As you know we went away to Spring Harvest recently and had an amazing time. Each year at Spring Harvest we see the stand for Compassion, a Christian charity who work in developing countries to help improve life for the children there. Six years ago was the first time dh and I attended this festival and at that time we decided to sponsor a child, his name is Carl Henri and he lives in Haiti. I have mentioned him before a few times. It is so rewarding to receive letters and drawings from him and to watch him grow. We have seen his letters change and mature over the years, just as I imagine he must of, especially with being in the capital when the tragedy happened last year. When we received the news that he was well we were over the moon and then receiving letters from a little fellow who told us he was scared to sleep in case it happened again broke our hearts but we know that, partly due to the work Compassion do in his local community, his family have been able to rebuild their lives again.
JJ has started to write to Carl Henri; dh and I felt it was very important for JJ to understand that children in many countries live very differently to him and that although he does not have the DSi that he would so love that he is incredibly blessed. The question therefore arose at Spring Harvest this year that if JJ has Carl Henri to write to shouldn't we have someone the girls can relate to as well?
Yes, meet Priya, our new sponsored child. Dh decided that we should choose a child from India as he had been there so recently and so many of the children had completely stolen his heart. I have already written to Priya once and this will now become a monthly activity, we will send bookmarks, picture books, stickers, bible verses etc to encourage her. Once the girls are older they will start to write letters too.
Can you imagine your own young child in a country where school is not available for them, where they do not know what a birthday is and where their feet are always bear, let alone their tummies empty and their spirits slowly dying? We feel it is a honour to give £21 per month per child to help them have all these basics. At birthdays and Christmas we send an additional gift and normally Carl Henri gets given a pig, goat or such for his present, this brings a smile to my face!
If you think this is something your family might be interested in doing as a joint venture or some children at your youth club want to club together then do take a look at Compassion's site and see if you can help a child. Dh and I decided it was worth having one less takeaway a month to ensure that Priya has all her basic needs met. That makes you think doesn't it? One takeaway = a month of schooling, happiness, security and health checks for a child.
How do you teach your children how fortunate they are? I would love to hear some more ideas that we may use with the kids to keep them real!