Written by: David Adhikary

The Garo community is one of the major tribes in Bangladesh. According to the history books, the Garo tribe entered Bangladesh in the first century. They were refugees from Mongolia and came to this region through Tibet.

The Garo have stayed in Bangladesh for thousands of years. Initially, they followed a religion called Sonatoni; during the British rule in this subcontinent they came to Christ. Today, nearly 100 percent of the Garo tribe practices Christianity, though a few still believe in Sonatoni.

Garos have their own language, Achick, which is completely different from the local language, Bengali. Achik has several accents/branches such as Habeng, Attong, etc.

The Garo tribe also has its own culture. Their dress, food habits and celebration styles can be easily distinguished from the Bengalis and other tribes.

The people from the Garo tribe have different features than the original inhabitants of Bangladesh (Bengali people). They are a little shorter and have fair skin. Their eyes and nose are similar to their ancestors from Mongolia.

Compared to the other tribal groups, the Garo tribe is little advanced in education and social activities. The first Garo church (Garo Baptist Convention) was established in 1910. Many missionaries and evangelists from Europe and North America worked among the Garo people over the decades.

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Written by: Cesiah Magaña

Our child development centers are distributed in different types of settings in Mexico; the biggest difference is between urban and suburban areas.

In the context of this blog post, the term “suburban” is defined a bit differently than in the developed world:

Suburban areas are smaller cities or towns, normally located on the outskirts of main cities, with at least 5,000 inhabitants, but with few services.

Suburban settlements are always in constant growth. Houses are dispersed, and many lack basic community services. Roofs are basically made of thin layers of either metal, plastic or even cardboard materials.

Typical homes are made with brick and sometimes local materials such as mud, wood and other things typical to the area. The homes usually have  improvised rooms made3 with construction materials on the relative’s property, or have rented rooms with shared facilities.

Partially paved roads and streets are also common in these areas.

The settlements are normally gray and dusty, on the outskirts of the bigger cities or main towns. Each family has an average of three to five children, and it is very common to see either single or abandoned mothers working to support their children or clustering with their relatives to share the expenses and chid care.

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Written by: Web Team

We’ve been helping Haiti for more than 40 years — teaching, feeding, educating, loving, mentoring, caring and most importantly, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Will you join us in helping Haiti rebuild?

Written by: Web Team

This was written yesterday by Bob Thorp, a member of our Complementary Interventions team, who has been in Haiti working with our staff since shortly after the earthquake.

“I’ve witnessed a metamorphosis here since arriving here 21 days ago. Then, the words I could use to describe what I saw was a whole city in shock, walking around like zombies, walking wounded. Blank stares. Hollow eyes, caked with mud, now dry from an inability to produce more tears. A survival mentality had set in – each one for themselves. Walk right past someone trapped, because they needed to get home to find their own loved ones.

“Today, car horns blare from 4:00am on late into the night. The continual roar of traffic, occasional squealing of tires, movement everywhere. Life is returning to Port-au-Prince. It started like a drip – in dire need of food and water, street vendors started setting up shop – hawking anything and everything. Fruits and vegetables started appearing. Clothes, used and new – recovered from the rubble of someone else’s house – who knows – now hand on clothes hangers covering a filthy crumbling wall like royal curtains. Mountains of shoes have also made it to the street vendors. Even seen a place where you could buy just one shoe! Not sure why, either they had a niche for those that could only find one of their shoes. Or more morbid, selling shoes to all those who lost limbs because of this tragedy.”

Read the entire blog post.

Written by: Cesiah Magaña

Our child development centers are distributed in different types of settings in Mexico; the biggest difference is between urban and suburban areas.

In the context of this blog post, the terms “urban” is defined a bit differently than in the big cities of the developed world:

An urban area corresponds to small communities concentrated in cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants, with the majority of public services at hand.

The main difference between an urban and suburban area is in the communication and roads that provide all the supplies and raw materials needed for life.

The main cities are important areas of influence where the major cultural, political and government events take place. Great infrastructure, equipment and services are distinct. Drainage, water, pavement, electricity, schools, hospitals, parks and amusement parks are all found in cities. The main administrative and government offices are located here.

Organized commerce and industry provide most of the job opportunities, but there is a segment of the population that works providing services to the offices, homes and factories.

It is very common for these cities to have groups of such service providers establish their own colonies, our “urban” setting, which lack the same level of comfort or community services as the rest of the city. These communities grow and develop without much planning, and do not have services like parks or clinics. They are greatly affected by political turmoil, high food costs, and lack appropriate medical and school services and security. This is where we serve.

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Written by: Web Team

Roberto Medrano has worked for Compassion for seven years and now serves as a Learning and Support Specialist for communication and tours in the Central America and Caribbean region.

Read our Sep. 2008 interview with Roberto.

Written by: Provashish Dutta

In 2009, the Leadership Development Program (LDP) began in East India. Acceptance into the program came with three days of orientation training.

The theme for the training was “Released to Maximize Impact.” The first day’s session centered on biblical foundations and biblical mentoring principles with special emphasis on the leadership qualities of biblical characters such as Moses, Joshua, Jacob and Joseph, shared by the Rev. K.E. Henry, Program Manager of Compassion East India. Henry also shared about “Discovering your Spiritual Gifts.”

On the second day, the students learned about the curriculum they would use during their time as LDP students, and the mentoring relationships they will have.

In the Leadership Development Program, each student chooses a mentor who guides them through the program, helping them with emotional, physical, social and even educational needs.

Mentors need to be of the same gender with an ability to capacitate, empower, encourage and motivate the student with godly admonition, love, care, concern and support. Students learned about their roles and responsibilities, and their accountability to their mentors.

Deep, one of the 20 new LDP students, can attest to the positive outcome of mentoring from his days as a sponsored child.

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Written by: Orfa Cerrato

No more than three children from the same family can be registered in our Child Sponsorship Program, though each country may choose to limit this to fewer children so they can help a larger number of families.

“There is so much need in Nicaragua that choosing a child becomes a real dilemma. Often we see children that don’t live near the center, struggling to be registered. Or families that want to register their children because of the situations in which they live, which are not necessarily economic needs. Or parents that think their children must be assisted just because they are church members … How to say no?”

– Mirna Alguera, Compassion Nicaragua Partnership Facilitator.

Our Program Field Manual, which guides how we operate the Child Sponsorship Program, addresses how we choose the children who can be registered in the program.

“Compassion desires to work with the neediest and most vulnerable children that it can reach . . . Therefore, it is vital to have a means by which to assess the relative poverty and vulnerability of different children in the community.”

When church staff members interview parents or caregivers in order to assess the poverty of the family and the child’s ability to benefit from the program, the staff members follow this criteria:

• Is the child between the ages of 3 and 9?
• How low is the family’s income and assets?
• Does the child suffer from chronic illness and/or malnutrition?
• Is the child able to attend school or progress in school?
• Does the child have a physical or mental impairment?
• Is the child an orphan? Has the child been abandoned or is the child being/at risk of being exploited?
• Does the child have good access to the church? Generally, a child is considered to have “good access” when he or she lives within a 30-minute walk from the church.
• Is there evidence that the child is likely to be non-transient and stable within the community?
• Was the child part of our Child Survival Program (CSP)? Preference is given to CSP graduates who meet the other needs-based criteria.

These guidelines help ensure that a long-term relationship can be developed with each child registered in the program, which is key in the holistic development process.

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