“…And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some e-mail.”
— a 4-year-old girl reciting the Lord’s Prayer
Perhaps this little girl didn’t get it quite right, but she certainly illustrates the point I want to share with you today. The children we sponsor want to hear from us! They need our letters, our photos and yes, even our e-mail.
One-on-one sponsorship is set up to give each of us the opportunity to shepherd and encourage the children of our world. We need to be there for our kids. We parents know how quickly our children grow up. Well, the kids you sponsor grow up just as fast! Don’t waste the opportunity to connect with them — to know them.
Now here is a confession: I have been a sponsor for over two years — two years of very regular, very wonderful correspondence — but I need some help! I need some letter-writing ideas on how to keep my correspondence fresh, and educational and exciting.
So readers in blogland — sponsors, child advocates, former Compassion students, Compassion staff — please share with me some creative things you’ve done, or seen done, for the children. Is there anything that really stands out as special or unique?
Sponsors, is there something you sent that you felt really great about? Is there something a child received that really wowed them?
Please share…
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I love writing, so frequency hasn’t been a problem for me, but I really wanted to find some culturally appropriate things to be able to send – stickers with African kids, paper dolls, etc – to my girls in Africa. It’s HARD to find darker colored kids represented. Does anyone know of resources for things like this?
Thank you for your grace filled words. We’ve been working on things for the sponsored kids all weekend and have them ready to go out tomorrow. I just wish it didn’t take so long to get there! 🙂
I have sponsored a little girl in Ecuador since 2013. I have only sent a couple of letters through email. Shortly after we started sponsoring her I went through some major life changes and was severely depressed. Life got away from me. Now that I am better and am taking my life back I am so sorry that I wasn’t writing to her all along. Now I’m nervous to start writing regularly…do I need to tell her why I didn’t or explain in anyway? She turned 7 in November. My daughter and I have prayed for her and think of her every day. But it just wasn’t enough. I had such big plans when we started…things we could send her. I still want to do these things. We signed up to sponsor another little girl in India just this evening. Tomorrow we are going to the dollar tree and picking up a bunch cards, enough to last for months for both of them and a few things that we can send them. We’re also making a calendar and circling days each month to send the girls a letter. I am heartbroken and driven to tears thinking of our little girl in Ecuador waiting for mail and rarely getting it. I hope that we can build a relationship with her.
Mandy, I am so very sorry for the season that you went through and that you were struggling :(. I am so encouraged to hear that the Lord has comforted you and brought you into a place where you have found victory in Christ and strength in the joy He provides :). Please know that we are standing with you in prayer and believing that you will only grow stronger each day!
We understand that things happen in our lives that we don’t anticipate or expect. But it’s never too late to begin a relationship with your girl! She will still be very excited to hear from you and I know that your letter will be so special to her when she receives it. Please know that our staff also try to help these children understand reasons why a sponsor may not have been writing for a while. They communicate that their sponsor may be very busy but still loves them very much, in a way that the child will understand. I would encourage you to keep it brief if you want to explain why you weren’t writing and move forward into continuing to build the beautiful relationship that I know you can still have with your girl :). She is still young and so if you dwell on it too much in your letter, she might not fully understand. You might say something like, “I am sorry that I haven’t been able to write you in a while but I care about you and I am so excited to get to know you better and write you more letters…” You can certainly use your discernment and what you feel comfortable with in regards to how much detail you give about your situation and why you had not written. But regular letters will be very exciting for her so don’t be nervous :).
My prayer is that you would not feel guilty or get discouraged. God has put this sweet little lady in your life for a reason and He will give you the words to say :). I would encourage you not to be nervous and to just let God lead you and use your love and passion for children and for Jesus, to impact this child’s life and let her know how dearly she is loved by her Heavenly Father and treasured by you and your daughter. We are behind you every step of the way!
Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, we are continuing to write and pray for him; I was just struck by how personally convicting the letter writing process was … suddenly very aware of privileges I take for granted every day, and didn’t want to be inadvertently discouraging to him. I know it will get easier with time as we receive his letters and have a better sense of who he is and what his interests are.
If you send a Christmas or Birthday card, packet or money gift through the website several months in advance, will the child development center hold the birthday card until the child’s birthday or will it just be given out that day of the month when everything else is given out?
Hi Sara! Great question. Our projects do not ‘hold’ money to ensure it is given to the child at a certain time. We always encourage sponsor’s to send gifts and letters 2-3 months in advance of when you want it to reach your child to ensure it gets there on time. Gifts and letters are delivered to the child when the projects receive them. For Christmas, the deadline for giving is October 31st of each year because we send the donations at that time so that the project staff have time to go and purchase gifts for all of the children. They have a Christmas party at the project for the children and they receive their gifts at that time. When you send a birthday gift, even if it is a little early or just a bit late, your child will still be encouraged that the gift is being given because it’s their birthday :). In many of our countries, birthdays are not celebrated in their culture and so the fact that you’re recognizing that their birthday is special and a day to be celebrated, means so very much to them!
We are just getting started, and I am finding letter writing hard and convicting. My child is in Uganda, in extreme poverty, living in a home with a dirt floor and mud walls and thatched roof. We haven’t received a letter from him yet. It is hard work to think of things to write about that we have in common, or that don’t ooze the privilege of our lives that we don’t even recognize. This month I spent some time telling him stories about our dog. But even that is so culturally different, I’m sure….
Sondra, I’m so sorry if your feeling discouraged. We certainly want to help you through this because a letter relationship with a child in our program is so rewarding and a blessing to both the sponsor and the child and we want you to experience this friendship! I know it can be hard to talk to someone that you’ve never met before and know little about. It definitely can be a challenge at first, but a challenge that’s worth it, I promise you :).
You’re absolutely right. Our circumstances here in the United States are very different from those of the children we assist and there are some pretty big cultural differences. But I think that differences can also strengthen relationships. These children love to hear about the lives of their sponsor’s! You can help each other understand differences in your cultures such as food,sports or your pets just like you have been doing already! But also be encouraged that although you both may be very different, you have so much in common! You both have dreams, aspirations, and it’s possible that your child may also have a pet, feel free to ask him :).
How would you encourage a friend going through a difficult time? What do you say to your best friend when she tells you the dreams that are in her heart? What are your hobbies and things that you hope for your own life or do day to day?
These are the types of things that you can share with your child. Your words don’t have to be eloquent or pages in length. Simple words like, “I love you” and “Work hard in school” and “I am praying for you because God has big plans for your future” might be just what your child needs to hear to keep moving forward and not give up. Please don’t get discouraged because my heart bubbles with excitement thinking about the difference you’re making in his life. You might also be interested in our letter writing ideas on Pinterest! There are some fun ideas on there outside of just letter writing that I think you might enjoy. I pray that God would give you the words to say as you encourage Dicken and speak hope and truth into his life! You’re amazing, remember that :). And know that God has put this boy in your life for a reason!
Sondra! Emily is correct, You can make a difference to your child In letter writing , culture will never be the hindrance for you not to be a blessing to your child, saying words “I love you, I care for you ,I’m praying for you” it will be an encouragement for your child. Just to let you know when a child received a letters they are really excited to reply to that and they feel love and important .Do not be discourage. I believe God will use you to your child, you will create a big impact to the life of your child. Be motivated by your Love to the Lord…
God bless your Heart
My husband and I just started to sponsor a child (Alice) in March. I would love to send her gifts but am unsure how to go about it. I just received a letter from the Pastor of her church and at the top is her name and an address. If I get a few small items for her and send them to that address would she be sure to get them? Also, is there a list of things to send or NOT send to the children? I would love to send her clothing as my husband works a job where he can get things. We have already purchased many items and sent them along with our church family when they go on Missions trips. Any help you can give me would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Julie! Welcome to Compassion! I just love your heart to bless your child in such tangible ways! Regrettably, we are not able to send letters or packages to the pastors of our church partners at this time. What you’re seeing on the letter is probably the name of the student center that your sponsored child attends and not a full address. We have a list of items that can and can’t be sent here. Also, I’d recommend checking out our Pinterest boards for some more fun ideas! I’m so sorry but we are only able to send paper items in the mail so we wouldn’t be able to send clothing. 🙁 However, if you or your church family is visiting your child’s country, you’re welcome to bring whatever you’d like!
Hi Lisa,
Writing often is great, but my suggestion is to do just 2-3 times a month (instead of 5 or 6) to give the translators time to translate stuff, etc. The kids will have a lot of letters to reply to otherwise. Plus, although you have a lot of time and enthusiasm now to do that many letters, if all of a sudden you get in a writers slump the kids might think something is wrong if the flood of letters doesn’t come like you started off with. I’ve found doing two (one hand written and one online) to be good for me since I’ve taken on several correspondence kids so that takes lots of time too! My suggestion if you have a love of writing would be to take on some correspondence kids since they would love to hear from you and benefit from your letters too 🙂 Have fun.
This may seem an odd question, but it is possible to send too many letters to your sponsored child? My babies have left for college, my husband works, so I am home with many hours to fill. I enjoy writing, but noticed that I am sending letters to our three children every 5 days, give or take a day. I usually enclose a small gift as well. I want our “children” to feel loved, but do not want other sponsored children to feel badly that they may not receive as many letters. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. We’ve only been sponsoring since February, 2014.
I do what Susan suggests in her comment; I write to children who have a sponsor but have no one who writes to them. It is a great way to encourage a child without the added financial burden of monthly support if that’s not an option. Another idea is to include materials with your letters and ask your sponsored child to share them with the other children — stickers, coloring pages, mini-books, bookmarks, and so on.
Hi Lisa! I love your heart to write your sponsored children! There is no limit to the number of letters you can write to your children, and we are very careful to hand out letters discreetly to be sensitive to the other children. However, it’s important to keep in mind that since the letters may only be delivered to the centers once a month, if you write every five days or so, your children could receive four letters all at once. Also, the children will respond to each letter you send up to six letters a year or a letter every other month. There will likely be more in the letters than your children will be able to respond to. I normally recommend writing once a month or once every few months for this reason. Since you really love writing, and it sounds like this season of your life is really conducive to that, you might consider becoming a part of our Correspondent program. You would have the opportunity to write to children who have sponsors but their sponsors are unable to write and could take on however many children you feel you could write to. That way you could spread your love of writing letters and sending loving messages among more children. Just let me know if you’re interested in this program, and I’ll get you setup. 🙂
Susan, I would love to get involved! Can you send me the information?
Lisa, I just sent you an email with some more information about getting involved. I’m excited for you. 🙂
Can I send Christian paper dolls, and Christian stickers?
Hi Cheryl! Yes, you can send paper dolls and stickers! The children actually love receiving items like this. 🙂
I started sponsoring a 9 YO girl from Haiti , and this blog has inspired me to write to her more faithfully. I’m definitely going to send her some cloth in my next letter! I found some nice paper dolls to print and color. I think I’ll color some of them and laminate them, and send some she can color. These are the ones I’m using-http://paperthinpersonas.com/category/printable-paper-dolls/poppets/
Thanks for all the awesome ideas!
Hi,
Cloth is not allowed to be sent…..only paper items. Stickers, coloring pages, and paper dolls are all fine, but not cloth. I just don’t want you to waste time or money on items that won’t be able to go through.
Have fun writing your child! Take family pictures and send those too since they love pictures.
Allison,
You can send the items in any size package you want to Compassion, boxes, manila envelopes, guitar cases, or padded envelopes. Each item inside the package cannot be more than 8.5” x 11” folded. It doesn’t matter what size the item (map, folder, coloring page) opens up to, as long as folded it does not exceed the dimensions, including ¼” thick. When your package arrives at Compassion, the items are taken out and catalogued/inventoried. They are sent on to the Compassion project in other packaging.
Sometimes I put stickers, bandaids, bookmarks, photos, etc., in a Ziploc bag labeled with my child’s name, ID # and my name and ID#. As far as the scrapbook pages, glue, glue dots, scrapbook tape,…should be fine. You should not need to staple the photos to the scrapbook pages. I’ve also sent a few pages each of different pretty stationery in a folder.
The projects normally have some kind of coloring medium whether colored pencils, crayons, and/or paint. I’ve sent the “paint with water” pages to my sponsored children. All four of them have used crayons or colored pencils on the drawings on their letters, too.
If you send anything Compassion cannot send on, they usually contact you by mail, email, or phone. Once I tried to send an embroidered patch. They were unable to forward that to my child, so they called and asked if they could donate it by sending it along with a group going on a Compassion tour. It did not end up going to my sponsored child, but it went to a child in a Compassion project, and that was fine with me!
Hi Melissa,
Thank you so much for answering my questions, the information was so helpful. I will definitely be using your suggestions. I’m planning on sending my first letter and items this week!
Hello Everyone,
I just started sponsoring my child this week, and I’m so excited to start sending her letters! I have a couple questions, so I hope someone can help me out! (This is my second attempt to post something on here, so I apologize if it shows up twice!)
I’m making her scrapbooking pages of my family and I, and I was thinking of putting them into a cute folder to send. That way, she could put other scrapbooking pages, coloring pages, pictures, or anything she wants into the folder for ‘safekeeping’. However, I called Compassion today and they told me the folder is too large (it’s 9.5×11.75). Would it be ok to still send the folder if I cut it down to 8.5×11? It opens up to larger than 11 inches, is that a problem? Should I cut it apart and put it back together with yarn? Or is it something that I just shouldn’t send?
With the scrapbooking pages, should I staple the pictures to the page to ensure they stay on?
Also, do the kids have access to crayons? I found a coloring book with bible stories in it, and was wanting to send her the pages of one of the stories, but didn’t want to send it before I checked about the crayons!
Can we send everything in an envelope that is larger than 8.5×11 as long as the contents do not exceed these dimensions? Can it be a padded envelope?
Sorry for all the questions! I’m just so excited to get started! I’ve already got one scrapbook page done!
Thank you for any input/advice you have! Also, I have been reading a lot of comments on here, and there are tons of good ideas, so thanks in advance! 🙂
Hi, I’m fairly new at this, and had a question. Is it appropriate to ask my sponsored child the age and likes of her siblings, or is that something she would be uncomfortable or un-allowed to share? I was reading through some of the posts and someone said that much of the time only one child out of a family is sponsored. Is it ok to send extra color pages and stickers to include her sister?
Yes, of course you can ask about her siblings and what they all like to do for fun. Then you can tell them about your siblings as well (and anything else in your life). It gives you something to talk about and relate to them about. As far as sending extra coloring pages and stickers, that is definitely a great idea too. You can send extra and then just write in your letter “please feel free to share these with your siblings or friends too”. They probably do anyways. A few times I’ve sent things that might be below their level but I told them they could use it to play “school” with their younger sister or whatnot. I always tell them I love them and their family….since its a package deal for me 🙂 That way they all feel included and loved.
[quote comment=”50598″]Hi, I’m fairly new at this, and had a question. Is it appropriate to ask my sponsored child the age and likes of her siblings, or is that something she would be uncomfortable or un-allowed to share? I was reading through some of the posts and someone said that much of the time only one child out of a family is sponsored. Is it ok to send extra color pages and stickers to include her sister?[/quote]
Yes, ask your girl about her family and siblings! I often ask my younger girl about her little sister and brother. And often times my kiddos share about their siblings.
That is true – your child may be the only one sponsored in her family. You can call Compassion to double check if you like. And definitely feel free to send lots of extra stickers and such for her family and friends 🙂
I hope you’ll check out ourcompassion.org where a bunch of us sponsors share ideas and talk about our kiddos! 🙂
Hi can anyone tell me how to send stuff to my child? Do I just send it in an envelope to Compassion with the child name and id # on the back of each item? Or do I need to put it inside an envelope, inside the envelope that I send to compassion? Does that make sense?
Hi, You need to put your childs name and ID #, plus your name and Sponsor ID # on all letters, stickers, coloring pages, etc. I make up little address label stickers with this information on it so that I can quickly label the items I send. You mail all letters and coloring pages and such to the Compassion office in Colorado. If you only have one kid, put all the stuff together in an envelope and mail it to them. They will take it out of the envelope and group it together to send on. If you have more than one child, either staple it all together or paperclip them together in a group (that’s what I do, and then I put the stack of paper clipped bunches into a big manilla envelope to mail). I hope that helps!
I am confused on how to send stuff to my children. I have to send it to Compassion first, right? And do I need to have it inside an envelope inside the envelope addressed to compassion? Or do I just label to the child and send to compassion?
Here is an idea for sending a photo of yourself holding the most recent letter you received from your sponsored child… with a printable template to download! http://familiar-little-frog.blogspot.com/2013/07/letters-make-us-happy-too.html
I’m new to the program and i have been reading the different ideas of what i could sent my little girl. So basically it has to be flat and fit in an envelope? What i don’t get is why we can’t send actual toys and hygeine or coloring supplies etc ..but yet i help my church make shoebox’s at christmas time to send to children in other countries and that’s a big box. Are those boxes not sent to the same areas that compassion works in and thats why the reguations on what you can send are different? I know these are two different organizations but they are both going overseas….. I’m just curious to why the regualtions on here are so strict to what you can send.
Samantha, I had trouble with that, too, at first. I’ve come to understand it a little better. For one, Compassion pays (out of our sponsorship $) for shipping the letters to the centers based on the condition that they are “documents”, ie., ALL paper. Sending other items in our correspondence could jeopardize the shipping rates Compassion has to pay. Additionally, sending $ for items to be purchased in the child’s own country is more cost-effective, and contributes to the economy of that country. (I like to think of it as giving business to [possibly] another Compassion child’s parent!) Finally, I feel like there could be serious inequity issues between children in the centers if a few are receiving frequent Care Packages, and many are not. Just a thought.
I searched for “paper crafts” and “photo crafts” and found this website http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/craftsbytheme.html Good idea for little boys who like sports. All made out of paper to fit in an envelope.
All these wonderful comments remind me of how important it can be to include items. I came across Memory Cross cards that unfold in a unique way that will be so interesting to children. They even have some resources in Spanish and many Christian stickers to include. Their website address is:
https://02e9c84.netsolstores.com/index.aspx
I never thought of using these for our sponsor children until now. Thanks!
Foam? I thought foam was a no-no. In the past foam stickers have not been permitted
I go to our local dollar store and purchase foam airplanes that you put together. The pieces are flat and can be put into a single envelope. My two kids have written back to say thank you for the gliders. It’s a fun toy that is easy to send. To the girl I was able to send a bird glider and to the boy an airplane. I also send stickers, photos, homemade cards. I also purchased disney cue cards for math, reading and more. I send 8-16 cards at a time and eventually my kids have a complete set. The project manager actually contacted me and thanked me for sending the cue cards, noting that they will help my one sponsor child with his learning. Hope this ideas help.
Hi! I’m new too! We sponsored a 3 yr old. So he draws pictures. I write twice a month and give stickers of animals. One time I had a drawing of disciples catching fish. I cut a slit in the net, taped an open envelope to the back and put paper cut outs of colorful fish he can put them in the pocket himself. Just be creative and fun. Know receiving mail from you is so specia!
My family just sponsored a 4 year old child. I was wondering if sending a letter my email from this site,,,how long does it take to get to the child. Do they prefer letters by mail? Sorry I am new to all this!
Oh don’t be sorry! I had a bunch of questions when I started sponsoring too. In fact one of my favorite things is answering questions about Compassion.
Anyway, welcome to the Compassion family!! 🙂 I am so glad that you want to write to your child!! It will impact him/her much more than you can imagine. Yes, you can send a letter online. Compassion’s GMC in Colorado will print it off and mail it to your child (the process of how your letter gets to your child can be found here- https://blog.compassion.com/a-sponsors-letter-from-gayle-to-her-child/) You can send a letter from your online account. You can set up one really easy if you haven’t already.
I have not heard if a child prefers handwritten or printed letters. But I do know this, they LOVE letters! Everything you send to your child is such a blessing! (You can send anything that is paper 8.5x11x.25 inches)
It takes about 2-3 months for a letter to go each way. However, feel free to write before you get a letter back. Many sponsors write once a month, and some twice a month (like me). As long as you write consistently, you should receive six letters from your child each year. A family member, neighbor, tutor, or another adult will help your child fill out a form letter. Compassion has 18 different templates. Each one is themed (for example, family, my project, my dreams, etc) and has a space for a drawing and personal note.
And last but not least, I really recommend that you join OurCompassion.org It is a community of sponsors. We share letters from our kids, experiences from sponsor tours (a lot of people go on them), prayer requests, and everything Compassion 🙂 I joined two months ago and it has encouraged me and blessed me so much!
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!!
Thanks! One more question…will we receive any type of noticification when our letter has been received?
My sponsored children always thank me for the letter and whatever I sent with it such as stickers, photos, etc. I’ve never had a problem with my letters not being received. Compassion is really on top of things, organized. I have been notified when a child is no longer in the program and they always invite you to write a last farewell letter. Have confidence, faith, and fun communicating, loving, and praying for your Compassion child!! <3
no. However children often thank you for the letters. My one girl (she’s 20) always answers my questions in detail, so I know she gets my letters. But most of my kids (ranging from 4-20) comment on my letters or thank me for them. Anyway, you can be sure that they will get your letters. One time the Fedex carrying the letters was robbed, and I was e-mail notified of this (this is once out of many many times as I have sent hundreds of letters).
Need ideas of things to send. Can we send a scrapbook for them to put their items in?
That is a great idea, Dawn! As long as the scrapbook is paper and is under 8 1/2″ x 11″ and a 1/4″ thick we can send it. 🙂
I would like to make a lapbook for my sponsored child. If I make it like it is shown with file folders how can it be sent. Won’t the lap book be larger than what would fit into a 8.5×11 envelope.
Hi Kelly, when you tape or glue the folders together in the configuration that you want, you may have to trim the outer edges a bit so the finished folded lapbook is 8 & 1/2 x 11. You also may want to crease the folders a bit differently to make it the correct size. That’s what I did. Before I started adding things to it, I trimmed it so that it would fit into a clear page protector. In fact, if you’d like you can buy page protectors that are large-capacity, that will hold a slightly thicker folder that is still the correct size.
Hi Kelly! A lapbook made out of a file folder should fold down to a flat 8 1/2″ x 11″. However, it unfolds to a larger size. There are several threads on http://www.ourcompassion.com that I would recommend looking at. Other sponsors have posted more photos to give you ideas of how to make lapbooks. Just search “lapbook” in the search engine on the website.
Hi! I just wanted to say thanks for all the letter-writing ideas. I am posting some ideas and some recent stuff I sent our sponsored kids at my blog here:
http://everneveragain.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-love-letter.html
Happy letter writing!
Here is a blog post with a downloadable “cootie catcher” I made with Bible verses that you can print out, fold, and send to your sponsored child. Enjoy! http://familiar-little-frog.blogspot.com/2012/12/things-to-send-sponsored-children-bible.html
Hello, I was just wondering if it takes as long for a monetary donation to reach my child in Honduras as long as it takes for her to receive my letters? Does anybody know?
Hi Kathy — It’s been my experience that it takes about 2-3 months for a monetary donation to reach your child. If I’m trying to time a monetary gift for something like a birthday, my rule of thumb is to send it 3 months in advance.
Are we allowed to send cash to our sponsored child?
You can send them monetary contributions through compassion either by calling their offices or by logging in to your account online. You can give up to $100 for birthdays, $100 just because, and $1000 for a family gift. If the gift is more than $50, they will send you a picture of what they bought with it. Hope this helps!
Our child sponsor is in Indonesia. Do you know if he would have access to scissors and tape or glue? We were thinking we could send him some printed sheets of creatures that he can cut out, fold up, and tape together. Thanks for the feedback!
Every center has different supplies, so there is no guarantee that he would have those things at his disposal. Maybe you could send the creatures already put together?
Thanks! There are some really fun Asian ones with market places, etc. They are basically paper dollhouses. The instructions are in Chinese, but there are pictures of how to assemble them. Hopefully we can find a way to assemble them and then fold them flat without ruining them! http://paperm.jp/craft/dollhouse/index.html
We found a great nativity set too! http://marloesdevee.blogspot.com/2010/12/make-your-own-christmas-crib.html
Thanks soooo much!!! Bookmarked. Would be PERFECT to send to my almost ten year old girl in Indonesia (for her birthday maybe). any ways thanks so much 🙂
FREE shipping on everything until November 26, 2012 with Oriental Trading use this code- WCE3699 Hope this helps some of you!! 🙂
Is anybody collecting Christmas Cards for the children who don’t get letters again this year? If yes who do I contact?
Thanks
Lynette
So I know that I can’t send a story book to my child. He really loves lions, so I was thinking of writing a story for my child about lions. I wanted to use the lapbook format with manilla folders. Would it be okay to cut and glue the just the pictures from the book for illustrations? I might be a writer, but I’m certainly not an artist! I wasn’t for sure if this would violate any copyright laws, or be an okay project! I’d appreciated the input!
Of course you can use the pictures — sounds like a great idea! The copyright laws only apply if you are copying the pictures to re-publish or sell them, not if you are cutting them out to send to someone. You could also print pictures from the internet — just go to Google images and search for lion, or whatever you’d like pictures of. Another idea is to get a thin story book and have the binding cut off (like at OfficeMax or Staples) so the pages are loose, have a hole punched through the pages, and tie together with string.
You can send books, you just have to remove the cover so that it does not have resale value for customs purposes. Feel free to send kid books, just removing the cover….otherwise it would be a fun idea to make your own book too if you have the time.
I want to sent a few items to my child but i read that you have to send it in an 8 1/2 x 11 envelop. I can only find ones bigger than this. Is this the size I have to send it or once it makes it to Colorado will they transfer it into a correct sizing.
Also I bought a thin book that I wanted to include but then realized it was in English. Will this get translated or is it better to send items without words or very few words to my child.
Thank you
Hi Julie! We’ll place everything in the correct size envelope when it gets to Colorado. The book won’t be translated. If you can find items in your child’s language that’s great but I know that’s not always possible. Depending on your child’s age something with less words or all pictures may be better. But if they are older here’s an idea — perhaps you could use Google translate to help you translate a few key words in the book you bought and then write the words in your child’s language next to the word in English. Depending on the age of your child, that could be a great learning tool.
One of the ideas for a gift to send was Paper Dolls. I LOVE that idea, but have no idea where to find them! Does anyone know how to go about finding them?? I KNOW they have to be out there somewhere! Thought they would make a nice birthday present for a 7 yr old. Waiting to hear:-) Thanks!
Jeannie,
OK! Dollar General, where the coloring books are, have books of paper dolls. There are several “styles”, all for $2, and each book comes with 80 something pieces. Its 2-3 dolls, outfits, accessories, and more. It takes a little bit to punch it all out in order to put it in a baggie, but it’s well worth it.
I also have seen and sent 2 sets at Michaels in the $1 section. One is a cinderella set and the other is tinker bell. Tinker Bell’s outfit was a little skimpier than cinderalla’s so I went that route just in case the other was a little too risque. I did take them out of the little package and put them in a thin plastic bag as well just in case the cardboard backing wouldn’t go through.
Hope that helps you out!
I looked on E Bay, also Amazon and found some real nice ones. I watched that the doll was clothed well as not to upset others.
Mary,
I agree with Sandra, words of encouragement are the most important. I still send stickers to the 13 yr old boy I write. I also send things like mazes, hidden picture puzzles (you cand find free ones on highlights for teachers, I like them because they show a picture of the hidden items, not just the name), and simple “how to draw” pictures. There is a Slylock Fox section in our Sunday newspaper comics that has a “how to draw” section and a spot the diffreces between the panels. I cut those out and tape a few to index cards. I also send baseballcards (his favorit sport). I really enjoy taking pictures soI like to send pictures of the changing seasons too. I hope this helps a little.
Hi, Can someone tell me what to send to a 12 year old boy. I have been sponsoring him for two years now and I am running out of ideas. Thank you.
I don’t know what you have already sent — but here are some things I send to our 11-yr-old: thin notebook-sized atlas or laminated maps; large world map folded to 8×11; sports posters folded to 8×11; sports pictures; animal and nature color pictures from calendars and books; nature coloring pages and mazes; geography activity sheets (free online); time zone maps; pictures of scenery from our state and country; pictures of the four seasons here; pictures of popular foods people eat here and how they are made; Bible story pictures with verses; cards from educational boxed sets (dollar section at Target, send a few cards at a time); stickers of cars, trucks, animals, sea life, flags of the world; pages from kids’ educational books, a few at a time; how-to-draw pages with extra blank sheets; bookmarks; coloring pictures — one that you have colored and one for him to color; and so on. Sometimes I sent extras and tell him to share with a friend. I keep a couple of folders full of items to send over the next year or so.
Mary
I think words of encouragement are the most important thing to send. I know it doesn’t seem as tangible as the stickers and coloring pages, but kids that age are being hit by lots of messages in their communities that they will never amount to anything, and encouraging them to stay in school and study, to dream (ask them what they want to do for a vocation and then tell them, “I believe you can do it.”), to love Jesus, and to help others is going to do more for them than gifts.
Does anyone know if the 1/4″ maximum thickness is for the full manilla padded envelope, or is it for each of the items in the envelope. Thank you:)
Thought I’d share some websites with free printables: Highlights has hidden picture puzzles. They add new ones all the time.
http://www.highlightsteachers.com/teachers-toolbox/hidden-pictures
The national wildlife federation has some really cure animal coloring pages
http://www.nwf.org/Kids/Big-Backyard/Fun/Coloring-Pages.aspx
Disney Junior has a ton of free stuff, to include printable coloring pages, printable cards you can customize, mazes, and calendars.
http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/coloring-create/calendar-maker
Hi I was wondering can I write to my sponsored child with my own stationary or just online?
thanks I’m vary evcited to write to her
You can write with your own stationary or online. 🙂
Free oriental trading shipping until Tuesday, October 16, 2012. Use promo code WCE3642 Lots of cheap stickers that are great for Christmas packages. Hope you can use it 🙂
Can I send items that have a ribbon tied to them? (like a bookmark or paper tied together)
I am confused about the baggies. I thought only paper is allowed. So, if I put items in a baggie, will they be taken out?
If baggies are allowed, I was thinking of decorating one and putting the all of the items for each child in a bag.
Thanks!
As far as the items themselves go, they can only be paper. They can, however, be collected in baggies! I use baggies (with flat zippers that you press together) and plastic sheet protectors that have been decorated with stickers to send my kiddos their items. They do get forwarded it on and I have had this verified. 🙂
I cut out the picture that is on the box of what the puzzle looks like completed. Also if it comes assembled, take a picture of it with your camera/phone and print out the picture, or scan it to your computer and print it out.
Yeah these are not boxed… I will try making a color copy of them tho.
To Liz,
Google Translate is an awesome resource, but take care to translate short messages and not a whole letter, etc. It is not entirely accurate! Also, you cannot choose between European Spanish and Central American Spanish, nor does it take into account the different dialects of Spanish especially in Central America.
For postcards, you can find them at convenience stores especially truck stops, museum stores, airport stores, drugstores, and stationery/card stores. Tourist spots always have postcards… Have Fun!
http://www.freetranslation.com is pretty good, according to our EL teacher. She makes less corrections to correspondence for us when we use this site. It also has different dialects for some languages, which really helps us at school.
Thanks Melissa… I translated some very short bible verses for my lttle guy.
Do we send puzzles UNassembled in a baggie? How does a hild know what the picture if of if they are unassembled? I tought I read something about that on here but I just can’t seem to find the information now. Thanks!
“Assembled puzzles in zip lock bags, sealed with tape or glue to remain assembled in the mail (see above size restrictions)”
https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
I just found the greatest website. Translate.Google.com. You type in the words in English and as you type, it translates your words to the language you choose. I just made up about 10 index cards with things like, ‘Listen To Your Teachers’… ‘Always be kind to Other’…. etc. etc… all written in hand in Spanish for my child.
Liz: this is so awsome! I try to add new items in my mail and I an sure she will be as pleased as I am to have this. I am sure I will use this often. Thank you: Vivian
Hi Liz
It’s great to be able to send stuff to the children in their own language, especially as I believe only the letters are translated, not anything written on “extras”. I have heard many people saying to be careful with Google translate though, as sometimes although the exact words are translated, the meaning might be changed. Your best bet might be to do your best with Google translate then post the sentences you plan to send on Our Compassion – there are several Spanish speakers on there who are kind enough to check translations before sending. For scripture verses, I believe the website Bible Gateway has an online Spanish Bible – you can cut and paste from there.
Thanks Carrie
I know I read something somewhere about sending puzzles. Should they be UNassembled puzzles, in other words take the pieces out of the frame and put them into a baggie…. how will the child be able to tell what the puzzle should look like when its done?
I understand that books can’t be sent, and pages from coloring books are ok, but I bought a book to help learn to print letters for K-1, removed the staples and pulled out a few pages at a time…is it still considered a book and won’t be sent or will it be okay since it’s loose pages only?
You are ok to sent that Michele as long as it isn’t more than 1/4 in thick.
Can I send a calendar? would i have to remove the staples?
You do not have to remove the staples. Just make sure it is 8.5″ x 11″ or less, and less than 1/4″ thick. If it comes with a cardboard insert, remove that. I just found some cute 2013 calendars in the dollar spot at Target…puppies, kittens, wild animals, scenic, etc.
LizzieH: In addition to tourist spots, you can find postcards in places like CVS Pharmacy and other similar stores, many book stores or stationery stores sell postcards. I am buying postcards all the time and once you know where to look, it shouldn’t be difficult.
There used to be hundreds of postcards available and it seems like they are a dying art… I will check CVS and Walgreens. MY local book stores have none. Thanks Bev.
Usually, at the front of Wal-mart, all the way in front of the cash registers and not too far from the front bathrooms/customer service, there’s a little pinwheel type thing full of postcards. I found this to be true in both Texas and Arkansas. They’re just “state” related but those can be really neat for the kids to be able to visualize your state! 🙂
Yes, and exactly what I am looking for! Thanks… I will check my local Walmart.
Yep, just as I suspected… they have none at Walmarts here in Michigan. I will have to just keep loooking and will sedn some for his b’day in February.
in Michigan I’ve found them at the family-owned drugstore, and at museums.
you can also make your own- take a picture of something scenic in your town and have it printed as a 4×6 or 5×7 picture
Well I just set up a new user on ourcompassion; however, now that I am on there I have no idea how to find other people in my area and that’s what I wanted to be on there for, predominantly.
Liz, you can just do a search (top right hand corner) for your city/location and it will return a list of people who match your query.
Justine, I typed in my city/zip and it come up with ‘No results found’. I even just started typing my city and it immediately went to ‘no results found’.
Oh yes I joined a while back but still can’t get on. Thats why I sent for a password this morning; however, that didn’t help because I still cannot get on. And I called 800-336-7676 and spoke to two different people. No one had any clue as to how to fix it. I would love to be ab advocate! How do I go about doing that?! First I have to be able to get onto Our Compassion, I am sure.
Hey Lizzie! I’m sorry you aren’t able to login to OurCompassion. It would probably be best for you to email us at [email protected]. I’m sorry you weren’t able to get help over the phone. 🙂
Thanks Jacquie! At least I know now it’s not my computer acting up. For a minute I was going to take it in for repairs.. LOL I am having a problem however with Ourcompassion.org. I can’t seem to log in there and I would like to because I understand there are over 300 sponsors in my zip code alone and I would love to hook up with some of them and put our heads together regarding projects and ideas. Is OurCompassion the only way to see if anyone is interested or is there some other way? I understand, of course, no one can give out addresses to other sponsors but i think it would be fun to meet for show-and-tell ideas!
No, not your computer. 🙂 Have you joined OurCompassion yet? You have to join before you can log on. You can click here to join. If you’ve already joined and still having problems logging on, give us a call: (800) 336-7676!
OurCompassion is set up for sponsors to connect through the online community. If you became an advocate, there are occasions advocates meet in person to help out with events, etc.
I wrote a question on oct 6th. It is still awaiting moderation….??? So I called Compassion and they had no idea what’s up with that. I then tried signing in to OurCompassion.org and had to reset my password, which they sent me a new one of, and that didn’t work either. Who do I call about this? And maybe this won’t go through either. I am getting frustrated.
Lizzie, there are several reasons why comments don’t get moderated right away. Sometimes comments get caught up in spam or sometimes the weekend will cause a delay in moderation, things like that. We appreciate your patience with us.
I have a question. I have already sent my family Christmas gifts via online site. However, today I want to send a Christmas card to my sponsored child along with some sports cards. I have about 25 cards to send. Can anyone tell me the best way to do this? Should I label each one and staple them to the card… should I label each one and put them into a baggie… HOW shall I send these cards. I also have a paper party garland banner (soccer related). Should I just label that with our names and stick it into the 8-l/2 by 11 envelope when i am ready?? I wish we had some sort of group meeting about every 3 months in my area where we could work on projects and put our heads together. That would be so cool… but I don’t know who the other sponsors are in my area.
The sports cards would do excellent in a baggie! I find it necessary to individually label each item just to keep everything “coded” in case something gets lost in the mix.
Just a tip: If I don’t want to write directly on the item because it might ruin it, I use those white mailing labels that you can get at Wal-Mart. I usually buy one big pack and put my name, my sponsor number, my child’s name, and their number on the labels. I sponsor 3 kiddos so I just divide the sheets up & go to printing. It makes for some quick attaching when you send packages and letters on a regular basis. You can slap them on baggies, envelopes, items, or whatever your heart desires.
I recently fell in love with plastic sleeve protectors as well. I verified that they do indeed go through so you can slip all of your loose items into one of those. here is the link to the ones I purchased:
http://www.amazon.com/Top-Load-Sheet-Protectors-Standard-Letter/dp/B001E6C6GK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1349735268&sr=8-2&keywords=sheet+protectors
I hope that helps you! 🙂
Crystal, I am so sorry I didnt answer this in a timely manner but better late than never! I did put the cards into a baggie so hopefully he gets those and yes, I love sheet protectors also and I am going to go and buy some soon before I forget about them. Thanks for your help.
Great suggestion! That expires tonight — eek! I’d better get to ordering. 🙂
I absolutely love Oriental Trading’s make a sticker scenes. They have so many great ones and they are the best for mailing to sponsored kids. Here’s a link:
http://www.orientaltrading.com/api/search?Ntt=make+a+sticker+scenes
Oriental Trading has FREE SHIPPING through 9/20 and has so many paper Christmas items on sale right now! Thought some sponsors looking to get their Christmas packages together would benefit. The promo code is: wce3583. Hope this helps!
Thanks soooo much! Bought some Christmas stickers! 🙂
Ok – this is my first attempt at a package. I’ve read the tips and the blog and still have a couple of questions.
Does the 1/4″ thick rule apply to the individual item or everything I send in my manilla envelope?
Can I send a greeting card with embellishments like a jewel?
I bought a folded up world map poster to show my child where we both live. UNFOLDED it is larger than the requirements. Folded it meets the size requirements easily. Will this go through?
I also found small, flexible pocket notebooks that are glued together (not spiral bound) and are less than 1/4″. Will these go through?
THANKS for your feedback. We are trying to put together fun things for our first package which will also reach her around Christmas.
The 1/4 rule applies to the individual item itself. I send multiple items in every package I send.
The poster is absolutely going to go through. I send giant coloring pages folded up just like that.
And I’m not sure about the notebooks, but typically anything like that isn’t your best idea. Anything that has any kind of an actual cover on it will usually end up with the cover being removed. I found tiny, miniature coloring books that I took the covers off of, hole punches, and tied together with a little piece of string & that was fine. Maybe an actual Compassion rep will get back to you on that one though!
And most greeting cards go through-even the ones that sing. I hope that helps!
Thanks, Crystal! I really appreciate your reply! I’m just excited to get something in the mail 🙂
Are there mailing deadlines to mail packages, to ensure delivery for Christmas?
Hi Renee! It can take 2-3 months for your child to receive something from you so I’d like to say by 9/30 just to be safe but you could send something as late as 10/25. Please make sure that whatever you send, you follow these guidelines: https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm. If you send items we can’t ship, that slows the process down. If you find something you want to send and aren’t sure about it, you can always give us a call to make sure. (800.336.7676)
Can you mail gumto the children?
And hard candy?
No, sorry Renee you can’t. I really appreciate you asking! Here’s a great resource to give you an idea of what you can send: https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
I hope that helps! 🙂
I just called Compassion and I am still confused. I am going to send a packet for my child for Christmas – sports cards, stickers, bible verses. etc… and a Christmas card for the family, if I can find any of those out there yet! I also want to send a monetary family gift and I assume I do NOT simply enclose a check in my packet, right?? I therefore assume I need to call and use my credit card over the phone to make my monetary gift(s)..???
If you want to include a check for a family gift along with your packet, just make sure it is not tucked away with all of the other items you are sending. It’ll also be helpful if you attach a note to the check stating it is for a family gift. I personally like to keep any monetary gifts separate so I’ll pay online under my account. You can always call and use your credit card over the phone as well.
Make sure the check is made out to Compassion!
I want to send my Christmas/Family gift to my child now – is there a way to do that on the site through Paypal or something?? I know I need to do it very soon so as to get it there by Christmas! Thank you!!
To send a donation to the Christmas gift program, here is the link:
https://www.compassion.com/christmas-gift-fund.htm
This money gets pooled and EVERY Compassion kids gets a Christmas gift.
If you want to send a family or child gift to your individual child, go into your online account and select “family gift” or “child gift.” Or you can call Compassion (800) 336-7676, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. MT. and they will help you with that. Those can be sent any time of the year, but Christmas is a lovely time to do it. 🙂
I sponsor 1 child right now and was wondering if it is possible to write to more than one, even though I can not sponsor them?
Yes, that is absolutely possible Renee. And we’d love to have you! Give us a call tomorrow (800.336.7676) and let the rep know that you’d like to become a correspondent sponsor.
Thank you I will!
This may have been addressed before and so if this question is redundant then I apologize.
I got a Compassion birthday card from my local Christian bookstore and wrote to my little guy in Tanzania. I left plenty of space for translation (at least in my opinion) but I wasn’t sure about the etiquette regarding sending greeting cards. The card had a Bible verse printed in it, and I was just wondering if all that gets translated as well?
