and her mother Aura at the community center in Guatemala.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9x_L0kT7m0&feature=related

Aura is telling Lesly what to say and then Lesly repeats it in her little high voice. Adorable!! Lesly keeps trying to shyly chew on her fingernails and her mother keeps "reminding" Lesly not to do that by pushing her hand down. Too funny. Mom's are the same everywhere eh? :)

And in other news, Hubby and I spent part of last weekend making some more quilted items to sell in our Etsy shop to raise money for the sponsor kids. I'm really happy with how this last batch is turning out! Hopefully we will finish them this coming weekend - So watch this space!

Video of Lesly!

Steve uploaded this short video of his meeting in Guatemala at the Children International center with Lesly and another sponsor Barbara's child Marelyn. You can see Lesly sitting on the bench with her mom Aura. Even though this is just a short, random video (Steve says he will upload more!) it is so exciting to see Lesly "in action" so to speak.

So for the doubter's out there (I always hear from people who suspect this is all a scam.):

Lesly and Marelyn

My sponsor kids are REAL!

Update on Lesly's Roof Project

One of Steve's photos of Lesly.

Aura's House has posted this update on the status of Lesly's Roof Project:

“What great news … $553 has been raised for Lesly and her family. We’ve transferred the funds to our agency in Guatemala, and they’ll be coordinating the repairs to the home with Lesly and her family during the coming weeks.

I look forward to sharing updates on this special project as soon as I receive them!”


Lesly and her mother Aura

It's fairly humid in Guatemala right now so I'll bet Lesly and her family are looking forward to that new roof!


Lesly and her famous "Cheshire Cat" grin.

Happy!

Lesly is getting a new roof!!

Thank you!

Almost As If I've Been to Guatemala! (Another Great Big Ole Post)

So, in addition to the recent visit from Meaghan and Franklin from Children International (which was totally awesome btw!!!) I also have some other great sponsorship news. One of the other "super sponsors", (my name for the group of CI sponsors that I hang out with online - hi all!!) Steve is currently on a trip to Guatemala to visit several of his sponsor children. I think he has somewhere around 25 kids! Anyhow, Steve very, VERY generously offered to meet with some of my sponsor children as well. Hooray - the next best thing to seeing them myself!

Steve was able to meet with Hermelinda:



and Lesly:

He took lots of photos for me (dying to see them!) as well as video!! I'm so thrilled I could burst.

Steve travels all over the world visiting his many sponsor children so he has a unique perspective on poverty and the potentials of sponsorship. His descriptions of his trip have been so thoughtful, entertaining and insightful. I feel like when I go to Guatemala myself someday (please!!) I will feel more prepared for the experience.

Steve sent me the following email about Hermelinda and gave me permission to reprint it here.

Hey Stephanie,

I met Hermalinda (not sure of the spelling) today, along with her 5
siblings and both parents. Your child is painfully shy. Maybe it was
seeing this guy she´s never met nor knows anything about. Her parents
did their best to coax a smile or two out of her. I´ll be sure to
send the still photos upon my return.

I took some video too. Unfortunately, the walk from the town to their
place did not record. I screwed up and feel terrible about it. We
were ready to leave when I realized my error, so I went back and took
video of their home, the family, and their neighbors. Unfortunately,
I was not willing to make the trip from the beginning. Be advised
that their place is on a hillside, and the walk is not for the faint
of heart. There are probably 200 steps to get there. If you plan to
visit, you might want to train on a StairMaster or something!

More importantly, Hermalinda´s home is a metal corrugated shack. The
temperature in there during the summer months must be sweltering.
From what I can tell, they do have some access to electricity. That
family needs a fan badly!

They are poor. Very poor. The trail to their place is strewn with
garbage, and many of the steps are uneven and little more than rocks.
This is no environment for small children. Actually, this is no
environment for anyone. I don´t know how human beings live like
this. I can´t imagine what a predicament they´d be in without your
help. Your are their Godsend. That is their message that I´ve
recorded, and I hope to somehow figure out how to post it for you.
Failing that, I can make a DVD and send it to you.

I can try to fill in some of the blanks later for you if you have
questions. Right now, I´m a little beat and need to grab some dinner
and prepare for tomorrow.

Again, thanks for your efforts with that child. God knows she needs
it.

