Mary Joy's Birthday Gifts

This was the first package we ever sent to one of our sponsor kids. We were testing the waters to see if anything would really arrive. But so far Children International has handled everything on their end really well and the international post hasn't let us down yet. (Fingers crossed because we are still waiting on a package that we sent to Jester that should have arrived weeks ago!).

My sister did have some problems with packages she sent to one of her sponsor kids in India. Only half of the contents arrived safely - the rest was likely stolen by customs workers. :( I think some countries are safer than others in that regard for sure. We have done Ecuador, Guatemala and the Philippines without any problems. I'll let you know what happens when we try Chile and Honduras!



This is Mary Joy our very first sponsor kids. She is twelve and lives in the Philippines.



We had just started sponsoring her around the time of her birthday so a few months later we sent these little gifts as a belated birthday present.



We mainly sent her girly things. I thought every girl likes hair accessories, handbags and Hello Kitty stuff right? Also, the t-shirt she is wearing is one we sent. I was relieved when I saw that it fit okay! Since then I have gotten braver about sending clothes to all the kids.



In other news, we just got some photos of our sponsor kid Ana in Ecuador that I can't wait to share. And I am nearly at the bottom of the dress I am knitting for my daughter. Only 2-3 more inches to knit, then the ruffle and then it's on to the sleeves. That should go fast since I am knitting half sleeves. This has been a fun project and I can't wait to show it to you all! Only problem is that it was supposed to last me through my up coming vacation. Now I've got to hurry up and swatch for something else!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Squeeee!

We got a new picture of Mary Joy, one of our sponsor kids from the Philippines. I always get really excited when we get new pictures. :)



Isn't she so pretty? Whomever is taking the pictures in the Philippines this year is doing a great job! Jester's newest picture was really nice as well.

Mary Joy was our very first sponsor kid. She's a really nice young lady. I can't wait to see what she will make of her life as she grows up. She really has so much potential.

I recently asked Children International to make inquiries with all of our sponsor kids families in the hopes that I may be able to help some of them get started in their own small businesses. The process may take awhile and may not be a viable option for many of the families but I am hoping that I can do something for at least some of them. I'm really interested to see what CI has to say! There are so many variables that I can't really predict an outcome at this stage. So many of the parents are street vendors or maids/janitors so I am not sure if they have any skills which could translate into a self-sustaining business. Plus, the community would have to be able to support any business that we started. And the main ingredient is the desire on the part of the families to commit to making it happen. Hopefully, with the support of CI and a little cash from me some of my sponsor kids families can find a way to have a better future. Wouldn't that be awesome!?

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!

Letters

As if on cue yesterday's mail brought me two letters from my sponsor kids! We had sent birthday packages to Mary Joy (one of my son's special sponsor kids) in the Philippines and also to Hermelinda in Guatemala and they replied to thank us for the gifts.



Mary Joy turned twelve. She has the neatest handwriting I have ever seen! She writes her letters to me in English and says she loves school. Her letter had four photos in it! Yay! She was wearing the t-shirt I had picked out for her - it fit and looked so pretty! I was relieved that it fit her properly.



Little Hermelinda just tuned six. She is so adorable! I love this picture of her. She looks like she is so unimpressed with having her photo taken. Her expression is just so real. I've seen this same look on my daughter - when she is a little tired and we insist on taking her picture anyway. Precious! Hermelinda calls me her Godmother and always sends a "strong hug" in her letters. She is too young to write herself so I have gotten letters written by her mother, uncle and even a neighbor. It makes me feel good to think that she has all these people around her to help her out.

Hermelinda's letter included two new photos of her. She is so tiny and her hair is quite bleached out by the sun. Adorable!

I'll have to scan some of these letters and pictures to show you guys. The kids always illustrate their letters with drawings that are very sweet. You have to see the letters to get the full effect. :)