Hi Eric — From what I’ve heard, the words on a greeting card do get translated. I think the translators would be extra-sure to translate those Bible verses.
BUT….something I’ve done, just to be extra sure, is to take a piece of paper and write — “Here is what my birthday card to you says….” and then I write whatever the text is in the card.
I write it on the left hand side of the paper, leave room on the right for translation, and make sure my child’s number and my sponsor number are on the paper. I pop that in the envelope along with the card, to ensure that the message gets translated and gets to my child.
And while I’m thinking of it….if you send musical greeting cards, it’s a good idea to write the text of the song on a piece of paper, pop it in with the card and have that translated. The first time I sent a musical Christmas card to my child he immediately wrote back and asked what the song said. 🙂 Now musical greeting cards WON’T get translated unless you write out the lyrics yourself. 🙂
Thanks for the quick reply. I’ll take them out of the plastic wrapping and put them a baggie with their info on them individually from here on out. Now that I know this, I’m hoping that they’ve received everything I’ve sent without any issue. (I absolutely always send stickers with my letters.)
I was wondering if my sponsor child actually gets to see my hand writing or if the letter has to be translated onto different paper? Thanks!
Your child receives your original letter with translation on the same page. If you’re using your own stationery, be sure to leave room for translation!
I’ve actually asked this before on this forum and then later I think I emailed Compassion directly, but wanted to verify that I understood correctly. Will the plastic sleeve that comes around stickers when you purchase them to hold the sheets together actually stay in tact or does it get taken apart once it gets to Compassion? I know the Compassion representative said we were welcome to send them that way and that it was no problem so I’ve been just attaching a mailing label with the child’s information to the outside of the sticker packet. However, if it gets taken apart at Compassion for any reason, the sticker sheets do not have their information on them individually. So, I wanted to go ahead and ask again to be absolutely sure that the way I’m doing it is okay and that the sticker sheets aren’t getting separated in the process. Thanks!
Hey there! We will not send the plastic sleeve on to your sponsored child. It would be a good idea to include your child’s information on the actual stickers instead of the plastic sleeve.
I don’t understand how one could take the stickers out of the pkg and either write or put a label on each individual sticker. The stickers are stuck to a backing – does that also need to be removed?? Or will the stickers along with the backing go through?
The stickers and the backing go through. Compassion just removes additional packaging.
If you have a sheet of stickers, put a label on the back. If you’re sending a handful of individual stickers, put them in an envelope, put your child’s name and number and your name and sponsor number on the front of the envelope. The envelope with the stickers will get attached to your letter and it will all go through together.
When I send stickers, I remove the stickers from the plastic packaging, throw out any extra cardboard in the package, write the child’s name and number on the back of the sticker sheet, and staple it to the child’s letter, which also has their name and number. Some sticker packages have 2-4 sheets, so I send one sheet at a time.
Gotcha…. and the envelope with the stickers can be sealed? I have a lot of sports cards I want to send; is the best way just to put them all into one envelope, seal that, then put that into the larger envelope with my letter?
Don’t seal the envelope because Compassion needs to look in the envelope and approve the contents before it is shipped overseas. That’s part of the process that happens in Colorado. If you’re concerned about something falling out of the envelope, you could put a greeting card in the envelope and tuck the stickers inside. (Just as an extra layer of protection for the contents.)
I’ve always sent sport cards in an envelope. Same process. I take the cards out of the packaging, tuck a few sports cards in a greeting card, put the greeting card in an unsealed envelope, and put sponsor name/number and child name/number on the front of the envelope.
Compassion does work hard to ensure that everything makes it to your child successfully. And, in Colorado, they’ll assemble things in a way that you don’t really have to worry. But I do like to make sure things are packaged as best as they can be when I ship things off. If for no other reason than it saves time for the folks in Colorado. 🙂
The key to remember is, when your item goes through customs, will customs view it as a “paper document” — which is the category our items need to fit into — or is it something else, which will cause a problem. All of that extra packaging is removed to better enable items to fit into the “paper document” category AND to remove any resale value on the item, because something with resale value is more likely to be stolen.
Lisa, I just made some similar books, sketch books actually, but with blank pages for them to draw their own pictures. I made one for my sponsored child and one for each of his 4 siblings. I painted names and such on the front and was wanting to put contact paper on the front to protect it. I believe I had 2 different answers regarding the use on contact paper and don’t want to use if there is any doubt they will not go through. I would also like to use the contact paper on my lapbooks and such. Here are photos of a my sketchbooks and one lapbook.
http://photobucket.com/compassion
Thanks!
Kim, those are amazing! Love them. 🙂 The contact paper is a great idea. As Michelle said, laminated items and items covered with contact paper will go through.
I have sent many items through with contact paper …. and have received replies back from the children saying the items made it! Also, you get a phone call from Compassion if something WON’T make it….. So I am completely comfortable saying that items covered in contact paper WILL make it through! 🙂 Items that are laminated will make it through as well.
Your sketch books and lapbook are great! The kids will love them, and I think protecting them with contact paper would be a great idea!
been thinking of sending one of my older girls a packet of loose leaf paper so she has it for school or whatever can I do this? Also was wondering if I can buy and send each a Bible in Spanish so that they may learn about Our Lord?
Hi Chris — You can certainly send looseleaf paper. What a great idea! To add onto that, you could also buy a folder, (the simple paper kind without the metal clasps in the middle), and put a sheaf of paper in that, so she’s got the folder and the paper both. Just make sure the entire folder/paper doesn’t exceed the 1/4-inch thickness rule.
A Bible can’t be sent through the mailing system. One idea is to give a birthday or child gift and request that the child center purchase her a Bible in her language, if she doesn’t already have one. That would make a lovely gift for the family. 🙂
You can also write out individual verses on index cards or cardstock. Put a little sticker on the card or draw a picture in the corner and that makes a nice gift.
I was under the impression that each sponsored child received a bible in their own language….but that was a long time ago. i’ve been sponsoring for more than 20 years so maybe they don’t do that anymore. I’d be curious to know.
Thank you for answering this for me and the great ideas!!!
Lisa, do you know if a full-size folder will officially go through without cutting it? I bought a couple on the 15 cents sale and have gone back and forth about attempting to send them.
I used to cut mine down and decorate them up a bit by taping a cute pic on the front. But I found out via the blog that full-size folders will go through. I’ve since sent a few and they did go through.
What about making a small scrapbook with a pic of each fam member,maybe their age and something about them?I did this
once,Its really fun and you can decorate it with stickers, pretty paper and such.:)
Things I’ve sent just to spawn ideas:
-I buy Valentine’s Day cards on clearance and send the fun hologram ones, for instance, that I’ve found in sports to my little boy & the cute puppies/kitties to the girls.
-$1 Disney paper dolls at Michaels (I chose Cinderella because Tinker Bell wasn’t quite as dressed!)
-Roll out coloring pages (I just got 2 books for 40 cents at Michaels and will unroll them off the rolls and fold them. It still makes a long banner of cute Hello Kitty coloring pages.)
-Greeting cards that also act as fun masks (Also at Michaels for 20 cents a piece)
-Tear out paint pages that they can wet the end of something like a q-tip if available and paint the pictures. These are available at Dollar General and at the party section at Walmart. I just take the cover off and punch holes.
-Scrapbook: I laminated 4×6 photos and then punched two holes in the side of each and secured together with string. I also decorated a cover page made out of construction paper with the children’s information on it and laminated it as well.
-As someone has already mentioned, fuzzy coloring pages!
-I made cute frames out of paper, decorated them, secured a picture inside, and laminated them.
-Shiny pink stars and put their names on them with stickers (For girls)
-Sticker scenes (They often have these at Dollar Tree with the removable stickers that stick to various places on the page.)
-I’ve saved pictures of Disney characters from the internet and printed them out as 4×6 photos. Walgreens frequently does 40% off of prints when you join the mailing list.
-8×10 photo collages made by inserting photos into a Word document and laminating the page. (I’ve done the zoo, 4th of July fireworks, etc.)
-Postcards with your state on them
-I copied their pics (took a iPhone pic of a pic) and made cute frames/designs around them in Picnik to print (Sure something like that is still available) since they don’t usually have pictures of themselves.
-Obviously stickers are fun but the scented stickers are always neat. I’ve found tons of those at the $1 section in Target as well as hologram stickers.
-Dollar Tree has had some giant coloring pages that you can fold in half twice and meet the size requirements. The paper is a little thin in quality, but it’s not too bad.
Thank you for the great ideas:) I wish that I had checked out this site before my last student outgrew my sponsorship! I have a new one little guy in Ethiopia and my girl in Bolivia. I can’t wait to do some of these projects:)
Awesome ideas, thanks for sharing!
I’m trying to think of some creative gift ideas to send to my sponsored child. I just started to sponsor her, so I really would like to send a neat gift with my first letter to make it really special. Got any ideas? Thanks!
There are LOTS of fun ideas on the forum board at http://www.ourcompassion.com/. If you want to make a lapbook or fun introduction card there are plenty of pictures and examples to look at for inspiration.
I think a nice gift is a themed lapbook. If you are not familiar with these, you can find plenty of illustrations online and demonstrations at youtube. It’s basically one or more manilla file folders taped or pasted together so they fold into one approx 8 x 11 rectangle (trim edges as needed). Inside you tape or paste pictures, envelopes filled with stickers or bookmarks, a pocket with coloring pages, and so on, all on one theme. You can make it more fancy by covering surfaces with patterned scrapbook paper.
My husband and son just got back from a trip to see our sponsored child. They took many pictures while visiting and we wanted to send copies of these pictures to our child. Would it be a good idea to make a small photo album and send it to him or send the pictures loose?
Mel, I would think that you should definitly tell your two children that your husband has died, and is now with Jesus. YOu should send his memorial page to them so that they can grieve with you. YOu may want to remind them of some things about his life, and how he felt about them.
My husband and I sponsor two children. Unfortunately, he passed away this year. Am I allowed to mention that to the kids? Am I allowed to include his memorial page to them?
I am so sorry for your loss! I’m sure the kids would like to know about it so they can be praying for you.
For birthday gifts, someone from the project will take them shopping and help them pick out what they want. For family gifts, the project worker with sit down with the family and discuss their needs and how best to utilize it.
forgot to ask about gifts too,do the kids pick them out or does someone else buy them or how does it work?Thanks in advance!!:)
Does anyone know how long it takes for letters to get back and forth from Bangladesh?I just got my sponsor packet for my 12 yr old girl there and am really excited!:D Also could you tell me more about what the school program is like,when does the school year start,when do they graduate?…
There’s a wealth of wikipedia information on the Bangladesh school system, but I couldn’t find when the year starts and stops:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Bangladesh
I have been trying to make a lapbook for my girls one in Mexico the other in El Salvador and want to put the words in Spanish and have been having a hard time doing this. I have ideas of the 10 Commandments; the Lord’s Prayer; educational items as well. Can anyone give me ideas on how to start this? I feel like I am letting my girls down cuz things are taking me to long.
Chris, I think you could look for a Spanish-speaking Christian, perhaps in your church or in a Hispanic church in your area. Maybe even a school teacher who teaches Spanish, who would help you for free knowing it’s for charitable purposes. I am sure you could find someone willing to help with translation.
Chris,
Please, never feel you are letting your girls down. They love any letter. I just got back from Ecuador and was saddened because the project director said many sponsors never write. So while you are working on the book, just log on to Compassion and send a quick online letter that says I love you, I’m proud of you, I’m happy you are attending the project and I know you are studying and paying attention to your teachers, and I’m praying for you. For your book, I would suggest going to Bible Gateway.com and put in the book and chapter you want to use. After it brings it up in English, use the version dropdown menu to change the version to the Spanish version called Nueva Traduccion Viviente. Then you can just copy paste the translation into the lapbook.
thank you so much for this information I am going to give it a try!
Chris- have you heard of OurCompassion? Its a forum for sponsors and those interested in sponsoring. There are excellent ideas and examples of lapbooks that other sponsors have sent, there. Plus info on the child projects.
I would encourage any new sponsors to join as its a wealth of ideas and support. There may even be someone who can help with the Spanish translation for you. 🙂
http://www.ourcompassion.org
Is there a weight/size limit on the letters you can send? We wanted to include small handmade paper books maybe, stickers, pictures, etc…Thanks!
I’m not aware of a weight limit. But the size limit is 8 1/2″ x 11″ and 1/4th-inch thick.
I was wondering when the school year starts for the children in Honduras. Does anyone know?
On the Compassion site it says “The typical school year runs from February through November.”
I found this on Wikipedia:
The school year in Honduras runs from early August to late May for a total of ten months and is split into three terms.
Term 1 starts in early August and ends in mid-December.
Term 2 starts in early January and ends in early March.
Term 3 Starts in mid-March and ends in late May.
All of the terms are separated by breaks. There is a 2-3 week long break for Christmas and New Year’s in between the first and second term, and there is a one-week long spring break in between the second and third term. The summer vacation typically lasts two months before the next school year starts in August.
Hello I was wondering if anyone could tell me how I can help my two girls with school supplies for this year!
Hi, Chris,
Send a family gift or birthday gift and in the comments box, ask that it be used for school supplies.
thank you for your help
How often is mail delivered to the kids? I know it takes several months sometimes for kids to recieve the letters, but do centers get mail once a week, once a month, etc? I try to write about twice a month, sometimes once a week, an I was wonderng if they recieved multiple letters on mail day.
It depends on how close the center is to the country office. It is typically picked up sometime between once a month to once a week.
If I send “FOR A FRIEND” cards (like 2 or 3) that are short, just saying God loves you, study in school, and a Bible verse
WILL COMPASSION TRANSLATE EACH OF THOSE???
if they don’t I am not sure how they children my sponsor child gives them to will be able to read the card?
I have heard of people sending these in the past but was wondering about how or IF those small cards get translated.
Hey Loren! We will translate letters to your sponsored child. I don’t believe that “for a friend” cards would be translated. Maybe you could send postcards instead that your child could give to their friends. That way, no translation is required.
Do they celebrate Christmas in India. Wondering, so if I send an ornament, she will know what it’s for.
Hi gottabigheart! Indians do celebrate Christmas but they may not celebrate it exactly how we do here in the US. I would recommend sending a short note explaining some of your Christmas traditions. Your sponsored child will love hearing about how you celebrate Christmas and might even share a little about how they celebrate Christmas. Just make sure the ornament is made of paper. 🙂 -Susan
thanks!
I would love to send postcards. Does anyone know where to buy postcards these days? I can’t find them anywhere.
Our Walmart has postcards at the check out closest to customer service, along with those little trinkets from our state, that tourist buy, like magnets, etc. : )
Hi Lizzie I saw a great idea regarding post cards today that I want to share with you. It is this: Take any greeting card you receive in the mail and cut it apart and draw a line down the printed side to have an instant postcard. I thought this was a great idea because I am all the time receiving thinking of you cards ect.. in the mail but I never had thought of recycling them this way! May God richly bless you for everything you do for your sponsored child.
Hi Lizzie, Thank you so much for the great idea concerning gift cards to post cards. I always save the most gorgeous Christimas, Easter, etc. cards and tape them to doorways and overheads in the house to use as decoration. They are so colorful. I never thought of using them this way. You made my day….Glenn
I have bought postcards from the post office (you might have to ask for them) when I had a sick aunt to whom I wanted to write. That would be a pack of about 10 or 20 identical cards that might have crayons or some impersonal picture on the front. But… any airport or public tourist spot usually has them in racks in the gift shop to market their venue. Any kind of museums or a place that charges admission. Ask if you can shop in the gift shop without paying to get into museum.
Drug stores and gas stations will sometimes also have postcards as well.
Hi Loren. The Bible can be found in most languages online – I have no hope of ever learning my sponsor children’s languages (Karen and Ewe) but think I might copy and paste verses in their language unto cards, lapbooks, etc. Just a thought that might work for you too.
Does anyone have any ideas on what a 12 yr old girl would like?
I sponsor a 12 year old girl in Colombia and send all sorts of things!
It is important to keep in mind that just because they are older does not mean they do not like “cutesie” things such a stickers and coloring pages. (My 19 year old boy in india still loves and comments when I send him more adult looking coloring pages:)
Here is a list of 10 things I have sent my 12 year old girl:
1. Fuzzy posters are a big hit with my kids! they come in all sorts of sizes and are sold at any major store
2. Stain glass type coloring pages
3. handmade bookmarks with her picture on the front (made from card stock)
4. Photos! singles or small albums (I have handmade some with each of my family members on a page OR a small paper back one from Shutterfly.com looks beautiful as well)
5. small collapsable boxes from party city with each siblings name on them
6. paper doll house like this one at http://www.amazon.com/Tea-House-Dollhouse-Kit/dp/B007E2YE68/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_1
7. 4 or 5 silly banz taped flat to a note card to go thru sorting
8. Printable russian dolls: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/russian_dolls.htm
9. Printable Paper Jewelry: http://www.scissorcraft.com/rings.htm
10. Just writing and letting her know she is special and important is the best thing you can give her! Let her know how much she is loved and ask questions BUT also tell her about YOU. She is just as curious about what you like to do as you are about her 🙂
Thanks for the ideas,Loren!I really like the fuzzy posters,hadn’t thought of those before!
Great ideas. But just so you know, those dollhouse kits on Amazon are WAY overpriced! They can be found at The Dollar Tree for (yep, you guessed it) $1.
You can purchase postcards from the post office, and maybe online? You would probably have to visit all the states, or know people there to do that.
Thanks for the suggestions. Where do you find postcards these days? I would love to find some of all the states and make a little booklet out of them.
I have another question. I have been printing and sending coloring book pages galore and I have a feeling he may be inundated with them! Can anyone give us some ideas of what else to send. I saw some cute puzzles today but they are made of cardboard; not sure if I can send those. Is there a compiled list somewhere of ideas??
Photos, stickers, postcards, bookmarks, verse cards, and dot to dots are all good items to send.
Hope this helps!
I’ve sent stickers, homemade photo books, bookmarks, hologram cards, paper dolls (although most of those are for girls), photo print outs of cartoon characters, postcards, paper sacks (both valentine’s and the lunch sacks with Cars/Disney characters on them), collages, and several other things that aren’t coming to mind right now. Ha! You can laminate flowers, regular photos, and an assortment of other flat items. I love that it makes whatever you’re sending so durable.
Hello, I just began sponsoring a child in Africa and I am very new to this program. I was wondering where I should send my letter to when I am done writing it? Also, I was wondering if I can attach my gift to the child in the letter when I send it?
Welcome Rebeccah – Your letter goes to the Compassion address in Colorado Springs – you will find the address on your childs packet and here. Any stickers, paper, color pages etc. you can attach to your letter. Be sure to place the childs and your ID on the items in case they get separated. Also, there is a GREAT letter writing template here on this site that submits your letters electronically. Hope this helps.
Hello, could anyone tell me if it’s possible to send your sponsored child a gift of money for birthday/holidays? And will they get 100% of the money that I send beyond the monthly sponsorship amount?
Yes, you can. If you look at the bottom of the letter paper you get with each letter from your child, it tells you about birthday gifts there. You can send a check with a letter, or you can set up on on-line account and give that way. The money will be forwarded to the project. Someone at the project will take your child shopping and help them pick out what they want. They will use 100% of what you send- nothing is taken out for administrative. Then they will sit down and write you a thank you letter. Remember it might take 3-4 months for you to get the letter. You can do this at any time of year- it does not have to be specifically for a birthday. For Christmas, Compassion will send a letter at the beginning of October asking sponsors to send in their money by October 31. For Christmas, because not all sponsors send a gift and Compassion wants all kids to have a gift, the money is pooled. But for birthdays or other special gifts, 100% of the money goes to your specific child.
It is possible JM and you can send it through your online account if you’d like. Your child will receive 100% of your gift money.
Hello I started sponsoring a girl in Rwanda in may and her birthday was about two weeks away so I sent a gift. Does anyone else sponsor in Rwanda and know the time it takes to receive letters and money gifts. I was hoping money gifts would get there faster.
Hi Holly — I don’t sponsor in Rwanda, (I do sponsor in a nearby country, Ethiopia.) My rule of thumb is to send money gifts 3 months prior to my child’s birthday. That gives the money time to be recorded at Compassion, forwarded to the child-center, and it allows time for the family and workers at the child-center to decide what the money will be used for and to purchase the items.
I also use the 3-month rule of thumb for birthday cards, Christmas cards, etc.
But keep in mind, a money gift or a letter are a blessing anytime. 🙂 I think it’s great you sent it, even though her birthday was only two weeks away.
I have a question about birthday gifts. For my child’s Feb birthday I sent $10. I have never heard a word about whether he received it or what he may have bought with it although I have asked him and he doesn’t respond to that. I am thinking maybe he didn’t receive it? I am leery about sending money because I want to know that it is going to him (or his family). I am considering sending a monetary gift for the family but…. should I? How can I be sure they receive it?
Lizzie,
I’ve visited Compassion in 5 countries and have been very impressed with the integrity and making sure the funds get where they are going. They showed me receipts from what they bought for every birthday gift I sent. I’m sure the money got to your child. But they have to get the money, schedule time for someone to take him shopping, then later write the letter, and of course the letter has to go through the translation and mailing process. So it is slow and sometimes a letter slips through the cracks. But I’m very confident from what I’ve seen over the years that he got the money.
Regarding family gifts, it’s hard to know what the families need and asking probably won’t get you anywhere. The project workers won’t want them asking for anything. Your monthly gift is such a blessing and they dont want to be asking for more. I would suggest sending a small gift and see what they do with it. When I sent a family gift to my girl in India they told me they bought food, I knew they needed the money and kept sending gifts. If the parents “sometimes work as a farmer”, in many countries that means during the 6 months of rainy season, there is no work, and food is hard to come by. The project workers will work with the family to decide what they need, such as a bed, a chair, a goat. Bless you for wanting to help.
Thank you, Sandra. I called today and Compassion is going to check with the country to see what he purchased. I am confident he received the b’day gift but am just curious as to what he got with it. I am going to send a family gift in July and hopefully they will be able to get something they need – like possibly food. I am just not sure how far $20, $50, $100… goes, for example. I am sure every little bit helps though! Bless you also and thanks again.
Hi Lizzie- We always send a birthday gift and family gift every year to our sponsored children and it takes anywhere from 4-6 months before we receive a reply. They always send us a Thank You letter and tell us exactly what they purchased. Sometimes they send us pictures of what they purchased. They keep very detailed records of what they purchase and always include a copy
of the receipt and the exact cost of each item to the last penny. We know this because we saw it when we went to El Salvador to visit our sponsored children. The project staff at the child’s center keeps a personal file on each child along with all the details of monetary gifts received and how the money was spent. If you do not receive anything between 4-6 months of when you sent the gift, then call Compassion and they should be able to give you information on it.
Thanks so much for your reply, Stefanie. Very helpful. Sjaina, yes, i will call Compassion tomorrow and see if I can find out that information and thank you also. I would like to know if the family needs something but i am not sure how to find that out. I have asked my child but he doesn’t respond to that. I know there are Gufts of Compassion but I am wondering if they need money for a bed, a stove, things like that.
It takes 2-3 months for your child to receive your gift and around 2-3 months for you to receive their letter letting you know what was purchased. So your child would have received the gift sometime in May and you should receive a thank you letter by August.
Oh no, I mailed the gift in December, 2011 for his February 2012 birthday. He would have received it long ago. I have never heard whether he did and have asked but I get no response to the question. It was debited on my account but I just wondered if he got it. It sort of makes me leery about sending another gift if he is not getting to go to the store to get something.
Since it has been longer than 6 months, please contact us at (800) 336-7676. We will contact our field office to find out what was purchased.
Hi there. I’m a bit confused about what all we’re allowed to mail and what we’re not.
The “Tips for Mailing Small Gifts” page (https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm) says no plastic, but earlier in comments someone said you can send items in plastic ziplock bags.
Also, it says no metal – what about things like a staple or paper clip that hold our items together?
I don’t understand the labeling process. I planned on putting all of my items (paper coloring pages, stickers, paper artwork, etc.), including my letter, into a gallon ziplock bag. Can I just label the ziplock bag with sponsor’s name.number and child’s name/number — or do all the contents in the bag need to be labeled as well. If the latter is the case, how should we label them – write on them with pen or use a mailing sticker?
Thank you so much. It would be really helpful if there was a formal Q&A page on Compassion’s website that collects all the great questions/answers on this blog post and put all the mailing restrictions/allowances in one place for us. You guys are awesome at answering all of our individual questions though – thank you for that!
Kaitlyn, you may use staples and plastic bags to hold your items together. While it is wise to label everything you send, you can definitely simply label the outside of the plastic bag. While you are not able to send plastic or metal items to your child, you can use staples and plastic bags as they have no resell value when going through customs. You can find the Q&A page you are looking for here: http:// support.compassion.com
I’ve sent my children photo books made with scrapbooking paper and stickers. I put pictures of everyone in my family including myself and wrote a little “about me” section next to the photo. I explained who everyone was and how old they were. Then i put a family photo at the end. I punched holes in the end and wove very thin string between the holes for a binding. They received the photo books and told me how much they loved it. I have also sent folders with stickers and coloring sheets in them for my children for special gifts. And I try to always send a little packet of coloring sheets to my children too. I staple 3-5 sheets together and send them with my letters.
I sent a small cross stitch that stated, “God Is Love” with little flowers on it to my sponsored child. On the back I wrote her name and ID number and translation and sewed it to the cross stitch as a backing piece. I let her know I made it special just for her. I am still waiting to receive a letter back. I have also sent small wallet pictures that I took of animals, flowers, my family, fish, scenery pictures at different times, stickers, and small color sheets. She is always happy to receive my many letters. I send those special things in a card. Make sure both yours and child ID and name are on all items you are sending. My next project will be a cross-stitched bookmark with her name on it. Hope these ideas help.
I would like to know more about correspondence children. Things such as: How do you become a correspondor? How much will you know about the child and who possibly actually sponsors them? Etc. Any information is welcome. Thanks!
Call Compassion and have them place you on a waiting list to be a correspondent. Once they have a child for you to write to you will receive a sponsorship packet of the child. You do not know who the financial sponsor is. Its that simple. Hope this helps.
Could I send stamps for a stamp collection, a few at a time?
Yes, you’re welcome to send stamps to your child.
I have been trying to find ways to help my 12 year in Mexico with educational things. Spanish like our english; math like ours and so on. Does anyone have any ideas on where to look or go to be able to help her with these things. You know like worksheets, games and so on. Thank you
Hello!
I found this cool sight just the other day. It has lots of coloring sheets, but some have to do with simple math and such. http://www.321coloringpages.com/
Hope that helps some.
Lizzie 🙂
Thank you I will try that!
I have been writing our sponsored children on the very day of their birthday, telling them also how WE celebrated it. Their response was overwhelming – they really appreciate that -::).
Marianne
Brilliant Marianne, just what I needed to read! I was thinking just today about whether we should have a special Thai meal to celebrate my Thai sponsor child’s birthday next week and tell her all about it! I wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea, but your message has confirmed it. Thanks & God bless
That’s a very good idea! Thanks for sharing! One of my children’s birthdays is today and another is in 10 days. 🙂
What a good idea, Marianne! Maybe I’ll try that!
I have sponsored my little girl Josseline in Honduras since November 2008 she is now 9 years old. I have always written her about myself and husband and sent photos. In 2010 I went through a divorce and it has became difficult for me to write to her. My letters have become very general with photos just of myself. I don’t know how or if that topic should be mentioned. I am now newly married with 2 stepdaughters and would love to share my new life with her but am not sure how to go about this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Yolanda, when I went through a divorce, I told my sponsored kids about it after the fact. It was a very difficult time for me and I didn’t share about it when it was happening. However, I felt it was the right thing to do to share with them after the dust had settled. None of my kids really said anything about it so I don’t know exactly how it affected them. I think that Josseline would like to hear about the changes in your life and would love to celebrate your new family with you. Just keep it simple. She doesn’t need to know all of the details. Maybe explain it to her like you would to a very young child. My husband walked out on me while I was out of town attending my grandfather’s funeral, but I didn’t tell my Compassion kids that. All I told them is that things got difficult in our marriage and my husband decided he didn’t want to be married anymore. Hope that helps!
The children are used to seeing divorce, broken families, etc. so it won’t be something she can’t understand. Since she was 4-5 years old when you first started writing, she might not have noticed a change and might not be wondering anything. I wouldn’t feel you have to apologize or explain anything about the letters. You still wrote her, and that is what is important to her. Whether the letters were vague or specific, she felt loved receiving them.
I would say something simple about having gotten remarried and you have two stepdaughters. If you talk about the divorce, I would try to put a positive spin on it, like, “In 2010, my husband and I separated and I was very hurt. I appreciate your faithful prayers for me during that time. I know they helped. God’s love has helped me to heal.”
I would make sure she understands the new marriage will not make any change to her. That is, now that you have two stepdaughters, you aren’t going to give up her. So you could say something like, “I have told them about you and we will all pray for you as a famiily” or “they are excited to learn about you and helped me pick out these stickers for you.”
I think Josseline would like to hear about your problems as well as the good things in life. Being nine, she will probably not be completely mature yet, so you may want to water it down a little. One thing I noticed is that when I first wrote to my child, in the first letter she told me she was praying for me. These children understand hardship: it is their life. If we only tell them about the good things we experience, they’ll be happy for us but will think of our lives as too perfect. It would be best if we gave them some way to know our own struggles while still knowing that we care about theirs. Knowing what you yourself are going through, she will have something specific to pray for you about. She will probably have noticed already that you’re letters are more general and she is probably worried that something is wrong but doesn’t want to ask you in her letter. As for how to mention it, acknowledge that you’re letters have been vague and then explain that it is because you have been going through a hard time etc. etc. I’m sure she wants to know everything about you, including you’re problems. Just make sure it isn’t too harsh. Just let her know.
They should understand about graduation. It may be an exciting time for her family because she may be the first one in her family to graduate.
I forgot the second part of my question: I would like to send her a gift but would a gift in November for graduation be too close in time to a Christmas gift in December?
The gifts would be handled differently. For Christmas, the funds are pooled and all children receive a gift. Often it is clothing. For a gift for graduation, like a birthday gift, the child is taken shopping by a project worker and allowed to select something. I have kids with birthdays in November, and I send a birthday gift in November and then the Christmas gift as well. So I don’t think they are too close together.
I sponsor a girl in Uganda who will be taking her primary exit exams in November. I know she will do well on her exam and I want to send her a graduation card. My question is: do other countries celebrate graduations like we do in the US or should I explain everything to her and tell her about other graduates in the family?
I don’t tell my kids about eachother, and I agree with Jan… these kids often have nothing of their own, and I think it’s important that they feel that the sponsor is their own. I certainly wouldn’t lie to my kids if they asked… but I don’t think it’s important to tell them otherwise.
We don’t give specifics about our sponsored children to our other sponsored children both financial and correspondence. We do tell them that we are sponsoring and praying for children in these countries…
I do not tell our sponsored children about each other. This is my reasoning: At one time we had 8 children~some sponsored, some correspondence children. Some of them have left the program for one reason or another~the last one was a heart breaker for me, and I pray for her every night. We have 3 children now~two are sponsored, one is a correspondence child. I’m glad I don’t have to explain to any of these children why the others left. I wouldn’t want to give them any ideas about not finishing school, or not finishing the program. And in the case of our little Correspondence boy in Tanzania, i think it’s very important that he think he’s very special to us.
Our sponsored kids have been mentioned to the others. I don’t think it takes away from their specialness, but instead reveals our great love. They pray for one another along with our family.
Another question, especially for those writing to 2 or more children:
I’m putting together a small ‘About Us Family Book’ with pictures and small tidbits of info about our family to send to my Compassion kids. One of the things I’ve considered adding to it was the pictures of the children we sponsor, as part of our “family in Christ”. I’m just wondering if it’s a good or bad idea for the individual children to know that we sponsor other children through the program as well. I don’t want to take away the “I’m special” feeling from them but I think they might enjoy feeling ‘connected’ through us to kids in other countries too. Any thoughts on this?
We sponsor a 5 year old girl in El salvador. We took her picture to the local photo store and had it blown up, we than cut it out and laminated it. My girls take “her” everywhere we go. We take photos of “her” enjoying the beach, the amusement park, the museums, vaccations, riding our pony, sitting at our kitchen table, blowing out birthday candles, playing in the yard, cooking, sleep overs, etc. Than send her the photos. My girls love the idea of including their “sister” in everything they do and it is a nice way for her to feel remebered and loved.
That is an adorable idea! Kind of like flat stanley!
I’m wondering if a homemade card/paper craft with small pieces of velcro, ribbon or small scraps of fabric (laminated) either glued or taped to them might go through. For our two sponsored children, I’m considering making various lap books, cards, etc. with possibly some of these things decorating the inside or outside or to help tie or secure them closed on the outside. I’d need to know this before I get too far in the planning and creating process. Thanks!
So I’ve started working on family-themed lapbooks for our 2 Compassion kids. (We’re considering sponsoring 1 or 2 more so it may be 4 of them.) What I’m wondering is: for those of you who have more than 1 child, do the children know about each other? I’m considering adding a “family in Christ” page with the pictures, names, countries, etc. of each of the children we sponsor. I don’t want to take away the feeling of being special from the kids, but I also think they might think it is cool that they are connected to other kids around the world through us. Any thoughts on this? I’d appreciate any insight others may have… thanks!
I made little nativity scenes with layers of scrapbook paper for my kids for Christmas and they went through just fine. I laminated each backdrop and taped them together to make a trifold and then attached laminated paper dolls with sticky tak so the kids could move them around the scene. The girls loved that I had taken the time to make them something myself.
Melonie,
I bought a laminated map with the United States on one side and the World is on the other side at a Knowledge Tree store. This map has a three-hole punch so it will fit in a binder. I have friends that live all over the United States so I ask them to send me two postcards of the shape of their state on the front of the postcard. On the back of the postcards there is information about their state. So when I write to my boys, I ask them to find the shape of the state on their laminated map. I want both of my boys to grow-up to be Godly educated men!
I include other postcards in their letters too. In my city we have a AAA baseball team. I tell them about baseball and include a postcard of the stadium.
Other things I talk about in my letters are the my family, weather and sports teams in my city. Whenever I travel I always pick up postcards and share the information with them, I encourage them through “pocket cards” you can get them at the a Christian bookstore, I include bookmarks with scriptures, I tell my boy how special they are and how blessed I am they are in my life.
God nudges me when I need to write my boys. Sometimes I write to them three times a month. Sometimes it’s once a month. You need to realize that it takes 2 to 3 months before they get our letters.
When buying the devotional Jesus Calling by Sarah Young for me, I found Jesus Calling devotional for Kids. I always include a devotional in the letters to my boys.
My first sponsored child, Keven was four years old when I started sponsoring him. He is now 11 years old. My second sponsored child, Kelvin is now 12 years old. I have had him four years. In June I will be going on the Compassion trip to Honduras. God worked out all of the details for me to make this trip. During the trip, I will get to spend one day with Kelvin. I have no doubt that I will come back a changed person! Thank you Jesus!
Blessings!
Con
Con, I have a sponser child in Honduras, maybe you will be taking some pictures of the children at our child’s project. Any way to add you on OC to see if my child in there? Thanks, Kelly
Does anyone has suggestions for writing to a young compassion child? My compassion child is 5 yrs old. I have written to him acouple of times and since sponsering him last fall and each letter is a little harder to find things to say.
Melonie,
I, too, have struggled with things to say to young children. One thing I’ve realized is, I don’t have to fill the page! A short letter will be welcomed.
Here’s a simple model.
1. begin with the same type of greeting the child uses
2. I try to put in a sentence of encouragement, to do well in school, or to take part in activites at the project.
3. I ask a question, so the child has something to answer. Often it is about the weather. Are you in the rainy season now or the dry season? Or about the project. What is your favorite thing to do at the project? Or the family. How many brothers and sisters do you have? Or what is your favorite food?
4. I answer any questions from the child, or if there were no questions, I tell them something simple, often related to the question. Here it is spring. I am planting tomatoes in my garden. On Saturdays I like to ride my bike.
5. I tell the child I am praying for him/her, and maybe add a specific item I am praying for (health, family, etc).
6. I add a Bible verse.
That’s it- a half page. I do feel like I am repititious, talking about the weather a lot, but to many of the children, that is important. Family is also important.
Another idea is for you to make 2 copies of a coloring page. You color one, and send both to the child, asking him/her to color the other and return it.
A post card of your city is a good conversation generator. Is your city bigger or smaller? Is your city near the ocean? mountains? Some of these questions you may already know the answer to, but they are good things to ask the child.
Thanks for commenting on this.
I just sponsored a 4 1/2 year old from Ethiopia and would love some help on ideas of what to send her.
This helped but, anymore ideas anyone??
Emily
Emily: I have a 5 year old in Bangladish and the items she responsed most to was photos of family, Snow and I put leaves as they changed colors and put them between Contact paper. She had not heard of snow and was concerned how I got outside even though it was pretty.
I found these adorable dollhouse kits at the dollar store. the cardstock is about the thickness of a file folder or sturdy greeting card, and the size of a 9×12 pocket folder. i have sent pocket folders in the past without a callback or return note on my sponsor account, and have heard others send them successfully without having to cut it down to 8.5×11. i’ve also heard others successfully sending lapbooks made of file folders. therefore, i’m wondering, would these dollhouse kits go through??? you can see a pic of it here (3rd pic from the top): http://cardboardcrafter.blogspot.com/2012/03/dollhouse-finds-at-dollar-tree.html
Lani, that is SO CUTE!! The material is just fine, the size is fine, (as long is it’s no more than 1/4″ thick.) The only thing I question is whether this still fits in the required “document” category at customs.
If you don’t mind, I’m going to take this over to the Got Question? Get Satisfaction section of the blog and see what a Compassion employee has to say…. I’ll report back. 🙂
I heard back from Shaina Moats:
“Hey there! I checked with the correspondence supervisor and he said these should go through just fine. They’re adorable! Definitely a great find.”
🙂
YIPEE!!! Thanks for looking into it, Lisa. You do an awesome and important job on this blog!
Thanks, Lisa! I dropped it in the mail yesterday (just the dollhouse frame, tucked inside a pocket folder… wonder if that would make it a “document”… then sending the rest of the kit in the next mailing) . I guess I’ll find out in the next week or so if it won’t get through. But I would still like to know what answer you get. There are several sponsors on OC who would like to send these and want to know the answer, too.
Hi, I have a small photo album I would like to send my child. It has plastic sleeves for the pictures. Will that be a problem?
Also I have a couple postcards that have glitter on them – is that ok?
Hi Julie — The postcards will be just fine.
The photo album may not go through. You can try to send it that way, but they will probably take the photos out and either send back the album or donate it locally. I think the best way to send photos is in an envelope, labeled with your child’s name and number and your sponsor number.
Compassion also has a suggestion for making a homemade album on their website:
Collect pictures of your family and make a small photo album for your child.
Items needed:
•Variety of family pictures
•Five to 10 pieces of construction paper or fun scrapbooking paper
•Glue or double-sided tape
•Two small pieces of string
Glue or tape a picture onto each page and indicate who is in the picture, what this person likes and dislikes, his or her hobbies, age, birth date and other fun facts. Continue with remaining pictures. Finish the album by stapling the paper together or tying the paper together with two small pieces of string to keep album intact.
Lisa, I just made some similar books, sketch books actually, but with blank pages for them to draw their own pictures. I made one for my sponsored child and one for each of his 4 siblings. I painted names and such on the front and was wanting to put contact paper on the front to protect it. I believe I had 2 different answers regarding the use on contact paper and don’t want to use if there is any doubt they will not go through. I would also like to use the contact paper on my lapbooks and such. Here are photos of a my sketchbooks and one lapbook.
http://photobucket.com/compassion
I’ve sent a small puzzle a while back- I made up the puzzle on top of a piece of card to give it support before wrapping it in saran wrap (we call it cling film here in the UK). I labelled the back with my sponsor number and my childs number. I opened out the box -it was one with flaps at both ends- and pressed it flat and sent it in the same package so she would have the picture to follow. I don’t know if it went through though as Compassion UK don’t contact sponsors about items they cant send.
Or you could send a piece at a time. But that could take a while! 🙂
Any ideas on how to send puzzles? I bought some Bible story themed puzzles from the Dollar Store. Assembled, they fit the size requirements. But how to keep them together? I tried saran wrap, that was quite unsuccessful… Anyone have other ideas? Thanks!
I am going to try attaching a tiny piece of tape to each piece and mounting it on a sheet of csrdstock. Hopefully it will come off easily and not damage the puzzle.
Maybe you can try putting the puzzle between two pieces of paper. Put a few small pieces of tape around the sides so the papers stay tight. Lastly, put it in a tight fitting envelope or take a large paper to wrap around it tightly. That should hold it stiff. I have never tried this so let us know if it works and if it doesn’t, what you end up doing.
Hello all!
I always knew you could send cards with music, however finding a decent one was always hard for me. A sponsor recently shared with me that you can personalize (choose music, add pictures, change words, etc….) cards at hallmark.com I made a birthday card for my one girl. And I got it in the mail just the other day. I love it!! So I thought I would share it with all of you
Lizzie 🙂
I am putting together a package to send my sponsor child, and was wondering if I could send a folder with metal prongs holding the pages together, or if I should just tie them together with string.
Thanks 🙂
Hi Andrea — Standard-size folders do go through, but I would avoid the ones with metal clasps. I would tie the pages together with a string.
You could still put the finished product in a folder. Just slip it in one of the pockets and send it that way. 🙂
I don’t know if this sight has been shared yet, but I found a wonderful website where you can use these templates to create photo albums. Print them and send them to your child
myscrapnook.com
here are some albums that I created.
http://www.myscrapnook.com/scrapBook/?action=thegallery&id=246890
http://www.myscrapnook.com/scrapBook/?action=thegallery&id=246715
For more ideas on things for compassion children, folks, check out http://www.bloggingfromtheboonies.com. I have found it incredibly helpful. Thanks, Michelle!