Steve

This email made me sad but also excited that I have an opportunity to make a difference. Fortunately I had already funded a special needs project at the beginning of April for Hermelinda. The family had requested the following:

1 metal bed
1 chest of drawers
2 sets of bed sheets
2 bedspreads
1 poncho
1 pair of shoes
1 pair of jeans
1 blouse
1 pair of stockings
3 underwear

Now thanks to Steve, I know that they also could use a fan. I will be sending extra money for a fan if they don't purchase one with the money I have already sent. I included some extra money already and asked that they buy something special for Hermelinda since her birthday has just passed. I know that the money has arrived at the field office but I don't think they have had the chance to take Hermelinda's family shopping yet.

Lesly's special needs project is still up over at Aura's House. Only $98 to go!

You can read about other "super sponsors" at these blogs:

Heather runs a sort of "super sponsor collective" blog at Children Are the World where she posts about her own sponsor kids as well as those of other "super sponsors" like Efrain, Mack, Victor, Alice and Barbara. (Did I miss anyone?)

Heather has also set up a fundraising site for small projects for the families at: Firstgiving where she has just finished funding the very first project!

Heather also gets her children involved in sponsorship and you can read about her little sponsor Jaden here.

Skye blogs at Life, Love and Happiness - when she isn't on the Children International's homepage that is!

Robyn shares stories and great photos of her sponsor kids at robynapplause.

The official Children International blog is at here.

You can see and read about all of Steve's sponsor children here.

And of course my Hubby blogs at our crafting site Flaming Lotus Creations and posts updates about our sponsor kids as well. He just sold his first set of coasters for our sponsor kids! (And I was serious about him taking requests.) :)

I'm sure there are more great "sponsor blogs" out there... (and you all thought I was the only one!:) )

Phew! Another huge long post. What has gotten into me? :)

Somethin' to show ya!

Okay - I finally have somethin' crafty to show you.



It's the Bo=Peep skirt from Anna Marie Horner's book Seams to Me.

I made mine in a ballet length (hit's mid-calf) and used an Alexander Henry print for the main panels. I absolutely adore the retro '70's type prints that are popular these days. The large scale and the strong colors just make me happy. My daughter loves it too - she has worn it twice already. And everywhere we go she gets compliments on how pretty it is.



This is the first article of clothing that I have made in years and years. The last time I attempted anything like this was when I was fourteen - so you can draw your own conclusion as to how long ago that was!

I learned so much from this project - french seams (so cool and useful!), rolled hems, basting (hate it), and working with ruffles (did mine by hand - can't wait until the local fabric store re-stocks the ruffle foot for my machine!). One of the coolest things about this particular design is that I can replace the elastic in the waistband as my daughter grows. She could still be wearing this skirt when she is in her teens.

I loved making this skirt! Especially because (prepare to be totally jealous of me) my Hubby made one also. It was so much fun to be able to work this whole sewing clothes thing out together. We are both totally hooked!

Here's Hubby's version:



He made his shorter than mine - just below the knee. The main print here is also an Alexander Henry. This picture really doesn't do the skirt justice - it is SO cute.

You can see more photos of reader made projects from the Seams to Me book in the Flickr pool here.

AND - Here's an update on the Aura's House Fundraising:

Ana's Project: $966/2770
Nyslin's Project: $149/550
Zoila's Project: $165/824
Joey's Project: $117/723
Lesly's Project: $184/393

I couldn't be happier! Thank you, thank you!!

Catching Up & Finally an Announcement!

Oy. We've been having a rough time at Chez Needles.

The bad news is that my Mom had a heart attack.

The good news is that she is out of the hospital & only requires medication (so far) in order to deal with the problem. The doctors say that the radiation she had when she went through her first round of breast cancer probably damaged that section of her heart and made it more vulnerable. Luckily they think whatever further damage she suffered during the heart attack may be able to heal. But as of now she is pretty weak and has lots of medicines she will have to take.

It really sucks to be so far away & not to be able to help - even though she does have other family members there. All I can do from here is try to stay positive and help my Mom feel more cheerful.

I don't really like to discuss depressing health stuff on the blog so I'll just leave it at that. My Mom has really had more than her fair share of trouble this past year!

Better news is that I have been doing tons of crafting. I've finished my nine patch quilt top & now just have to decide on the borders. I'm halfway through a second needlepoint piece (even though I still owe you guys pictures of the first one!). And *gasp* I actually picked up my knitting again! I haven't knit in probably 8 months or so. Luckily I haven't forgotten how. :) So I am nearing the finish of the mitred square blanket that I worked on last year.