Hi, a couple more questions 😀
When there is fabric is incorporated on a purchased greeting card, is it okay to send? What about other items incorporated such as foil, tissue paper, or string? Also, is rubber such as erasers okay to send as long as its thin enough?
Thank you,
Emily
Tissue paper is okay. My only advice would be to make sure that whatever you send is sturdy enough to make it through the mailing process. (I’d hate for you to send something and have it torn.)
String is allowed if it is two pieces of simple string to attach pieces of paper together. If it’s used as a tassel, or a braid, or something more elaborate than simple string to fasten paper, it won’t go through.
Fabric, rubber and foil — I would avoid those entirely even if they are just small pieces incorporated in a card. (Erasers won’t go through.)
Here’s the link to the list of what’s allowed and what’s not. Sometimes I get ideas of things to send just looking through the “Items that can be sent list”:
https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
Hi- I send stickers and other fun things that are within the guidelines to our sponsor child in Uganda. I write her name and number and the sponsor’s name and number on each item. However, I never connect them to the letter in any way- I just stick them in the mailing envelope along with everything else. She never comments except for the photos and letters. Does that mean she isn’t getting them?
Thanks!
You’re labeling everything correctly, so I’m confident she’s getting them. 🙂 Compassion typically loads those extras into an envelope, which is attached to your letter. So it all goes together.
Great! I’m so glad. Thanks for that. Do you think it would be better if I send them in a plastic sleeve or Zip Lock® bag?
Thanks,
Emily
Great question! Either way your items will go through. But one nice thing about sending them in a plastic sleeve, baggie or separate envelope is it saves Compassion from having to use their own envelopes. They will attach your plastic sleeve, baggie or envelope to your letter and it will go through that way. I think it’s nice to help the organization conserve their resources in this way.
Thanks for your advice!
Blessings,
Emily
By the way, thank you for all you are doing on this post’s comments to answer people’s questions! Great job! 🙂
Emily, thank you so much. That’s such a kind thing to say. 🙂
Hi! I’m Tabitha and I just received my sponsorship packet in the mail today. I am sponsoring a little boy in Indonesia. I’m very excited about writing my first letter! Does anyone know how fast I can expect my letter to get to my child?
I have a little girl in Indonesia. It usually takes three months for me to get her letters.
For us (our child is in Uganda) is takes approx. 2 months. I know, a long time!!!
Hi Lindsey,
You might try Walmart. If you’re able to shop online, Amazon or Ebay would also be good places to check.
Can someone tell me where they have picked up soccer trading cards? I’ve checked Target, Wegmans, and the dollar store: soccer is about the only sport that I can’t find.
I’m loving the Letter Writing Ideas page over at Pinterest. Check it out!
http://pinterest.com/compassion/letter-writing-ideas/
I have a few questions. I sponsor a child in Burkina Faso. How long does it take for the letter to reach her? Also, I’m only on the third letter or so and I already feel like I’m running out of things to say. Any ideas? I’ve only gotten one letter from her and I’ve answered all her questions. Now what do I do? I almost feel like it’s too early to start talking to her personally, since I don’t know her very well. Any advice?
Hi Mary — It takes about 3 months (more or less) for your letters to reach her.
I think my best suggestion would be to, in each letter, ask one or two questions about them, their country, their interests, etc. Number the questions and highlight them so they stand out and the child center workers know that you’d like an answer. That gives the child something specific to write about
We also have done a “my favorite things” letter. (Favorite holiday, favorite Bible verse, etc.) We made a list of some of our “favorites” and put a piece of clip art next to each one to illustrate it. (Or you could draw something next to each, if art is a talent of yours.) That turned out cute and we discovered some mutual interests with our child that way.
I don’t know the age of your child, but for the little ones we tell them about our pets; about our holiday/church celebrations; what our children are doing; we send easy-to-memorize Bible verses; we send a lot of postcards and stickers; a lot of encouragement to do well in school, at home, in church.
With our older ones we talk about our education (where we went to school, what we liked about school); our jobs; current events in our country and theirs; what God is doing in our lives; an occasional prayer request; Bible verses and encouragement.
No matter what you put in your letters, simply receiving your letters will make that child feel special and cared for.
Do post back and let us know how things are going! 🙂
Thank you! This is very helpful. I will definately try the favorite things idea. She is seven, by the way. Thank you!
Lisa,
Our child is in Tanzania, he is turning 18. I am concerned. Is there an age they are dropped from Compassion and all correspondence to him has to be sent a different way.
Also, If our child has a younger brother, is there a way to know if his brother has been sponsored or if I can continue and add the brother as a sponsored child.
Hi Loretta — The age range for sponsored children is 3-22. The child centers work with the families to determine the child’s completion date. This date is based on factors including age, when your child will complete school, etc. (So, for some children the completion age may be 18. For others it may be later.) If your child is getting close to his completion date, the date should be recorded in your account. You can either find that information in your account online or call Compassion’s customer care department and they will check your child’s info.
(800) 336-7676, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. MT.
When your child completes the program, Compassion will give you the option of either ending your correspondence and sending a final letter OR you may sign a release for your contact information to be shared with the child and you may continue corresponding on your own. If you decide to continue on your own, Compassion does not facilitate letters or translate letters. You would send letters/email directly to your child and they would send letters/email directly back to your address/email account.
There is an excellent discussion on this topic over at “Got Questions? Get Satisfaction.” Here’s the link:
https://support.compassion.com/compassion/topics/continuing_correspondence
As for your child’s younger brother, Compassion will be able to tell you if he is in the program and whether he is available for sponsorship. You can call the customer care line for that, as well.
I sponsor two children through Compassion. One of my kinds has a birthday coming up in June. I know that we’ll be sending a monetary gift for him. Does this need to be sent 3 months in advance like letters, or just the month prior?
Hi, Jennifer,
The sooner the better! The money travels the same route as your letters. The Compassion US office has to send funds to your child’s country. The country office has to send the funds to the project. Then the project worker has to schedule time to take your child shopping to buy the present. Of course, the child will be happy with a present whenever he gets it, but if you want to make sure it arrives in time for his birthday, at least two months in advance will give time for all the steps.
Hi Jennifer — I think it’s definitely a best-practice to send your monetary gifts three months in advance, if you can. This allows time for the money to be recorded, transferred to your child’s country and it gives the child center adequate time to coordinate the selection of gifts.
That’s so nice of you to send a birthday gift! 🙂 One of my little guys recently bought a mattress with his birthday gift. It has been my experience that the families do use that money wisely and it is a blessing to the entire family.
Does anyone know if we can send friendship braclets to our children. I do a lot of these and would like to send my girls each one
Hi Chris — I saw this topic recently covered in the “Got Questions? Get Satisfaction” section of the blog. The most recent answer to this is that friendship bracelets don’t go through. Here’s a link: https://support.compassion.com/compassion/topics/string_bracelets
I’m so sorry! I feel like the Grinch who stole Christmas every time I have to shoot down someone’s cool idea. But, as I mentioned the other day, if you know of someone who is going to be visiting your child’s country, they CAN take your gift over for you and the country office will make sure it is delivered to your child. (it’s getting the object from the U.S. into the child’s country, through customs, that presents the problem for Compassion. Extra fees, customs rules, etc.) Once it’s in-country, they can arrange for your child to get it, no problem.
Go to ourcompassion.org to sign up and meet people who are getting ready to go on child visits. 🙂
From my experience of several years are a sponsor and correspondent, I think the Correspondence kids will think it is great that you are adopting, so many times we in this country think that the kids we sponsor think like we do, for instance being jealous of your adopted child, I know that when I tell one of my Compassion about my other compassion kids, they are so excited and want to know what their hobbies are, etc, they all say to tell the other child hello for them and that they love them and even that they will pray for them. I think it would be ok to tell them. It would be a great avenue for getting your Compassion kids to pray for you and your child.
I have a question… My husband and I are currently in the process of adopting a little girl from Latin America who has Down syndrome. We sponsor two children, one from India and the other from Guatemala. How should we adress this with our sponsored children. Should we tell them? Will they be excited or jealous? Will they understand? The boy is 14 and the girl is 6. Should we wait until she is home to tell them? I want these children to be a part of our lives and do not want to hold this from them but I do not know how to approach it. Any suggestions?
If you would like, you can follow our adoption journey here: http://followingourcallingdaily.blogspot.com/
Will paper beads on an elastic cord go through? What about a small quilt block, just as long as they are less than 1/4″ thick? I have been trying to think of things that I can make myself to make it more personal, but still last for a little while.
Jenny, something else I thought of after I posted yesterday — if you can find someone who is heading to your child’s country, he or she can deliver things like quilt blocks, paper beads on elastic, etc., to your child for you. Both of those gifts are quite perfect for an in-person delivery because they are small, light and would fit easily in someone’s suitcase.
If you join up over at ourcompassion.org, you can make some connections and scout out folks who are getting ready to head over to your child’s country on a Compassion tour. I’ll bet someone would be willing to help you out.
Hi Jenny — Those ideas are both so cool, but unfortunately neither would go through. Cloth and elastic bands are both on the “can’t send” list. I’m so sorry. Here’s a link to that list, if that helps: https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
Just an idea — something a lot of us have been getting into lately are “lapbooks.” If you Google “lapbooks” in Google Images, you can see some examples. They are a little more crafty than the average letter. And, as long as you make them out of paper, and make them keeping in mind that you don’t want something too fragile that will fall apart in transit — they will go through.
Laminated bookmarks are another thing I’ve made that have gone through. I have a few pics on my blog of those and a couple pics of simple lapbooks I’ve done.
https://childsponsorchat.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Lisa. What if I just make the paper beads and send them without being on a cord? I am a new sponsor, and still unfamiliar with the things I can and can’t send. Is string allowed on a homemade paper book as a binding to keep it together?
Jenny,
How about a ‘flat’ paper bracelet?
http://fluffyland.com/blog/index.php/starburst-wrapper-bracelet-tutorial/
(I’ve made one from craft paper and sent it in my Easter package to my sponsor child. I pressed it down flat to send it. Hope it gets through!)
Thanks, Tracey! I’ll definitely have to try this!
Welcome to Compassion! It’s so great to have you here as a sponsor. 🙂
The guidelines for mailing items are that they be:
* no larger than 8 1/2 x 11 inches,
* no thicker than 1/4-inch, and
* made out of paper or paper products.
The items we send must fit into the “document” category when they go through customs. (So basically things that are paper and flat.) Compassion also avoids sending things that would have substantial resale value if stolen. For example, books/booklets will have their covers removed. That takes it from a “book” category and puts it back into the “document” category at customs.
With the paper beads, you may run into a problem with them being too thick. BUT, if you feel that they fit within the size guidelines, you could try to put them in a small baggie and send them. Just make sure that you label the outside of the baggie with your sponsor number and child number.
If they don’t go through, Compassion will contact you and the beads will either be donated to a local charity OR they may be put in an Operation Christmas Child box and sent overseas that way. (Through an organization called Samaritan’s Purse.)
The string question. GOOD QUESTION! 🙂 This topic has been bandied around quite a bit with different answers from different people. Shaina M. over at the “Got Questions? Get Satisfaction” page is going to get us the definitive answer and let us know ASAP. Either she or I will get back to you on this, hopefully today.
Hi Jenny — Shaina M. posted back about using string to secure homemade paper booklets. The answer is, yes, we can use simple string. Here’s what she had to say on the topic:
“YES! You can use string to “bind” your paper items. We just can’t accept anything that would have value made out of string- like a bracelet.”
So you can use a simple piece of string to secure pieces of paper in a booklet format — but don’t go nutty with the macrame, or whatever. 🙂
I found some great cardstock material stencils at Dollar Tree. They are about 5″x”5 and 8 to a pack several varieties to choose from:) They also have a lot a different school/classroom and vbs type paper items and learning tools that would be great to send. I also had the idea of cutting out some of the pics off color book pages and making various little crafts. Some color books have cut outs on back cover such as bookmarks, puzzles, memory game cards, picture frames and even lil bracelets:)
i found these small water color books at a discount store today. you can see pictures on amazon, but they were only $1 to $1.50/ea in store:
http://www.amazon.com/Savvi-Magic-Paint-Posters-Tattoos/dp/B006OTVLD6
would they go through processing w/ the paint? the paint is as thin as the paper. the child will need a wet q-tip or paint brush (which i hope they have in the project centers) to activate the paint. btw, can q-tips be sent? they’re under 1/4″ thick.
also, i read somewhere that document folders go through. is that still true? these folders (9.4 x 11.9 in) are slightly bigger than 8.5×11 paper.
Yes, I have sent those type of water color books before. I hoped they would have someway of using the paint, otherwise they could always just be colored!
And yes, folders go through, even though they are bigger than 8.5×11.
I buy my holiday greeting cards a year in advance and save them until the next year. For example, I bought my child an Easter card last year when they were in the stores and put it away until now. I was able to sent him the Easter card this year early enough for him to receive it in time for the holiday. I do the same with Christmas and any other seasonal cards that I want to send.
That’s a good idea. I will get him an Easter card now and one for the family too then continue that pattern. Thanks for the tip.
Dear Sara,
It’s great that you have written and sent so much to your child. If you have written 2 or 3 emails since November, that’s more than a lot of sponsors do. Compassion only requests 3 letters annually, and it sounds like you are doing way more than that. I wouldn’t try to do too much explaining. I usually start out saying how pleased I was to receive their letter, and that I am praying for them.
The children pray for their sponsors, so if there is something you could ask the child to pray for, they would love to do that. If it is complicated, you could just ask her to please remember your family in her prayers.
The words of encouragement in the letters will do more for the children in the long run than stickers and other gifts. Saying you are important, God loves you, keep up the good work, etc. counteract the negative messages they are hearing every day where they live. So if you’ve sent 2-3 emails since November, I’m sure your child is re-reading those words of encouragement and being encouraged even if you haven’t been able to write as often as you used to.
hi sandra, thanks for writing. I just wrote her today via the website. it looks like the last i actaully wrote her was end of october and started 2-3 emails which is saved in the drafts. I never sent them. we sent a christmas gift as i know others have. but it makes me feel ALOT better to think the expectation is 3 a year!!!????i couldn’t imagine that. i feel so bad if i dont write every month. thanks you once again for writing.
we haven’t been able to consistently write to our child in bolivia since Novemeber-i used to send alot of things like stickers, etc, but since Novemeber have been busy with family problems and haven’t been able to write. I think we wrote a couple of emails, but not more than maybe 2 or 3. I am really feeling bad about it and I am not sure what to do and how much to explain. even considered asking someone from compasion if they could write and send things til we can again. thoughts?thanks you.
You can also click on “community” and then “journals” then add a new journal asking any questions you may have. However, your journal will only show up to the community if you have your profile set to community instead of private. I just tried a friend search for you, but it doesn’t seem to be working. You could try doing one for me, if you’d like.
Okay, thanks. I will give that a try tomorrow. At work now. Thanks for your help.
Well, I tried visiting Ourcompassion.org and got all signed up and then went nowhere! I sure would like to find others who sponsor children in El Salvador but judging from what I found on the site, maybe its not meant to be because I cannot find a thing on there. Can anyone give me a quick lesson? Thanks!
Lizzie … I sponsor a child in El Salvador and am on OurCompassion … look me up! terry mcauliffe
We have had two children in El Salvador for over 2 years. We chose them from the same project so that, if we are ever blessed enough to visit there, we can meet them both.
Did you create your profile on our compassion ok? Does your child appear on your wall? If so, you should see their project # in blue near their picture. Click on that and it should take you to their project page. And there you will see if there are any other OC members who sponsor in that project.
Ah, okay thanks! There was nothing telling me to click on the project number,. at least not that I saw. I will go back in and do that. Yes, I did create a profile and yes, his picture did appear. Thanks for your help, Linda.
Thanks Alida! I just printed up some career coloring pages for my little guy. I want to encourage him to do something wonderful with his life so I am hoping these will give him inspiration! LOL
Here are some great printable project sheets if someone is looking for ideas of things to send
http://www.kidscraftweekly.com/printables.html
Another quick question for stuff to send…..I’ve seen people post pictures of the packets they send and it seems like they put all the coloring sheets, stickers, etc. inside of either a zip lock bag, or a plastic sleeve (like a page from a 3 ring binder). Do those get forwarded on to the kids, or would the plastic sleeves/bags be thrown away before shipping them to the correct country? Just curious since this might be a good way to organize it all when sending one envelope with stuff for several kids, but I also don’t want to waste money on bags/plastic sleeves if they will just be discarded without being forwarded on (since then my paperclips will do just fine). Just let me know either way. Thanks!
Also, along the lines of the books/coloring books. I’ve heard that when they get to compassion Intl that the covers are removed to take away any resale value. Would it help if I took off the back cover of a book/coloring book, so that they could still see the pretty cover (but still taking away the resale value)? Or would that be removed too?
Hi Katie — The front and back covers do get removed. So sorry about that. 🙁
If you don’t mind, I’m going to take the first part of your question over to “Ask Questions, Get Answers” section of the blog and see if I can get a definitive answer on this for you.
Got an answer. Thanks Shaina M.!
“Yes, we do send the plastic bags/sleeves on to your sponsored child. This is a great way to organize the items you send to your child.”
When I send stickers, I usually send them in the thin little plastic sleeve that comes on the stickers when you buy them. Should I be removing the plastic or is it ok to leave it on there? (Some stickers you buy have several sheets so it just holds all of the sheets together)
Also, I just noticed that it says no stencils on the list. Does that just mean plastic stencils or are paper stencils not ok either?
Hi Crystal — Paper stencils are okay, as long as they fit within the size requirement.
I talked to a gal at customer care about the stickers this morning and we both routinely take our stickers out of the package they come in and put them in an envelope. We label the outside of the envelope with our child number and sponsor number. These envelopes will be stapled to the letter you send, (if you send a letter along with it), and will go to your child’s country in the envelope. It doesn’t hurt to label each sticker sheet individually with a label, as well, in the unlikely event they were to be separated from the envelope.
That’s just the way we do it. And I do that because I’m 100% sure that envelopes will go through — and it prevents the mail room from having to remove any unnecessary packaging. Also, taking it out of the packaging makes it harder to resell if stolen — it removes some of the resale value, making it less desirable for theft.
I’m sure your stickers have gone through in the past, but the mailroom has probably been taking the stickers out of the packaging.
With the envelopes, do you seal them? If you do, will Compassion open the envelope to look inside and then put it in one of their own envelopes? Also, with little paper, treat baggies, do I need to label individually each item I place in the bags?
Hi Emily — I don’t seal the envelopes. Compassion needs to access what is inside to check for content and to translate if necessary. (If the envelope is sealed and they do have to open it, they may either use your opened envelope or one of their own to send the items on. But it’s just easier not to seal it in the first place.) 🙂
With small items inside baggies, my best advice is to label each item IF YOU CAN. (This is helpful in the unlikely event that what’s inside gets separated from the baggie.) But I know it’s not always practical to label those items. For example, I’m sending some sports cards and I don’t want a big mailing label stuck to each one. So I’m just putting a few in an envelope, tucked inside a card. I’m labeling the envelope and the card, but not each individual sports card. Compassion’s mailing system is pretty airtight, so I feel confident that the entire package will make it intact.
Can I send an entire coloring book?? I thought I had to rip out the pages and just send them. but I see Sam’s comment on 2/16 and I’m starting to think I have it all wrong. I am looking everywhere for soccer cards too, if anyone has any ideas. I can buy an entire box for $90 but that’s rather expensive!
Hi Lizzie — Regarding the coloring book, if you send it complete, Compassion will remove the front and back covers before it is shipped overseas. So perhaps your best bet may be to continue removing the individual pages and send them a few at a time, as coloring pages. It’s up to you which way you prefer.
I found some soccer stickers on Amazon that are reasonably priced, (under $5 with shipping):
http://www.amazon.com/FIFA-World-Collector-Stickers-5-Packs/dp/B003N5UE64/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1330016698&sr=1-1-fkmr2
And some soccer cards that are little more pricey, but very nice ($12.95, free shipping on orders $25 or more):
http://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Panini-Metalized-UltraCards-Autograph/dp/B003NH75KK/ref=pd_sbs_t_2
I’ve sent both to my kids around World Cup time. To send them, I take them out of the package, put a few in an envelope, and I put my child number and sponsor number on the outside of the envelope.
At the end of all of my letters, I write a simple Bible verse for them to remember.
I have enjoyed spending the last hour or so reading about ways to bless our sponsored child (and writing to her using the new online form!). I am thinking about sending some stickers and a coloring book. Do you think an 11 year old is too old for a coloring book? Thanks!
No one is too old for a coloring book! 🙂
Great, thanks Steph. I’m hoping the letter turn around is like you said, since that would definitely help in knowing what to keep writing based on what they say. I have joined ourcompassion.com as well which has helped with a few ideas.
Lois……thanks for the tip on just folding a map or poster to the 8 1/2 x 11 size. I kept thinking the paper had to be that sized (so a small poster!) but if I just fold it and it still goes through, that would be a little easier to find something to send (although I might feel bad folding a huge poster up into that many creases, but something is always better than nothing!).
Thanks again for everyone’s ideas.
We just received our first correspondent child today! He is 18 and from Tanzania. Any ideas on what to send an 18 year old boy (other than just letters)? Do they still like stickers or is that too childish? How long on average has it taken letters to go to/from Tanzania in your experiences? Thanks!
We have a boy in TZ and the turn around on letters is really pretty fast. I have recieved his letter in the same month he has written them…but with the new guidlines now that may change and it may be every 60 days that he writes. I do not have any boys quite that old but sports cards are always good I think. I do not know if you know about ourcompassion.com but there are tons of different groups with ideas on there also! Congrats on your new correspondence child.
How about some world maps (you can buy them at OfficeMax, Staples, Lakeshore Learning, folded to 8 1/2 x 11 size). Also, maps of individual countries; information about culture in different parts of the world; pictures and descriptions of foods that we eat here; sports photos; sets of flashcards on nature and/or geography; etc.
Mark,
Those are some really good ideas. In fact, everyones ideas help tremendously. I just recently had my sister in law take a picture of me while I held up a sign with “Hello…(one for each of their names)” printed on an 8×10 cardstock. I was reaching my hand out towards them in each photo. I send personalized printed mazes and coloring pages for them too.
My letters to my child in Rwanda take four months to get back and forth. But it makes them all the more special. Togo seems to be very quick in their mail and India is a long wait too–not as long as Rwanda though.
Thanks for all of your tips on better letter writing!
Mark, I love your “hello” photo idea … may just use that myself!
I was going to be so good and get my Easter packets out on time…..but I cannot find any Easter cards out yet still.
I thought about printing some out, but we have really been trying to go easy on printer ink since starting home school.
Perhaps you could purchase holiday cards this year for next year and put them in a box. Sort them in baggies by holiday.
I am a new sponsor of a 5 year old in Rwanda. Any suggestions of what to write to the young ones?
That is so true. It’s hard to find things early enough to send.
One idea is to have your kids do a homemade card out of construction paper or cardstock, stamps/ink, markers, etc.
There is also the online option.
The pop-up Easter cards are shipping now. These are so very cute:
http://www.qgiftsonline.com/store/pop_up_greeting_card_easter_st_patricks_day.html
Hallmark has their Easter cards available for purchase online.
http://www.hallmark.com/Browse/Index?n=chmkvcusencontentholiday%23%23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Ef30%7C%7C45617374657220342f38%7E%7Ef27%7C%7C4772656574696e6720262050686f746f204361726473%7E%7Eq&ctx=HolidaySearchProfile&pg=1&rpp=&sort=&k=&npath=Easter%204/8%3EEaster%204/8%3EGreeting%20%26%20Photo%20Cards%3ENo%20Photos&availableLocation=Both
DaySpring has Easter cards available online, as well:
http://www.dayspring.com/cards/seasonal/easter/
I hope homeschool is going great for you guys! We were homeschooling up until last year, but my daughter decided to do public school this year. I miss it!
When I travel, I usually buy some post cards and send them with a letter. In the letter, I tell them about my trip or whatever it was I saw. I write the child’s name and number on the post cards, in case they get separated. You can even buy post cards showing your hometown. (For good prices, check a local drugstore or discount store.)
I also like to include words of encouragement or advice, as well as an occasional prayer request. Probably they’re hearing advice from other people, but it’s good to hear wisdom from you too because you’re a special person to them. The prayer request is good for lots of reasons, but one reason is it’s something they can do for me. If there’s an answer to the prayer that you can share, that would be good to include too.
Are we allowed to send those greeting cards that play music or that you can record your voice on?
YES!! As long as they fit within the size requirements including thickness.
Hello Hope!
Yes you can send cards that play music. I am actually planning on sending one of those soon 🙂
Lizzie
I made a cute sticker book for my little girl. It is made from the bottom portion of a folder (so it would have pockets and be slightly more durable than card stock or construction paper) It is decorated with stickers and her name and the pages are made of wax paper and its stapled together. Will this go thru? the back has a bar code on it, do that matter?? It is cut to about half the size of the folder. I want to send it soon if I can.
Hi Reva-
I have sent regular folders and I kow they have gone through so as long as it’s not thicker than the size requirement then you should be good. Happy writing!
How can we send stickers to our child? Do we just use the Compassion address?
Yeah you just send it to the main Compassion office in the country you live in- make sure every item you send had your child’s name and # on it and you name and # somewhere on the packet. I usually staple or use paper clips to attach it to my letters but some people have used baggies or sheet organizers. Be sure it meets the size limitations- 8.5 x 11 and 1/4 thickness.
Hi Maryann — Yes, they go to the regular Compassion address.
Attn: Child Correspondence Dept.
Compassion International
Colorado Springs, CO 80997-0004
Just make sure you have your child’s number and your sponsor number somewhere on the sticker packet. Or you can put them in a separate envelope and put the child and sponsor numbers on the front.
Anything you would like to send your child- letters, stickers, color sheets etc you simply send to the main Compassion office in your country. Be sure that every piece you send has your child’s name and # on it and that your name and # is on the pcket somewhere as well. (in case it would get seperated from the letter) I usually staple or paper clip items to my letters but I know some people use baggies or sheet organizers. Make sure that whatever you send meets the size requirements 8.5×11 and 1/4″ thickness.
Thanks. Maybe I’ll just do more of coloring sheets or something where he can make his own book, since I’d feel bad sending a book they have to rip apart (I love books too much to see that happen!). Then he can always buy some books with birthday money we send eventually if he wants to. Thanks for letting me know.
Can anyone answer whether an email letter will get to our children any faster than a mailed one? My child in Rwanda’s letter took 4 months to reach me and he said he wished I’d write to him. I have been writing and I thought maybe he was one that didn’t like to write! Now I know differently. If email is faster I’ll definitely use it for him and the other children.
Thanks.
Hi Sheila — You will probably shave a few days off the process by e-mailing rather than snail-mailing. But not much more than that.
When you send the letter via e-mail, it still must be printed out in Colorado where they record that your letter was received. It is then sent to your child’s country and put through the translation process before being given to your child.
Three to four months for letters to go back and forth might be standard for Rwanda, especially if your child lives in a very remote location.
There are some countries where it is much quicker, simply due to the customs and mail systems in that country. For example, my brother’s letters to and from his child in the Philippines seem to just zip back and forth. My letters to and from my child in Ethiopia take longer.
Thanks Lisa,
I’m just now seeing that you answered my question! I’m a little lax in reading emails these days!
Hi,
We just signed up last night at a Mercy Me concert to sponsor a young boy in Peru. We are excited to start writing letters (waiting to find out what our sponsor ID # is still) and sending stickers and such. I saw that books were on the “do not send” list, but several people on here mentioned sending books. Is there a guideline of which books are and are not accepted? I’d love to be able to send him a small picture book or something in spanish that he would be able to read, but I also don’t want to waste money on it if it won’t go through, since I could buy him something else instead if that is the case. I know it can’t be a thick book, so I was thinking of the cheaper thin books that are just stapled together at the binding usually. Would this be ok?
Katie I want to congratulate you on becoming a Compassion sponsor. I am also new to Compassion. I signed up at a women’s conference back in Nov. You won’t believe what it does to your heart to receive your first letter. I was so happy I almost cried. And just to think that I am helping this child have a better life is a blessing in its self. I have been so blessed to be a part of Compassion. I couldn’t believe that I had never even heard of CI before Nov. May God bless you in all that you do for your Compassion child…………………………….Kathy
Hi Katie — Congrats on your new sponsorship. That is exciting! 🙂
Very thin booklets that don’t exceed the size requirement and are secured by staples will go through. (For example Dover Little Activity Books.) BUT, I did find out recently that Compassion removes the covers in the mail distribution area.
The whole issue is that they don’t want to send items through the mail that have a marketable value. (i.e. value if resold) Items with a marketable value are much more vulnerable to being stolen in transit. Books/booklets fall into this category. Removing the covers takes away the marketable value. (They actually routinely do this in bookstores when books are being discarded or donated — they remove the covers so that the books can’t be resold.)
So that leaves you with a few options. 1) Send booklets knowing that the covers will be removed. 2) Cut the pages out, hole-punch them and secure them with simple string. (This IS allowed and actually looks very cute.) 3) Cut the pages out and re-secure them with a staple.
I hope that helps! 🙂
If we were to remove the covers and then send the small books/booklets, would those go through like that? Also, if we didn’t remove the covers and since it is removed at CI, where would we label the child’s name, number, etc.? On the inside?
I did want to share one other thing that I found in this blog regarding Compassion International/Operation Christmas Child!
Apparently, during the Christmas season, Compassion takes items that are sent in by sponsors that can’t be shipped via Compassion, (things that exceed the size limit, that aren’t flat and paper, etc.), and they put them into Operation Christmas Child boxes. According to the Compassion blog, last year they were able to make over 200 boxes for OCC. Very cool!
Here’s a link to that. There are pics toward the end of the blog entry with the items spread out on a table and you can see how great some of these things would be in a shoebox:
https://blog.compassion.com/can-i-send-this-gift-to-my-sponsored-child/
Jennifer- I think I remember reading a sponsors blog (cant recall who though) who mentioned to their child that they were ‘doing a shoebox’ and their sponsored child wrote back to say that they had recieved one themselves at one time. So it is possible, if rare. Perhaps you could just tell your sponsored child about Operation Christmas child and that you have filled shoeboxes and she may volunteer the information without being asked. 🙂
Hi Jennifer — I can’t find anything to indicate that Compassion International and Samaritan’s Purse coordinate their Christmas gift programs. So I would say it’s a slim chance that your Compassion child would receive an Operation Christmas Child box.
Samaritan’s Purse works with its own church partners in-country to select recipients for their boxes. If your child’s church or school happened to be selected as a recipient, he or she might get one that way.
Compassion has its own Christmas gift program, so your child will definitely get a Christmas gift via that route. Here’s a link to more info on that.
https://www.compassion.com/christmas-gift-fund.htm
On a side note, (and you may already know this), Samaritan’s Purse has a really cool way of tracking your particular shoebox and they will email you with info on exactly where your box was shipped. I just thought that was really neat and something your daughter might enjoy, so thought I’d mention it. 🙂 Here’s a link to more info on that.
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/followyourbox/
Do children who are a part of Compassion receive Operation Christmas Child Shoe boxes? My daughter wanted me to ask our sponsored child if she received one and I explained I didn’t want to ask in case our child did not. I promised I would write and ask you though! 😉 Our child lives in Kenya. We pack boxes and my daughter hopes our child got one from somewhere. Thank you.
Samaritan’s Purse does work in Kenya, but I don’t believe that they do Operation Christmas Child there: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Where_We_Work/kenya/
Hey Jennifer! While it is possible for a child in Compassion’s program to receive a shoe box from Operation Christmas Child, it is rare. Since receiving a shoe box is not technically being supported by another organization since it is a one time gift, a child could receive a shoe box. We general leave this decision up to the staff in our field office and partner churches to decide what is appropriate.
I bought some stickers the other day thinking they were stuck to paper, only to find out when I opened them that it was actually a plastic backing with a white sheet of paper behind them. Does anyone know if these will go through?
Probably. I think the main way they won’t go through is if they’re puffy, changing the thickness of the envelopes they send.
Thank you Judy. They are flat regular stickers. I was disappointed when I thought I couldn’t send them because they were soccer balls, and I’ve had a hard time finding stickers, etc. that are more masculine than feminine (ie not flowers and butterflies).
I have sent card games like memory, but have never sent a deck of cards. I never receieved any indicationt that my child did not receive them.
I think previously in this blog people have mentioned the cultural problems such an item could cause, like you did Julie.
I would think that you might have to send them a few at a time just to stay within the thickness guidelines.
I break the regular deck of cards into 1/4s, then put them in separate ziploc bags, labeled with my child’s name and number. This passes the thickness requirements.
Melissa,
Do you mind sharing what country your child is in? I’m guessing they didn’t have any cultural problems with cards.
Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya…
Cards can be regular playing cards, memory game, sequence of events picture cards, etc. I’ve found cute shaped playing cards at the dollar spot at Target.
Thanks Melissa
What about thin deck of playing cards? Are we allowed to send that? I found some really cute ones in the shape of soccer balls.
Hi Julie — Playing cards are not on the “do not send” list. But I do know that in some Asian countries, (I’m thinking of Thailand in particular), there are certain laws governing the ownership and use of playing cards — each card has to have a government-stamp on it and cards can only be sold by the government — so Compassion does not send them there.
Also, Compassion avoids sending items that are “marketable” or could be resold and a deck of cards would probably fall under that category. (If you send things with a resale value, it increases the possibility of them being stolen in transit.) You could try sending a few cards at a time and let your child know that the entire deck will come over time.
I don’t know….does anyone else have any thoughts on this?? Has anyone else tried to send playing cards?
I am new and first time to sponsoring child but here in my heart it is a great pleasure to me to experience and share the Lords Grace in our life! Praise be to God.
Criselle, welcome to Compassion. It’s a blessing to have you involved!
I was wonder to they the DC heroes and Marvel Heroes like the more will know like superman and batman X-men, Ironman, Hulk Thor, Spiderman, Captain American etc… in Kenya cause i don’t send him something that might make him sad and depress oh would characters like Car be okay too?
Mary Lou,
One of my kids told me he loves the Hulk and he lives in Bolivia so it’s possible that your child may know who some of those characters are. Similar to what Lisa said, I try to avoid sending coloring pages and stickers where the characters have weapons or are fighting.
Hi Mary Lou — I think almost any cartoon character would be just fine to include in your letters. I’ve sent Cars things, Peanuts stickers, etc. The only thing I would avoid sending are pictures of characters carrying weapons or characters who are drawn wearing immodest clothing.
As to whether they will know who the characters are — that’s an excellent question! I don’t know. Even if they don’t, I’ll bet they’ll still enjoy them. 🙂
On a side note, I was surprised to find out that in my child’s country (Ethiopia) they have a popular children’s character that I’d never heard of. Tsehai the Giraffe. There is only one children’s television program broadcasted in Amharic — “Tsehai Loves Learning” – and it features a giraffe puppet. Apparently Tsehai has become very popular with the kids. Here’s the website in case any other Ethiopia sponsors want to check it out — http://www.tsehai.com/
if you make a birthday card for your sponsor child and right in it will they translate what you wrote in it?
Yes, they will translate what you wrote. If there is not any room inside of the card for translation, they will translate it on another sheet of paper, but your child will recieve both the card and the translation.
Lizzie
I just looked at some ot their Youtube videos as well. How inspiring!
“I’ve also read that in some areas the only toys the children have are things they’ve made from found objects.”
I don’t know how man of you watch The Amazing Race, but in some African country, the groups visited a school where their task was to build a truck the children could pull around out of milk cartons and bottle caps. Gave me a bit of an idea of the “found object” toys that you’re talking about.
ChildFund has a traveling exhibit called “The Power to Play: From Trash to Treasure.” It’s a collection of toys made by children in developing countries from found objects, (leaves, cardboard, discarded plastic bags, etc.) The exhibit is currently at the Providence Children’s Museum in Rhode Island and will be there until February 26. Previously it has been at the National Press Club in DC and a variety of other cities — New York, Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles. They say that children all over the world have contributed to the collection. I’ll have to keep an eye on its whereabouts and mention its location from time to time. It would be very interesting to see, as I’m sure it is a window into the childhoods of our sponsored kids.
p.s. I love the Amazing Race! 🙂
Lisa,
I just checked out some of their youtube videos- very cool. I hope the exhibit one day comes to a town near me because I’d love to see it.
I have been sponsoring a little boy in Guatemala for about a year now. I wanted to send him a gift for Christmas and am wondering if temporary tattoos of cartoon cars or animals would be okay. I enjoyed them as a child but I’m not sure if it would be considered appropriate. There was no mention of them in the gift giving guidelines. Also, is it okay to send a manila envelope so that coloring pages, etc. don’t get bent, or are business and card type envelopes the only thing accepted? Thank you!
Hi Danielle — I think temporary tattoos of cartoon cars and animals are cute and would go through. We did have a discussion about this topic a while back and some were not fans of the temporary tattoos. For me, personally, as long as the image is very cute and child-oriented I like them and I know my 7-year old daughter enjoys them, as well.
Also, it is okay to send a manila envelope to put your coloring pages and things in. Just make sure that the envelope fits the size limit (8 1/2″ x 11″) and I would remove any kind of metal clasps or closures. Label the outside of the envelope with your sponsor and child number — and to be on the safe side, label the contents within — and leave the envelope unsealed so the contents of the envelope can be checked.
Danielle,
I had brought up the idea of temporary tattoos a few months ago, and most of the responses I got suggested I pass due to cultural reasons in some countries.
In regards to the size of envelopes, you can mail them in a manilla envelope as long as the contents inside the envelope is withine the size requirements (the envelope can be larger).
Hope this helps!
Lindsey — I’m so sorry, I didn’t see your post before I posted! Danielle, just to second what Lindsey said, the majority of folks didn’t care for the tattoo idea. I think I was in the minority of people who liked them. In fact, I may have been the only one. 🙂 They will go through, as they are similar to stickers. So it’s your call.
Thats ok Lisa, since they have to approve the posts, ours mights have shown up on the wall at the same time.
Danielle, if you do decide to send them, let me know if you get any feedback from your child.
I had sent them before I read about the possible cultural conflicts…………. but my little girl LOVED them!!! She’d never seen such a thing, and she shared them with other children who loved them too. I haven’t sent them since…. but I would think that if they crossed some cultural line, that they would be intercepted in the office of the country where the children are. Compassion has safety measures for things like this….
So my opinion is just send them if you want to, and be prepared that they may be taken out…… depending upon the country. My little girl is in Honduras. They went through fine. The only reason I haven’t sent more is that I’ve had too many other things to send! 🙂
I like the temp tattoos too. I have sent sparkly flowers, birds, and butterflies. One of my girls thanked me for them, said she liked them!
I put a bible verse at the end of every letter I send! 🙂
At the end of the letter I send to the girl I sponsor, I put a bible verse.
Ok, this is a dumb question, but I was preparing a package for the child I sponsor and it had the usual…stickers, coloring pages, etc… and I thought to myself, when he receives this, what does he think?
So what do these kids think when they get stuff like this? Are they in areas where items like stickers and coloring pages (stuff we take for granted) are not really that common? I’m just curious as to what they are thinking… Thanks.
That’s not a dumb question, at all! From everything I’ve ever heard/seen/read, our letters and goodies mean the world to these kids. I don’t think it’s so much what we send, as that someone cared enough about them to choose them and take the time to send them something.
As to whether these items are common in their area, I guess it depends on where they live. But I don’t believe most of these families have extra money to spend on things like stickers or coloring books for the kids. I think having these items in their homes would be a pretty unique and new experience for a child. I’ve also read that in some areas the only toys the children have are things they’ve made from found objects. When you see videos of Compassion home visits, the objects in the home tend to be basic necessities and furniture. The letters and photos that they get from sponsors are often displayed in the home.
Here’s a link to a variety of articles that talk about the children’s feelings about receiving letters. They’re fun to read!: https://blog.compassion.com/category/about-letter-writing/
Good question! You got me wondering, too 🙂
I have sent photos of my gardening items hay wagon with hay on it and wrote about the above.
I have a question I have a correspondent child and in his letter he referred to me as his sponsor Should I correct him or let it slide? He is 13 years old.
Henrietta, On the web site I’ve seen children refered to as Sponsors or Correspondence Sponsors. When I’ve talked to Compassion representatives, they’ve said that the Child thinks of us as their sponsors. Rather than confuse the child, I let them call me whatever they like~both my sponsored children and correspondence children.
I, personally, would let it slide. I am not sure if the kids get or even know about the whole sponsor and correspondence thing.
We have sponsored a child in Kenya for three years now. I am very sensitive when I write to not include references to wealth or items…however, we either work…a lot…and about the only thing we get to do fun is ride motorcycles. I am wondering if would be appropriate to mention that? Or even send a photo of my on my motorbike? I am running out of things to write about. I don’t want to be a bore, but my life is working in a hospital on a wound care team all the time, and if I am lucky I get to ride a bit. I write about Jesus and what I am studying in the Bible, ask for prayers for our Marine son, pray for our compassion child and her family, but it seems that my letters are the same thing over and over. Never mentioned the bikes. Any ideas? I am generally exhausted beyond words and just discovered the online letter writing ability that uploads photos and that is awesome and will be a Godsend for this worn out RN.
I agree with Sandra. Most places use motorbikes for transportation. I think it would be a good idea to talk about that. Compassion says to talk about your job, but in your case that might be hard 🙂 You can talk about traditions and holidays, too. Maybe you could talk about what you did as a kid when you were his/her age. You could write about the seasons, and if you live where it snows…you have (well you don’t have to but it might be fun) to talk about snow. Have you ever heard Richmond Wandera, formerly sponsored child, LDP, and Moody Bible Institute graduate? He was from Kenya (I think) and he had no idea about the winter months, how cold it was, or snow, or about the shock when you touch a doorknob! I hope this helps you some! I am sure that you kids LOVES hearing from you 🙂
Kris,
I don’t see anything wrong with mentioning motorcycles. In many of the countries where our kids are, motor scooters are a popular form of transportation, much cheaper than a car and easier to get through the traffic jams. So just hearing you have a bike won’t make them think you’re superrich. And you can mention the things you see, rather than the type of bike it is: “Saturday the weather was great so my husband and I rode our motorbikes out in the country and saw lots of beautiful flowers along the roads. We really like getting out in the country and away from the crowded city….”
The kids know we live in houses that are nicer than theirs, that we drive cars, we have televisions. I think when Compassion asks us not to talk about material things, they don’t want us to dwell on them, mentioning we got a new wide-screen TV or a new car. But going places and seeing new things and describing them to the kids helps open up new worlds to them- so if you talk more about what you see and less about the bike itself, you should be fine.
Blessings,
I think you’re right, Sandra. Our girl in India asked me to send her a picture of our car, so I did. Obviously if we were at a similar income level to these children, we would not be able to help them.
I agree about not talking about fancy things, but just showing them how we live is instructive. I hesitated briefly sending a photo of a family meal because of all the food on the table, but then thought that was silly. I figured they would be more interested in the family interaction displayed than the amount of food on our plates.
I’m sure they are as hungry to learn about our real lives as we are to learn about theirs, so I show my real life, in moderation.
[quote comment=”34662″]Hey everyone!
I have been *making* paperdolls for my two girls. I thought that since they like to play with dolls, and you can send paperdolls, why don’t I make some out of pictures? So, I printed off 2 – 5 by 7 photos, one of her and one of me. Then, I glued cardstock on the back of the pictures (this is to stiffen the picture I used her favorite colors). Then I waited overnight, to make sure the glue was dry, then I cut around her and me. I am sending them for Christmas, and I hope she likes them! Oh, if you would like to make them make sure to put the name and numberss of you and your child on the back. :)[/quote]
That is just a fantastic idea Lizzie!! I wish I had thought of it when my girl was younger! 🙂 Thank you for sharing.
I’ve made paperdolls for my 5-yr. old girl in the Philippines and 6-yr. old boy in Rwanda. If any of you are scrapbookers and are familiar with the Cricut die-cut machine, then you know they have two Paper Doll cartridges that can be used to make paper dolls. I make them out of a variety of materials (from paper to cardstock) that Compassion will let go through. I like doing it this way because I can make a variety of dolls/characters for both girls or boys of various sizes with different clothes and accessories. I think they are really cute and am hoping my sponsored kids think so too.
One thing I’ve been wondering: we’re missionaries and do A LOT of traveling for our ministry. I usually take lots of pictures on these trips. Since we bring our 5-6 yr. old daughter with us, we try to make our travels fun for her by visiting inexpensive places in the area that she might enjoy (such as an aquarium, National parks, museums, etc.) Occasionally, I pick up small things (such as postcards, small sticker books, etc.) for my Compassion kids on these trips and send these with some pictures as well as pics from local events and activities that we attend, and our family days (playing in the snow, etc.), and drawings from my daughter.
But I’m wondering: how much do you all think is too much? Admittedly, I don’t write as often as I’d like (my goal is monthly but it turns out to be about every 2 months), so these things do get spread out. But I also want to be sensitive to the cultural differences since I know many kids don’t have the opportunities to travel and experience new places. I don’t want the children to feel like I’m “rubbing in” our opportunities or bragging/boasting either. (Of course, this isn’t my intention!) Compassion’s “Letter-Writing Tips” section of their site say it’s not a good idea to “elaborate on material possessions”, but I’m wondering if extensive travel would follow the same guideline? Basically, I hope the kids enjoy our letters and seeing/learning about new places/things, but I don’t want to overdo it either. Any thoughts/tips on this?
Cindy,
I travel several times a year and have always sent my child letters about it to include pictures or postcards. I try to make sure the pictures are more of “nature” items like animals and flower, or a beach scene (possibly with me in them) than of buildings. When I haven’t mentioned any trips recently, my child will ask me about my travels in her letters and has several times asked me where I’ve traveled. I think if you mention one or two new places that you visit per letter, your kids will love it. There are places that I will probably never travel but I love to hear about what my friends experienced there. Maybe that’s how your compassion kids feel as well?
Hi Cindy,
While I am no expert, I personally think you aren’t doing “too much”. When I was traveling for “work” several times a month a few years back I did the same thing. Bought and mailed postcards from various places around the country. And even occasional regional coloring books or sticker books etc.
I even had co-workers pick up postcards from places I didn’t go.
I also sent a map of the USA and an atlas to both my compassion children and encouraged them in my notes on the back of the post cards to find the places were they came from on the maps.
When I was a child and poor (heck even now I have never traveled outside the US except to Canada a few times) I loved getting postcards from family and friends of our family from various places. It never made me feel jealous or envious. It was exciting to have a personal connection, even one as small as a postcard, to another place in the world. And it made “world geography” so much more interesting to learn about than just reading in a school book.
As a bonus, it made me feel special and loved to know that even when traveling these people still thought about me.
So my advice is to keep doing what you do.
I will note that I personally tried to choose postcards that stressed the landscape, animals, people or culture of a place rather than ones that showed pictures of 5 star hotels or expensive food items. But I did include things like huge bridges or iconic/beautiful landmark buildings. Just so they could see some of the man made wonders in the world too.
I also tried to send post cards to my nieces and nephews, who are poor and with my brother being a drug addict also unlikely to travel much. But it is good to show kids, especially ones in difficult situations, that a world of beauty and interesting things beyond measure exists. That God has created so much for us to be thankful for and learn about. That His vision is so much greater than ours and that an eternity with Him will never be boring. 🙂
I have only been partnering with compassion since like June. But, these are my thoughts anyway. I just recieved my Prayer Partner e-mail from CI. “But most of all, gratitude for their sponsors. For not only the financial support sponsorship brings, but for the letters and photos those sponsors send. For the prayers and relationships fostered. For “I love you” written in a foreign language. Their gratitude overflows.” So, I know that your kids love getting pictures and letter from you. I know that one lady sedns pictures or stickers or coloring pages with every letter to her kids. So, my personal opinion is, as long as you do not write all your letters about all the places you go you’ll be good. Like you can tell them about your trip and the things you sw, but make sure to focus on what they told you in their letters and on a Bible verse or what God is doing in your life. You are impacting your kids’ lives, and God bless you for that.
Hey everyone!
I have been *making* paperdolls for my two girls. I thought that since they like to play with dolls, and you can send paperdolls, why don’t I make some out of pictures? So, I printed off 2 – 5 by 7 photos, one of her and one of me. Then, I glued cardstock on the back of the pictures (this is to stiffen the picture I used her favorite colors). Then I waited overnight, to make sure the glue was dry, then I cut around her and me. I am sending them for Christmas, and I hope she likes them! Oh, if you would like to make them make sure to put the name and numberss of you and your child on the back. 🙂
That is awesome!
Hi. Just wondering if the kids receive a hard copy of the letters we send online now or just get to read it on the computer? If we send pictures, do they just see them once or do the kids have their own email account and our letter and pictures are forwarded to their account so they can at least view them more than once. I’m just not sure how this is working now. Thanks for any input!
Darcy, the new online letter writing tool provides the children with a hardcopy letter, which is how the old online letter writing tool also worked (except without pictures and the many varied borders and color options). Therefore, the children can still read your letter and look at the pictures over and over 🙂
On another note, not all projects have the funds for the children to have computer classes (and therefore computer use) at the church.
Hi Darcy — The kids receive hard copies. When Compassion gets the letters we send in online, they print them off and send them through the translation process. Once translated, they go to your child.
I cannot remember where on Compassion, but somewhere I read about this. I believe that the letter get printed off either in Colorado or in the child’s country (it depends on the country, I think). Then they get translated, and the children get the letters as paper. I believe that the photos get printed on the paper, that is atleast how it looks when you write the letter. I hope this helps 🙂
[quote comment=”34603″]Hi I have been sposnoring kids now for almost 4 years, but I have sent maps that come in National Geo. Magazines to kids. I am not sure if they ever got to them as I never did hear from the child that they got them. I just mailed one today to Uganda, to our correspondence child, a map of Uganda with info on lakes there. I know he writes in English (is 17) so I hope he gets it. Any info on this matter is appreciated. thank you.[/quote]
I am so sorry you haven’t heard back about your gifts. I expect though that it is because the kids didn’t think about it at letter writing time.
My two kids both have mentioned specifics about the books and maps I have sent. And the Ghana project where my boy is actually sent me pictures of him holding the children’s atlas and sticker books I mailed in letter right after he got them. That particular project has had him write me back “extra” reply letters (not part of my yearly three) whenever I sent something special like a book or map. But the project in Kenya where my girl is has never done anything like that. Even when I sent her special writing paper and ask her to write letters in between the official letters and just include them with the next official ones so she could write while memories were fresh … she never did. Though she would note that she got them, she didn’t go into a lot of detail about enjoying them since it was months later when she wrote.
So each child and project center combination obviously influences the “replies” but I do think the kids get all the things we send except in rare instances of lost mail… which can happen even here in the USA.
Hope you get something back this time.
God Bless you for sending the extra gifts. I am sure they did bless your child.
I was wondering about sending small cross stitch cards that are done on perforated paper…what do you think??
I received a letter from my sponsored child in Nicaragua today. She sounds very happy and excited in the letter. She mentions how much she enjoys the “project”.
She never mentions the things I send. Not that is really the goal, but how do we know that the children actually receive the items?
Hi, Marilyn,
The children do receive what you sent, unless the Compassion office notifies you they can’t send them.
At some projects, the children all write letters at the same time. The project workers will write sample sentences or things to write about on the blackboard to help them. Not many sponsors send special things, so the child may be concentrating on the suggestions and might not be thinking of thanking you at the time they write the letter, which may be several months later.
At other projects, there is a working who sits down to help the child write a letter when the child receives a letter. Those children are more likely to thank you because they are writing with your letter and gift in front of them.
Hi Marilyn — I think that would go through. Pieces of paper that are secured by string go through — and cross stitch on perforated paper is essentially paper and string. I don’t think that would concern customs.
It’s funny — the kids don’t often mention what I send, either. The only time they do is when they have a question about something. (One time my little guy wanted to know what the words were for a musical Christmas card I sent. Another time I sent a postcard of a man flying an airplane — from the EAA air museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin — and he wrote and asked who the pilot was.)
My brother sponsors a very young child in the Philippines whose mother writes his letters for him. She always makes it a point ot mention the things he sends. Leave it to a mom to remember the “thank you’s.” 🙂
I have been wondering as well if the children get what we send? I have only received one letter from the first little girl I sponsor but no mention of what I have sent! Please let me know what you have learned on this. God Bless
Hey, check out Lynette’s reply to Deedee’s post (similar to yours).
Like her, I think it varies between countries/projects. The only time I’ve heard from my girl in Indonesia about something I’ve sent is when I sent a gift with a friend to drop off at the country office, which was then brought up to her project. I got a thank-you letter and a photo then. The same thing happened with one I sent via another friend heading to Peru, a letter and photo. However, my child living in Peru has also thanked me for some of the things I’ve enclosed with letters…I especially remember her commenting on my printout of American and Peruvian flags. So, chances are high that the things you send are getting to your child, but perhaps they haven’t thought to mention them in the letters–or perhaps they are following the prompts given them by the center staff and don’t have much room to write about everything they want to say.
I have sent cross stitched items to my Brenda in Uganda without any problems. I attached the stitched perforated paper to slightly larger piece of paper with a Bible verse on the back and laminated it all front and back with enough border to seal all the edges.
Hi I have been sposnoring kids now for almost 4 years, but I have sent maps that come in National Geo. Magazines to kids. I am not sure if they ever got to them as I never did hear from the child that they got them. I just mailed one today to Uganda, to our correspondence child, a map of Uganda with info on lakes there. I know he writes in English (is 17) so I hope he gets it. Any info on this matter is appreciated. thank you.
Question about sending Christmas cards to unsponsored children: Should we seal the envelopes?
Actually I read and then check with Compassion and you do not even need to send them in envelopes but if you do I would’nt seal them- little less work for everyone!
[quote comment=”34318″]For setting up a subscription with ZooBooks, do you have to speak directly with ZooBooks? Is there a particular website?[/quote]
If you google “zoobooks” they have a website specifically for “gift subscriptions”. However if I were you I would talk to them before using it to be 100% sure all further “offers” etc come to your address and not were the gift ones go to.
If I recall correctly Zoobooks assured me it would not be a problem. I just don’t remember if that was because it was standard policy of if they had to put a special note onto my account.
I talked to about 5 different magazine companies that had interesting children subscriptions when I was planning on doing this. I hadn’t decided which one I was going to send to which kids (my kids have very different interests and my niece loved Ranger Rick magazine I had sent the year before) when my life/health kind of fell apart and my income took a major dive. But the result is I don’t remember off hand which company said what about standard policy vs special arrangements all this time later. My vague memory was that I was impressed with Zoobooks… and was going to order at least one subscription from them… but I don’t recall why in specific.
Hope that helps.
FYI Other Kids magazines I found interesting.
National Geographic for Kids – 3 different age range options
Guide Magazine (Christian based for age 10 and up target audience)
National Wild Life for kids (Ranger Rick and others 3 age range options)
Time for Kids – more world news 2 or 3 age ranges
Sports Illustrated for Kids – sports from around the world 2 age ranges … I wasn’t sure about this one, afraid it might be too USA centric, but one of my Compassion kids is a boy interested in various sports. And with the Olympics (now coming up next year) and hopefully it would have a lot of Soccer stuff too… so I was thinking about it.
And of course the classic Highlights with lots of stories and puzzles – but I decided it was too Western Culture for my Compassion kids in Africa. But others might decide differently. And I think they publish one in Spanish.
Faces – World Cultures for grades 5-9 – I liked the idea but wanted to get a few and read them before just sending them off. Not sure if too slanted a view or hidden agendas without seeing it.
And there are many others. Those are just some of the ones I looked at.
How will the children understand the books or magazines? Will the translators take care of this? Seems like a big undertaking.
For setting up a subscription with ZooBooks, do you have to speak directly with ZooBooks? Is there a particular website?
[quote comment=”34286″]Hi Lynette — Awesome ideas. I do have a question…
“…it is possible to send a “subscription” like ZooBooks, or National Geographic Kids (comes in ages 3-6 or 6-14) directly to your child so they would get “mail” about 8 times a year even when you didn’t get a chance to write.”
I did not know that was possible! How do you make arrangements to do that? Does the subscription go to your child’s Compassion center so all the kids can benefit or are they given directly to your child? I’m curious for any further info you may have.
Thanks for sharing![/quote]
Ok Here is what I remember from when I checked it out awhile back.
1) You have to send a “gift Subscription” and you have to check with the magazine supplier (Zoobooks was the one I talked to most) and make sure they send all “offers and re-subscription” mail to you not the person you are “gifting”. I was setting up gifts for my niece and nephews when it hit me that if they honored that commitment to send all the junk mail to me and only the magazines to the kids I could also maybe send this to my compassion kids.
2) Then I talked to Compassion and they said yes other sponsors had done this in the past.
You put the Child’s name and ID Number (The magazine has to agree to the whole number) as the person the gift subscription is too. Then for the address you do C/O Compassion Child Correspondence like any other mail you send. So just the magazines go to the kids for the term of the subscription you pay for.
As for sharing… you certainly could ask your child to share it with the whole project.
I never thought to ask if we could just send a subscription to the project for all the kids to share. Hummm… I will have to check that out with Compassion’s staff.
If they say yes there is a way to arrange it… I wonder if I could send a set of the Arch Books to the Project Center for it to “share” with all the kids there? They are all paper. There are about 100 or so in the “set” I will have to ask Compassion about that. I would like to do that when I have some extra money sometime.
I have sent extra books for the “siblings” of my adopted children in the past. Nobody had a problem with that. I sent them in an envelope with my child’s name along with the book for her and then told her in the letter that the two extra books were for her younger sisters. I put there names on the books for them, but again they were in the envelope with my child’s name on it.
What a great idea and thanks for the info. So it goes to the Colorado center first, through the regular mail process, and then to your child. That makes sense. I’ll bet the kids share those magazines regardless of whether they go to one child or the whole group. I can imagine there’s a lot of magazine swapping going on. It just seems like this is a great way for the kids to practice English. (I know I practice my French by reading Paris-Match.) And there are some communities where the literacy rate is an issue partially because there isn’t an abundance of reading material.
Great idea, Lynette!
Lindsey, thankyou for the art suggestions. Three of my girls have sent me pictures they have drawn, and one of them sent me quite good landscape paintings~ but it was very early in the relationship. I’ve asked for more, but haven’t received them. Maybe this would encourage art. I’ll try it. Thanks.
Hello Everyone! Just got my first letter from one of the girls that I sponsor! 🙂 I was so excited!
I also wanted to share that I had made the two girls that I sponsor journals for them to write in. I figured I can send them paper, scrapbook supplies and etc monthly so that they can add to it since I put it together with string, I can also just add longer stringer once in a while as well.
I was wondering if anyone knows if we can send coloring pages and etc, to children who do not have a sponsor? I do a lot of downloading and would love to be able to send things for others but at this time I cannot sponsor more children.
Thank you for your time on this.
In our Lord Jesus name; Chris
Hi Chris: Congrats on getting that first letter. That is so very exciting! Also, I love your journal idea.
You have three options (that I’m aware of) to send things to unsponsored kids.
1) You can send Christmas cards through the U.S. office. Here’s the info:
“We are accepting Christmas Cards for unsponsored children this year! You are welcome to send up to 25 cards, (without attachments, please – for example, additional stickers, etc.), to our address at the attention of “Suzanne – SPC.” We need to receive those prior to November 4 in order to send them in time.”
2) There is a gal at Compassion Canada who is accepting things to forward to unsponsored kids. I don’t think this is an “official” program — it’s simply something she’s taken on, which is incredibly kind of her.
Her address is:
Compassion Canada
PO Box 5591
London, ON
N6A 5G8
Attn: Sheena Morrison
Some guidelines for that:
* You can send up to one package of letters a month.
* Try to send a minimum of a dozen letters at a time.
* You may attach a paper gift to the letter if you wish — 1 item only. (ex. bookmarks, coloring pages, drawing paper, scripture cards, paper decorations, paper crafts)
* Keep in mind that your letter/gift may go to either gender and any age group.
* You may sign your name, but don’t include your sponsor number or your mailing address.
3) Of course you can always sign up to be a correspondence sponsor. In that case, the child already has a sponsor, but you are the one who gets to correspond. The sponsor pays the monthly sponsorship fee — you write. You may also send monetary birthday and family gifts. If the child’s sponsor drops out of the program, you will get first choice as to whether you want to take over the child’s full sponsorship.
Thank you Lisa for a the help! I so want other children to get something as well as the girls that I do sponsor! Such a great help. I have already sent the 25 Christmas cards and I will be sending things to the gal in Canada as well.
Thank you once again and God Bless you.
I sponsor older children. I have Indri in Indonesia, age 15, Mamatha and Parvath in India, ages 15 and 13, and my correspondence child, Omary, in Tanzania, age 9. I could use some new ideas for things to send to my teenagers. i’ve sent paper dolls ( but I’m afraid they’re getting a little old for those, even though I still liked them when I was that age), family photos, picture post cards and maps pertaining to vacations, stickers ( age appropriate), sticky notes, Pin the Tail on the Donkey game, etc. It was suggested on this blog that we send napkins and other party things for their birthdays, and i did that this year. I just received a letter from Mamatha telling me how much she enjoyed the pretty napkins and the Donkey Game. She shared the napkins with all of her friends, but I don’t know if she actually had a party. Parvathi had a big party with all of her relatives coming from distances. She is a motherless girl, so it was very satisfying to read that she had all of this attention on her birthday because of the things I’d sent. ( I sent a family gift with each birthday gift, so that they’s have money to spend on the party) . I really appreciate all the good ideas I get from this blog, I could use some new suggestions for my older children, though.
Thanks.
Hi Jan – To my older child, (who is 21 now!), I’ve sent Bible verse cards, small calendars, folders for him to keep his letters in. Something I did recently – we found out he is studying to become an auto mechanic. We went to our local mechanic and asked if we could take photos around his shop. We sent those along with a letter so our child could see what a mechanic business looks like in the United States. You could do that with any career that your child has an interest in.
Lisa, thanks for the great suggestions! I have a 15 year old in Indonesia who dreams of becoming a teacher. She is very enthusiastic about it. Maybe I can get permission to take pictures in one of the local classrooms to send to her. I wonder if it would be demoralising, though, since I’m pretty sure she would be teaching in much different, poorer, circumstances. It might even be a one room school house type situation. I have sent small calendars, as you suggested. I really like the idea of sending folders for her to keep her letters in. There are some really pretty ones in the stores right now.
Thanks for the idea! You’ve got my mind working now.
Jan,
My child enjoys drawing and art, so I’ve sent her art stickers I bought from http://doverpublications.stores.yahoo.net/0486403904.html
In my letters, I talk about the artist painting style, etc. Just be careful, I can’t remember what artist it was, but I’ve had to remove a few stickers before sending them due to nudity. I think it was Leonardo. I know it’s still along the lines of stickers, but maybe they’d enjoy them.
Dover also has maze postcards and visual allusion postcards which look kinda cool.
I don’t have time to read all the comments so I don’t know if others have already offered this advice but here are some of the special things I enjoy doing for my two compassion children.
I love to send “pop up” cards. They are pricey but I think they are worth it once a year or so.
Next you know those soft paperback bible story books … Arch I think, from Concordia Publishing $2 or so from bible book stores… they fit really nicely in a smaller Manila envelope. I usually put one in the smaller envelope, decorate it with stickers as well as their name and number. Along with a card or letter. Then I put two of those, (one for each of my kids) into a larger envelope to send to Compassion’s letter center.
I found I enjoyed doing this so much that I got a hold of Concordia and they let me by two entire sets of all the books in print (at a reduced price of about 1.20 each, and I put each set into a large shoe box with each child’s name on it. I sorted the books by ~ age level and holidays etc. Took out the USA centric ones (there weren’t many and I gave those to local friend’s kids) And then I send out the story books on a regular basis. By having a set for each child I am sure not to accidentally send duplicates and I always have something on hand to send.
I also buy the soft paper back books of the same size (published by DK books) called DK readers that focus on Science and send those too a few times a year.
In the past I would pick up ZooBooks when I was traveling a lot for work from magazine stands in the airports and send those sometimes. (And I always sent post cards from where I was traveling on business. – I had previously sent them a kids map of the USA with were I lived marked on it. Then they could see where I traveled too and match that location with the post cards if they wanted too.)
There are also some great sticker books that teach science.
I found some fantastic paperback children’s world atlases.
And due some life stress I haven’t done it yet. But I did check and it is possible to send a “subscription” like ZooBooks, or National Geographic Kids (comes in ages 3-6 or 6-14) directly to your child so they would get “mail” about 8 times a year even when you didn’t get a chance to write.
So those are some of the things I have done that spice up my “letter writing”. By the time I talk to them about the science ideas or bible story in the books I am sending or the places I sent post cards from I easily fill up the letter space. Even before I put in a bible verse or something about my personal life.
Hi Lynette — Awesome ideas. I do have a question…
“…it is possible to send a “subscription” like ZooBooks, or National Geographic Kids (comes in ages 3-6 or 6-14) directly to your child so they would get “mail” about 8 times a year even when you didn’t get a chance to write.”
I did not know that was possible! How do you make arrangements to do that? Does the subscription go to your child’s Compassion center so all the kids can benefit or are they given directly to your child? I’m curious for any further info you may have.
Thanks for sharing!
When sending a calendar, can it be one with plastic spiral binding or only those with the staples in the middle? (Hope that makes sense). Also, are staples ok to hold other items together?
Hi Penny — Staples are okay to hold items together. A calendar that is stapled and meets the size requirements, (8 1/2 x 11 inches and no more than 1/4 inch thick), is okay.
I checked with Compassion’s customer care and they said that the plastic spiral bindings are not something they are accepting at this time. If you have something that is bound that way, perhaps you could disassemble it and resecure it with staples. Three-hole punching and tying it together with basic string will also go through. (No ribbon or raffia.)
I hope that helps! 🙂
I have been cutting them out and labeling each item., hoping that it helps everyone involved
Dont want to possibly cause any worry but about the paper dolls if you have taken them apart, I would put them in a separate envelope (as in “a smaller one inside the bigger one that has Compassions Address on it).l If you sent them a while back and haven’t heard anything than it probably worked out fine, but they instructed me in the past to keep the pages together, I assume so pieces wouldn’t be loose and get lost.
I just wanted to know if we can sent a paper giftbag that doesnt have strings?
Yes as long as it meets the 8 1/2″ x 11″ rule. Those are nice to send 🙂
Chris,
When you send the paper dolls do you cut them out and label each piece or just send the sheets and they cut them out themselves?
Keep the sheets together and put your number and the childs number(and your names) on EACH Page. Make sticker labels if you want to make it faster. Also remember that the number of pages can only be 1/4″ thick. If your stack is more than that, just send separate pages. I/ve sent paper dolls before and had asked the same question
Thanks so much! I am also beginning to wonder if my child recieved the money for his birthday….I sent $10, and I want to know if he got it and what he bought with it…When will I find out about that? 🙂
It may take as much as six months…three months for them to receive the letter/money (I was told that the money can take as long to go through the international banking system and to the kids as does a letter), spend it, and have the thank-you letter written and delivered to you. It’s a long process, especially for us in the text message/email era, but at least it’s efficient. We must remember we’re dealing with folks in the developing word where often they don’t have the infrastructure in place that we’re used to…anything from post offices to paved roads. Some places are quite remote, either up in the mountains or just several islands away from the country office, like in Indonesia. I’m just glad to be able to write to and receive letters from these precious ones!
It can take up to six months to hear back about a monetary gift. You will receive a thank-you letter for it and he will tell you what he was able to get. Hope it comes quickly for you!
Hi, Kaleigh,
There are no dumb questions! If you go to Compassion.com and click on “Get Involved” then “Write my Child”, you can see a lot of info about letter-writing. You can use your own stationery and send to “Attn: Child Correspondence Dept, Compassion International, Colorado Springs, CO 80997-0004”. No, I didn’t leave out the street- that’s all you have to put for the address. Every time you receive a letter from your child, you will receive a reply envelope and paper for your letter, but you can use any paper and envelope you like.
The biggest thing you can do through the letters is encourage you child- tell her you love her (or him), God loves her, she can be anything she wants to be. The children receive so many negative messages in the environments they live in that we need to give as many positive messages as we can.
It can take up so 6 months to receive a reply on a birthday or Christmas gift. Compassion suggests sending a gift a couple months ahead of the date. Compassion has to send the money to the field, and a project worker there will take your child shopping. Then they will write a thank you letter and some projects will take a picture, which they have to get developed or printed. Then the letter travels to the country office where it is translated and sent on to Colorado Springs. From there, it is sent to you. That’s why it takes so long to receive a reply. But you will receive a reply, and 100% of the amount you sent will be used to buy gifts for your child. Nothing is taken out for administration.
If you set up an account on-line with Compassion.com you can see your account and see that the donation was received and credited to your child. You can also send letters on line.
Blessings,
You guys are gonna think I’m such an awful person, but I have misplaced the piece of paper that you send in with your monthly payment! The money is due is a few weeks and I don’t know what to do! PLEASE HELP!!
No, you’re not an awful person! If there was a way to upload a picture as a comment, I’d send you a picture of my desk: easy for papers to get lost. I’m still not sure where I put the copy of my updated car insurance packet once it was renewed! If anything, you want to continue your sponsorship, which is wonderful!! You’ve probably already seen Jacquie’s suggestions, which are the alternate ways to submit a payment.
Kaleigh, we do not think you are an awful person! Human like the rest of us and not awful at all. 🙂
If you want, you can always make a payment online here: https://www.compassion.com/account/login.htm or, just include a separate piece of paper with your check. Just make sure you include your name and sponsor number and your child’s name and number. Lastly, you can always call us and make a payment over the phone at 800) 336-7676, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. MT. Hope this helps!
Hi, I have a question. I bought a really cute Disney Paper Doll book for one of my little girls in India. It is under the 1/4 inch thick rule, and it’s measurments are 8″x 11″. It is stapled together, no hard binding. Will I be able to send this to her as is, or will I have to cut it apart? I ask, because I was told that I shouldn’t send comic books in one piece because of the resale value. Would a paper doll book be the same thing? I want to send this for Christmas.
Staples are fine and a paper doll booklet would have no resale value, so you are good to go.
Hi Jan — Based on your description, that will go through.
Hello Friends,
I have been feeling guilty recently about not writing and sending little items as much as I was able to over the summer months. I had been meaning to sit down and just do it. I was checking my sponsorships online and saw the NEW and IMPROVED write to your child online area. It is GREAT. You can pick from several very nice papers, upload pictures from your computer and then preview your letter. It types it right out front an back on the paper you choose. I was able to send all nine of my kids a letter in about an hour. I was so happy. I will still work on packets but I think having this improved email section will help me get something out a few times each month. Give it a try.
Becky,
I agree, I LOVE the new changes to writting your kids online. My favorite is that I can include pictures. I will probably now snail mail less letters, and just do packets with stickers, etc every now and then. I also love that I can duplicate letters and then just change some details for the next child. A lot of times I find that I send the same verse, story about what my weekend was like, prayer requests, ect. to both my kids; it’s nice that I don’t have to rewrite it.
9 children! I can certainly see why you don’t have time to always be sending items. I’m sure they love getting your letters. Bless you for sponsoring so many children! I didn’t know about the new & improved online writing. Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll check it out.
I sponsored my first child through Compassion in Dec. 1999. Right now, I have 5 children. I have always loved being a sponsor, but have always been frustrated at not being able to send even small gifts. A couple years ago, I sponsored another child through World Vision, and I am able to send small gifts to her. I can send colored pencils, etc., and she obviously gets them, because she mentions them in letters. I don’t understand why they can get this stuff through and Compassion can’t? Going to the same country, even. Can someone look into this and tell me why we can’t send items that are useful to these kids? Just wondering…because I really love Compassion and these kids!
Hi Nancy — That is amazing that you sponsor 5 children! What a blessing for those kids. 🙂
Compassion does have a different program format from World Vision. Compassion restricts items to paper documents for a variety of reasons: 1) To keep mailing costs down, so that money can be used in other areas. 2) To make the correspondence process faster. Larger items take a longer time to go through customs. 3) There is a risk of those items being stolen in transit. Theft is an issue in some countries.
Compassion instead gives sponsors the opportunity to send monetary gifts — up to $100 for birthdays each year, up to $1000 for a family gift each year — and that entire amount is given to the child and his/her family. That way the children and families can select the items they need. Also, the money stretches farther and can purchase more in their country than it would in the United States. These gifts also offer a boost to their community, as they are purchasing items from local vendors and businesses.
I’ve embraced the challenge of getting creative with what I send through Compassion that fits into the “paper document” category. It’s kind of fun to see what I can come up with. I do have a few ideas on my personal blog, if you want to check it out.
I think the paper only rule is just a personal choice of Compassion’s so that all items will fall under the category of “document” and will go through with less cost and more quickly. I understand though. I love compassion but I get tired odf the paper only thing, Another opporturnity to send more tangible things is Operation Christmas Child through Samaritans Purse (www.samartanspurse.org/OCC.) You pack small toys, school supplies and hygiene items and they get sent all over the place. The boxes can take months to get to someone because of customs issues, but the kids and families don’t mind.
There are lots and lots of reasons, and Compassion do have information on their website somewhere, but I’ll give you some of the most important ones.
I get the impression World Vision is a larger organisation than Compassion, so they have the infrastructure to deal with larger items sent in the post. Compassion send letters and gifts in a way that means the items can be processed as documents through customs etc. This is both quicker, and cheaper, meaning more of our sponsorship money goes towards improving the children’s lives.
Another factor that might not have occurred to you is that your money will generally go much further in the country in which your child lives – more bang for your buck. What we might consider a relatively small financial gift can go a long way in the developing world. People often comment here and on OurCompassion about how much a family was able to buy with a relatively small amount. The money goes further and benefits the family more, which has to be a good thing!
Personally I also think it is a very good thing for the children and their family to be able to make choices about what they will buy and what is important to them. They are, after all, the people who best know what they need and where money should be spent. We might think a packet of nice colouring pencils is a lovely gift, but the child and his/her family may be much more excited about buying a chicken for eggs and meat! The child will also learn far more about the value of money by being involved in the purchase, lessons that will help them in the long run.
Related to this, you also need to factor in the impact of sending items vs sending money on the local economy. If you send a pack of colouring pencils, the child gets a nice gift. If you send money, not only may that child be able to afford colouring pencils and several other things, but that money will also help stimulate the local economy, something that will add huge benefit to the gift, because the local economy makes a huge impact on that child’s wellbeing. It’s far more beneficial to the child and the family to bolster the economy that directly impacts them than to have the sponsor spending money at their local Walmart.
There is also a danger of jealousy from other families. I imagine if a Compassion sponsor was thoughtless about the amounts they were sending this might well be a problem, but if a sponsor was allowed to send concrete items and a family ended up with a lot of obviously Western items, it would be rubbing their neighbours faces in it much more.
At the end of the day, you have to ask the question, not, “Why can’t I send what I want to my child?” but “What will benefit my child the most?” Compassion has answered that question by saying, “Please send financial gifts which can be spent locally”, and by sponsoring with Compassion and supporting their ministry, we are effectively choosing to agree with their answer.
Can someone tell me where to find out if a country is a reciprocal letter writing one? Is it on the Compassion website and I’m just missing it? I’m curious about Columbia and Dominican Republic.
Thanks!
I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that, through World Vision, (at least according to the website…I don’t personally sponsor through WV) letters are sent directly to the country office by the sponsor, so each sponsor would be responsible for postage & any necessary customs forms, if applicable.
Correspondence through Compassion is shipped on our behalf out of Colorado, and paid for with part of our sponsorship money, so they have slightly more strict rules.
But I also agree that part of it is to keep down jealousy. It’s hard enough on the kids that don’t receive letters when they see their friends getting them, regardless of whether there’s anything else included.
Hi Ann — Here’s a link for you — read the comment section. The comments cover the topic fairly in-depth.
https://blog.compassion.com/letter-writing-reciprocal/
The list of reciprocal countries APPEARS to be:
Ecuador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Peru, Rwanda, Thailand, and Tanzania.
This was also mentioned in the comments:
“Per current plans, all countries should be participating in reciprocal letter writing by October 1, 2012, according to Emily Sarmiento, Child Sponsorship Program Director.”
But I think the experience can vary. For example, I sponsor two children in Ethiopia — an older child who DOES seem to follow the reciprocal plan and responds to every letter — and a younger child who doesn’t seem to be a real letter-writing kind of kid. We hear from him about 3 times a year. Both are A-OK with us — but it just goes to show that it really can vary from kid to kid and circumstance to circumstance.
I had to laugh at the reciprocal country list. I suspect reciprocal is VERY individual. I’ve sponsored a young man in Kenya for nearly a year and have heard from him ONCE. On the other hand, I get letters from my correspondence child sometimes three times a month. And according to Michelle W her Precious in Ghana is her best letter writer. My correspondence child in Indonesia DOES write frequently, though–and I got 4 pictures from her last time.
Bev, I think you’re right. Another example. My brother sponsors a very young child in the Philippines and that child’s mother comes to the Compassion center and responds to every last letter the child receives. If that child didn’t have a mom who was so involved, it’s unlikely my brother would be receiving letters so frequently. Whether the Philippines is or isn’t a reciprocal country doesn’t play into that dynamic at all.
I guess, as you develop a relationship with your child, some of those dynamics as to why you do or don’t receive a lot of letters make themselves known.
I sponsor 2 little girls in the Philippines and have gotten over 14 letters in a year from one. She is really young so her aunt always writes to me but they respond to almost every letter I send. I have only had the other little one for a few months so I haven’t heard from her yet but I’m hoping I receive many letters from her as well. I also have 2 boys, 1 in Ethiopia and 1 in Ecuador. The boys are my correspondent children and I have only received a few letters from them in the last 8-9 months.
Thanks Lisa! I appreciate the link – guess I didn’t look far enough on the Compassion website.
We just received a letter from our correspondent child from Colombia and it has two phrases/check boxes stamped near the top of his letter. One reads “Carta Reciproca” and it’s checked; the other is “Carta Agradecimiento”. Made us wonder if Colombia was a reciprocal country. We love his letters and would enjoy getting them more often. Maybe Colombia will be reciprocal soon, hopefully before Jeisson turns 18 in two years!
Thanks again!
another good website to visit for paper dolls that the child can also color themself if old enough is: billybearkidscom
wanted to pass this along to everyone., God Bless you all
I noticed on the suggestions of things to send it suggested making a small little photo album by gluing photos on construction paper and then stapling the sheets together or tying them with string. Will this go through? I wanted to tie mine, but was worried that it wouldn’t go through because the string isn’t “paper”….thoughts?
Hi Kelly — Here’s what the suggestion on the website says: “Finish the album by stapling the paper together or tying the paper together with two small pieces of string to keep album intact.”
That is a bit confusing because ribbon and tassels are prohibited. Perhaps the fact that it’s just two VERY small pieces of string makes it okay.
I have to call Compassion about something else today. Let me doublecheck with them when I call and get back to you. I’m pretty sure that if they suggest it on the website, it’s okay — but I’ll make sure and let you know.
Thanks so much! I’ve got the little booklet together except for that part, so as soon as I hear from you I’ll finish it and send them out!
Kelly, I talked with Customer Care and they doublechecked with a team leader. You ARE able to use pieces of of string to secure the pages. (Nothing thick, nothing elaborate — no raffia, ribbon, etc.) Just pieces of plain string.
They said that they are always reassessing based on feedback from customs, changing customs rules, etc. But as of right now, a small amount of string to secure pieces of paper is going through.
Thank you to Rick at Customer Care for your assistance — you were so very helpful!
Thanks soooo much for checking! I can’t wait to finish my little photo albums tonight and get them sent to my sponsored children tomorrow. 🙂
UPDATE on the topic of sending Christmas cards to unsponsored kids:
We are accepting Christmas Cards for unsponsored children this year! You are welcome to send up to 25 cards (without attachments, please – for example, additional stickers, etc.) to our address at the attention of “Suzanne – SPC.” We need to receive those prior to November 4 in order to send them in time.
(This came from the “Got Questions? Get Satisfaction” section of the blog.)
I check this blog regularly for ideas- so I thought i’d share one. Kristi’s post reminded me of this tip.
I havent got a laminator but I found out last year that its also possible to photocopy autumn leaves (my printer has a copying function ) and they come out really well and look very lifelike.
I placed a few leaves of different colours and shapes on the copier and printed them out on one page. : )
Instead of laminating, I use clear contact paper. It works like a charm. I use it for any paper game pieces, pictures from websites, etc. I always leave a little edge of the contact paper when I cut an item out so it will stay complete ly sealed.
I just scanned some leaves in, and you are SO right! It is amazing! I can’t wait to send them to my girls!! Thanks for the idea 😉
Just a quick idea to include in your letters: Laminated leaves that haves changed color with a bible verse reference on the back.
Thank you all for so many wonderful ideas of ways to show our children the love of Christ.
I am now sponsoring two little girls and want to make them journals can anyone tell me how I can put them together so they will go thru and not have no problems…..
Here is the list on Compassion’s website of in general what can and cannot be sent. They include a suggestion of making a photo album to send your child and how to do it, so if you did that but left it blank for them it should work 🙂
https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
Did anyone else NOT know taht we can upload pics now as well when we write an email to our child???????????????I just found out today becuase I haven’t been able to write a ‘real’ letter to our little girl this month. That is sooooo nice!!!
They just started that about a week ago. It’s a new thing 🙂 They introduced it here:
https://blog.compassion.com/letter-love-an-improved-way-to-write-your-sponsored-child/
I’m sure they will let all sponsors know about it. My guess would be they’d announce it in the next letter you get from your sponsored child as well as announcing the correspondence changes coming up, but CI hasn’t mentioned how they plan to announce it.
Just FYI, I found out about the pics and the templates thru being on their email list. You also find out about any new post on this section if you sign up for it
I am loving those templates! They did such a great job designing them. And being able to add photos — so awesome. 🙂
For anyone who hasn’t seen them yet, go into your online account to the “Write My Child” section.
Yes, I’m enjoying them, too, although I wish we could write a little longer letters. It will only allow about a paragraph. The old on line letters could be longer~but then we didnt’ have pictures, which is nice.
Yeah, I always write long letters. Then when I get to the part where I say You are specail. Jesus loves you, and I do, too. Praying for you. Or you know that kind of thing, when I run out of space. It is soo hard to go back and delete things! I have gotten to doing just one very long paragraph. But, I love the photo thing as well. It is pretty amazing! I am so glad for it because I do not have enough money for stamps, so I must e-mail my angels. I really like the templates, but I wish they had some to go along with the seasons. Nice job over all.
I’m thinking I read this somewhere, but maybe not. I think they try to limit the length of the letters to ease in the translation time. You could always write shorter letters and email more often. I’m sure your child would enjoy getting more letters. Just a suggestion.
I was a little dismayed when writing a letter online recently. Only a small portion of my letter would show up. Then I realized there was a front and back and I wasn’t clicking the tab to turn the page over. Still not a lot of space but better than one side.
thanks i had to delete half my leter………waaaaawaaaaaa
Thanks, Lonnie! Maybe that’s my problem! I’ll check it out!
I have been sponsoring a little boy in Ghana since January. I have been sending thin coloring books, pages from coloring books, stickers, post cards, etc. But, I dont think I have been putting the child number on everything I send. Does this mean that my little boy isnt getting everything that I have sent?
Hi Laurel — They will do everything possible in the mail distribution center to make sure your items get to your child. For example, if you send a letter that has the child number on it, in addition to items that don’t have the number, they will attach the items to the letter and send it through together.
I’ve been sponsoring now for about 5 years. What has worked best for me is to print out labels with my name and sponsor number and my child’s name and child number on them. I stick a label somewhere on EVERYTHING I send. That way on the off-chance that my items get separated, there is no question as to where they’re going.