I'll try to get photos ASAP so my blog posts won't be so boring. :)

And now....

The best news I have is that I finally have a moment to tell you all about the "project" I've been working on and semi-mysteriously mentioning off and on. :)



A charity group called Aura's House has agreed to raise funds to help five of my sponsor children. Aura's House has launched fund raising for Income Generating Projects for four of my sponsor children, specifically Ana in Ecuador, Nyslin in Guatemala, Zoila in Honduras, and Joey in the Philippines. The fifth project is to help Lesly in Guatemala with some special needs. Aura's House website will tell you all about each of the projects and has lots of pictures of each child and their background story. There's even a picture of me (unfortunately taken before my weight loss - 27 pounds now!) and some words about my sponsorship. You can also read more about each of the kids by searching their names in the tags on my blog.

Please go visit the website and check it out!

Aura's House has been absolutely wonderful to work with and I am so grateful to them for agreeing to help me! They have been doing this work for several years now and have helped lots of needy children in many ways. You can read all about their past projects and the history of Aura's House on their site. If you donate you will get a letter from Children International acknowledging your donation (at least I did) and it is tax deductible.

I'd like to give some random gifts/prizes as a thank you to my blog friends for donating so if you do - please leave a comment and let me know! Every little bit will help and maybe you'll get something yarny as well. :)

Lesly's Family

Awhile back I asked Children International if they could have their field workers go around to all of my sponsor kids families to:

1. Determine if there was any Income Generating Project I could fund. Essentially this would be enabling the families to set up small businesses which would be a continuing source of income for them. I don't think every family will qualify because they will either have to have a marketable skill or a community which can support a small business.

2. Take photographs for me of my sponsor kids with their families in front of their houses. I wanted this so that I could determine which families needed the most help in obtaining new housing. (Obviously Jenny and her family who live under a bridge in Manila will top my list but I hope I can help all of my families to make at least some improvements in their housing.) I also hope that the family photos will help me recruit sponsors for any of my kids siblings that are currently lacking a sponsor.

3. I also asked Children International to determine if there were any other special needs which I could hopefully help the families with. This could be just about anything from school supplies to a bed - whatever they might urgently need.

I was really delighted when I came back from vacation to find that the first of the responses to my requests were starting to come in. Total kudos to CI and their field workers for getting things done so quickly!! Over the next weeks and months I will post about the progress of these initiatives. I'm really really excited to have the opportunity to go above and beyond just sending in my sponsorship fees every month. It's my hope that with Income Generating Projects and possibly better, safer housing my sponsor kids and their families might be able to find a way out of the poverty they live in. It's certainly worth a try!

I thought it was really fitting that the first response we got was a series of pictures of Lesly (our very first sponsor child) and her family outside their home in Guatemala.



I just adore Lesly. Her smile is just so precious!!



I love Lesly's family too! This is her father Hugo and her mother Aura. The oldest boy is Osny and the older girl is Yennifer. In the blue shirt is Lesly's younger brother Henri. Osny (12) and Henri (4) are both in the program but do not currently have sponsors. If anyone has considered sponsoring, then either of these kids would be a great choice! I know I am generalizing, but in my experience, the Guatemalan people are very friendly, happy and welcoming. They are close and loving families. And Lesly's family in particular has been just wonderful to get to know.



It looks like little Henri has Lesly's big bright smile. Aren't they just a sweet little family?

Lesly's father is a bricklayer. Their home is constructed of wood with a corrugated metal roof and a concrete floor. You can't see too much of the home in these pictures but it gives you a fair idea of what it is like. There is one bedroom and a kitchen where they cook over an open fire. (Serious kudos to Lesly's mom Aura - I doubt I could manage to cook a meal over an open fire!) They use a community faucet for water.

The family income has gone up by a third since I began sponsoring Lesly. They now have about $156.00 a month which I think is about average for the families living in poverty conditions in Lesly's area. I'm really happy that their income has gone up - CI sent me a update/report about the family recently - but I am hoping that I will also be able to help them set up an Income Generating Project soon. Hopefully I will get a letter about that in the next few weeks if the family is able to come up with any ideas for one.

I have to add that this is a perfect example of why I LOVE Children International and the concept of direct sponsorship. They are giving me all the information I need to help me to help my kids and their families. And I am able to see the progress that they make through the reports and photos that CI provides.