For the first few years of my sponsorship, I did not do this and I have been assured by Compassion employees that my items made it to my child. It just may have been extra work at the mail distribution area for them to either label my items correctly or assemble my items in such a way that they would go through.
I have been enjoying it and found a good way to laminate them w/out going and buying a laminator and sheets. take clear contact paper and you can laminate anything….. for a little over 5 dollars at walmart you can get the clear contact paper. I love it.
I love this idea! Where do you find the clear contact paper? Do you go to an office store like Office Max or does somewhere like Walmart carry it?
i get it at walmart they have big rolls; have just seen it at dollar general now.. God Bless
Since I am new at this, and you were the last post I saw, maybe you can answer? Is there somewhere that explains how often they get our mail? Like only once a month, do they have delivery daily, etc..or maybe it depends on the part of the world? Also, when you send things like pictures, longer letters and the “approved” gifts I saw a on the list, do you just put them in a mailing type box, or do they still need to be folded and fit in a “standard” envelope and no more than 1/4inch thick (that i read), or can it be a large manila style envelope? thanks for the help!
Hi, Dena,
Thanks for sponsoring!
How long the letters will take depends on the country. When I was in Kenya at the country office, we saw the mailroom with a slot for each project. A package of letters arrives from the US and is given to the various translators. Within a week, the letters are translated and in their slot in the mailroom. Then, if a Project Facilitator or other country office worker is going to that project, they take all the letters in the slot. Or, if someone from the project comes to the office, they get the mail. Projects farther away from the country office are not going to get their mail as fast.
You can use a larger envelope. The letters are unfolded and send flat. You can send up to 8 1/2 X 1size.
I do not know of anywhere where Compassion tells you how often they get mail, but I asked them. They said that the children only get mail once a month. It can take 2-3 months for the letters to get processed and translated, though. So, you might want to start thinking about Christmas. You can send everything in a manilla style envelope, as long as it is no bigger than 8.5 by 11 and 1/4 thick. Make sure to put your child’s sponsor number and name on everything you send. This will make sure that they get everything that they need too. I would be glad to answer any more questions that you have. Also, do not be afraid to e-mail or call Compassion. they are very friendly and helpful!
I too use the contact paper instead of getting things laminated. I print out 4 photos on regular copy paper and put the contact paper over the front and back. Be sure to label the photos before putting on the contact paper, with who, what, when and where so your child will know. I also put a sticker with my name and number and my child’s name and number on everything I send and put it on the back of the paper before putting the contact paper on it, so the label won’t fall off. Using the contact paper and copy paper is also less weight cost for mailing the package.
Okay, I feel kinda dumb asking this question, but…I don’t know ANYTHING about the whole letter writing process….When I paid my first payment, they sent me a envelope to send a letter to my child, but when they sent me the envelope to send my second payment…I didnt get an additional envelope to send a letter…plus I sent 10 dollars as a birthday gift, but havent heard anything else back…Im worried that I’m doing something wrong and my letters and gifts are not getting to my child! Help?
As I mentioned in my other comment, it may take as much as 3-4 months for a letter to reach your child, and the same amount of time for a return letter to reach you. You should receive a letter from your child within a couple of months of them finding out they’ve been sponsored; they’re given about 10 days to write an initial letter, and I’ve heard that these letters are expidited (sp?) through the system to get to you quicker.
As far as receiving stationery from Compassion, other than the initial stationery you’ve already received, the only time they’ll automatically send you a letter template is when you receive a letter from your child; they’ll enclose a piece of stationery with a return envelope along with their letter, as a reminder to write back, while it’s still fresh in our mind.
Yes, you can write on your own stationery while you’re waiting, or send an email from your Compassion account (if you haven’t yet made one, I highly recommend it; there’s information about your child listed there that isn’t in your paper profile). Or, if you want to get an extra copy of Compassion’s stationery, you can print one from here: https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/write-my-child.htm (you can even save the .pdf file to your computer to print later without having to go find the website again). Hope this helps, and thanks for being such a great sponsor who’s so conscientious about writing! Your child will love hearing from you!
Hi Kaleigh, don’t worry about not knowing the process yet, it sounds like you are already ahead of the game by writing to your child.
There are two basic ways that you can write to your child. Either you can go online to Compassion.com and send an email through your online account (it will get printed and sent). Or you can write a letter on whatever stationary you have.
(Whenever your child writes to you, you will receive a piece of stationary and an envelope to write back. But you don’t have to wait)
The only secret to writing on your own stationary is to make sure that you include your sponsor number as well as your child’s number (two letters followed by 7 numbers). When your letter arrives at the compassion office in Colorado the workers will process the letter and put it in the box going to your child’s country. Then when it gets to the country, the workers will translate it, and by looking at your child’s number they will be able to deliver it right to your child.
You can send your letters in your own envelope to:
Attn: Child Correspondence Dept.
Compassion International
Colorado Springs, CO 80997
If you sent the birthday money in with your monthly contribution, it was probably received just fine. The money will be sent to the country office, and then to the project where your child attends the activities. The workers will help your child buy a present.
Your child should write a letter telling you what was purchased, but because of transit times it could take up 4-6 months to hear what was purchased. But I am sure your child was so happy to receive the gift from you.
If you are still concerned about whether your gift and letters were routed correctly, you can call the Compassion USA office and they will be able to tell you how many letters and donations they have received and exactly where each one went. You can reach them at: 800-336-7676
Just wanted to share a website that I found looking around for paper dolls http://www.berenstainbears.com
It not only has the family of bears but also 7 different sheets for clothes as well. I am downloading it and then laminating them for my 6 year old.
Chris,
These are the best paper dolls on the internet I’ve seen. Thanks!
Hi, Mary,
It’s simple:
Attn: Child Correspondence Department
Compassion International
Colorado Springs, CO 80997-0004
There’s no actual street address, but that’s what is on the envelopes. Each letter you receive from your child will come in an envelope addressed to Compassion so you’ll have the address.
I’m a new sponsor, and although I’ve written online to my child several times, and sent pictures using the envelope initially provided in my welcome package, I now have stickers that I’d like to send. Can you provide the mailing address for things I have to send my child? I’mhaving a hard time finding it on the website. Thanks!
Hi Mary — the address is:
Compassion International
ATTN: Child Correspondence Dept.
Colorado Springs, CO 80997-0004
You’ll get a new pre-printed envelope each time you get a letter back from your child.
Thanks Bethany and Sandra, that’s helpful! I’ve had a couple of my kids say that they really appreciate my effort to write in Spanish “even though you make some mistakes”. I’m glad the translators have a shot at it first!
p.s. I BELIEVE the size limitations have something to do with the sorting apparatus they use. I don’t know if that’s something I dreamed up, but I seem to recall hearing that. 🙂
The Size limitation is because of the way we send letters to the field 🙂
Hey Beatty,
Yes you can write in your child’s language, though it will still go out to translation. they will make sure that there isnt a change in dialect things like that. I’m guessing you can read the letters back from your kiddos? some of our kids in south america especially may not speak spanish but a local Indian dialect. But you wont be messing up your letters especially if you are writing in both English and Spanish 🙂
A question for the Compassion staff. I usually write letters to my Central and South American kids in English and then on the other side of the paper I write it also in Spanish. (I’ve studied Spanish for 7+years and am quite fluent, though I know that I still make quite a few errors). But I like to be able to, hopefully, express more clearly what I am trying to say in the child’s own native language. The question: does this help or cause a problem for Compassion’s staff/translators? I sorta hoped that it would make it easier for them. Do they still have to send the letter out for translation? Would they prefer that I not write in the child’s language?
Incidentally when I receive a letter, I always read the original in Spanish and then the English translation. Sometimes there’s an occasional slight nuance in the phrasing that may not be picked up by the translator, but overall I’m hugely impressed by the fantastic and faithful work of the translators that Compassion uses.
Bethany is right- in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala, the kids may speak Quechua, Aymara, or a Mayan language at home, and they may learn both that language and Spanish in school. But they will be learning Spanish even if they don’t speak it at home, and the project workers will know Spanish because that’s how they would communication with the country office. I write my kids in Spanish, and I used to write my boy in Brasil in Portuguese. The kids and project workers loved it that I was making an attempt. It also had the advantage that I kept things simple and didn’t use idioms or slang tha the translators might have trouble with.
We talked about this a while ago on this blog and the concensus was that it is ok to write if you speak the language, but not to use one of the translator programs as they don’t do an adequate job.
Hi all. My husband and I signed up to sponsor two children. I’ve been treading through the blog, getting ideas of what to send (paper dolls, trading cards, etc) and I understand to keep it under 8.5 x11 and under 1/4 thick and to have my sponsor number/name/childs name on everything.
The part that confuses me, do I just put everything in an envelope and send it to the Colorado address? Do we not care how big the envelope we send is, as long as everything inside of it fits the specified limits? If so, I’m not understanding the 1/4 limit. Is that per package I send? Like, the group of dolls/pictures/coloring pages can’t exceed 1/4 as a total?
How are people sending trading cards? Just tape them to a sheet of paper? Thank you for the help.
Hi Jennifer — The outside envelope that you address to Compassion can be any size. That envelope will be discarded in Colorado.
It’s each individual item inside that needs to fit the size limitations. You can send as many items that fit the size limitation as you want. (Just remember: 8 1/2″ x 11″, 1/4″ thick, paper, flat, labeled with sponsor name/sponsor number and child name/child number only – no home address.)
Something I like to do — I purchase 6″x9″ envelopes at Michaels. I put a label on the front with my name/sponsor number and my child’s name/number — and I stuff that with a letter, stickers, bookmark, craft item, whatever — and then I put that in a larger envelope addressed to Compassion in Colorado. I make sure the items inside my package are labeled, as well, on the off chance that something should get separated.
Now when you’re bundling items like that, you want to make sure that the package meets the size requirements. The envelope, stuffed, should stay within the 8 1/2″ x 11″, 1/4″ thickness requirements.
p.s. I BELIEVE the size limitations have something to do with the sorting apparatus they use. I don’t know if that’s something I dreamed up, but I seem to recall hearing that. 🙂
p.p.s. Trading cards — I sent soccer cards to one of my kids. I divided up the pack into a few different envelopes, so they wouldn’t exceed the thickness limit, and labeled the front of the envelopes. But taping them to paper is a great idea, too!
I know the rule is paper-only. Can you laminate items to send to your sponsored child?
Hi Jill — Laminating items is fine. 🙂
I just sent my first letter and package of coloring pages out to my little one but only had my sponsorship number on the letter will she get the other things I sent?
Hi Chris — They will go through. Compassion will attach those coloring pages to your letter and it will all be sent through together.
Something that I’ve gotten in the habit of doing is printing off labels with my name/sponsor number and child name/ number on it. I peel off a label and attach one to EVERY item I send — every coloring page, every sticker page, etc. — just in case something gets separated from my letter. It’s just a little extra-assurance that everything is getting to the right place. 🙂
thanks Lisa for the help! It is really appreciated a whole lot. God Bless
All this talk about paper dolls got me excited so I did some googling and found this site: http://www.makingfriends.com/f_Friends.htm We have 4 little girls between the ages of 8 and 12 who live all over the world and I’m always looking for things to send them. This site is awesome because you can choose skin and hair colors to match your child. I am currently making back-to-school and princess dolls for our 8 and 9 year olds. I also found a Nativity set under Projects that I’m going to use for all four girls this year. The directs tell you to how to make the dolls stand up in a cardboard stable, but I think I’ll just glue them to a construction paper stable instead so it can all stay flat.
[quote comment=”32016″]All this talk about paper dolls got me excited so I did some googling and found this site: http://www.makingfriends.com/f_Friends.htm We have 4 little girls between the ages of 8 and 12 who live all over the world and I’m always looking for things to send them. This site is awesome because you can choose skin and hair colors to match your child. I am currently making back-to-school and princess dolls for our 8 and 9 year olds. I also found a Nativity set under Projects that I’m going to use for all four girls this year. The directs tell you to how to make the dolls stand up in a cardboard stable, but I think I’ll just glue them to a construction paper stable instead so it can all stay flat.[/quote]
THANK YOU!! This is exactly what I was looking for. All I could find in the stores were “Disney Princess” paper dolls. ~ Fran B. (MN)
Fran: My little girl is 5. I went on e bay and found paper dolls like I had as a child, I put clear contact paper on each page and because of her age I cut the items out. Made sure the names and numbers were on each item, put them in a folder and mailed them. I haven’t heard from her but wasn’t notified that they couldn’t go through.
No – sorry. Only paper items.
Do those little braided string friendship bracelet go through?
I’m sending two checks to my girl in Indonesia: one for her birthday, and one for her family. On the form letter there’s a place to write your gift amount, and what it’s for. I’m wondering if it would be best to total the amount of both checks, then mark that it’s for her birthday AND other ( family gift) or should I send the family gift in a separate envelope to avoid confusion. In the past, her birthday money has been spent on medicine for a grandparent, or something like that, and I want her 16th birthday to be a very special one.
Id send separate checks to avoic the confusion
I am preparing my Christmas packages for my two sponsored kids. I’ve never sent an envelope full of gifts to them before, so I have a few questions. The website says that items cannot be more than 1/4″ thick. Is this for each individual item, or the envelope as a whole? Do I need to put my sponsor number on each item? Is it my sponsor number or the child’s number that is needed? I am trying to be careful about not sending anything that would be rejected because of the mailing restricitions. Does anyone know what is done when an item enclosed is not accepted… is that item just taken out and the rest of the package still delivered to the child, or is the entire envelope rejected?
Hi Traci
The size rules means “per item”, both your name and number as well as the childs name and number need to be on each item. If it is not accepted they will call you to let you know and will send it back unless you tell them they can give it to a local charity, but as long as you follow the size rules and remember “paper only” you will be fine. I have been a sponsor for 8 years and never had anything returened.
Question
I have noticed that several persons mentioned that they have a correspondent child as well as a sponsored child.I am wondering how does one sign up for a child that one can just write to and what else is involved. Thank you.
Just give us a call Henrietta and we will be able to get you on the list and answer any questions you may have about being a correspondent. (800) 336-7676
about children who get no letters or gifts…..i constantly tell my children that i want them to share with other anything that i send. 2 of them have told me that they get more letters and gifts than any child in their project, which breaks my heart for the others..they tell me how they share and one mother always writes me and says that every day after school, all the neighbor kids come to her yard to play school, and they study together and color and make scrapbooks and she reports that they all get better grades and enjoy school more……..even if you cant send them materials in their language, just ask if anyone in their home speaks english. surprisingly they do or someone at the project does to help with what you send them….even if you just send lots of paper for them to play school with friends, they can share it and practice lessons…one thing i find is that these children feel soooooo priviledged to go to school and church and they always tell me that they will study hard so my
$$ wont be wasted, and they want to make me proud…gives me tears,
we sponsor 8 children ages 4-19 …approx every 2 weeks, i get a free package from the post office that costs $4.90 to mail-no matter how much you put in it, as long as it seals…
.in it something goes to each child…..the tiny ones usually get coloring books, but i also send construction paper, i make it the right thickness, staple it and write the names and numbers by the staple, i also send stickers and scrapbooking materials..
.sometimes i buy a pack of decorated computer paper and one child will get an entire package. (i only pay $1 per pack).they all enjoy scrapbooking, even the 14 yr old boy
my teens live where they also speak english so i send them word search and crossword and suduko and mad libs books..all bought at the dollar stores for a dollar and are good thickness, all have gone thru for 3 years now,
i also go to goodwill stores and dollar stores looking for thin paperback books, like “chicken soup for the soul” series, guideposts even magazines, like “birds”, “country living” etc,,they dont have scenery and birds like we have in usa, and my kids really enjoy the pretty pictures.
around christmas i buy small calenders with pics that that particular child is interested in..sizes approx 4×4…and they also get 1-2 year pocket planners….i also send those 2 pocket folders and may put pretty paper, a letter, stickers etc inside.
since this takes up alot of time deciding who gets what and all the name and # writing, i don’t write letters with the gifts, and my kids know this,,,,i write my letters on computer coz they get there approx 2 weeks sooner…
I’m a new sponsor to a 10 year old boy from Colombia and I also have an 11 year old correspondent child from Bolivia. I purchase a 10 pack of clasp envelopes that are 6 in x 9 in. In them I include postcards from KY (local wildlife, cities, horses, etc), stickers, temporary tattoo’s, color book pages (I found a Dora & Diego color book that includes spanish and english phrases!), origami that I have made, silly bands, and band aids.
I do have a question about stationary though. I went to Barnes and Noble and saw some really pretty stationary I would like to use while writing to my little ones. My questions are:
1) Are we allowed to use stationary?
2) If so do we include an extra sheet for the translation?
3) Would we only have to put our sponsor # and child’s # on the top?
If anyone could answer these questions it would be appreciated. 🙂
Alex, yes you are allowed to use your own stationary. I’ve always left room, either on the side or on the back. But I suppose they can also use an extra sheet in case there wasn’t enough room on mine.
Also, it’d be a good idea to put your name/number as well as theirs on the letter, for tracking purposes. Kind of like we have a greeting and a closing in a letter, telling who the letter is to and who it is from.
I just like to do everything I can to make it easier on the Compassion staff along the way, so they don’t have to look things up, or whatever. 🙂
Yep. And it will save time if you can write both your number and your child’s full number at the top of the page. Your numbers are used to enter the letter into the computer system at the office in Colorado.
alex,,
you can write on your own stationary..just put names and #s on each page. don’t worry about the extra page, the translator will write on another page and staple it, but you can add an extra page if you want..i even send stationary/blank cards to my teen girls so they can write to their friends and family. if you have an “Ollies bargain outlet” i have found several spanish paperback thin storybooks.
Anna —
That’s great that you’re a new sponsor! What a blessing to your child and, though you may not realize it yet, what a blessing it will be to you and your friend and your Sunday School Class! My child is also in Burkina Faso. In a recent letter she commented on Easter and mentioned that though she is not a Christian (maybe Muslim, maybe other?), she had been with several Christian friends and had seen the Jesus film with them, and she was powerfully moved. I had not known what her religious background was, so this is now an obvious opening for me to pursue but also a time to prayerfully consider how to gently share Christ with her over time. All of my other children live in Christian environments so this is a bit of a challenge. I’ve only been her sponsor for six months so I want to proceed slowly, but I think that loving on her, sharing pieces of my own faith occasionally, perhaps an appropriate Bible verse once in awhile, and references to special Christian celebrations is right. But mostly simply letting her know that she is valued and loved. I would think that if you involve your Sunday School class, that can be really impactful!
Just a thought, I would hope that as sponsors we would also see the “challenge” of asking a child to share their own ideas about faith and not just our opportunity to “save” her. It is wonderful that the film about Christ moved something in her, but whatever spiritual path she or her family is on should be respected. I wouldl think since the centers are church based though, it will work out just fine in the long run. God bless your new connection with her!
That’s a terrific reminder, Jennifer! And I couldn’t agree more; thanks much! Absolutely I want to respect her and her faith, and the idea of asking her to share it with me is a wonderful way to begin to develop our relationship further. I think that it’s also critical not to make her faith/my faith topic number one, front and center, the most important part of our communication (however important it is to me!). But I do see it as an occasional point of reference as we get to know each other — who we are, what we do, what we like, what we think, what are our dreams, … and what are those precious things in which we have faith. But in every aspect of this I want to show a love and an acceptance of her as a person.
So on the list of things that sponsors are unable to send, it says we can not sent stencils. Does this apply to paper stencils? For instance, I know we can not send plastic ones because we can not send anything plastic, but would a thicker paper one be ok?
heavy paper or very very thin plastic stencils work, i have sent the plastic ones that are almost the thickness of paper and very bendable, i actually tape them to the inside cover of a coloring book
[quote comment=”31090″]Do all countries celebrate Thanksgiving or is it just an American Holiday?[/quote]
The origin is giving thanks for the help the first settlers received from the native Amerindians. Hence the traditional foods eaten being those introduced to the settlers by the native peoples.
Plenty of countries celebrate a Harvest Thanksgiving during the autumn, but essentially thanksgiving as it is celebrated in the US and Canada is tied to the history of those countries.
Harvest in the UK is usually celebrated on a Sunday in church, and does not particularly involve a particular meal or a family gathering, much less a public holiday.
Thank you so much for all the comments!! I and a friend of mine are new sponsors! All these ideas for what/how/when to send things is really helpful. We are also going to try having our kids from Sunday School draw pictures and send them to our child in Burkina Faso, so please pray that goes well! Thanks again!
I also bought clearance cards and
this is the answer I received.
13 Jul 2011
Brett & Jenni Goodlin wrote:
Simple answer is Yes!
I have posted an official response for both USA and Canada folks on our Get Satisfaction page.
http://getsatisfaction.com/compassion/topics
Yet someone called and they’re answer was that they weren’t sure at this point
I remember last year, Compassion hooked up with another company to do Christmas cards to unsponsored kids (it was online that you created a card). They were a couple dollars a piece, but someone also provided an address were you can send physical Christmas cards for unsponsored kids. Does anyone have that address? Can you still do this? I bought a bunch of cards on clearance last year for this project.
Hi Lindsey: Here is the info from last year. As far as I know, you can still do it. If LaVerne isn’t doing it this year, or if someone else is heading it up, I’m sure someone from Compassion will let us know ASAP.
“For the cards you would like to send to unsponsored children you can sign it with your name or your family’s name but obviously, you will not have the name of the child so you cannot put that on the card.
Send these cards to this address:
ATTN: LaVerne B., Sponsor Correspondence Team
Compassion International
12290 Voyager Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80921-3668
Please include a cover letter explaining the letters are for unsponsored children.”
Now the online Christmas card drive you mentioned was through DaySpring — those cards went to children at specific child centers in Ecuador. I don’t know if they are doing that again this year — I guess we’ll have to wait and see. BUT, just to let everyone know, if you go to DaySpring’s website and buy something from their “Colors of Compassion” card line, they will donate 6% of the amount directly to Compassion.
Here’s a link to those cards. They are super-cute.:
http://www.dayspring.com/search/?keywords=Colors%20of%20Compassion&rcf=1
I’m almost positive it was Dayspring’s site, but the mailing address for them to compassion is probably the same one we use to send correspondence. They were really open us doing it again according to last years comments…just no big mailings to unsponsored kids year round because it is too much for the centers to manage on a regular basis
What is the latest we should aim for getting Christmas items out to the children? I know they start collecting Christmas donations around September. I am thinking mid September for Christmas stuff/packets?
Right now would be the time to send anything for Thanksgiving.
If anybody is interested, I made this sheet to send to my kids to explain Thanksgiving: http://rm.awarenessnetworks.com/5731146401268326880.jpg?size=960x I’m sure there are more creative ways to do it, but this is one idea.
That is such a great idea, thank you for sharing. I am sending that along with some Thanksgiving coloring sheets that I found online. If anyone is interested the website is http://www.pagecoloring.com
thank you Bev. I sponser a 5 year old and was wondering how to explain Thanksgiving to her Your story is perfect. Thanks again and God bless.
Do all countries celebrate Thanksgiving or is it just an American Holiday?
Thanksgiving is All-American……. however a lot of people use the holiday to spread the message of giving thanks for your blessings, sharing your blessings, and reaching out to others. I tell my kids the basics behind the holiday and tell them my family traditions…. and send coloring pages and mazes. 🙂
Whenever there’s a holiday, I usually write about it in my letter. Writing about Thanksgiving is usually fun and allows you to talk about your family and your values.
When writing, I usually say we have a big meal together, we pray, and we give thanks. I might mention the origin of the holiday and one or two favorite foods. I wouldn’t emphasize the size of the meal, or include pics of the table or anything like that.)
It’s just an American holiday on the 4th Thursday of November. I know Canada has Thanksgiving in October. It’s possible other countries have something similar. It’d be a way to introduce our holiday and ask about holidays in their country.
Hi Becky — I always give things 3 months to get where they are going via Compassion. I’ll have cards/stickers/craft items for Christmas in the mail by around September 25.
I think mid october is the $$ deadline. Mailing our goodie envelops probably would benefit from mid Sept. considering even just in our country we have to start a week or 2 early sometimnes
Wow, reading up on some of these comments have been great for getting more ideas of what to send to my 2 sponsored chidren…thanks for that. I do have a question about how to answer my sponsored boy’s question (age 14 from East India). His letter I recieved yesterday asked if I was rich or poor. I am surprised by this question and don’t know how to answer as I assume he means financially rich or poor and I don’t want to discuss this when he lives in such poverty. Any help with how to answer would be greatly appreciated!
HI Traci — I wouldn’t answer in terms of money at all, but use it as an opportunity to talk about the things in life that truly make us rich.
* We know God’s word and we understand his love for us — we are rich in faith.
* We have parents/siblings/children/spouses/neighbors who love us and care for us — we are rich in family and friends.
* We have opportunities to go to school and to increase our knowledge through reading and learning — we are rich in education.
* We live in a country where we can practice our religion openly and without fear — we are rich in freedom.
* We have access to music, art, literature, drama — we are rich in culture.
* We have access to nature – plants, animals, etc. — we are rich in God’s creations.
It may not be the answer your child was looking for — but in some ways I feel it’s the right answer, regardless. 😉
Again, I think it needs to be a combination of both. At 14, a kid wants a more complete answer than “rich in friendship” JMO
Thanks for your replies…. it gives me some ideas on how to answer his question. He is a very bright 14 year old (almost 15) and I want to respect his question, and not ignore it. I was just taken aback a little with his question. It’s good to know this is a typical question someone would ask in India! That makes sense. And I agree that these kids are are richer than we are because of not having much and being so grateful for the little things. I will try and combine both answers in my letter back as Jennifer suggested. Thanks again.
Hi, traci. being from india and having seen a wide spectrum of diffferent socio eonomic classes there- i think the reason your boy would have asked you is just for information. the rich people there can be really very rich- huge homes (the ones here are really at times no comparison), cars, maids helping at home. You can just say soemthing like GOD has given us enough or is supplying all our needs. I am not sure they really mean it the way we would take it- if someone asks us the question here, i would have been taken aback, but I think for him, it is just information.
Along the same lines of saying that it is not always easy but God provides for us is what I would say. At age 14, I think it is fine to say that depending on where people live, money can buy more for some than others, and how those differences help us learn to be grateful….and that sponsorship is an opportunity to share wtih others or something. Over time I have become sensitive to the words “poor” and “poverty” because in many ways that matter more, these children are richer than I am. Their awareness of the things we take for granted like pencils for school, a jumprope, or a first tube of toothpaste for example is immense. I prefer to talk of “limited resources or opportunity”, because you can have little material things and in some ways not be “poor” at all
I just read about the differences between how a Birthday gift and how a Christmas gift is spent, but how does a Family gift work and when is an appropriate time to send one?
I think with a family gift, they meet with the family to decide how best to use the money. I sent a $300 family gift to my first sponsored child’s family (Rwanda girl), and found out they used it to build a new house for the girl’s parents who live in Uganda (the girl lives with her grandma in Rwanda). This was amazing to me that $300 would go so far! I don’t know about an appropriate time to send one… I’ve been trying to send one once per year, which I’ve been doing around Christmas time.
Oh WOW !!!!, I did not know they can do so much with the small money we send. I send my little boy in Burkina Faso only $ 35. He sent me picture of him and his mother with all the things they bought. He got shoe,mat,biscuits,candies,rice,maize and a buchet to carry water.This is bring tears to my eyes every times i look at their picture. I am thanks God for ompassion. I am now sponsoring 4 more kids.
Family gifts all go to the family as well. Someone from the child’s center will help a family determine how best to use it. If you happen to hear within a letter that I child’s family needs something, you can specify it, but in my experience (8 years) the family has never been that specific as to ask directly, Seems like it would be fine to say “I would like to do something special for your family, is there anything that you need that would be helpful?” but I’m not sure. I have heard wonderful stories though of families getting goats, chickens, bicycles and even a new tin roof for their house! 🙂 As always, it requires several monthes to hear back, but if you don’t, they can find out for you when the time comes
Forgot to say that any time is an appropriate time, but I think most of us wait a bit to get to know the child and family first. Getting a larger gift in the beginning, I feel, could be a bit overwhelming for them, but that’s just my opinion. I have been considering one, and I think the largest you can send is $300, not sure about that part though
Chris,
When giving a gift to your child, your child goes and picks out a gift usually specific to him/her. My child usually goes and buys a dress and shoes with her birthday gift.
When giving a family gift, the money is used on the entire family. I give family gifts around Thanksgiving, and last year the money went to buy soap and rice for the mother to sell.
Hi Chris,
You can send a family gift at any time, but Compassion asks that you limit it to once a year.
You can choose the amount of the faimly gift. The new website, if you log in, will give you 5 choices of amount, but if you call Compassion or use the form at the bottom of your letter paper, you can select a different amount. Compassion used to ask that the gifts be limited to $ 300; I no longer see this restriction.
With a family gift, the project works will sit down with the family and discuss how to spend it. If you have made a suggestion, they will of course take that into account. Items purchased often include cooking and water storage vessels, a metal wardrobe, a bed, a gas burner (instead of cooking over open fire, which requires gathering firewood and can produce a lot of smoke), a sewing machine (some projects teach sewing to older students), or if the family lives in the country, a goat or chickens which can be used for income generation. As the price of food has gone up worldwide in the past few years (the “global food crisis”), the family may use the gift to buy food. A friend’s child wrote that their roof leaked, so she send funds to repair the roof. I’m sending funds to my girl in India for college. You may find clues in the letters about things the families could use. For example, is a parent sick? Ask things like “how long does it take you to get from your house to the Project? To school?” A bicycle might be useful if the answer is a a half hour. Check out the additional info about the child and the community on the web. For one of my new children it says that one of his duties is caring for animals. I’ve asked in a letter what animals the family has. If he replies that they have one goat, I’m going to send money for another goat. On the community info page on the web, it tells when the planting and harvest months are. My girl in Ghana, according to the web, has parents who are farmers. So if they plant in October and harvest in Feb, I would imagine there is hunger from Nov-Jan, when nothing is ripe. So right about now would be a good time to send a gift they could use for food to tide them over or for more seeds. For people in cities, rainy season (which you can find on the web under community information) might be a difficult time financially because day laborers often can’t get work during the rainy season. Construction stops.
So look for clues in the letters and on the web as to what needs might be. My next family gift is going to be to my boy in Ecuador who has 5 siblings. I don’t know the specific needs but with a family that size, I’m sure they have needs.
Family gifts can be sent anytime, and like birthday gifts, the entire amount goes toward that family, no admin costs. The workers will sit down with the family and decide what is most needed, whether food, repair to the home, or possibly an animal that will provide food (eggs or milk) for the family or to sell, providing extra income.
As far as when it is appropriate to send, there are no set guidelines, so it really is up to you. Perhaps look at the child’s birthday, see where it falls in relation to Christmas, and send it halfway in between, so that gifts are spaced out throughout the year. Or, perhaps if the birthday is in June or July, send a family gift instead of a birthday gift one year–so it’s like a birthday gift for everyone in the family. Or check with the folks at Compassion; you might be able to send both a birthday and a family gift at the same time (but that might also be “too much” all at once, so better to get some additional guidance here).
Kaleigh,
Where is your sponsored child in Peru? I have a sponsored girl in Peru. I do not hear from her very often and have sent monetary gifts and many mailings. I sure would like to know how she is doing. Wouldn’t it be nice if every sponsored center would post a photo of the kids and what they have been doing weekly? I would love that!
Is there any way to know if a center has a camera? If they don’t it might be a great idea to put money towards a camera to help sponsors stay connected!! How would we find out a site center’s needs??
Amy,
If you log onto the compassions website, and go to my sponsorship, theres a section under your child’s picture that says “Learn More About (Child’s Name). There are tabs, “Child Information”, “Child Development Center”, “Community”, “Country”. Under Child Development Center, their needs may be listed.
You can also contact the 1800 compassion number, they are very helpful.
Those kinds of things are listed on the site. The 800 number should help though, but they must have a camera or we wouldn’t get any updated photos. Maybe request one to the translator when you write a letter
Hey guys! I sponsor a little boy from Peru and his birthday is September 4th. I sent in a check for 10 dollars about 3 days ago! Ive only been sponsoring him for less than a month or else i would have sent it in alot sooner! im just curious about how they go about giving the gift to my child…and how long it takes to get there, and how i will know if it ever gets there!! i would love any info anybody can give me! I want my sponsorship to be the best it can be!!
Usually mail takes 2-3 months to get to the child. I’m not sure if money can be sent more quickly. I sent a check in March for my little girl’s birthday the first week in June. I received a lovely thank your from her that was dated as being written on 05/23/2011. I sent $20 and it went a long way. Fatima lives in El Salvador and just turned 7. She said her Mom took her shopping and she bought a skirt & blouse, 2 boxes of cereal and a pair of shoes. So your little boy will just get his gift a little late but he will be thrilled and very appreciative. You will hear from him but it just takes patience.
Hi, Kaleigh,
What a blessing you will be to him!
Compassion will send your money to Peru and his project will be notified. Someone at the project will take him shopping and help him pick his present. It will likely be clothes, and some candy with the leftover money. They should be able to get a new outfit for $10. If there is something he really wants like a soccer ball, they might get him that. All of the money you send will be spent on him.
You should get a thank you letter and possibly a photo. Some of the projects have a camera so will be able to take a picture to send you. It will take several months before you get the thank you letter.
Your little boy will love your present even if it arrives after his birthday. It will be exciting for him to be able to go out shopping to get his present.
Watch your mail- in October you should receive a letter from Compassion about the Christmas gifts. Compassion asks that funds be received by October 31 so they can get them to the projects in November and the projects can go shopping ithDecember. The only difference between birthday money and Christmas is that all money you send for the birthday will be spent directly on your child. At Christmas, the money is pooled so the same amount will be spent on each child. That way if one sponsor sends more than another, or a sponsor doesn’t send anything, each child gets a present.
God bless,
Sandra
All birthday and family gift $$ is used to buy things in their country and given to the child. Sometimes you will get a picture or they will tell you what they got in the letter. Sometimes its just a “Thank you for the gift”. However, as you get to know someone better, if their is something specific you want the $$ to go for you can mention that they will get it if they can. It can take several weeks for bday thinigs or a few monthes (family gifts). In the end if you don’t hear, you can call compassion and they will ask the field office and find out for you, but no worries about it being late.They will still be grateful Welcome to Compassion!
I’m a newbie here, so I have lots of questions! : )
For those of you that have been sending folders, do you put the things inslide the folder in seperate envelopes? Like, if I wanted to include construction paper for her to draw on, how would I package that inside the folder? And several people have said folders will go through even though they’re a little big. How do you send them? Do you put them in some sort of envelope or just wrap them in brown paper?
Also, I want to send paper dolls with one of my letters. I was going to put them in a seperate envelope inside the letter envelope. Should I seal that envelope or just tuck the flap inside? Do they open the envelopes in customs? I wouldn’t want all the pieces to get lost.
Well, hi there, Erin Ward! This is Linda Tranbarger! Good to see you here, and what a wonderful thing you are doing, sponsoring a child. We’ve been at it since Sara was 13. Email me, or find me on FB or go join OurCompassion.org. You will find lots of friendly sponsors there with lots of experience, questions, and good advice.
Ok, here goes! 🙂 I have never sent folders yet but after 8 years of sending things and not having anything returned, here is what I would do. First remember that every item, if kept separate would need to have both the child’s name and number and yours on them, so if you can put them in separate envelopes that will help a little, but the name/#s have to be on each envelop (as well as on the folder itself. I think stapling pages of construction paper in the the corner with the ID stuff on them would be sufficient. All inside envelopes need to be tucked in because Compassion checks things. The only sealed envelop is the one with Compassion’s address on it that you will send everything in, including the folder. The mailing envelop can be as big as you need it to be. It is only the things for the child that have to meet the measurement and thickness rules.
As far as paper dolls, I have sent thoses too and was told NOT to saparte the clothes but to send each page still in tact with the ID stuff on EACH PAGE. (assumming you are talking store bought ones). If you have more pages than 1/4″ worth, send them in separate packages and just tell her “more clothes are coming!” That way there aren’t as many loose pieces and they have more to look forward to in the mail.
Hope all of that makes sense. It does get easier with practice 🙂
I have two questions is it okay to free stickers of snow flakes that I got from Highlights Mag. Also I have small paper dolls from a magazine and would print them out can I send these on.
I write about our farm animals and their doing for example I plan to talk about tomatoes and the hookworm and how the chickens like them how the chickens first look at them and then beat them up on ground before dining on them.I try to make a story out of the subject and will send on photo of hook worms I also post some of our doings.
Yes, stickers and paper dolls are fine.
What about the padded envelopes like you can get at the post office? Some are very colorful and pretty, but they are padded. Are those ok as long as they are within size restrictions? Thanks!
It’s my understanding that the items we send to Compassion are then put into another envelope and sent so the pretty ones wouldn’t be sent to your child and thus a waste of money for you. Plus mailing a padded envelope would add to the postage Compassion would have to pay, no? Anybody else had experience with this?
Padded envelopes go through okay. I’ve used them many times and have had no issues.
Thank you very much! I just signed up to sponsor and have been brainstorming about stuff I can send within the limitations! My sons (12 and 11) are very excited to get to send our child pictures and letters and such.
How about comic books? They are less than 8 1/2 x 11 x 1/4, but I don’t know if you would call that a ‘book’ or not.
A comic book will go through fine unless for some reason it is so thick it has any type of spine. If it is just together with staples and meets the size and thickness guidelines, it should work. A book with any type of spine would need to be taken apart first, It all has to do with falling under the definition of “docment” to simplify customs stuff. I’ve thought about comics too. Great idea!
Mary Lou, I send my 9 year olds stickers, picture post cards, family photographs, decorative bandaids, book marks, sports cards showing his favorite sport. I send the girl paper dolls, and the boy coloring pages of cars or other boyish things. 9 is a great age.
Jan
Thanks for the information about the paper dolls. I have put them in unsealed envelopes and placed them in a larger manila envelope to send to Compassion in CO. Will that work??
Yes Amy, that will work great! I usually put my child’s gift items and letter together in a larger unsealed manila envelope and then put it in a free tyvek envelope that I get from the Post Office to send it on to Compassion in CO. I just wanted to let you know just in case you have larger items that you want to send in the future. The child receives the items in nicer condition because nothing needs to be folded that way!
Thanks! I do have an 8X10 photo mini-poster of pictures from the summer that I wanted to send so I will do it that way!! I wanted to send one photo per season to show typical activities and the weather… Thought it would be cool for my child in Burkina Faso….
I have a question what to i see my child his 9 and i don’t know what to send beside letter and i want to sent him stuff but I am not sure what
Hi Amy,
Yes, paper dolls are allowed. I’ve sent them to my Compassion girls many times. I think I’ve had as much fun sending them as they have had receiving and playing with them!
I sponsor a girl in Bolivia who is turning 12 yrs old in November. Regarding sending paper dolls: What about store bought ones? I’ve looked for ‘generic’ ones like I had as a little girl, but the only ones I can find are of Disney or other TV characters (ie Disney princesses) I’m concerned that the outfits might appear too fancy. Are those appropriate?
Paper dolls?? Are they allowed? I created them from the inside of a cereal box. I made some clothes from thin paper and sent extra paper for my child to create her own clothes. Since they were naked I put a t-shirt and biker shorts on them (drawn on). Then, I colored the clothes with colored pencils. Lastly, I put my child’s name and number on each piece of paper / cereal box….
Amy,
I’ve sent a couple sets of homemade paperdolls making sure they stayed under the thickness guideline and they have gone through fine. My child also thanked me for the “toy”.
Lindsey
I know this may be a silly question but this is still very new to me. Our SS class sponsors a young boy in the Philippines. I am currently making him a photo album. I am using 8×11 cardstock and gluing on the picture with info about themselves typed under it. My question is: do I have to fold these in thirds to fit into envelopes Compassion provides, or can I mail them in a larger manila envelope?
Thanks in advance.
Jeannette,
You dont have to fold it do fit the envelope Compassion sends you. You can use a larger manilla, or white envelope. Be sure the childs name and number are on each piece of cardstock.
You also have to put your sponsor name and number on each piece. Many make labels with this info on them to make it faster.
The free return labels from Vistaprint are excellent for this purpose! I also have labels for the Compassion UK address, as I don’t get that many return letters from my UK kids yet.
I teach a class of fifth graders and I was wondering if (within the prescribed letter-writing guidelines) it was alright to invite them to write a letter to my child.
Vehia,
I like the idea of getting your class involved. Since compassion kids attend school,I think they would understand the concept of your students writting to them. I agree with Judy about only sending a few at a time or keeping the letters to a couple lines. Your students could also draw a picture that relates to their letter too. There was a blog just a week or two ago about how kids enjoy drawn pictures from us as much as we enjoy the pictures they draw.
I think having your students write to your comassion child will make your compassion child feel very special because your telling your students about him/her and your students are taking time to write.
It is ok to have your class write your sponsored child. What we would ask though is you explain to your child who the people are who are writing to them, why they are writing and stress that you are still their sponsor. You’ll want to do this to make sure that there is no confusion on your child’s part. If you decide to do this you’ll have to let us know how it goes!
I think Judy’s suggestion of only sending a letter or a two at a time is a good one, and that Jacquie’s suggestion of explaing to your compassion child that it’s your students writting and that you’re still there sponsor is also a good one.
I think having your child know that they are so important in your life that you told your students about them and your studnets are taking the time to write them will make them feel very special.
Maybe your students could also include drawings in relation to what they wrote about; a week or two ago, compassion had a blog about how our compassion kids enjoy drawings from us as much as we enjoy receiving them.
My Sunday School class supports a Compassion child in India. Their weekly “offerings” go to a fund for him, and we pray for him regularly. I have sent our child in India many pictures of the children in class, along with special-occasion cards signed by everyone. To send many letters at one time would be too much for the translators, but if one or two of the children want to write a letter, I think that would be okay. Or, you could do a “round robin” letter, where each child writes one brief sentence, something that would be of interest to a child in another country. One could say what his favorite sport is, another could say his favorite food or color, another could tell one thing learned in class that week, and so on.
If there’s a response from someone who works for Compassion, their advice trumps mine. But, for what it’s worth, here’s my two cents:
1) Consider the age of your child. Are they old enough to understand who the writers are? I’ve told my 2nd/3rd graders today about a 10-year-old I sponsor; Michael would probably understand, since I told him last year that I’m a teacher and I’ve told my students about him…if I were to choose to have my students write letters periodically. At other times, I’ve sent a card signed by my Sunday School class for a child’s birthday (the class was primarily younger children who wouldn’t likely write an entire letter).
2) Consider the translators. Regardless of the age of the child receiving the letters, I wouldn’t recommend sending a class set of letters at the same time. Perhaps send a few a month, to avoid overwhelming anyone. (But then, perhaps the letters would be distributed among several people anyway…)
If we get a response, I’d love to know if it’s officially allowed, since it’s a pretty cool idea, and I’d like to have it as an option as a writing assignment/ongoing social studies assignment.
I sent a picture my nephew (aged 5) drew to one of my sponsor kids. I also sent some thank you pictures a friend (who they prayed for) drew for them. I think like Judy said that above all you need to consider the child and the translators. Maybe a good start would be to send a pic of your class and maybe get them to sign a card? As that would not be overwhelming and would give them some context for any letters you sent in future? just a thought 🙂
Im making paper angel ornaments for Christmas…is GLITTER GLUE OK???????? will things with glitter glue on them go thru????
Glitter glue on a paper ornament is okay. 🙂 What a great idea!
I sponsor a boy that is 14 and some of the things I’ve sent are: Pin the tail on the donkey game found at Dollar Store, all parts are flat and folded paper, I found a book at Publix that has pages you can tear out and color individually but then if you put all 8-10 pages together on the wall it makes a giant poster of a castle, etc. I’ve sent card games and divided the cards up into baggies and taped them on a piece of paper so they lay flat, Bingo and Oragami also found at Dollar Store. Dollar Store also has alot of word search/picture search coloring type books and I have lately seen alot of Christian coloring books with puzzles in them there. I also tore out a couple of articles out of Sports Illustrated magazine that was mostly pictures of soccor and football players and games. Also have sent colored note cards, sticky notes and school folders with boy type themes. I usually put all my stuff inside the folder inside separate clear binder sheets after I label it all. I was cutting the folders down to 8 1/2 x 11 but saw on here that the full size ones are ok to send. Just a few ideas. I really enjoy looking for new ideas of stuff to send.
I sponsor two boys, ages 7 and 11. So far, I’ve been sending letters, band aids, coloring sheets and stickers. Any other ideas on what to send the 11 year-old? I assume boys get tired of coloring sheets and stickers after a certain age, but I don’t know what else to send. Any ideas? Thank you!
I also clip things out of the sunday newspaper like snoopy comics (any comics the kids would find funny without needing to be able to read them), soduko, the 3 step how to draws, and they always have find the 6 differences between the two pictures.
Sherry,
I’ve made a laminated tic-tac-toe board and instead of x’s and o’s I did baseball pieces and soccer pieces I think. I drew diagrams to explain how three in a row worked. I thought it was a game that could be easily translated.
I’ve also done matching game using 2 sets of the exact same stickers and index cards.
pictures and post cards, postage stamps, maybe? Sports trading cards, folders with “guy themes’ (heard those pocket folders do go through although they are a little bigger than the 8 x11 rule). It does feel harder as they get older, but I really think they appreciate anything we send
Sports cards might be appreciated. Also, newspaper pictures of sports, bandaides with boy stuff pictured on them. Pucture post cards with subjects that would interest boys ( animals, fishing, hunting, sports, places you’ve gone to).
Can you send your child pencils, pens or markers or are they too thick?
Hi Pam. Unfortunately, you can’t send your child those things. You have to stick to items that fit in the “paper document” category at customs. (Flat, paper, no bigger than 8 1/2″ x 11″ and no thicker than 1/4″.) Chances are your child has access to writing utensils at his or her Compassion center. You can also send a monetary birthday gift or a child gift and request that the child center purchase writing utensils for your child. (My child got colored pencils, among other things, one year for his birthday.)
Is is unusual to not hear anything about a monetary gift sent the end of January? My child is in Haiti and I have been anxiously waiting to hear that it was received. I emailed Compassion 2 times and was told to wait until the end of July and ask again, which I did but have not heard back. Just thought I would ask on this blog since Sarah just mentioned it takes about 4 months to hear back and it has been over 6 now. Thanks!
Karen, please call us at (800) 336-7676. We’ll need to contact the field to find out what was purchased with your gift. We do ask that you wait 6 months to hear back as it takes 2-3 months for the gift to get to Haiti and 2-3 months for the thank you letter to travel back.
Karen, I bet you’ll hear soon! I usually give my monetary gifts 3 months to get to my child – 1 month for them to purchase things and write a response letter – and 3 months for their letter to get to me. (That’s for my kids in Ethiopia.) If you’re on the same timetable and you sent the gift at the end of January, you’d be getting a letter by the end of August. It sounds like Jacquie is on the case, though. 🙂
Karen – Since you’ve been waiting so long I wanted to at least let you know now that I’ll connect you with someone in our contact center first thing tomorrow. We’ll get this figured out!!
No fabric at all. Paper only. Sorry
I know it says no cloth items. Does that restriction include a 5″ square scrap of fabric? How about those appliques that you sew on clothing?
Hi Lydia,
Yep, they go through without cutting them. I’ve been sending them to our Compassion children for a few years now.
I have been sending pretty folders with paper items inside to my sponsored little girl one a month since last Sept. Because of the size restriction I have been cutting them down to the required size. This requires cutting off some of the parts of a picture on the folder and then I must tape the inside pocket to hold items. Although I don’t mind, it sure would be nice to send the folder without ” messing it up” so to speak. I recently read in two compassion bloggers that these slightly larger folders will go through ( one such note was from Lisa) Is this really true because I would hate for them to be rejected if this is not true? The actual size isabout 11 3/4x 9 1/4.
[quote comment=”30238″]On OurCompassion sponsors can network with each other.
I know it can be frustrating, but as others have said, the children are able to purchase so much more for their familes when they buy it in their own country[/quote]
Also that supports the local economy which in the long term will be beneficial to the family, their neighbours, etc etc. It’s not just about the here and now but also about reversing the effects of poverty in any way possible.
Shirley,
I’m so sorry there was a misunderstanding about gifts. I’m a Compassion Advocate and often help at concerts and churches to sign up new sponsors. I realized that we often say that sponsors can send gifts to their sponsored child twice a year. Since we already know those are monetary gifts, I think it didn’t occur to us, unless the prospective sponsor asked more questions, to specify that those are monetary gifts only. Often there is a crowd of people at a concert and we can’t spend as much time with each person as we would like explaining all the ins and outs.
If you didn’t already recevie the brochure “Letters, Gifts, and Your Sponsored Child, please call Compassion at 1-800-336-7676 and request it. It should go to new sponsors.
If you send a monetary gift for birthday or Christmas, you should receive a letter and often a picture showing what the money was used for. (It could take 3-4 months). Someone from the project will take the child shopping, and they will spend the entire amount of your gift- nothing its taken out for administration, etc.
At the end of the day the decision has to be about what is best for the child. It would be lovely for us to be able to send what we want, but it’s not about us. It’s about the children we sponsor. They are the important thing.
Crayons and pencils are a no, but you can send a gift requesting those be purchased for the child.
Also, some sponsors send their gifts along with sponsors that are going on a trip to certain areas. On OurCompassion sponsors can network with each other.
I know it can be frustrating, but as others have said, the children are able to purchase so much more for their familes when they buy it in their own country
Hi Shirley,
I too felt very let down when I found out. I have sponsored 7 children from Compassion for the last 3 years and last year I chose two children from World Vision because I can send them anything at all at any time. I can send clothes, toys, books, toothpaste, etc. If it bothers you as much as it did me, there is always the option of sponsoring from another organization.
I thought that the guilelines for sending packages through World Vision were a little more lenient than Compassion(like you can send balloons and colored pencils) but it had to be able to fit in a 6×9 envelope…is this not the case??
Thanks to all who are responding. I get it now and understand the reasoning behind it all. We as a family will get creative. As far as another organization, we may sponsor another but would not give up on Marcos now.
Again, thanks for all your help !
Blessings to all
Shirley
Shirley, I just wanted to say thank you for sponsoring. Marcos will certainly be blessed through his sponsorship with you and your family. 🙂
Shirley, I have been a sponsor for over 8 years and still get frustrated with the “paper only” guideline but in my experience, these children recieve it all from the heart. When you send $$ they still see the gift as from you, and lately, I have been getting pics of them in their new clothes, etc. And like the above comment says, getting it in their country does allow them to recieve more.
As an added not to Compassion, I am concerned that I seem to be seeing a lot more comments about new sponsors not understanding the paper guidelines and asking about toys, etc. Are they no longer being told up front that these are the limitations before they sign up? Just wondering, because I never had that confusion as a sponsor?
I agree with Jennifer, sometimes the paper only guideline is frustrating, but what I have learned reading blogs written by former compassion children, etc. is that the letters you write, and the love you show through them, are so much more important than the “gifts” we send. I think we place so much more importance on the “gifts” than the children do. I remember watching one compassion video where the boy had a sponsor who did not write much, and then got a new sponsor, and the new sponsor sent him a letter from each member of the family, and he said how excited he was just to get the letter that he ran around the village shouting “look at my letters”. I love sending my children stickers, coloring pages, etc but I think the most important thing is that we write.
[quote comment=”30251″]I remember watching one compassion video where the boy had a sponsor who did not write much, and then got a new sponsor, and the new sponsor sent him a letter from each member of the family, and he said how excited he was just to get the letter that he ran around the village shouting “look at my letters”. I love sending my children stickers, coloring pages, etc but I think the most important thing is that we write.[/quote]
That was Tony, wasn’t it? Great video that one. I absolutely agree. The most important thing is that we write.
I’ve also seen articles on the Compassion blog about older sponsor children who say they read and re-read those letters, and if when they were first sponsored they couldn’t read, they go back as older children. Those letters are treasured, and they are where we can express our heart to them. That is more important than any amount of “stuff” ever could be.
I’m not sure, but that video had a huge impact on me: it showed me how much my letters actually mean. I’ve become a lot more active about writting letters since.
I started sponsoring and being a correspondence sponsor with Compassion Intl late last year, and every sponsorship/correspondence child I’ve had info from has come with a leaflet explaining the limitations and guidelines clearly. I think possibly some people are getting the wrong idea in their heads and then running with it instead of carefully reading the things they get from Compassion, which is sad but understandable!
I think the children appreciate anything… we get overly worried about kids’ sophistication and forget that what they really want is to be loved, and that they take our gifts in that light. And talking of sophistication – I have been making paper bracelets from origami paper etc to send to my kids, and have been really surprised at the response from friends’ children. I have made animal print ones for my friend’s two boys (8 and 9) and despite them being quite techno-friendly, tv watching, modern Western kids, they were delighted. And to my surprise, the 8 year old actually wanted one of the glittery, pretty ones I’d been making for my sponsor girls! If a Western 8 year old boy can get that excited about a glittery bracelet made of paper… well I think we need to remember that these children are exactly that, children. They want to be loved and they are ready and willing to receive that love from us even in things we, with our developed world standpoint, might feel are not very exciting or special.
Thank you all for your replys. My daughter and I sent out our “packages” today, lots of stickers, coloring book and a long letter from my daughter.
As far as letting us know, this was not clear. We actually understood it clearly that we could send PACKAGES twice a year. One for his birthday and one for christmas. This is why we got so excited and actually went shopping when we got home from Creation Fest for our little guy. His birthday was July 18. It’s hard to get creative with a 4 year old. We are told his favorite toys are cars so we also bought little cars for him. And a lady in our church makes little lapaghans, and we had this for him also. All gathered while waiting for info where to send it to….so when we got word yesterday that we can not send him anything other than paper, we were let down considerably. My 12 year old daughter is the one who sponsors Marcos and it’s hard for her to understand these rules when her heart wants to share share share. We got online and sent him a monetary gift today for his birthday so hopefully he’ll get what he wants when it gets there.
We will continue to get creative with our gifts.
Again, thanks to all who responded.
PS: Are crayons and colored pencils on the “no” list ?
I Am Third
Shirley
You should find guidelines in the “letter writing kit” you received when you sponsored Marcos, which if memory serves includes the guidelines, but you will find a full (and generally, up to date) list here: https://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
As a broad guideline, remember that your letters and any paper gifts are sent as documents for customs reasons. That’s why so many things are not allowed, though for myself I’m often surprised at the creativity shown when people send things!
They’re not specifically on either list, but I very much doubt that crayons or pencils would go through as documents, I’m afraid.
We are new sponsors of a chld in the DR. What we can not understand is why we can not send gifts other than paper. We want to send a homemade afaghan to our child for his birthday but can’t due to rules. Can someone explain why we can’t send gifts from our heart and can only send money thru compassion.
Shirley,
In addition to what Danielle mentions, there is the difficulty getting things through customs. Sometimes this is a lengthy process, and a whole batch of letters could get held up for weeks because of gifts in the package that the customs officials have to examine and then perhaps assess value on. Compassion might end up having to pay import duty on your gifts.
Also, the cost of shipping overseas is quite high. I recently looked at the US Postal Service website to see about shipping some colored pencils and other supplies to some friends- it was $ 40-50 minimum.
Shirley, I’m so glad you’ve chosen to sponsor with Compassion. I’ve been a sponsor for over 13 years and have visited Compassion in 6 countries. While there may be “rules” that don’t make sense, I can tell you that Compassion loves kids, loves the sponsors, and is very concerned about the sponsor/child relationship. The rules have been set after much prayer and study, getting input from US and overseas workers. Although you may feel money is not a gift from the heart, your child will love and cherish whatever he or she is able to pick out with the money you send, and the child will know you love and care for him.
Shirley, it has to do with the cost. The reason things have to be thin and made of paper is because it is mailed as a document, which keeps the mailing costs down. If they allowed other things and mailing costs went up, less of your monthly contribution would go to your child. Sending gift money through Compassion helps the economy in your child’s country and they are able to get a lot more for the money. Your heart is in the right place! You can make many fun gifts from paper that would be from the heart. Check out ourcompassion.com. There are so many ideas for fun things to send your child.
and Marlene…I make pressed flower note cards. I have some printed. Would you like to see a few, then decide if it is right for your girl. I have the same problem. My teenager is 15, very serious, and sends rather empty content letters. This idea may be a good one for both our girls/ladies. You may feel to email me if you are interested. [email protected] And anyone else interested. I can send some samples …they are all flowers, I have a few with mouse stickers in them for the younger girls.
I think I will mail my young lady some and see what her feedback is.
Shari, I’d love to see – I can always use more ideas! [email protected]
Perhaps some beautiful note cards with envelopes.
I have a girl in Indonesia who will turn 16 in November. I’ve had a hard time knowing what to send to her, as she’s such a serious minded girl. She wants to be a teacher. Often, when i send her money for her birthday, it ends up being spent for the family, even though I’ve sent family gifts as well. I’ve sent paper dolls ( I still liked paper dolls at her age, and designed my own clothes for them), stickers, picture post cards, family photos. i can’t really say that I’ve gotten much feed back from her, so I don’t know if I’m reaching her or not. When I first started sponsoring her she sent me paintings she had done, and wrote wonderful letters, but I haven’t had as satisfactory a relationship with her for a few years now.
Let me know if you come up with some good ideas.
I made my child a notebook. I simply took some lined pages from a small notebook I had and attached a cover I made out of scrap booking paper. You can even put her name on it. If she goes to school she can use it there or she can use it as a diary or something. Just make sure it´s not too thick.
Does anyone have any ideas of what to send to a 15 year old girl in Indonesia? I would like to send her something for her birthday, but everything I have read about being sent to sponsored children has seemed to childish for her.
Our local Michael’s has begun carrying some really cool holographic bookmarks for about $3-$4. They have four different kinds, each with a different real animal (not animated – elephant, dolphin, horse or lion, I think) that “moves” when you move the bookmark. Even the adults like them and I wouldn’t mind having one for myself but I’m sure my daughter would end up taking it from me. I’m sure a teenage girl would love one of these, especially if she goes to school. They are a little thicker than a regular bookmark, but I’m pretty sure they are within the 1/4″ guideline. I don’t know for sure if they’d go through, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t… it’d be worth a try. Anyway, it’s just a thought…
Yes, I have seen those and they are very nice. I sent one with a horse to the boy we support.
I have a blog post about paper bracelets that might fit the bill: http://familiar-little-frog.blogspot.com/2011/07/paper-bracelets.html
I don’t know what you have already sent her in the past, but here’s an idea. You probably have seen all the previous posts and examples of lapbooks, theme folders that you make with a manila folder (cut down to 11 inches); lots of examples are online. You could do a lapbook with an international theme, and include world maps (Staples has a nice laminated one 8 1/2 x 11; Lakeshore Learning has a poster-size world map that is folded down to correct size; or just use maps that you print from the internet, including maps of time zones); stickers of flags of the world (from Trend Enterprises or Oriental Trading, for example); a few cards of scenes of various countries (Target has sets in their dollar section); some calendars have lovely international pictures; and/or educational cultural coloring pages from the internet (crayola has some great pages here: http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/search.cfm?txt_search=flags ); bookmarks with stickers or flags or other scenes; whatever you can find to include in the folder that will go with an international theme. For instance, at Lakeshore Learning, I found a booklet entitled Breads of the World. You could even find some pictures online and make your own booklet. You could decorate the folder with borders (see Trend Enterprises borders of flags, or people of the world). I have done birthday-themed, flower-themed, and butterfly-themed lapbooks for my kids.
I’ve heard the musical cards go through. That would be nice. Small posters, stickers that are of course “older” like flowers and butterflies maybe, pressed flowers that are laminated is one I hear goes through, although I have never tried that. Pictures from your family, and you can always send a little money and they will buy her something in her country. My oldest girl turned 12, it does feel tricky as they get older, but they love us,we worry more than they do about it, I’m sure…
Hi! I’m new to Compassion and am sponsoring a little girl in Ghana, I want to send my first letter with some paper dolls and stickers, if I put them inside a normal folder with pockets (no metal) and put that inside of a big envelope will it go through? I appreciate any tips on sending paper gifts.
Hi Kaili — Welcome to Compassion! It’s great to have you here.
Yes, a standard size folder will go through. Just make sure to label all items (including the folder) with your child’s number and your sponsor number. 🙂
I am confused about the comments I see here…We’ve financially sponsored a little girl in Honduras since 2006. We write to her…is someone else writing to her too????
Shouldn’t be anyone else writing to your child. Compassion is good about the one-to-one sponsorship. And if you’ve been writing during your sponsorship, no one on their end would think of assigning your child a correspondent. Correspondents are assigned to children when the financial sponsor chooses not to write…and there’s a process to it, including the sponsor giving permission; I think it may even be the sponsor who initiates the process; Compassion won’t be the one to say “let’s get a correspondent”, the sponsor has to do it; so it’s possible that, if a correspondent never gets assigned, and even if the sponsor doesn’t write, but supports a child their entire tenure in the program, the child will probably never get letters.
Basically, you shouldn’t have to worry about someone else writing to your child. Hopefully that answers your question!
Celina, Nina, and Judith,
Thank you for your info….we havent been as faithful to write her due to repeating the same things over and over….I will get some ideas from others on this blog.
Thanks again.
Nope – you are the only one writing to her. The only way another person besides the financial sponsor would write to a child would be if the financial sponsor officially gives up the writing priviledge, and the child is then assigned to a correspondent sponsor, so they are able to recieve letters. My understanding is that this is done if a business sponsors children, perhaps, or a child is sponsored by a trust, where the financial sponsor is deceased.
Not likely. Usually when someone financially supports a child but doesn’t have the time to write, another person is assigned as their point of contact. If you are unsure, u can call Compassion and ask if by chance anyone else was assigned as a writer to them.
New sponsor here. This is a basic question, but…how do I sign my name in letters to my child? “Sharon” or “Mrs. Sharon”?
I just use my first name, but I guess it’s personal preference. I’ve heard that in some countries the kids like to tack Aunt or Uncle onto the beginning of a name. So you may end up Auntie Sharon. 🙂
Question: I have seen people share that puzzles can go thru, if they are put together and shrink-wrapped or Saran wrapped. What about smaller puzzles, if the pieces are put in an envelope, as long as it is less than 1/4″ thick and 81/2′ by 11″? Would that be okay??
I found some wonderful puzzles at the Dollar Store yesterday, several with Bible scenes, and others with Numbers, Colors, Shapes, and the Alphabet. The best part was they were in English, Spanish AND French! Iam SO hoping I can find a way to send these. They are only 24 pieces., so kinda small, but I;m pretty sure the completed puzzles would be more than 8 1/2 by 11″. :\
Hi Jennifer — I went back and found two people who said their puzzle pieces could not be sent unless they were assembled and sent flat. Seena on June 3rd said she put the pieces in an envelope and got an email saying they would not go. Con on March 24th put puzzles pieces in a baggie and they wouldn’t go through.
I do have a suggestion. If your puzzle, assembled, is bigger than the size requirement – could you assemble it in two parts? If you sent each half wrapped separately, the child should recieve both halves at the child project at the same time. (Or you could include a little note saying “here’s one half of the puzzle, the other is on its way” – just in case they get separated.)
The puzzles you found, sound great!
thats a a good idea about sending the puzzles that way, Lisa..We also thought of sending them at 2 different times, so the children have something to look forward to. We do that with books too. We send a chapter at a time so that they have something to look forward to in the next mails.
I love that idea! 🙂 Sending a page or two at a time makes it doable for the translators and gives the child something to look forward to. Kind of like the old serial stories that used to run in the newspapers or in magazines. Fun!
If I mail items to my child in a transparent page protector, does anyone know for sure whether the Compassion folks who handle the mail include the page protector when they mail the items to the Compassion Center in my child’s country? I called Compassion and the fellow I asked did not know.
Also, what about a lightweight cardboard pocket folder with a holographic design? Will that go through?
Yes, folders go through even though they are a little bigger than the size requirements. I have sent several now, that I didn’t trim and they have gone through.
I just wanted to let everyone know, too, that the plain pocket folders (without metal clips) are on sale right now at Walgreen’s for 9-cents a piece. (If you can get them. My Walgreen’s only had a couple left.)
Lois I have heard from several people that the page protectors will go through, just be sure to put the name and #s on EACH item to make sure they don’t get lost, and the folder should be fine, but remember, everything can be no bigger than 8 1/2′ x 11″, so you may have to trim it to size
Thanks!
How long can I expect to wait for the first letter from my child? Just trying to get an idea of when I should start rushing to my mailbox in anticipation… 🙂
Hi Jennifer! It can take up to three months to receive your first letter. You are going to LOVE getting your first letter. Really it is wonderful every time they come in the mail. 🙂 Jacquie
I am amazed at all the wonderful ideas.
Please keep them coming. Thanks to all
of you.
I don’t know if anyone can help me but I have no idea where to ask except Compassion people!
A friend of mine made pictures for my sponsor children to say thank you, as I asked them to pray for her. One of them shows a picture of a snake… I’m worried whether this would be culturally inappropriate to send to any of the children. I’ve sorted out half of them but have three left: a teenaged girl in Haiti, a 10 year old boy in Uganda and a 6 year old boy in Kenya. Does anyone know if in any of those countries I might be accidentally crossing cultural lines by sending a (very cute) picture of a snake with the thank you?
I know my mom despises snakes, and even though she is indian, it has nothing to do with a cultural thing…she just kinds them gross…so even if you do find out it doesn’t mean anything ‘bad’ or is not worshipped there, etc, etc, there is a chance that some people just dislike snakes becuase, well, becuase they are snakes!!
Hi Sarah — That’s a really good question! I think the snake has some symbolism in most cultures — even Christianity. But there are only two countries I could find where a snake picture might not be looked on favorably by a Christian family.
In Haiti, voodoo evolved from snake worship and I believe the snake image is still incorporated into voodoo ceremonies today.
In India there are shrines and festivals associated with the snake. (The snake represents a god named Siva, to which people bring food and gifts. There are also shrines to a snake king Vasuki.)
Of course, if your child is Christian, the child is not participating in things like that. But the symbolism is pervasive enough in those two cultures that I might avoid sending it there.
I think the picture would be just fine for a little boy in Kenya or Uganda.
I had a similar situation this weekend. I bought a birthday card for my brother’s sponsored child in the Philippines. In the corner there was a little chipmunk making a “peace sign” with his fingers. I remembered that in some countries the peace sign is considered an obscene gesture. I had to make sure the Philippines wasn’t one of them! 🙂 Always something to think about…
Thank you both for the feedback! That helps 🙂
I have traveled to Haiti 3 times, and from what I have learned, it should be okay to send them to her.. In fact, they have a very creative way of killing snakes by swinging them around and around like a lasso.. it is quite amusing.
Hope this helps!
We have been a sponser for a short time so I need alot of info on what we can send. Can we send magnetic stickers like you put on the refrigerator? Can we send wood like wood puzzles?
The post just above yours has the list. About books though. Books that meet the size and thickness requirement will go through, but ONLY if they are paper and are bound together just with small staples in the side. No book with any type of actual spine will go through. In a nutshell if it isn’t PAPER it wont go through with the exception of 1-2 “silly bandz” taped flat to a piece of paper or cardstock. For some reason, I hear those go through, but no magnets, no wood. Laminated things are fine.Some even send pressed flowers that are laminated. Your welcome packet should have a good list in it, but this is a great place for ideas so keep checking!
Where can I find a complete list of what I can or cannot send in a packet.?
Hi Betty — If you log onto your account, there is a list under “Write My Child” and “Letter Writing Tips.” Here’s the complete list…
Items That Can Be Sent
Band-Aids
Baseball and football cards
Bookmarks
Calendars, smaller than 8-1/2″ x 11″
Construction paper
Greeting cards
Laminated flowers and leaves
Magazine pages only, less than 1/4″ thick
Origami
Pages from coloring books
Pages from watercolor paint books (may not send paint brushes)
Paper dolls
Photos of you and your family
Postcards
Scrapbook paper
Scripture cards
Small posters
Stamps
Stickers
We cannot send any metal (including jewelry, ornaments and magnets), perishable items (gum, candy, flower seeds), or any larger items (soccer balls, clothes).
Unfortunately, We Can Also No Longer Send the Following:
Balloons
Books and booklets
CDs/DVDs
Ceramics or glass
Cloth items
Elastic hair bands
Foam crafts
Plastic
Plastic rulers
Ribbons
Stencils
Tassels
_______________
And keep in mind the size restriction is 8 1/2×11-inches and no more than 1/4-inch thick.
We’ve also discussed a couple of things here that seem to deviate from the list. You CAN staple a few pages together or staple something onto a craft item. You CAN send silly bandz — just a couple taped FLAT onto a piece of paper. You can send folders even though they slightly exceed the size limit.
Just remember to label everything with your child’s name and number and your name and sponsor number.
What if I’ve sent a few items, such as stickers and book marks, but I have not written the child’s name and number on them? I wrote all the info on the letters, but does this mean they will not be sent?
It should still be sent. I remember hearing/reading somewhere that when letters arrive in Colorado, they’re checked for appropriate-ness (either topic in the letter, or bathing suits in photos, or tassels on bookmarks, etc…). But they also check to see whether everything is marked–if it isn’t, there are people who double check sponsor/child numbers, and will mark the items for you. At worst, it’ll delay your letter a bit, but it should still get sent.
Cindy — while shrinky dinks are fun, (a) they aren’t paper, and (b) you need a predictable oven to shrink them, and we don’t know if that is available to all the kids.
Does anybody know whether a project such as a paper doll, paper bag puppet, etc. will go through if they have the “googley eyes” glued to them (less than 1/4″) ?
Hi Cindy — Googly eyes won’t go through. Sorry! 🙁 The craft ideas you have going sound so great, though — I LOVE the paper bag puppet idea — perhaps you can just color on the eyes or use stickers to make the eyes?
I was wondering if anyone knew if shrinky dinks are allowed to be sent to kids? The are under a 1/4 inch thick but they are plastic.
I wish…but I always assume no. I have been a sponsor for 8 years and the guidelines are “paper only” so that items can fall under the customs category of “document”. Items CAN be laminated and the only non paper thing that I hear will go through if you tape a few down flat on a piece of paper are those silly bandz.
Ok thanks! I figured they wouldn’t be ok but I just wanted to make sure. And the silly bandz idea is great!
I’ve been really trying to find a good handmade gift idea that could be sent to my teenaged sponsored girls (Coloring pages just don’t do it any more!). I think I’ve found a winner: Paper bracelets! http://familiar-little-frog.blogspot.com/2011/07/paper-bracelets.html
I just came across this really cute paper bird house craft set. There are colored bird houses to print out and blank ones for our children to color themselves. Check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/60538334/diy-ornamental-birdiehouse-rainy-day
I found a wonderful site with printable paper toys that are perfect for sending to Compassion kids. For how my daughter and I made and sent finger puppets today, see http://familiar-little-frog.blogspot.com/2011/07/things-to-make-for-sponsored-kids.html
Thank you dear sister-in-law Julie, this is definitely a great site for gifts to send!
Thanks, Carol!
Thanking you paster, for writing an official letters of compassion children’s. Why because, once up on a time , me also compassion child. I have an loving sponsors. Every day we should be in prayers , then God give us more blessings. we should be thankful to him. I wana share with you an problems. Can u………
—————————–
kasey
NOTE TO ALL:
go to VISTAPRINT
they have all sorts of stickers and labels. I have the name of child the number of child and my name and number printed on each label. LOVE IT Also, ordered some Compassion address labels.
You pick your own design or make one (costs extra). Sometimes they offer FREE address labels, all you pay is the postage. Great site.
Put one under your return address for the post office, and then Colorado can see before opening envelope where it is going.
This did not post so I’m reposting. Putting the childs name and or # on the outside of the compassion envelope would be a breech of privacy. They specifically say DONT do that. Sounds crazy maybe, but someone smart enough could track that info and be a safety threat
Hi Jennifer! Our blog is moderated so if you don’t see your post published right away, that is why.
I understand, and actually I usually see it post with a comment that it is being moderated. My computer must have just been grumpy! 🙂
Technology — ya gotta love it! HA! 🙂 🙂
75% of the messages I write here I never see again. Occasionally one slips through. (I’ll be surprised if this one does).
Please let me know when you post and don’t see it go through. Keep in mind we moderate and you often won’t see your posts go live immediately. But, I’d like to keep track of when this happens because if it is happening to you, it may be happening to others as well! Hope you are having a great weekend!
The problem seems to be with letters sent to my
e-mail. The above message of mine, for example
never came to my e-mail, but your response did and
when I check this web site I see that it’s here, but I
don’t understand why not ALL messages are
delivered electronically (I often see answers to
messages that I never saw originally.
I would NOT put the child’s name and id # on the outside of any envelope addressed to compassion. Some could still know how to track that informatioin and be a threat to their privacy–even if its just the #. I’m sure they do not mind opening the envelope to see where it goes
Hi, Jill,
You can’t send photos via the electronic letters on the website. You’ll have to send them to Colorado, labeled with the child’s name and number and your sponsor number.
Does anyone know “if” and “how” we can upload pictures to our electronic letters (via Comp. Int’l) to our sponsored child? My child in Rwanda has been asking me to send her a picture of us, and I thought that using the Compassion International e-letter site would be the best method. Any info would be appreciated.
Jill,
I asked the same question not too long ago. From what I understand, we are not able to send pictures through Compassion’s email system (yet). I’ve been told they are working on it so I plan to check for that occasionally.
Also, if anybody else is wondering, I have an answer re: the Rwandaan names. I chatted with a Compassion rep today and was told the names are not reversed, but that they take more pride and put more emphasis on their family name and that they prefers to use the family name over his first name. However, using either name will not confuse or offend him.
Hi Jill,
Right now sending photos electronically is not possible, but I believe I read somewhere that Compassion is working on making it a possibility. It would be nice. 🙂
Rachel
[quote comment=”28566″]What are duct tape sheets? Where do you get them?
Does anyone know where to get soccer cards, like baseball cards? I can’t find them anywhere. Haven’t tried a baseball card type store though. Maybe there?[/quote]
I have ordered soccer cards from Ebay. I’ll get a bunch and send a few with each letter. Last year, I send my child a World Cup sticker book, and now I send a few stickers with each letter. Mostly, I get them from Ebay, but I have found them at the dollar store, too.
I bought duck tape sheets at Staples.
Re: Soccer cards: I got mine at the Dollar Tree.
Can we put the pictures we want to send in 81/2 x 11individual photo album pages?
Yes, I would think you could do that since they are similar to page protector sleeves, and those go through okay
Yes. a page protector. I usually do one for each child if I am doing a specific themed package. Then pop them all in ONE BIG ENVELOPE to go to Colorado, where they will take all my individual page protectors/sleeves out and send to the appropriate country, and TOSS my OUTER envelope.
Becky, when you use the page protector, do you label EACH item inside with your child’s # and your sponsor #? Or do you just label the outside of the envelope and assume they leave it all together??
I am a new sponsor; I have SO many little things I want to send, but labeling EVERY little thing can be overwhwelming! If I could just label the packet they are in, that would be awesome! 🙂
I printed a bunch of labels off as free return address labels on Vistaprint. Each label has the child’s name, my name, and both of our ID numbers on it. Also I chose a different label for each child, with pictures that suited them. That makes labelling things a piece of cake.
I tend to label everything that is separate, and if I am attaching stickers or a photo I tend to label that too. I don’t want to risk things going astray. The labels really, really help with making the task a lot faster and easier though.
Love the idea of using free Vistaprint labels… I will definitely keep it in mind.
I’m still relatively new and just sent off our first “package” (big envelope) last week. However, here’s an idea that I plan on using. I don’t know if anybody else has done this before: at Walmart, I found a great deal on small paper bags, basically like lunch/gift bags but with bright colors. They were on clearance so I paid something like 10 for 50 cents. They are small enough to fit inside the 9×12 envelopes and they flatten just like any other paper bag. So, I plan on using those to stuff with letters, stickers, etc. in my next mailing. If the kids seem to enjoy those, then maybe I can use regular or decorated paper lunch bags after I run out of these. I don’t see any reason why these wouldn’t go through since they are paper, flat and they ‘envelope’ other items, similar to a page protector. I also like the idea of using the clear page protectors too. .
I also saw once a website that made an photo album/ keepsake book type thing out of glueing paper bags together. I should look for that site again.
I have some of those bags. You can find them in the gift wrapping section at Walmart, or the birthday party section. They have several different colors. They do not have the cord like a gift bag, just the same size and shape as a lunch bag. I got some in different colors to make puppets.
That’s a great idea to make puppets out of them! Hadn’t thought of that… hmmm, maybe I’ll have to go back and get a few more of different colors! =D
I found mine in the scrapbooking/paper crafts section at Walmart, but I’m sure we’re both talking about the same thing.
Actually I have done it both ways.
One time I sent a smaller envelope of paper dolls inside the sleeve, I just labeled the envelope, not each doll. I usually write their name /number on coloring sheets and my letter.
Most of the time now, I put on labels I have printed off on the computer. I came across a partial box at the goodwill store and just zipped off a ton of labels per kid with their name/number on it.
I would label each item just to be sure it doesn’t get lost, but definitely make some labels!
Lisa & Becky-
Thanks for your help with answering my questions. You both were very helpful. It never occured to me that the Colorado office throws away the outer envelope so I really love the idea of using clear binder sleeves for each childs items. What a clever idea!
Thanks again ladies and God Bless!
Please describe what a clear binder sleeve is.
thank you
Shari, the easiest place to find these is at an office supply store or bigger stores like Walmart may have them in their office section. They are also great for added protection and durability for photos, They’re great!
I think what she means is a “page protector.” It’s a clear 81/2 x 11 protector with three rings so you can slip in a page or even a few pages and put it in a three-ring binder or notebook. I generally send my letter and coloring pages in one, inside the mailing envelope.
Hi Guys,
I don’t know if this question belongs here but I’ll ask anyway. When I log into compassion.com to view info about my sponsored child it says she is 9 and will have her 10th birthday this year. I have received two letters from her so far and both have it printed at the top that she is already 10. Does anyone have experience with this?
Sorry if this was not the right place to ask this!
The age on the top of a letter is the age they will be that year. So every letter for 2011 will say she is 10. Then in 2012 it will say 11.
Thanks for your help Danielle! 🙂
Thanks for all the great information and ideas on this blog! I’m a new sponsor of two children and am in the process of writing my letters to them. I have a couple of questions that some of you may be able to answer:
1) On all the paperwork for my Rwandan child, he is referred to by what seems to be his last name (or tribal name?) while what seems to be his first name (Nathan) is put as his last name. I looked up other Rwandan children and noticed the same thing. Has anybody else come across this? Is this a cultural thing? I’m wondering how I should refer to him in my letters (in other words, “Dear ?”)
2). I printed out the online stationary for the letters. I noticed at the bottom there is a place to write our name and address. But we are also told not to include our addresses on our correspondence. Am I correct in assuming this form at the bottom of the stationary will be detached before sending it on to the child?
3). My child in the Philippines will be having a birthday soon (August). Is it too late to send her a small monetary gift? Also, if I didn’t want to use the Compassion stationary, how would I designate that a check I would be sending in is for a birthday gift for her? And should I write what the birthday card says on a separate piece of paper?
4). If I send smaller envelopes (one to each child) in one large envelope, as mentioned above, would I need to have any kind of postage on the smaller envelopes? Also, am I correct in thinking that I should still label each item in the smaller envelopes with child name/number, etc.? And where would I put the check for the birthday gift? Inside that child’s smaller envelope? Or just separate in the larger envelope?
Thanks in advance for any answers!
Hi Cindy,
A lot of african countries do put family names first. I sponsor a child in Uganda, and his name is written as Seguya Twaha – Seguya is his family name (or “last name”), and Twaha is his given name (first name). When writing letters, you will want to address your child by their first name. 🙂
Rachel
Cindy,
Great questions! Keep them coming!
1) Can’t help you with the name issue; I don’t sponsor in Rwanda (or a country that seems to reverse names).
2) Yes, the bottom portion of the stationery will be detatched before being forwarded to your child.
3) You may want to call and give a gift over the phone, or go online and give a gift that way, so that it will be processed a bit faster. I’ve heard that money takes about as long as a letter to be processed and get to the child (usually 2-3 months, but varies based on country and project location). Even if it arrives late, your child will love the fact that you remembered her birthday.
As far as designating a check as being for a specific gift without using Compassion’s stationery; my guess would be to include it on the memo line along with the child’s number, and perhaps your number–at minimum write the child’s number on the check. Maybe “birthday for PH1234567” would suffice. Or you could paperclip the check to a piece of paper with a note to Compassion staff.
I’ve heard it debated whether cards will be translated, or just letters. It wouldn’t hurt to include the card’s message in a letter to your child, just to make sure it gets translated. 🙂
4) No, you don’t need to put postage on the smaller envelopes if you mail them to Compassion in a larger envelope. They’ll be combined with other envelopes to other children in the same country, and shipped altogether via DHS or whatever company Compassion ships through. Yes, still label everything inside the envelopes–just in case! If the outer packaging gets wet and things fall out, it’d be good to have everything labelled. That’s just my opinion, though. As far as enclosing the check for birthday money, put that in the outer envelope, as it will be processed through Compassion’s international banking system and transferred to the correct country office, and from there disseminated to the project. Your check should not go directly to your child a) for ease in processing and b) to keep your personal information private. It likely has your address on it, which is information not given to the children.
I know it was a long answer, but I wanted to make sure you were given the information you need. 🙂 Blessings on becoming a sponsor and welcoming children into your family!
Thanks, Judith, for some of the clarification. I hope to get these letters & gifts on their way within the next few days! =P
Remember not to seal the inside envelope as the contents will need to be checked/scanned.
I usually use the clear letter size sleeves that fit into binders to separate each childs materials, then I put however many of those I have ready at that time into ANY size envelope they fit into as I know the OUTSIDE envelope I send to Colorado is tossed out
Is it Ok to use an 8×10 manilla type envelope (with the metal clasp thing on the back)? I have always folded everything to fit into a business size envelope or the envelopes that Compassion often provides. But I would like to send larger photos, homemade calendars, etc. for example that I don’t want to fold.
Thanks for your help!
Hi Teresa — Those are fine. You can use any type or size of envelope to send things to the Compassion Colorado office. Just make sure everything inside is labeled with child name/number and sponsor name/number. The outer envelope with the mailing address is opened and discarded at the Colorado office.
Now if you want an envelope to go with your things to your child, it has to be 8 1/2×11-inches smaller or less, the metal clasp needs to be removed, and you should put only the child name/number and sponsor name/number on the front. Put that envelope into a larger envelope and address the larger envelope to the Colorado office. Everything you send in the smaller envelope will then stay in that envelope and will be delivered to your child as a package — the outer envelope with the mailing address will be discarded.
I am totally confused….i was told. We can sebs envelope. Paper items..and cant b morw than 1/4 inch. I read comment tgat EACH ITEM IN ENVELOPE cannor exceed that. Which is it
Excuse me, I do not mean to start and argument but I am not incorrect. Many sponsors send more than one childs things in the same envelop. All outside envelops are discarded. As long as EACH ITEM is no more than 1/4″ thick and no larger than 8 1/2″ x 11″ it will go through. I have been a sponsor for 8 years and so far nothing as been sent back
Jennifer, you were/are correct. Each item can be no more than 1/4-inch thick and 81/2 x 11-inches in size. And the outside envelope that is addressed to Compassion is discarded.
The only thing I added is that when you’re stuffing an envelope, to be sent along with your goodies, it should stay within the size parameters. (That’s the inside envelope that is filled with letters, stickers, etc. — not the outside envelope with Compassion’s mailing address that gets discarded.)
Sorry for all the confusion — but I think everyone is on the same page.
I went looking for an old post this morning that elaborates on why the size limitations are in place. It was called Larry the Letter and it had photos of letters at different stages of the mailing process. There was a photo in there of the sorting machine that Compassion uses and I believe the size limits are put in place because the machine only handles up to a certain size.