In an upcoming post I'll tell you about the first Income Generating Project we've set up for another one of my sponsor families. I'm so excited about it!!

Lesly's Birthday Gifts

Hubby has been scanning our "backlog" of photos of our sponsor kids so you'll be seeing alot of them on the blog for awhile. So, if you are a child hating Grinch just tune out for the next week...:)



This picture of Lesly is of her receiving the gifts we sent her for her birthday. This was back when we were new at the whole package sending thing & just testing the waters so to speak. So we only sent her a few small, but fun things. Lesly has really pretty long hair and is a real girly girl so we sent lots of hairbands and nice ponytail holders. She wrote that she especially liked those. She is holding some photos we sent her of our family (smudged out obviously). My sponsor kids seem to like to get photos of us as much as we like to get photos of them.

Lesly's Fancy Shoes

Okay - these photos really made me smile. This is Lesly who is our daughter's special sponsor child in Guatemala.

These are the things Lesly was able to get with the gift $$ we sent her for Hubby's Father's Day.



As usual the family spent most of the money on food. Don't you just love Lesly's smile? I think Kelloggs should hire this kid. Lesly loves cornflakes!



Luckily Lesly was also able to get a new Winnie Pooh blanket, a few clothing items and so sweet little fancy shoes. Look how proud she is of those shoes. I think Lesly is a shoe gal. She always seems so happy to get her new shoes!

Craty News and the Big (Sponsor Kid) News

Been a few days since I last posted... (sometimes it seems like you have to go to Blogger confessional... "forgive me readers, it has been X days since I last posted...) ;) The transition from school to camp is always a bit crazy but we've reached our tenuous equilibrium again. :)

Crafting is off and on this past week. I'm just super tired. I've been trying to concentrate on sewing up the patches. I counted and I've currently got 31 patches all sewn up. That's about a third of the total I have. It takes me about a half hour to sew one patch up. So lets see...the calculator says it will take me 31 hours to finish sewing up the patches. Not too bad right?

The biggest & best news this week is that since my last post I have gotten letters from 8 of my sponsor kids!! (I'll post photos of the kids I haven't "introduced" on the blog yet.) -

Flor, 7 years old from Honduras who tells me she likes to eat rice with beans and cheese. (Me too!)

This is our latest picture of Flor.



Lesly, 6 years old from Guatemala who says she had a great birthday because her village has a festival around her birthday so she got to go to that.

Carla, 5 years old from Chile who drew me a really detailed picture of a little girl - I think she used every colored pencil she could get her hands on.

This is the only photo we have of Carla so far:



Mary Joy, 12 years old from the Philippines who told me how she got her nickname of "Apple". (So sweet.) I had complimented her on her lovely handwriting and she told me she takes great care to make her letters to me nice and neat. (Isn't that sweet?)

Our first letter from Joey who is 9 and lives in the Philippines. He says his father is a farmer. Joey likes math and has lots of friends.

This is Joey:



(As an aside to tell you how great Children International is - I had noticed in Joey's family report that it was noted that he needed some dental work. I called to CI to ask what the status was with that in case he needed some help and they said they would check on it. A week ago I got a letter from CI with a full report from the dentist on what work Joey had done and what his status was now. I was amazed! Talk about customer service! I have a harder time getting reports from my own kids dentist. So the good news is that Joey's teeth are all taken care of.)

Our first letter from Harry, 13 from the Philippines. He wrote to introduce himself and to thank us for our special donation (He was one of the ones we gave Mother's Day donations to.) We got three more photos of him also! He was able to buy tons of groceries, school supplies, clothes, and kitchen supplies. (Made me so happy!)

My first letter from Ana in Ecuador. She turns 11 this month. She describes herself as a "simple, humble girl". She writes very good English in a beautiful curly script.

This is our latest picture of Ana. We sent her a birthday package. I can't wait for it to arrive!



And we got two letters from Jester! He is 11 and lives in the Philippines. He is the little boy that waited two years for a sponsor. I have to say his letters really touched me. He is a wonderful boy who expresses himself very well. You can tell he has a very sweet heart. He told me about his father abandoning the family and how he feels it is now his duty to step in and take care of them. He promised to work very hard in school so that he could prove to me that he deserved to be sponsored. (Totally made me cry!) We also got another letter with several photos of him. He wrote to thank us for the special donation we had made and tell us about all the things he was able to buy with the money. The sweetest thing was how he described "jumping in surprise" at getting the gift and how happy he was at being able to share that with his family. He's a real treasure - we are so lucky to have him as a sponsor child!