The post appears to be taken down. I guess we’ll all just have to visit and see it in person. The mail distribution area is part of the tour, I believe!!
Hi Jamie — Each item you send can’t exceed 1/4-inch in thickness and 8 1/2×11-inches in length/width.
So, for example, a musical greeting card is fine. But you must make sure it stays within the 1/4-inch and 81/2×11-inch parameter. If it exceeds that, it will not go through.
I personally buy 6×9 inch envelopes and stuff them with a letter and goodies — and then I label the front with my child’s number and my sponsor number, and I label everything inside. I DO make sure that the envelope when stuffed doesn’t exceed 1/4-inch. If it does, I take some items out and put them in another envelope and label it. I put the 6×9 inch envelopes into a 9×12 inch envelope and send them all off to Compassion. The 6×9 inch envelope will then travel with my letter and goodies to my child.
But if you’re just sending things to Compassion individually, (and not bundled up in smaller envelopes, like I do), then all you have to worry about is making sure that, 1) each item is labeled with your child’s number and your sponsor number, 2) that each individual item doesn’t exceed the size limit and 3) there aren’t any forbidden materials (foam, etc.)
Does that help. (Or did I make things more confusing?) 🙂
Thanks Lisa, I thought that was the way it was and not each item as Jennifer indicated. I also send in 6×9 envelopes unless I send lap books and then in 8×10. So far all have gone thru.
Thank you for replying.. Appreciate it and God bless.
Jamie
No problem! Jennifer is correct in that each item that is sent must be 1/4-inch or less. But if you bundle things into an envelope as a little package to go to your child — a little package where you want everything to ship together in the envelope — the envelope and what is in it becomes an item and needs to meet the 1/4-inch rule.
I wish we could post pictures here! I feel like we need a chart… 🙂
No, I believe that Jennifer is incorrect in her statement — but if not then there is a misunderstanding and please let us know. We have always been told that whatever you are sending — whether one item or a series of items such as coloring pages — can not total more than 1/4 inch thick.
Thank you Lois. That is how I understood as well. God bless!
Trying to help clarify…if you send more than one page of something, they can be stapled together but when together can not be more than 1/4 ” thick. Another example would be when sending pages of paper doll clothes, the stack can be no thcker than 1/4″ thick
I am a newbie and getting my first letter/package ready to send my child in Burkina Faso. One of the things I did is make a small album of pictures of each family member and added styickers of their interests, etc. I also included the picture of my child, cut from his ‘brochure’, to let him know he is now part of our family. The pages are 4 by 6 inches, cardstock, and there are 8 pages. I would like to laminate them, but I am afraid that will make the album too thick? Is it ok if I laminate them but don’t bind them together, like an album, but keep them separate, as cards? Also. I was wondering about the thickness regulation… does the total of all the items in the package have to be less than 1/4″? Or does it mean no single item can be less than 1/4″? I have so many things I want to send him!!! 🙂
The 1/4″ thick rule means that EACH ITEM can be no more than 1/4″ thick–and laminating and keeping them separated is fine, Just remember to put both your sponsor name and # and the Child’s name and # on EACH item. That can get tedious but helps assure that item aren’t lost. Many sponsors make stick out labels to make that part easier!
All of my Correspondence Children have talked as though I was their sponsor, and i’ve not said anything to discourage them. I send birthday and family gifts to both my sponsored and correspondence children. I was told by a person who answered the phone at Correspondence website years ago that as far as these children are concerned, I am their sponsor. So, I leave it at that. I’ve lost 3 Correspondence children, and it was heartbreaking each time. One moved with her family to another island ( Indonesia), one left the program just before graduation to work in construction ( Ethiopia), and one was discontinued by her financial sponsor. I sponsor 3 children and can’t afford any more, so there was nothing i could do about that. I still have two more Correspondence children. They are very dear to me, and I pray for their financial sponsors, that they stay financially stable so they can continue sponsoring these children.
Diane,
I’m sorry your son was discouraged by the reply. Since I am a translator (not for Compassion) I know it is difficult to translate both the actual words and the tone. Sometimes the translation comes out more formal or cold than was intended. Especially if the translator learned English in school but doesn’t have a lot of experience speaking with native English-speakers, they are going to write in a formal, precise manner that might sound more like they are lecturing you.
When the boy said, “It’s ok that you are writing me,” he may have said it with a big grin, but you didn’t see that grin on paper. We think of “It’s ok” as meaning, “well it is all right,” but for people that don’t know a lot of English, “It’s ok” can mean “It’s good,” “I like it,” – more of a positive statement than a neutral statement.
Blessings,
Sandra
I like what you said here, Sandra. This is something that I learned over the years. I worked in a customer service job for about 3 years and used to wonder why some people sounded so rude or didn’t speak when spoken to. i came up with the conclusion which I shared with my husband later. I do notice that most of these people were those who didn’t speak English or know English all that well. And over time, i realized that they weren’t being rude, just the way they said things sounded that way because of not knowing the language all that well…once i got that into my heart and mind,. i was more prepared to face and accept these ‘rude’ people with love, understanding and kindness. Sandra, you are most likely right. I tmight just sound rude and they probably meant nothing by it! Just something to think about- a timely reminder for my own life as well for times I still deal with similar issues/people.
Thanks for all the comments, we are more clear now, it just came as kind of a surprise for us as the other correspondence kids we have have viewed us as their sponsors and this young man up till that letter thought of us as his sponsor. My son will continue to write to him.
[quote comment=”28958″]I only have one correspondent child; she was 10 or 11 when I started writing her. I’m not sure what the folks told her when I was assigned as her correspondent, and she’s never mentioned it. When I wrote my first letter, I said that I was excited to be able to write letters to her, and left it at that–it’s something I’ve said to my sponsored kids, although for them I’d mention the sponsorship as well. [/quote]
That’s exactly what I did with my correspondence children.
Diane. I don’t know what the rule is, but when I took on 18 year old Shallon as a correspondence child, I told her that her sponsor was not able to write to her and so I had been given her name, and how fortunate she was that there were TWO people in the United States who were proud of her and who cared about her future. (Later her sponsor dropped her and now I’m her financial sponsor too). I have not done this with the younger children, but I would think that if this boy knows he has a financial sponsor plus people who write to him, it couldn’t help but boost his self esteem to see how many people are invested in his success.
I am confused about something, my son and I are correspondents with several children and we were under the impression that the kids considered us their sponsors. My son has a young man that recently wrote him and said that he has a sponsor but it was ok if my son wrote to him as he likes my sons letters and gifts he sends, A worker at the project had told this boy that Chris was not his sponsor, the worker wrote the letter and the tone of the letter indicated that Chris should never consider himself the boys sponsor as the boy already has one, the tone was such that my son considered discontinuing his correspondence, but decided not to as the boy would suffer for it. Please advise
I have three correspondence children, and the impression I get is that as far as they are concerned, I am their sponsor. Their ages range from 8 or 9 up to just turned 15. They thank me for being their sponsor and for monetary gifts which I have not sent.
In a way it makes me feel slightly bad, but I have to trust that the CDCs handle it in the way they see best. I never, ever say that I am their sponsor, and instead of saying “you’re welcome for the gifts” I say, for example, I’m so glad you bought a chicken, I hope you’re getting lots of eggs, or, you look very smart in your Christmas suit I hope you and your family had a good day.
I refuse to lie to them, but I don’t feel that, if the local staff have told them I am their sponsor, it is my place from thousands of miles away to second guess their decision.
It seems to me that it must depend at least partly on what is happening locally, as my eldest correspondent child would certainly be old enough (and from her letters seems more than clever enough) to understand if she had been told I was not sending her the financial gifts.
When a correspondent is assigned to a child, the child is aware that the person writing them is their correspondent, but that they also have a financial sponsor. Some younger children do not understand this fully, but it is communicated to all children that have a correspondent.
I’m sorry if the tone in the letter upset your son. I don’t believe that there was any harm meant by it. Most likely, they were probably a little confused and tried to clarify the situation so that Chris’ correspondent child would understand. If you have any further questions, please feel free to give us a call at (800) 336-7676.
I’ve never heard of that happening! I wonder, if his financial sponsor was active in the letter writing and signed up to have a correspondence sponsor because they would not be able to continue and perhaps even wrote him a letter letting him know the situation beforehand. Or I see that you say the worker told him. That sure seems strange unless the boy was really confused and wanted to understand what had happened to his “previous” sponsor. I would try not to let the project worker affect your son’s relationship with this boy. I would reiterate why your son is writing, because his sponsor requested that someone write and encourage him. Praise the financial sponsor for looking out for him and encourage him to pray for the financial sponsor. Like I mentioned, he may have had a relationship with his financial sponsor, so this may just be a time of transition and adjustment. I’m glad that your son is sticking with him and pray that both he and the boy have a good relationship from here on out!
Diane, I think it varies…maybe by country or by center, or even by the age/maturity of the child. Some older children might understand the difference between the financial sponsor and the one who writes the letters (as in the case of the boy in your situation), but some might not understand–especially if they are younger–it might be easier to explain that they have a new sponsor.
I only have one correspondent child; she was 10 or 11 when I started writing her. I’m not sure what the folks told her when I was assigned as her correspondent, and she’s never mentioned it. When I wrote my first letter, I said that I was excited to be able to write letters to her, and left it at that–it’s something I’ve said to my sponsored kids, although for them I’d mention the sponsorship as well. Over the last couple of years I’ve grown to love writing to/receiving letters from her as much, if not more, than the kids I financially sponsor; she’s like a little sister to me.
My suggestion would be to continue to write letters, perhaps even acknowledging that you’re not the sponsor but would like to exchange letters anyway. Apparently he’s been writing for a while, and the child likes hearing from your son. As with all sponsorships, letters make a big difference, and I’m sure he’d rather hear from your son than not receive letters at all. Chances are he knows that his sponsor isn’t writing him (regardless of whether he understands that’s the reason why he was given a correspondent). Hope that helps, and doesn’t dig up a can of worms! 🙂
Thanks, Lisa. I will try to get ahold of Kees Boer. I’ve talked to people who answered the phone at Compassion before and they had no idea what to do.
I loved the pastor letters, and really wish that I could write to at least one of the pastors. The reason is that my child, Parvathi, lost her mother just before we started sponsoring her. We have sponsored her for many years now, but when I try to talk to her about who combs her hair, etc., the letter writer says her mother combs her hair. That is just one example of the answers I get that indicate that the letter writer doesn’t really know about Parvathi’s situation. I wish I could be sure that the pastor knows, and that the church is meeting her needs now, as they did when she was much younger.
Jan, that is really frustrating. Is it possible that the father remarried? Or could there be a female relative living in the household who helps out and that somehow gets interpreted as “mother?”
I have one child whose tutor helps him write his letters and that tutor probably doesn’t know everything that is going on in my child’s family. (That particular child also happens to be in a very large child center.) Perhaps your child is in a similar situation, where the letter writer isn’t the most informed person about the details of your child’s life — but able to assist with letter writing? So some of the details get misinterpreted in the letter.
Compassion keeps such good track of the children who attend their child centers — the kids have information folders that are kept up to date, there are home visits, etc. So hopefully they are passing on your child’s needs to the pastor, as necessary.
You may want to share your scenario with Kees Boer over at the OC. He’s spent a lot of time at Compassion centers and may have some insight for you on how and when your child’s situation is shared with the pastor.
I loved the pastor letters, too, because it enabled me to pray more specifically for the project and the church. Although you can’t send a letter to the pastor directly, I have made comments to older children, asking them to thank their pastor or the compassion workers for their service and to tell them that I am praying for them. I think most children would be thrilled to be able to tell their pastor, “My sponsor says thank you and she is praying for you.” This is indirect but would be encouraging to the pastor. Actually, you writing to your sponsored child at all is encouragement to the pastor, when he sees the letters coming to the project and knows there are sponsors around the world helping his children.
Nope, that wasnt it. I think it was a journal on OC that someone wanted to write to the pastor and was told we are not allowed. OR it was a similiar comment on CI. I will have to ask Michelle W because my brain thinks it was her responding.
Definitely come back and let us know! That would be so helpful.
I thought I read that we were not permitted to write to the children’s pastor’. I dont remember if it was on here or on the OC site.
Becky-Regrettably, you are unable to send a letter to your sponsored child’s pastor. Our correspondence department does not have a way to process these at this time. I know that they will greatly appreciate your prayers!
Shaina,
It was not me asking to write to the pastors.
It was me telling the others that I read we were not allowed to do that.
Sorry about that. It was Becky who had it right. It was me who was confused!! 🙂
Shaina, thanks for the official word on this! So no letters to pastors. But prayers are welcome. And you can make a donation to the Compassion center your child attends.
Super-helpful!
After receiving a letter from our child’s pastor, when we write to her, we occasionaly have asked her to convey our regards and prayers to him.
Becky, I wonder if you’re thinking of this post?
https://blog.compassion.com/what-should-i-do-if-my-sponsored-child-contacts-me-via-facebook/
In the comment section, a sponsor said they had gotten a Facebook message from a man claiming to be their child’s pastor, asking the sponsor to contact the family at an address that was not the official Compassion address. He told the sponsor not to tell Compassion about it. Compassion reiterated to not contact your child or their pastor outside of the official Compassion mailing process.
I think if you send a letter to the pastor, through the official mailing process, (send it to your child’s number, but write clearly at the top that it is for the pastor), I think that would be okay. I would probably only do this occasionally, as your relationship is with the child, not the pastor, of course. But it does seem like a nice thing to do that would be very encouraging to a pastor.
Something else you can do that would be encouraging to the pastor — you can make a donation to the Compassion center at that church. You can do that by calling Compassion’s toll free number. I think the pastor would appreciate that as a means of support for the ministry.
Hi Sandra and Seena,
Yes, your child’s Pastor would love to hear from you! It is so encouraging for them to know that we are praying for them and also praying for the workers at their Compassion center. Please let them know how much you appreciate them! When I’ve written to our child’s Pastor, I just put his name at the top of the letter with the project number and he has always received it. Many times I have also enclosed Christian articles or a couple copies of Guideposts magazine (to the Pastors that speak english) and ask him to share them with the Compassion workers who may be interested. The response has been wonderful because they love being encouraged spiritually.
Dear Lisa, I just received a letter from my child`s Pastor Samuel Tegegne. My Child`s Kalkidan Hzikel Ambachew. Can you tell him I would like to know more about him and my Child. Thank you, Sandra Mahoney
I too received a letter from our little girl’s pastor. We didn’t know how or if to respond back-although we wanted to. We were really touched that he took the time to write. Our little girl is in Bolivia. ANy thoughts?
I write my sponsored child all the time but she only seems to answer on her birthday and near Christmas time. I pray for her almost evryday and love hearing from her. How often should I expect a letter from my sponsored child?
Discouraged
Hi Peter — How old is your child and what country is she in??
Peter, I was wondering about what country she’s in because some countries are set up on a reciprocal system, (where they write a letter in response each time you write them), and some countries have a set number of letters that the child writes each year, (I believe it’s 3 a year), regardless of how many lettters they get.
So I think it depends on which country she’s in. The plan is for every country to be on the reciprocal system by October 1, 2012.
Here’s a blog post on the topic.
https://blog.compassion.com/letter-writing-reciprocal/
Emailing photos is in the works but systems are just not ready for that. my suggestion: one time send a note/letter online. Next one send a card with stickers and photos…other things you can send. All the letter writing info is no under the get involved section of the new website!
We are getting ready to sponsor a child as a family and haven’t started any correspondence yet. (Was going to select a child and sign up online when the website went offline for maintainance.) I think it will be a great family project and terrific opportuniy for our 5-yr. old daughter, especially when she starts kindergarten/school at home in the fall. I’ve read that we can email our sponsored child(ren). I’m just wondering: can we add pictures onto the email? Either as an attachment or A “copy and paste?”. Are these emails printed out and given to the children? Of course, we’ll probably send letters/cards/etc. in addition to email, but my daughter already likes to send stuff over the computer so I’m thinking it would be fun for both our sponsored child and my daughter. Thanks for your comments… They’ve given me some great ideas!
I’ve heard that attaching photos is something they have “in the works” but isn’t a function we have available just yet. So for now, emails are strictly text based. There is a character limit–but I’ve found that I can fit a longer letter into the email, even with the limit, than on the stationery that will be provided with each letter that your child writes to you, or can also be found online as a template you can print out–on the old website, anyway. 🙂 I doubt they’ll remove that, since so many people use it. They’re just redesigning it to make it easier to use. Hope this helps!
Hannah,
I second the others’ comments–first sending condolences about your aunt’s death. My dad’s sister died last summer, unexpectedly, so I can relate.
As far as telling your boy in Nicaragua, yes, and keep it simple, and asking him to pray for you would be appropriate. I often send prayer requests to my kids–and they’ll send requests back as well. My girl in Peru is the best for this; there was even a time when she asked for prayers for her sister after her baby died a month after being born (my sponsored child’s nephew).
Thank yall so much! I really appreciate your prayers 🙂
-Hannah
Hi, Hannah. I’m sorry for your loss, and I understand how this can affect everything else in your life. On the Compassion website there is a place that gives tips on writing to your child, especially about death. The advice is to tell the child specifically~”my aunt died”~rather than “passed away”, which might be misunderstood. I think this would be a very appropriate subject to ask your child to pray for. I’ll pray for your family.
Hannah, my Dad died a year and a half ago and when he did I asked the folks at Compassion how to handle it and if it was ok to ask our children to pray for our family and they said just to keep it short and simple and that it was ok to do. So I did just that. Letting her know that it is sad but how God is helping you and asking her to pray for your Mom especially I think would be fine, and Hannah, so sorry for your loss of your aunt, may our Lord Jesus comfort you all with hope.
On a lighter note, thank you for the info on the silly bands, I will try to get some sent out next week.
Hello I’ve been sponsoring a 7 year old Nicaraguan boy for about a year now, but I’m still very new at letter writing. My mom’s sister, my aunt, died recently and I was wondering if its alright to let him know and ask him to pray for our family, my mom specifically? I haven’t been able to write him as much because of this but I don’t want him to think I’ve forgotten about him.
-Hannah
I am a newbie here and have a boy in Uganda and a correspondence girl in Honduras. It sounds like some people are putting smaller envelopes into the 8 x 11 ones. I have just been labeling everything and putting it into one regular sized letter envelope (the stickers fit perfectly!) I thought as long as all the info was on the items it is fine…And how are people “labeling” their items? I am thinking it might be worth printing off some actual labels so avoid me having to handwrite sponsor #, child name etc over and over again…God bless you all!
Just the items have to fit those requirements. The envelope you send everything in can be as big or as small as you need it. I created labels for the items I send because I don’t have time to write the information 3 or 4 times. I made them in all different kinds of playful fonts =)
I would ecco Judith’s suggestion. For instance, I do not tell my children about illnesses I have, at the suggestion of a child advocate/sponsor I know. She said that the deseases children in 3rd world countries are familier with are so much more serious that it would cause the children unnecessary worry. As Judith says, tell them about the occasion, the cause, the fun.
@Judith and @Jan,
Those are good points, i especialy do not want to worry them so I agree. Thank you so much for helping 🙂
My family and I recently participated in a “fun run” to raise awareness of a rare genetic disease we all have. I wanted to tell my kids about the walk and all of the fun we had but i’m not sure if I should tell them about us having this disease???? Could some one give me Any advise??
(of course if i tell them i will keep it VERY simple/basic info, but its not life threatening so i do not want to worry them….Don’t know what to do.
Would love some suggestions!!!!! 🙂
NEED HELP
Hmm. Tough one!
My suggestion would be that, since it isn’t life threatening, so as to not cause the children to worry, conveniently omit that detail. You can say you were helping people with the disease (by raising money, raising awareness, etc.), but leave it at that.
If they were older teenagers, they might understand even through the translators, but if they’re still children, leave it for later (if you decide to tell them).
Jamie,
You asked why Compassion takes the letter out of your envelope. You can read all about the process of a letter on the website under “For Sponsors and Donors’, “Connect with Your Child” “Read our Frequently Asked Questions”, “What to Expect”, “How long does it take for my child to receive my letter?”
Jamie,
I’m fluent in English and Spanish and do translating for my church, so I wanted to comment on the Google translator. It works if you don’t use any idioms or non-standard usage and keep sentences simple. Some phrases that seem common to us aren’t going to work. For example, if you say, “I work as a teacher”, it would translate correctly, but if you say “I’m sure things will work out,” the translator uses the same word for “work” as in the first example, and in Spanish it doesn’t make sense. To get a correct translation, you would need to put, “I think things will resolve themselves.” Most of us wouldn’t think of “things will work out” as an idiom, but it is.
The letters will still have to be read by a translator in the child’s country, so you aren’t speeding up the process. If you want to use it, I would make sure you include the original English so the translator can figure out what you meant to say when Google didn’t work. If you want to use short phrases on something you are making, like “Happy Birthday” I would use the Google translator and then translate them back into English to see if it worked.
With Spanish and English the grammar are similar, so I would expect Asian languages would be even less accruate using a translation program.
Hi Sandra, I appreciate the feedback about Google translator. I just tried “things will work out” and it gave me resolvera for work and also saldra bien when I checked for alternate variations.
Are you a member on ourcompassion.org? I know sometimes one of us wants to write something in Spanish and uses google, but like to check with someone that is fluent in Spanish. It’d be great if you could offer your input from time to time!
I make it a point to email my sponsored children every Monday – even if just to say I am thinking of them and praying for them. Then I followup every two weeks with a postal mail and “surprises for them”.
I also became a correspondent sponsor to two children. I pick up items every week and have a bin of things I included in with each letter. So far nothing as been rejected.
Bunny,
Yes, you can send things to Compassion in your own envelope. You can send things up to 8 1/2 X 11. Comassion sends packages that size to the country offices with the letters.
The address, noted above, is Compassion International, Attn: Child Correspondence Dept., Colorado Springs CO 80997-0001. Make sure every item has your name/number and the child’s name/number.
what about the foam sheets? I’ve seen them either as whole sheets or half sheets in different colors, or packages of cutouts of letters, animals, crosses, etc with sticky on the back. I’ve used them to decorate letters but you could also tape a bunch of them to a sheet and the child could take them off and stick them wherever they wanted.
foam is not allowed
Hi Sandra — Foam is on the “not allowed” list. I’ve tried to figure out exactly why. I’ve looked on several websites having to do with customs for some clue, and I can’t find a good answer. But that is the rule. I guess it doesn’t sufficiently fit the “paper document” category.
A lot of us get things from Oriental Trading to send to our kids and I have to be REALLY careful when I shop there because a lot of their things are foam. I always check the product description to make sure it says paper or cardboard.
well i had seen that one can send silly bands and some have said that they went through. but when I spoke to Compassion I was told that I could not send them, does anyone know for sure if they can be sent and how I could do that???
I sent some silly bands taped with scotch tape to post it pads. They are the larger post it pads, a couple of inches wide each way, and i wrote the child’s info on the other side of the pad before I taped the bands on. Then I just attached the gummy part of the pad to the letter I was writing. I haven’t heard anything, so it must have gone through.
I keep reading about the size we are allowed to send and scrapbook pages. So can we send them unfolded in a manila envelope other than the envelopes we get from Compassion? I am a new sponsor and all of these ideas have been very helpful to me.My little girl is 8 and she is in Burkina Faso, Africa.
Thanks!
Yes, It doesn’t matter what size the envelope is that you send to compassion, The measurements apply to the items you send your kids. If something is bigger, It can be folded (like Happy Birthday banners or something, but it has to be 81/2 x 11. I usually send the scrapbook papers that are that size instead of the bigger squares so I don’t have to think about it
Do you send your letters and lapbooks..stickers. etc. In an envelope with childs info on it and place in larger ones addressed to compassion. I found out i can send slightly larger envelopes to my girls in el salvador and india.
Hi Jamie — That’s what I do. I bought some 6×9 inch envelopes at Michael’s and I’ve found them to be a really good size for sending things. For each kid, I fill one with a letter, stickers, craft project, whatever. I put the child number and my sponsor number on the front. (I also put the child number on everything inside, just in case.)
All of the 6×9 inch envelopes get loaded into a 9×12 envelope and sent off to Compassion.
Yes. You can send all of your child’s things in a separate evelope. The important thing to remember is that the envelope with compassions address and yours on it is discarded to protect privacy. The sponsor and child # as well as full names must be on all items/pages in case they get separated. Do not just put the ID info on the outside of the child’s envelope
Some who have more than one chid put all items in a big envelope and I guess Compassion just sorts it out. I do separate ones though
I just have been in China when there was a discussion of duct tape sheets. what would you use them for?
Bev, welcome back! How was your trip? When I first read through your post I thought you meant you were discussing duct tape sheets in China. 🙂
The kids can use it in craft projects or it could be used in a practical way around the home, (repairing things, etc.) According to Duck Tape’s website it is “Ideal for crafting, decorating, scrapbooking and making shapes and letters. Easy to cut. Easy to peel. No glue needed.” They have quite a few colors and patterns.
Do you just send the duck tape strips to the kids? Do you tell them what they can use it for?
I haven’t sent them myself, yet, but if I did I’d probably just tell them that the sheets can be used for craft projects or to repair things — that there is sticky stuff on the back when you remove the backing. (Although, knowing kids they’d probably figure that out long before I would as an adult.) 🙂
I’ve seen small pocketbooks made out of duck tape and the girl at the store said she saw wallets made from them. On line, I saw a pattern for making flip flops.
I seriously doubt that duct tape wallets or “flip flops” will go through because things also have to fall under customs definition of “document”. I would check with compasion first
I thought maybe they could make flip flops or wallets after we send the tape to them. Flip flops are pretty simple.
My daughter was on a duct tape wallet craze just last summer. Someone said they saw Hello Kitty duct tape at Target. Rolls I think…
I sent two letters with silly bandz taped flat down on a small note card and I know it went thru…because I just sent a letter that had gel stickers and got an email saying the stickers wont be able to go thru but no one said there was any problem with the silly bandz. so YES Silly bandz are going thru 🙂
Yay! Thank you for reporting back. 🙂
Hi everyone, I am really enjoying the ideas for writing to our sponsored children. I have been keeping a scrapbook, but expect I will need to change to a binder because it is filling up fast. I try to write at least every month. I put a copy of my letter in the scrapbook with notes to myself about any “gifts” I have sent, so I don’t send the same thing over and over.
Since she is young I try to limit my letters to one page. I also like Sandra’s suggestions for letter structure. I pretty much use this keeping it very simple.
I have been typing my letters and making the English font a little smaller, then translating it in Google Translate and printing that a bit larger at the bottom of the page. I have not been contacted about doing this so I am assuming it has been okay. I know a bit of Spanish (child’s language) but not enough to write all. This way if I choose to laminate the page after I have decorated it (I usually use colored paper and add seasonal stickers etc..) it will be complete.
This time of year where I am in Ohio, USA the craft stores are full of crafts for children. Coloring pages, puzzle books, paper dolls, stickers. I always send some kind of coloring page, photo or something along with my letter.
Blessings to all,
Marilyn
I also have used the Google translator. I type my letter first and then let the translator put in Spanish and copy and paste to my emails. I h ave not as yet had any feedback on this. Do you know if the Spanish is the exact spanish language they use? I sponsor a girl in El Salvador… and girl in India. I notice that there is also a Hindu translation on Google as well.
I seriously do not recommend this. Google translator IS NOT RELIABLE. You can use it to get a rough idea of a page in a language you are not familiar with, but it is not suitable for correspondence in this way. You would be much better off writing in your native language and allowing the Compassion translators to translate it for you. They will do a far, far better job. Please be very very wary of using Google – unless you have the language skills to double check all the translations – otherwise your child may be getting letters that do not say what you mean them to say.
I just sent my first letter to my 11 year old girl in Uganda. My 6 year old daughter and I are so excited to start making her a “scrapbook” so to say of our family. We are taking fun paper and putting pictures of our family and pets with our names with cool stickers and laminating them, making sure they stay under the size limit. It will be something she can hold on to forever and reference when writing us. Also I wanted to start sending her bible stories that I tell my children, They tell me they speak mostly english in Uganda but where she lives they do not, if i were to type something pretty up and laminate they would not necessarily be able to translate it? Would they still give it to her even if she could not read it? I would just rather send something useful to her than waste my time making something she can enjoy. Any opinions?
Hi Aubrey,This is just something I read thru the blogs- about how people write whatever they want translated on a seperate piece of paper as well as whatever they have made on the ‘scrapbook’/or whatever ‘project’ they have done.I would just write the same things on another sheet for translation so your little girl knows what laminated work says. (Hope this makes sense!!) Our little girl is 11 as well so trying to figure out the same kind of things:)
Help me with “fun things” to send to an 8 year old boy.
Jessica, these are things we send our 10 yr old girl, but i guess it can be the same for both genders-crossword puzzles, sudoku, trading cards from the particular sport he may like, pics of your pets, animal or any kinds of stickers, hidden pictures off of highlight.com, origami, puzzle ( i heard you need to put it together before sending- i was sent an email saying the puzzle i sent could not be sent bcoz it was not put together)-short chapters of books that are in his language if u find it; devotionals..CBD has some things that u can narrow down and I also google for ideas..hope this helps..
Hi there.. just sent my first e-mail to our new little guy. do you know how I can get envelopes to send “real” letters? I am not very organized (unfortunatly) so I may have gotten one and lost it. I would like to take some of your suggestions on gifts, but obviously can’t send them via e-mail..
Hi Kim — You can call Compassion’s customer care line and I bet they’ll send some out to you. Their number is 800-336-7676.
Or if you want to use your own envelopes, you can. The address to send them to is:
Compassion International
ATTN: Child Correspondence Dept.
Colorado Springs, CO 80997-0001
You’ll also get a new envelope each time your child sends you a letter.
Lisa,
Does the address not need a physical address or PO box?
Nope — no physical address or PO box.
Dear Mary,
Writing to 4 year olds is difficult! The letter doesn’t need to be long and should be simple. The important thing is that she knows someone cares about her. I’ve started modeling my letters after the way Compassion structures their letters to sponsors in several countries.
1. I’ve noticed the letters from India start “greetings to you in the sweet name of our Lord Jesus” so I start with that.
2. I send greetings to the parents or the caregivers and say I hope they are healthy.
3. I answer any questions in the child’s letter.
4. I ask a couple of questions, so the child has something to answer. There are great ideas on Compassion’s website under “for sponsors and donors \ connect with your child \ writing letters \ what should I write about \ view a list of questions to ask.” Remember she’s only 4 so don’t overwhelm her with questions. If you ask a couple of questions per letter, you can write often and not run out of questions. Some good questions for that age are ‘do you have brothers/sisters/names/ages?’ ‘who is your best friend?” ‘what is your favorite thing to do at the project?” “What is your favorite food?” then you can answer those same questions yourself.
If you are writing a couple of months before a holiday (Easter or Christmas), you can write “Christmas is coming. Are you doing anything special at the project?”
I ask questions about the weather (“is the the dry season or the rainy season now?” and tell what the weather is like where I am. I talk about what is growing in my garden. some of the kids live in cities but some live in rural areas and can relate to growing things.
5. I tell her I am praying for her and her family and thank her for her prayers for me. As children get older, you can ask for specific prayer requests but at age 4, I would keep it very simple. “Please pray that I remain in good health.” “Please pray that I do God’s will.”
6. Compassion is teaching the kids certain things “there was a recent blog “what do we teach the kids?” so you can ask about what she is learning, especially as she gets older. For example, “Have you learned any Bible stories?” “What is your favorite song?” “Do you sing at the project?” “What is the first thing you do when you get to the project?” “Are you learning about washing your hands?” Encourage her to do such things as attend the project, to do well in school, to obey her parents. For older children, you can ask if they are making handicrafts, receiving vocational training, or if they have completed “my plan for the future” (also discussed in a blog). I compliment them on their penmanship or thank them for their drawings and tell them I have hung the picture in my kitchen- anything that is a word of encouragement is great. when she passes from one grade to the next, complement her and encourage her.
7. tell her you love her.
8. for India, I would sign, “Auntie Mary”. Adult women are called “auntie” as a show of respect.
I think my letters to the young ones sound repetitive but I think that’s ok. The important thing is she knows someone halfway around the world cares about her.
God bless you for sponsoring.
I sponsored a little girl in India two weeks ago, and need some help writing a letter to her. She’s just turning 4 in July, and I’m having a hard time thinking of what would be appropriate to write to a soon-to-be 4 year old. Anyone have any suggestions?
Keep the letters short because attention spans at this age are shorter! Write about something you did since the last time you wrote (each time) and what you liked about it. If you have pets, tell her about something funny they do or did. Send pictures! Ask questions that help you decide what to send to her…favorite color, favorite thing to do, favorite animal, etc. She’ll be thrilled that someone else out there, loves her! As she gets older, your letters should get longer as she learns to read and write.
Mary, tell her about your pets, and young children or grandchildren in your family, or anything you do with children as a volunteer ( Sunday School, etc.)
Don’t throw it all at her at once, of course. Keep it simple, and include a simple paper gift when you can: a sheet from a color book, photographs of you or members of your family ( especially children) or pictures of your pets.
My compassion kids are older, now, but here’s one thing all ages enjoyed: my vet puts a tiny picture of my dogs on the reciept. I cut out these little pictures, and paste them beside the dog’s name when I wrote to them about something the dog did.
I’m sure you’ll come up with other ideas as you get to know your child. God bless you.
Jan
Hi everyone!
I just thought of something.. Since music cards go through just fine, recordable cards should have no issue as well. With recordable cards our children will be able to hear our voices. It would be a really nice treat for them,, especially for those of us who don’t have the means to visit them. =D
That is such a wonderful idea, Celina! Does anyone know of where one could buy these “in bulk” as it were? In the UK for preference but any ideas would be very welcome. I just LOVE this idea, especially for the child who is already asking me when I’m gonna come visit. (I told him to pray hard: seeing as I’m disabled and reliant on benefit, that’s the only way it’s ever likely to happen!)
praying the LORD surprises you, Sarah.
Thank you Seena 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wow, I never thought of that! Just remember, maybe since most don’t speak english, you could write what you say on a piece of paper so it will be translated.
I love this idea Celina!! I think I’m going to do this with my child. 🙂
I am wanting to write a letter via the computer and do not know how to get to that letter writing screen. Help please?
Hi Shari.
If you go on the Compassion webite and sign into your account at the left there will be a “contact my child” to click on. It should bring up the message box and your childs picture!
log into ur account, go to the left hand side of the page that says contact your child, click and then the email page comes up..
Thank you so much for the suggestions. We are going to go to a store that we know sells those sports cards, and since he likes soccer, we will be getting some of those. We also got a devotional book for the girl, that has a little devotion on one side and lines on the other sides for writing. They can translate for her on the writing side. We have ordered the same book for boys to send. We send one page at a time so that it isn’t too much for them to translate.
We are watching when we are out shopping, and anytime we see something that might be good to use, we are putting it in one drawer so that it will be handy when we write to them.
We also FINALLY put together a three-ring binder and we have their letters and little things they have made for us in those plastic sheet covers. It is very easy and protects them.
I spent MUCH time here reading many of their letters and it was fun reading those from the boy we have had since he was five. My how he has grown! We put their pictures in there, too.
Thak you all….I will love reading here to get ideas from everybody and it is just nice to get to share with others who care like I do!
God bless you AND your sponser children!!
we recently bought a spanish devotional for little girls and i am sending one page at a time. found it on CBD. I like it bcoz it gives them something to look forward to. Also i read on this blog about someone sending a book by chapters-gives the kids something to look forward to. I am also on the lookout (usually involuntarily) for things we can send our little girl..Inevitably i see something that would be great to send her..have a little plastic bin of things, as Lisa said she has too, of things that we can send her every month..just love having things on hand instead of feeling bad that we didn’t have anything to send with the letter-as we did the 2nd letter we sent.
Mary –
What is the title of the devotional book you are using? I’ve looked at several but they don’t have the writing area like you mentioned. I think it would be great to send to our three kids too.
Thanks!
Mary, it’s so good to have you here! I LOVE your idea of a devotional book and sending one page at a time. Brilliant idea!
I also love your idea of keeping your child’s letters in a binder w/plastic covers. I started out with a scrapbook for my child’s letters but, with the number of letters we’ve sent back and forth, it just ended up not being practical. I like the 3-ring binder idea so much better.
Also does anyone have any good ideas as to what to send to 16 and 17 year old boys, we have a child in Uganda and now one in Dominican Republic who we correspond with. any suggestions appreciated. Thanks you
How about sports trading cards ( whatever sport your boy is interested in. It will probably be Soccer.
I had heard a while back that silly bands get through, but when I called Compassion they said they are not allowed. Does anyone know for sure that the silly bands they sent go to thier childern? If so how did you send them? Thanks
we recently asked compassion about silly bands and they said that they were not acceptable…neither are crayons or flat bracelets
Jessica, did you talk to a customer service rep via phone? If it was a customer service rep who you got that info from, I’d probably go with what Sara said rather than the rep. With her actually working in the mail area, she has a better idea of what’s going through or not. An example — we’ve had a customer service rep tell someone “NO” to using staples, when that’s not the case. Some reps think “staples = metal” and therefore it’s a no-go, but that is not the criteria used in the mail distribution area.
I do think they’re 100% correct about the crayons and bracelets, but Sara was pretty confident that silly bandz were going through (in very small numbers and taped down flat) and she based that on first-hand experience.
I believe she’s in Ecuador now — for at least part of the summer, so I can’t go back and ask her until she returns!! 🙂
If anyone is trying to send silly bandz, come back and report to all of us if they went through!!
I sent silly bandz a few months ago and they went through with no problem. I sent an entire package to each child at once. Each silly bandz was taped to a piece of paper so it couldn’t shift around. I also included a message to be transcribed regarding a safety hazard for the bandz: DO NOT wear them for days on end. They can cause skin irritation and actually grow into your skin over time.
If you want to see photos of how they were packaged (and made it through), I’m on Our Compassion under the name of Michelle Rausch and I put photos in my gallery of how they were sent. 🙂
Hi Dee – Here’s a post from a few weeks ago from Sara who volunteers in the mail distribution area:
“Yes, Silly Bandz are allowed in small (read: flat) numbers.”
Based on that, I’m thinking that a couple of bands taped down flat to a piece of cardstock will go through.
I love the idea about mailing musical greeting cards!! I’m not sure when the restriction about metal was initiated, but wanted to be sure that the cards were still OK after the mailing restrictions list was updated. (I think it was in April of 2011.) Does anyone know for sure?
I called last week and asked about the musical cards and was told they’re okay.
Just FYI: I cant remember if this is all general mills cereal boxes or not but lately there have been small paper story books attached to honey nut cheerios boxes that comply with the guidelines and THEY ARE BI LINGUAL!!! (spanish and english on all pages) which I love since all of my kids are spanish-speaking. Just thought you’d like to know. 🙂
I found one of those and thought is would be perfect for my girl in Honduras. I sent it about a month ago and haven’t heard anything since then, so I assume that it went through fine! 🙂
I read earlier in this thread that someone successfully sent snap cards and sent rhem by separating the cards into piles of 6/8/10 and scotched them up, and taped them to a piece of card, so they were flat, less than 1/4″ and they got through safely. I just ordered
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Farm-Snap-Usborne-Cards/dp/140950753X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1306586114&sr=8-1
and plan to send it in a couple of letter’s time! I just sent a lettet today, and already got a book in the next packet, it’s aged 3-5, and my little girl is 7, but I am hoping it’ll be ok given the language barrier
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gold-Stars-Pre-School-Workbook-Starting/dp/1407575309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306586166&sr=1-1
My husband and I have a 16 year old boy, and 17 year old girl. We don’t seem to have trouble thinking of things to send to her, but we do have trouble with your 16 year old boy. We have had him since he was five! Imagine! It was alwys so easy and in my mind, I’m still thinking of him as a wee little boy…but, he is grown! He loves soccer and hip hop. We are trying to be more age appropriate for him and would love suggestions! Thank you!
I sponsored a teenage boy a few years ago (he graduated from the Compassion program in 2005). He liked music and soccer. I sent him clippings from soccer matches, trading cards from the World Cup games, magazine articles (in English) that had photos of soccer players, stickers of different soccer jerseys, sheet music for songs we sang at my church (and wrote about the meaning in letters). There’s Christian hip-hop music, so maybe the lyrics or an article about Christian hip-hop artists would be appropriate. Hope this helps.
Mary, I think it is just wonderful that you’ve stuck by your child for 11 years.
For my boy, (who has similar interests), I’ve sent sports cards, musical greeting cards with contemporary Christian songs, postcards, small calendars, Bible verse cards that I made, bookmarks, clipouts from the newspaper and magazine about sporting events (World Cup mostly), and a lot of letters about our daily life as Christians (church activities, etc.) and also our careers. We also send a lot of photos showing our day-to-day activities and how we celebrate holidays.
We can only send flat items. Paper dolls are a good alternative and you can print them off the web. I also found a set of Melissa and Doug paper dolls at Toys r us that have a modest appearance and nice modest selection of clothes.
We have to take into account the feelings of other cultures when sending items.
Welcome to Compassion
Because the gift is not paper, Compassion would contact you to see if you wanted it returned to you or if you’d like them to donate it to charity. Occasionally, such items are put into a box and taken along to be given to Compassion children when there are country trips, but no guarantee your little girl would get it. It could be delivered to another needy/deserving child in another country. In addition, you’d want to find a Barbie that is a girl rather than a woman since you may not know the standards of what is appropriate in children’s toys for that region/culture. You could also take it along with you if you plan to take a trip to visit your child. Consider paper dolls or the like. Be encouraged! Your little girl knows you love her just by YOUR words of encouragement!
Hi,
I am sponsering a child that is going to be eight years old. I was wondering if I could send her a little barbie doll with homemade clothes. Would they give that to her?? I want her to see how much I love her.
Would appreciate any ideas about what I can send her.
Thanks!!!
Maria; my little girl told me she loves dolls,so when I sent money for Christmas I requested they get her a doll. I recieved a picture of her with a doll. I did it again for her birthday for another item and look forward to her response.