Hubby told me he would get on task and install our scanner so that I can more easily share letters and photos with you guys. There's nothing like getting to see the actual letters. You can tell how hard the kids work on them and the pride they take in using their English skills and writing neatly. I feel so privileged that these kids share their lives with me. I love how different they all are. I will really enjoy watching them grow up. They are such special people!

Dreams Come True

Totally off the knitting topic, but something I am very excited about and want to share with you all...

You may have noticed some new additions to my sidebar lately, in particular the link to Children International. What's it all about? Well, around Thanksgiving last year I finally found a way to fulfill something that has been a dream of mine - to help impoverished children to receive and education and access to health care. I've wanted to do this for such a very long time, but never found an organization that I felt I could trust and that fit my criteria for support.

Mainly I was concerned to find a charity that was:
1) well established
2) spent the majority of it's money directly in assisting the children and their communities (rather than on other "overhead")
3) had a high level of accessible documentation available so that I could see exactly what they did with my money
4) did not have a religious basis or affiliation (Although I'm not religious myself, I have nothing against people who choose to be religious. I just feel it is better to respect the beliefs, culture and values of the community you are trying to assist and to refrain from imposing our own beliefs, culture & values etc.)
5) it would be a great bonus if I were able to have a real relationship with the child I was sponsoring

Well - Children International does all those things and more! I don't want to get all preachy about it - even though I am super excited to be involved with this organization - but I do hope you will consider sponsoring a child. If this is something you have ever thought of doing I can't recommend it highly enough! In fact, I'm so happy with Children International that I and my family have sponsored eight little girls from Guatemala, Honduras, Chile and the Philippines. They range in age from five to twelve years old. Each of my children has their own special sponsor child. My kids LOVE to get letters from their sponsor child and they write back via email (which is translated and passed on to the children). We also send cards, pictures and even little gifts if we wish to. We get pictures of our sponsor kids regularly. We hear from Children International exactly what they have spent our sponsorship money on. Today we heard that one of our children, Lesly, got a new pair of shoes. You have no idea how happy it made me thinking of little Lesly and her new shoes.

Sponsoring a child costs $22 a month. That's $264 a year that will buy an education and health care as well as help with food and clothing. It blows my mind how much just $22 does for these kids, most of whom live in one room houses (often made of scraps of metal with thatch roofs) with no running water or electricity. An entire family has to exist on an income of around $75 a month in most cases. I think that, as Americans, when we envision poverty it is a somewhat abstract idea. Learning about my sponsor kids has really brought home to me what true poverty is. And my children have really learned something as well. Recently, I was reading my daughter (who is the same age as many of our sponsor kids) the pamphlet on Guatemala where her special sponsor kid, Lesly, lives. I also read her the most recent letter from Lesly (written on Lesly's behalf by her mother since Lesly is too young to write on her own). I did not emphasize any of it, just read it to her. My daughter was so delighted to hear from Lesly! After I finished reading, my daughter was quiet for a minute and then she said, "I have a GOOD life, don't I momma?" I swear, that moment, when my child connected in sympathy with another child, a stranger to her, and realized all the gifts she has in her own life...well, that was worth every penny I will ever send to Children International.

As an aside I want to say that by discussing the poverty these kids live in, I don't mean to suggest that they are unloved or neglected in any way. Their parents love them just as much as we all love our own children. I just can't imagine how I would feel as a parent if I were unable to send my little girl to school or buy her a pair of shoes when she needed them....

Anyhow...this is the first picture of Lesly that we got when my daughter chose her as her sponsor child. Lesly had probably just joined the program and had probably never had her picture taken before.



Isn't she adorable?

This is the picture of Lesly that we received recently.



If that smile doesn't convince you to sponsor a child then nothing I can say will!

You can see pictures of my other sponsor kids on the flickr badge on my sidebar. And you can access Children International through my Lift One page. There is a short video about Children International on that page as well. It is a good place to start learning about the sponsorship experience. If you have any questions I will be more then happy to answer them.

On the surface it may seem like sponsorship is a gift that you can give to these kids. In reality, you will receive far far more than you ever give!!