Hi Maria. You can’t send a Barbie doll — BUT you can send a paper doll with paper clothing items. I think that would be a wonderful thing for an 8-year old girl.
You can send anything that is paper or cardboard, no bigger than 8 1/2 x 11 inches, no thicker than 1/4 inch.
A lot of us do stickers, bookmarks, cards, postcards, musical greeting cards – things along that line. The Oriental Trading catalog has a lot of fun things that work for sponsored kids. There are a lot of printable coloring pages online that are great for the kids.
If you eventually visit your sponsored child, you can definitely take gifts to her — including a doll. Or, if you meet someone who is taking a sponsor tour to that country, you can ask them to take a doll along in their luggage, if they’re willing. The country office will then get it to your child.
Hope that helps! 🙂
Hi Maria,
Have you not recieved your sponsor packet yet?? The only items that can be sent are paper item that are not larger than 8 1/2′ x11″ and no thicker than 1/4″. There are loads of ideas on this blog about what to send and your sponsorship packet explains about the limits. It is to keep cost down with customs and items need to be these guidelines so they fit under the category of “document”. Small books that are only together with staples usually go through (no spine binding). Paper dolls are a good option. I actually found some barbie ones recently at a Hobby Lobby, but the pages had to be separated from the binding and sent in several batches to comply with the thickness issue. It takes practice to think of ideas but that’s why we’re here. Dont worry, she will feel your love through the stickers, card, coloring book pages and bookmarks (remove tassle), etc.
Maria, The barbie doll idea is sweet, but you can only send things made of paper and no thicker than 1/4 ” thick. Check out the compassion web site under letter writing, what can and cannnot be sent, also read back on this blog, there are some great ides here.. 🙂
We can only send flat items. There are several websites that you can search where you can print out paper dolls. I also found a paper doll set at Toys r Us that had several modestly dressed dolls to cut out.
Consideration of more modest cultures needs to be taken into account when sending items also.
Welcome to Compassion
while visiting friends in philippines, i told my friend i would paint her daughters nails when i painted mine, and the mom said, “oh no her father will be furious” so i’ve not sent tatoos, thinking that would not be appropriate either for some cultures…if the compassion office can’t answer that for you, if you really want to, send one and see if they comment on the next letter, if not its because they don’t want to sound ungrateful.
I make copies of the letters I send and then list what I have sent with it. I can then refer to those to make sure I have answered her questions. I try to write every week and so the questions sometimes are already answered.
Does anyone know, how strict is the 8 1/2 X 11 measurement limit? For instance, if a folder measures 1/8 inch over, will it be rejected?
Hi Lois — I try to stick to that 8 1/2 x11 limit religiously — BUT I have had numerous people tell me that if you send a standard-size pocket folder which slightly exceeds the size limit, it will go through. (And has gone through for several people.) So I think you’re okay with folders!
Hi Lois: I read that you can send a standard size school pocket folder and it has gone thru. I have been wanting to do this for my girls in El Salvador and India. If this is over the 8 1/2×11, you think it will go thru ok?
You should call Compassion to find out about that, because I don’t know if that would go through. I did make a lapbook recently that was just slightly over the 8 1/2 x 11 limit, and it went through. Generally, I think you should cut the folder down to the size limit. However, it doesn’t hurt to call if you prefer to send the larger size.
I was wondering is anyone had sent temporary tattoos, and if theyd go through. I keep seeing them at my craft store and keep forgetting to ask.They have a paper backing but plastic on front.
Personally I wouldn’t send tattoos. I liked them too when I was little but there are many people, even here I think, that would frown on them and think they would encourage the real thing. When in doubt ask Compassion though
I also agree. I wouldn’t be happy if someone sent my child temporary tattoos (and I am in the USA). My own children are in college and they still cannot understand why someone would even want a tattoo. The temporary ones may very well likely encourage the real thing someday … and in many cultures permanently marking your skin is a definite no-no. Stickers are nice, as they can decorate paper, folders, books, etc. I would be afraid even a temporary tattoo might offend those in some cultures.
i agree.. i know that there are many cultures that really feel that tattoos are bad..as you said, jennifer, even here…so to be safe i wouldn’t send it..even though i thought of some butterfly ones for our little girl:(-instead i have been looking at those iron/rub on type of stickers that they can use on books etc…jsut to be safe
H Lindsey — I’ve never sent them, but I think they should go through just fine.
p.s. I just read Sandy’s comment about possible cultural issues with tattoos. She makes a really good point. I do know that Islam and Judaism frown on tattoos. So if there are large populations of either in your child’s country there might be an issue. You might want to call Compassion to doublecheck on your child’s country.
I’ve been sponsering a child for years and I wish I wrote to her more often. Do you have any ways you remember to write? Thanks!
I send an email to my girl in Uganda on the 1st and 15th of the month and I send her a snail mail packet of stickers, coloring pages, etc on the 1st on the month. I am hoping that no matter how slow mail delivery may be or when mail day may be, there is always something for her to open.
Hi Olivia — I keep a binder where I write the date I sent a letter and what was in it, (stickers, postcards, etc.) I’ve made it a goal to write every 6-8 weeks and this is a good way for me to keep track.
I found it necessary to get more organized when we started sponsoring more than one child and adding correspondence kids. I started to forget what I sent to whom. So the binder thing works for me.
Olivia,
I write a couple letters at a time, letters that I consider generic that could be sent anytime of the year, and keep them addressed and ready to go on my desk. I send out the letter(s) I have that asnwer all of my childs questions and talk about current information/recent events first. (I write in small letter on the back of the envelope what the letters about). Then, if I have forgotten to write, or have been crazy busy that week, I still have a letter to send out and I keep them in a place Ill see them and not forget to send them. Some examples of “generic” letters are ones about Bible stories, like Noah, Adam and Eve, etc.
I remember to write to my sponsered child at least once a month by remembering her birthday. Her birthday is July 1st, so I write to her the first of every month. So far I’ve never forgotten, and “celebrating her birthday” 12 times a year is lots of fun!
I try to write on holidays…all of them! It’s also a good idea to mark on a calendar to remind yourself. If you have to, schedule it in. It usually takes about 3 months for our children to receive our correspondence. If you wait too long between letters, your sponsored child is waiting more than 3 months to hear from you. They need all the love and encouragement they can get, even if it’s just a quick note!
The main thing is to decide how often you want to write. Two common timelines are quarterly (or, whenever you receive a letter, and write back on the stationery they send you), or monthly. Perhaps the first of the month, or first Friday or whatever works for you. There’s actually a group on ourcompassion.com for a monthly online letter-writing party (or whatever they call it). 🙂
The monthly group on ourcompassion.com has made the commitment to write to their sponsored children the second Friday of every month (which is this Friday) – so there is still time to do that & then make it a date each month! I am a new sponsor & am going to have one of our daughters write this month & then another one next month, etc. That way, our sponsored child will get letters from each one of us throughout the year!
Okay, this newbie is still asking questions, but want to ensure that my packages get delivered and not rejected. Has anyone recently used staples or clear packaging tape in making things to ship to Kenya? I know we can’t send metal and was curious if staples were considered that. And, being that package tape is not a paper product, is that acceptable? I have cut down some folders and want to re-tape the edges. Thanks again!
Hi Kim — I talked to Compassion’s customer care.
Staples: The only issue with staples is if you staple so many sheets of paper together that it becomes a book. A few sheets of paper stapled together shouldn’t be a problem. If you have a craft project where something is stapled on, no problem.
The rep said that she would avoid using staples when you’re writing letters — just write the child number on each page and don’t feel like you have to staple the pages together.
Packing tape: It’s okay if you want to use packing tape in a craft project. The rep also suggested using laminate.
The important thing is that what you send be primarily paper — as well as flat and fit the size guidelines. You just really want to stick to the “paper document” idea because that’s how Compassion is classifying what is being sent through customs. The question is: Will a customs agent look at it and think paper document — or has it become somthing else, (a book, etc.), that would have extra-regulations and cost put on it.
I hope that helps. I know some of this is fuzzy — so I’m just hoping that people will report back when something doesn’t go through. It will help the rest of us! 🙂
Thanks for talking with customer care, Lisa. I truly appreciate the information. Seems like some reps vary slightly in their answers, but it sounds like I just need to stick to the basics for the most part. A rep that I talked to said I could use laminate on flowers and such, but didn’t approve on projects. He even told me that I could only use contact paper if it was paper based. Hmm, clear contact paper is made of vinyl not paper, but I think it would be better than laminate. I guess some trial and error will have to be done. Thanks again for getting some answers for me. I will keep you posted!
i don’t know alot but i recently sent some things and one of them contained a staple. I know becuase it just happened to me, that if something can’t go thru they will email you. So far I haven’t heard back from them;also I would assume that tape goes thru as I have read a few places about people who cut and tape things etc.hope this helps-hope i am right;-)
A staple isn’t going to prevent your stuff from being received by your child. An occasional staple isn’t going to affect anything unless you’re stapling a wad of papers making it more than 1/4″. I’ve never received an email from Compassion regarding problems with staples and I’ve sent mini-packets of coloring sheets stapled, 8 page books with staples in the spine, etc. I also try to laminate things. I don’t know the climate/weather conditions for all parts of the year, so laminating helps preserve anything special (paper).
Thanks for your input Seena!
Alright, I got some super-good info from Compassion’s customer care today!
The Duck Tape sheets — those should go through. Just make sure they’re not exceeding the 8 1/2 x 11 inch size limit.
Jewel stickers — if they are soft like puffy stickers they will go through. They will not go through if they have any liquid in them OR metal OR if they exceed the 1/4″ thickness rule.
The customer care person said that when these items get to Compassion they will take a look and if there is some reason they think the items won’t make it through customs, after all, they will email or send you a letter.
They did say that the smaller things that don’t go through the regular mail, they take those things on country visits and distribute them to children at a variety of child development centers. So those items DO get to a Compassion child eventually — not to your particular child, but they do go to a child in need.
If it is a really large item like a big stuffed animal or something that wouldn’t be practical to carry on a country tour — those kinds of things are donated to a local charity.
What are duct tape sheets? Where do you get them?
Does anyone know where to get soccer cards, like baseball cards? I can’t find them anywhere. Haven’t tried a baseball card type store though. Maybe there?
Hi Maureen — Here’s a link to the Duck Tape sheets. They are flat sheets of duct tape with a peel-off back.
http://duckbrand.com/Products/duck-tape/duck-tape-sheets/single-sheets.aspx
Here’s a link to all of the chain stores that sell them. I’ve personally seen them at Michael’s and Staples.
http://duckbrand.com/Where%20To%20Buy.aspx
Here’s a link to some soccer cards from the 2010 World Cup. I bought these several months ago and they are very nice.
http://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Panini-Metalized-UltraCards-Autograph/dp/B003NH75KK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307243294&sr=8-1
Here are some soccer stickers. A little more reasonably-priced.:
http://www.amazon.com/FIFA-World-Collector-Stickers-5-Packs/dp/B003N5UE64/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307243396&sr=8-4
Oh those look wonderful. I want some for me too! I’ll definitely be sending them to children we sponsor, one in Bolivia and one in Kenya. I’ve never seen those before. Thanks for the links.
Maureen
Hi Lisa, Thank you so much for checking on this for me-I guess i will need to go into a store like michaels or AC Moore and look at it myself bcoa u can not tell online how big they are or what they are made of(i think)..i really hope we both and everyone who wants to send these as well-finds really nice ones that fit the specifications..thanks again and GOD bless..
No problem. I think with the jewel stickers if you can stick to the epoxy stickers or puffy stickers you’ll do fine. The epoxies have that shininess of a little gem, but are relatively flat. I’ve seen them in diamond shape, heart shape, etc.
I went into my scrapbooking room and looked at my stickers that are the true “gem stickers” or “jewel stickers” where they look like little mini-jewels. All of them had shiny metal-looking backs. Now the shiny metal could actually be plastic — it’s just so hard to tell. Could someone report back here if they try to send these through? Let us know if they go or not!
lisa, sorry, little ignorant as to what epoxy stickers are. i am going to google…it is a company or a type..thanks for the tips again!
The best way I can describe them is they are stickers with kind of a shiny, raised clear-coat over the top. They make the sticker look really shiny like a gem. Epoxy is the kind of resin material that is used to make the shiny coating.
Lisa,
Thank you for checking on that
Renee
I love the jewel stickers but I’ve never sent them because I always had a feeling they wouldn’t go through.
I’m going to call Compassion today and ask about the Duck Tape sheets and the jewel stickers. I’ll report back ASAP!
hi everyone…i was wondering if the ‘jewel’ stickers are ok to send…saw it yesterday while searching thru the oriental trading co website (which i never knew about btw until i read about it here a few days ago-thanks!!)-they say no jewels, but wondering if these are included in that..would love to send some to our little girl!
hi everyone-hooked on this blog as well!! so many neat ideas for to send our little girl-love it!
i was wondering if anyone knew if those ‘jewel’ stickers pass thru? i know they say no jewelery, but these are stickers that i saw yesterday on oriental trading co (which, btw, i never heard of before i read about it on here a couple of days ago-thanks!) and thought it would be great to send..any ideas??thanks..
Has anyone tried to send sheets of ducktape?
To be honest, I’ve never heard of anyone sending that before but they are very strict on it being paper only because they want to keep it within the definition of “documents” according to customs, so I doubt it. I would just call and ask. They are really esay to reach!
I just saw these for the first time at Michael’s. Here’s a video if anyone is wondering what they are…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ5BFRLL6d8&feature=relmfu
I just bought 2 sheets for Agayo. I have seen flip flops, pocketbooks and wallets made from it.
I made my first attempt at a lapbook. I have pics on my blog if anyone wants to check it out. (Click on my name to get there.) I made mine a mini-lapbook to fit in my 6×9-inch envelopes. I also made mine out of cardstock.
Hi, just looked thru your blog and saw so many wonderful ideas..it is great that you have put pictures of almost everything, so it gives a more visual idea..thank you for that…it really looks like you have put in so much of time, energy and thought behind all your letters/packages..
Lisa,
You should not have reminded me about Oriental Trading Co. LOL I went over there this morning SO MANY IDEAS. The sticker scene items are GREAT. I think we could put contact paper on the paper backgrounds and then the kids could move the stickers around sort of like what I used to play with as a kid called colorforms.
Thanks so much you guys! The lapbook idea is just pure fun and I’d never heard about it until this blog.
Oriental Trading has a ton of great things for sponsored kids — affordable, flat, paper. I love your idea of putting contact paper over the sticker scene backgrounds. Becky, you have such great ideas! 🙂
Lisa,
Your minibook is adorable. There are so many possiblities, and TONS of material available on the internet. We are so blessed to have access to all these things.
Hey, Lisa, thanks for the idea of a SMALL lap book. I have just recently seen lots of lap book ideas over on ourcompassion.org but I have never seen small ones. I bookmarked your blog and will post it on ourcompassion.org so others can go look, too.
Our family financially sponsors 2 girls, Kenya and Haiti. We are correspondence-only sponsors of 2 boys, Kenya and Guatemala. The boys have financial sponsors, but because they never receive correspondence from their sponsors, we write to them and send special things like the items listed above.
We wanted to help more children, but could not afford more than our 2 girls, so Compassion told us about the correspondence-only program. It’s another way to bless those children, especially on Letter Day!
Melissa – can you tell me how you become a correspondence only sponsor?? I am already a sponsor of two children and cannot at this time sponsor (financially) any others, but would love to do this.
Just contact Compassion and tell them what you would like to do! There are many children out there who do not receive anything other than financial sponsorship from their sponsors! On the Compassion website, just click the Contact Us link.
🙂
I found instructions for making a Butterfly lapbook. Apparently it usually costs $19.99, but it’s free this week. I downloaded and I might make one to send to little Sofia in El Salvador. i think she would love it.
http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=2574&it=1
Thank you for the link! I just downloaded it and forward to a few other sponsors!
I love the lap book idea, i did a simple one, using a map of the US and marking where we live along with the states our daughters live, included pictures, color sheets of those state, state bird, flower, flag, If anyone wants to see a picture, i would be glad to mail it to you. [email protected]
To Melody:
Yes you are correct. Any paper based items under a 1/4 inch thick will go through. The items must also be no larger than the height and length of a sheet of paper. Some sponsors put all the items they send inside one envelope with their child’s name and sponsorship number. Then they put that envelope inside the envelope they use to send to compassion. Compassion has to throw away the first envelope that has your address and other information on it. Also, this gives your child something to keep their gifts in if they do not have something already. And yes, you can write your child several short letters often. Some people write a letter once a week and send gifts one to two times a month. There is no limit and I believe shorter, more often letters are encouraged so your child receives more correspondence from you and the translator will be able to get your letter to your child quicker. =)
I put together a ‘simple’ lapbook, with the theme of “where we live” I pasted a map of the US and marked out the states where we live and where our daughters live. I’ve included pictures of those states and state bird, flower, flag and lots of pictures of our family at those states. I put her name and picture on the front. it turned out so cute. If you want a picture email me at [email protected] and i’ll send a few pictures of mind.
I sponsor two children from Compassion and two also from World Vision since Mar 2011.
I send letter mail every week as well as an email every week. I was told by Compassion that you can write as often as you like.
If you have questions on what to send and if you can, call them. They are easy to get thru to and very helpful.
What is a lap book? Have been reading
so much about it lately. I will be getting a
package ready to send out next week.
I have so much fun putting all the items
in the envlope. Great idea about the
labels. Thanks for all the info. All of the
are such great ideas. Keep up the good
work. Love it.
Marcy,
This is a video I did of a lap book on flowers I made for one of my sponsored children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MufsayKWxCA
Thank you for the video!
I just recently started sponsoring a 11 year old girl from Uganda. For a gift, I cut out pictures of flowers and butterflies out of magazines and glued them to a colorful piece of scrapbooking paper. Then I wrote her name on it with stickers and lamanated it to make a bookmark. But I do have a question: If I send coloring pages for her, do you think she will be able to color them? Like do you think she has crayons or something?
If your Ugandan girl does not have crayons at her home, she will most certainly have them at the Compassion Center she attends. That is where she’ll be when she receives her letters, etc., from you.
OK thanks so much for the ideas! Really glad I found this site, it’s very helpful!
Hi Sara — The Compassion center will most likely have crayons or colored pencils. Based on the photos I have seen, many of the Compassion centers are set up like little classrooms and they do have some supplies. You could also send a birthday or child gift and ask that a portion of it be used to buy the child a pack of crayons. Just an idea. 🙂
The bookmark you made sounds darling.
Hey Rachel B…Compassion will let you know if something doesnt go through, so unless you hear from them you are good to go 🙂
I have had a hard time finding literature in languages other than spanish for my kids. I have 2 kids in Central America, so it’s fine for them, and I have a child in Uganda who learns english, but I also have a 15 (soon to be 16!) year old girl in Indonesia, and she speaks a little Indonesian, Javanese and lots of other regional dialects.
I just ordered a copy of the Our Daily Bread in Indonesian to send to her. It does have staples and was a little too thick, so I opened the book up and flattened it a bit… hoping it goes through. I work for RBC Ministries (the ministry that publishes it), so this way she has something in her language, and she can see a little more about what I do at work. 🙂
Thanks everyone for their nice comments.
If you try it just make sure you cut the file folders down to the 8×11 size BEFORE you do any decorating. And keep checking the folded thickness when adding things to it.
Becky–the lap book is WONDERFUL!!! I think I’ll try making one when we get home from China. I’m so glad the You Tube idea worked!
OK, I tried Bev’s idea and I think this is the link. I mailed it to Colorado just a little over a week ago, and so far no comments or emails from the mailroom. I am not sure if it will get through or not. Here is the Youtube link….I hope..this is my first try with this technology.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MufsayKWxCA
oh my gooodness!! That is an a amazing idea! The video was great! It also lead me to some other lapbook topic ideas. I know your child will love it! I was so amazed. Thank you for taking the time to post up the video to youtube =)
Wonderful idea, I hope it goes through!!!! dont see why it wouldn’t. I think i’ll try on on our state…. the state flower, state bird, state flag and post cards or pictures from our state. thanks again for the youtube!!!!!
love love love this….you put soo much effort into it!!and some awesome ideas!!!love the flaps and pockets!!!
p.s. On OurCompassion I belong to a group that makes and sends things out to Compassion kids who don’t have sponsors yet. I think lapbooks are a GREAT idea for these kids. I’m going to post your Youtube link over there — the group is called “Encouragement and Hope” if you want to come and check it out.
that is so nice that the children without sponsors were thought of as well!!
Becky, that is so incredibly cool — wow!!! Thanks for making the video — that’s even better than a photo. I am just loving this lapbook idea. I am 99.9% sure that will go through — I don’t see why it wouldn’t. But if for some reason it doesn’t, please come back and let us know. And SAVE it — you can always send it with someone who is going to your child’s country on a sponsor tour — they’ll deliver it for you.
My husband and I are new sponsors. I am starting our first letter to our little boy in India. I ran off the form letter we can use, but I thought of using my own since there might not be enough room on the one I printed. Should I write our letter in my own handwriting, or is it better to type it out for the translators? I was considering sending both handwritten and typed (thinking the handwritten one may be a bit more personal for him to keep and perhaps be able to read someday if learning English). If I do send both, will both be sent along with the translation? What do you suggest? Thank you in advance!
Hi Maria — Sometimes I handwrite my letters and sometimes I type them. It’s about 50/50. The translators are used to translating either method so I don’t think you need to send both together. If you did send both, both would be sent along to your child, but I would just send one or the other. You are so thoughtful to consider what’s best for the translators! Most of the time I just send my chicken scratching in and pray they can read it. I guess it wouldn’t hurt if I tried to improve my penmanship a little! 🙂 Welcome to Compassion!
Hi guys, I have been sponsoring a little girl from Nicaragua for about a year. she seems to really like gettng photos. I have sent her picutres of myself and my family, the dog, flowers in my yard and of the snow and ice last winter. I have a Cricut machine and I often cut our cute shapes and send them to her-hearts, butterflies, even paper dolls. I found some paper dolls online that are free to print-some of them are not appropriate, but some are really cute.
Lately I have been writing my letter and then translating it with Google translate. I haven’t heard anything from Compassion saying they don’t like that, so I have continued. Translating the letters also lets me see some of the words in her language and “try” to get familiar with it. I always try to keep my letters very short and I write at least once a month.
I am always wondering what my sponsored child does with the stuff I send. Does she have a place to keep it? A folder or album is a great idea.
I have received photos of her with the gifts she received from me for her birthday, that was really nice. She has the biggest smile in that picture!
I enjoy reading your questions and ideas. Will try to get back often and check in.
Marilyn,
Good for you trying to get familiar with your sponsord child’s language. She will love hearing from you in Spanish.
I’m fluent in Spanish and I can tell you that sometimes the web sites like Google tranlate perfectly, and sometimes they are a mess, especially if we include idioms! What I would suggest is to include your original English along with the translation. The letters are going to be read by someone before being passed on to the child, even letters that don’t need to be translated. So if there’s a sentence in Spanish that doesn’t make sense, the coorespondence department in Nicaragua can look back and your English and see what you were trying to say and fix the translation.
Some of the projects give the children a folder or box to keep the sponsor’s letters in. Sending her a flat folder with a pretty design would be great.
Hi Marilyn! So good to have you here on the blog! It sounds like your sponsorship is going just great. 🙂
I love all of your ideas. I especially love your idea of using the Cricut machine to make things for your kids. I’ve had my eye on one for scrapbooking for a while — I’d never thought about how I could use it for my sponsored kids. Thanks for suggesting that!
As for Google translator, we had a little discussion about that a few pages back. Some of us shy away from it because it can be quirky when it translates. There were some examples given of it translating sentences way out of context. I’ve used it once for some very basic sentences — I’d be a little more hesitant to use it for an entire letter. But it sounds like you’ve had a good experience with it, so far. I can see how it would be an excellent tool to start learning the language!
so as I said earlier, happened to find alot of book and things in spanish on chrsitianbooks.com-it came in the mail today-LOVE IT!!!for anyone who needs things-they have Spanish crossword(around 8-10yrs age group), story books, bible cards-except the cards,of course, the others are thin books which are stapled together and not bound in any other way..hope this helps..can’t wait to send these to our little girl in Bolivia
I also ordered some stuff in Spanish from CBD – I bought one hardcover and took the binding off… I will just tie it together myself. I am so excited to send it to my Edgar in El Salvador… I hope he likes it!
Becky — you can upload to YouTube of Vimeo and then post a link.
Thanks Bev!!! I will go try that now.
OK, I tried to upload my video of the Flower Lap Book I made for one of my girls onto OurCompassion as suggested. Apparently it is to big 79 MB, and the limit there is 50MB. I really wanted to show you guys, it was so cute. Now I am starting work on Noah’s Ark for 4 of my younger ones.
Well, even though we can’t see it, you’ve inspired us! If you don’t mind me copying you, I’m going to try making one for my littlest sponsored chid in Ecuador. 🙂
I do not mind at all that is why I wanted to show you how much we could send in a small package.
Just remember to cut down the folders BEFORE decorating.
This is the link for my inspiration for the Noahs folders I am working on now.
http://lapbooklessons.com/NoahsArkLapbook.html
Yesterday I made up a box of things from Dollar Tree for the children of some missionaries in Europe. It cost $38. to mail. Each item had to be listed separately for customs. That is why Compassion has to be somewhat picky about what they send to the sponsored children. Sending even paper goods to other countries can be very expensive!
Fun things to send are cartoon band aids, homemade greeting cards, and collages. As long as the collage folds to 8.5×11 it will go through. I sometimes cut off the front page of a greeting card I have received, and write my letter on the reverse.
Children love pictures. My dogs are an endless source of pictures and stories – and my children love it.
I share some of the bad stuff with them, too. They will pray with and for me, and like that I have shared my life with them.
I just received my first letter from my child and I am so excited.
Cant wait to respond back. I have ripped pages out of coloring books and send about 4 at a time. I also bought very inexpensive books at our local library and took the covers off.
Its much thinner that way. Love all the ideas. Keep them coming. Thanks to all of you.
hi again, just went to christianbook.com and they have a whole entire spansih section where you can narrow down to what you want. happened to find devotionals for girls, short story book, crosswords, etc, all in bilingual-got a little carried away and bought alot but i know it is going to be worth it!! (i am keeping size limits in mind as well!!)
Hi Seena — I think you’re smart to stock up! I keep a goody bin at my house of things I can pull out to send to my sponsored kids — and I let my daughter and the neighbor kids dip into it, too, when they’re being extra-good. 🙂 Welcome to the blog, by the way!
thanks, LISA!
I wanted to send books to my child, I found them at our local Family Chrisitan bookstore, on each page both spanish and english translations of the story. I really wanted to send both books out but today Compassions customer service, via phone, told me that I had to cut the binding off of the books, even though their probably 1/8″ thick each. I asked if I could send string or staple/glue them together and got a “no” ~ but on their website for small gift ideas it recommends just that. https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connect-with-your-child/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
Has anyone tried to send a book before? What was your way around the “binding” issue? Any help is appreciated. It’s my first time ever sending a package ~ I started my sponsorship Sunday! I’m so excited!
Hi Stacy — I’ve been able to send the little Dover booklets with no problem. They are about the same thickness as what you have. My understanding is that they will go through if they are simply folded over sheets of paper with a staple binding or a small bit of adhesive. (Like the Dover booklets.) They won’t go through if they have an actual book binding or a thick spine. Those are considered books by customs and don’t fit the “paper documents” category.
If it does have a book binding and you need to separate the pages, perhaps you can take them out of the binding and paperclip them together or staple them. You could even laminate them. (I don’t want to contradict Compassion’s customer care, but I’ve never heard of a staple not going through.)
If anyone here DOES get something sent back, could you come back and report it to the blog, just so we’re up to date on the latest developments? That would be so helfpul! 🙂
I think I found an answer to my binding problem… I broke the binding and laid it flat by opening it at the middle of the book, then flattened it till the binding was level, and cut the edges of the book so that it’ll fit into a 8-11″ envelope… I’m hoping that this will pass through customs now, and this way the binding will still be able to stay intact! 🙂
Not really HELFPUL — more helpful. 🙂 I can’t spell.
I think I found a soultion. I broke the binding of the books, and then opened them to the middle and flattened them out. After flat I took the industrial paper cutter at my college and cut the book down to a 8-11″ size. I’m going to continue to flatten it overnight and see what it looks like it the morning but it’s already looking like it’ll work! I’ll let everyone know if it doesn’t make it through, I’ll say a prayer. I think it would be really nice if my child was able to have christian books in both spanish and english about the bible stories! 🙂
Hi everyone!we are sponsoring a little girl, 11, from bolivia.we want to send something in addition to our letters every month, but very short on ideas. we have already sent stickers twice (just started sponsoring her in march), coloring pages. anyone have any ideas where we can find and print biblical stories,devotionals or puzzles,crosswords,etc online?thanks alot and GOD bless…and must add-that this is an amazing experience-and the more i read the blogs the more i am motivated to write and send things for our girl there!
Sarah,
I always measure the thickness of a coloring book with a ruler. More than 1/4 inch thick won’t be accepted. So, if the book is too thick I just send several pages at a time.
Have you been able to get books with binding that are thinner than 1/4″ throught before then?
Hi Jan,
I’ve just done my Math, and it’s 1mm too thick. I won’t be able to send it in pieces because of the way it’s held together, if I try and separate the pages, it’ll just destroy the book and pages altogether. Thank you for your help though!
Does anyone know for sure if colouring books/sticker/activity books etc, which are up to 50 pages thick are safe to get through. I have been told yes, as when it says “Can’t send books” it means novels and spiral bound stuff. I have been on a bargain hunt around some local stores and got some amazing sticker books, colouring and activity stuff, and even some handwriting practice books, sciencey stuff – and it’s age 3-5, so my 7 year old will be able to learn all the English off the pictures and words etc. I’m just paranoid that although I was told it’ll be fine if it’ fits in an A4 envelope (and they all definitely do) it’ll be removed for some reason along the way. Most of the books are no thicker than 25-30 pages, real skinny, one is 50 pages max.
I was wondering the same thing myself, I just purchased two small books, no more than 15 pages each, and very thin, but someone told me that “no binding” on books was allowed. Can I send it as is, or do I need to cut the pages out of the book? I feel bad sending her a book w/o binding, I worry she would at 5 possibly lose the pages of the book accidently if not together. ~ What have you been able to find out?
i was planning on copying or tearing out pages too, and prob putting a whole at the top so our little girl can put yarn thru it to hold it together. i know it sounds terrible to us, but having been to another country where seeing the joy kids have with just receiving ANY gifts (bcoz they have so little), i know whatever you send, when sent with love, will matter so much to your kids.
Just finished my first attempt at a lapbook to send to one of my little girls in Rwanda. I wish I could post pictures of it. It has a lot in it and still is in the requirements. Since it is making an attempt at Spring here I did the book on all kinds of flowers.
Becky, if you are a member on ourcompassion.org , I know many of us would love to see pictures of the lapbook you made! If you aren’t a member, I encourage you to join. It’s a great place to receive and share ideas!
Danielle,
I am a member but not quite familiar with moving around in there. I am not sure how to post anything or find other people yet.
Is there anyone in the military that has a sponsored a child that can answer this? If you are in the military, enlisted or officer, is it ok to write what you are? The reason why I ask is because I know there are certain countries that do not like U.S. military at all. And if your child asks you what do you do for a living? how do you respond.
Anthony, there were discussions on ourcompassion.org a while ago about telling sponsor children about their job as a police officer. I don’t know where your sponsor child is from or how they view the US military in their country. From what I remember on the discussions on ourcompassion.org they wrote and told their child that for their jobs they work in community service and a bit about what they did (help people, keep people in their community safe etc) but didn’t mention their job title. Like Lisa says below Compassion wouldn’t stop you from saying what do you for a living, it’s just up to you whether do you. You may change how they and their community see the US military. If you aren’t comfortable saying you are in the military then maybe you could write a bit about what you do without saying you are in the military- that you have the honour to serve America and that sometimes you go go overseas and make a difference in other countries as well and mention kid friendly parts of your job. Hope this helps.
Hi Anthony — I’ve never seen anything in Compassion’s literature that says you can’t mention your military service or military career. I think the kids are interested in our jobs and my personal opinion is that you should feel free to share that.
I don’t know if you heard, but a former Compassion kid from Uganda recently lost his life fighting for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. He moved from Uganda to Green Bay, Wisconsin where he attended university and then went into military service. His name was Spc. Paul Atim.
Is there anyone in the military that has a sponsored a child that can answer this? If you are in the military, enlisted or officer, is it ok to write what you are? The reason why I ask is because I know there are certain countries that do not like U.S. military at all. And if your child asks you what do you do for a living? how do you respond.
Patti!! I love this photo album idea! Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Sarah. I’m not sure “how” I thought of the idea, but the more I worked on the project, the more excited I became for the sponsored children to receive the albums. I put them in the mail about 2 hours ago. Now, I’ll be anxious to hear from the children
I, too, struggled with how to handle the issue of death in my sponsored child’s family (her father died about 9 months ago just before I started to sponsor her). Then last week, in Holy Week, my brother-in-law died after a very long illness; a time of sadness for us but also a time of release for him. So I wrote my child a letter, mentioning this and mentioning her father in the letter. And I also used it as an opportunity to write about Easter and Jesus’ death and resurrection, and His promise that as believers we will be with Him after our time on this earth. I used it as a time to share our sadness and our trust in the Lord’s promises. My child is 13 and seems emotionally mature for her age, so I’m hoping that it may make our relationship closer and, especially, that it will deepen her faith. But it IS a delicate subject to tackle!
I have come up with a way to send a “Photo Album” to our three Compassion children that meets the size criteria of 1/4″ thick, and no larger than 8.5″ X 11″. I purchased report covers, with the 3-hole brads & clear see-through front pages. With the use of a paper cutter, I trimed the report cover down to measure exactly 8.5″ X 11″. I then printed photos of my husband and I, our son, daughter-in-law, 4 grandchildren, and two dogs on 8.5″ X 11 card-stock white paper. I put two photos on each page, and typed the name and age of each family member under the photos. Since our grandchildren are near in age to all 3 of the children we sponsor, I believe the sponsored children will enjoy having the photos. As to keep the edges of the photo pages protected, I used the paper cutter and trimmed those pages to 8″ X 10.5″. In the future, I will send additional pages for the albums that are pre-cut and pre-punched. The sponsor children can add the new pages to their albums. I put the peel-and-stick printed label on the back of the album, with the child’s name & number, and our sponsor number. I plan to purchase stickers to send with the album, and encourage our sponsored children to decorate the pages of their album with the stickers. Also, for the front page of the album, using the computer, I typed “Introducing My Family – To (child’s name), From (our names). For the two girls, I printed a butterfly on the front cover. For the boy, I put one photo of all 4 of our grandchildren & one photos of our 2 dogs. Each album has 8 printed pages, and as I stated, does not exceed the maximum measurements.
Patti, I too have purchased the report covers with the brads (the thin silver ones and not the brass ones), but now I see where we can ship no metal. These brads appear to be like a thin tin. Were yours the same and how long ago did you ship. I am creating a special folder and hate to see it not go through. Thanks.
Bev – I’m so,so sorry for your loss. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. I, like many others, would shy away from talking about a child who’s died thinking (just as you said) thiat it would upset the parents and just bring back the sadness of the death and the loss. It would have never dawned on me to talk about the child.Thanks for your expert advice!
I have sent money to buy my sponsored children birthday gifts. Will I know what money was used for?
I usually hear about it in a letter..not always though. I’ve heard if you want a specific question answered it helps to number them. I guess so they stand out more to the translator? Maybe you can find out that way…I always want to know that too 😉
I did the same just recently. I was told by Compassion that I will get a reply on what was use for and from the child too. However it will take 3-4 months before I get it in the mail.
Hi Jamie! This blog post may help answer some of your questions.
https://blog.compassion.com/give-a-gift-to-your-sponsored-child-how-what-why
Jacquie
Often I have received letters from my sponsored children saying what they bought or what they received from you…from the money. I’ve had one child send a picture of herself with the things she got or bought. Some letters have the children drawing a picture of what they received as a result of the money. Compassion usually does not specifically tell you because the leaders at your child’s center know what the child needs/wants. However, you can also designate what you want the money to go for also. One year I designated that 1/3 of the money go towards art supplies because my girl loved doing art.
I didn’t for her birthday gift., but for a family gift at Christmas, I not only got a list of what they got but also received phopos. That was great!!
Lisa…it’s a touchy question when there is a death in the family. This just came up for me when the younger sister of one of the boys I sponsor died. I have no information about what caused her death or how old she was (he’s 8).
One thing to remember is that by the time your letter gets to her, the death will be several months old and the pain won’t be as acute as it was at first (not to say it won’t still be hurting).
Having buried two children myself, I felt I had some knowledge of what one would say in THIS country at least. I expressed my sadness at the death, I acknowledged the pain the family was feeling at the loss. I said that she was with Jesus and he was taking care of her, and I also asked them to tell me about the little girl. I found, myself, that the most comforting people were those who let me talk about my kids, because it was like having them back again for a little bit.
The thing is that, as I said, it will be at least four months since the death before your letter reaches the family. That is the time when other people have started going on about their lives and it’s only the ones who were the closest who are missing the dead person the most–and at that time nobody wants to upset you by bringing the subject up. But it can be very comforting to have an invitation to talk about either the death of what the person was like when she was alive.
I hope this helps.
I may be wrong in how I have handled photos sent to my children, but they KNOW that we don’t live in abject poverty or we wouldn’t have enough money to sponsor them. I think we don’t want to flaunt possessions, but I don’t think we need to disregard a photo just because it doesn’t have a neutral background. They want to know about our lives. One of my children asked what my car looked like, and I sent her a picture of it. It’s not a fancy car, it’s about 15 years old but it looks very nice. I can’t see how that can possibly be offensive.
I send pictures of family events and don’t pay attention to what is in the background because I think they want to know about how my family interacts, not whether we have a mega TV (we don’t).
I have recently been introduced to Lapbooks and was wondering if file folder games would go through with velcro inside them to hold the pieces?
Becky, I’d never heard of these before. I Googled them and — wow, so cool! It looks like the amount of velcro used to attach the little game pieces are so small. I lean towards saying yes, I bet they’d go through.
I’m going to email Sara who volunteers in the mail processing area and show her what you’re talking about — I’ll see what she says and report back.
In the last letter I received from my compassion child she shared with me that a teenage family member died. The way she described it showed that it was very traumatic for the family and I am not sure how to respond. She is 12. I’m going to write her birthday letter and I feel that because she shared her loss with me I can respond with something encouraging and faith based. I’m just not sure what to say. Any ideas?
That is hard. Having worked in hospice the main thing is to acknowledge their sorrow and pain. You can say, “I am so sorry to hear of your (brother or sister’s) death. I can not imagine how heart broken you all must be. But God has made a way through Jesus for us to see our family again in heaven. Tell your child that you will pray for their family and for God to comfort them. You may want to assure your child that over time they won’t hurt as much as they do right now. Tell them you love them and will pray for their family to be free of sickness. I would acknowledge this event with as much love as you can and then in a couple of weeks write them again and tell them your still praying and hope they are feeling better. You might want to include a few happies in that note. I hope this helps.
Sure! Just contact Compassion and ask them to send you some stationery out.
Jan, thank you for sharing, it’s certainly very humbling when we hear from children who have such experiences. It’s great to have connected with your children over their interest in animals though! How wonderful. I read the thread on “Funny things kids say” and a lady shared on how she sent some dinosaur stickers with an explanation of what exactly dinosaurs are/were. That part must have got lost in translation as the child replied “You have very scary pets!” LOL!
It’s also just occurred to me regarding photos and material possessions – all of mine have been neutral/outdoor/empty backgrounds, but for one of my cats and dog sitting together on the sofa watching TV. It’s the only photo I have of the cats at the moment, and the only furniture in the photo is the sofa and a cabinet in the bachground, no TV (opposite side of room behind camera). I hope it doesn’t cause any offence.
Can I get more of the Compassion letter-writing forms? I’ve only had one since I began my sponsorship in October and have been using my own stationary, but I like the forms better for their organization lol
Lorie; I have a printer and print off acopy of the letter they send, and print a coloring picture on the other side. That way they can keep the letters and coloring together.
Earlier on in thie blog I remeber someone saying they had sent a folder to to their chld so they could keep all their letters, etc. their sonsor sent. I thought that was a great idea, however I could only find folders that were 9×12. Does anyone have suggestions of where I could find a smaller one? I ‘m sure most are 9×12 to be a little larger to safely hold 8×11 paper. I always make one.
Vicki: I bought the folders that were 9x 12, and cut them down to the right size. Tape or staple edges that need . They went through.
Thanks, that didn’t even occur to me – Duh!
Vicki: sometimes we are trying so hard to find new things and follow their rules that we can use help. These letters are so helpful to me, glad I can help others.
Vivian, perhaps you could clarify. When i put items inside a 9×12 mailer, I need to put everything else in smaller envelopes? What if I have an 8.5×11 folder, what can i put it in (as it will then be bigger than 8.5 x11? I want to make a 8.5×11 folder (actually a report cover with the brass fasteners) and send to them and not sure how to package it. Also, I know we can’t ship plastic so are the ‘poly’ report covers out? Thanks!
Kim, you can mail your 8.5 x 11 folder in a larger envelope, because Compassion workers will take it out of the mailing envelope anyway. You don’t need to “package” the folder inside anything else before placing it in the mailing envelope. Just be sure that the child and sponsor ID#s are on everything, including the folder and the contents.
qUEDSTION: iF COMPASSION TAKES OUT THE FOLDER OUT OF THE ENVELOPE YOU PUT IT IN, WHAT DO THEY SEND IT IN TO THE CHILDRREN? DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY WOULD TAKE IT OUT AND REUSE ANOTHER ENVELOPE
Lois, I made a few labels with just my child’s number and my sponsor number. Will these work or should I have included my child’s name also? Thanks.
The form letter provided by Compassion includes the child’s name, child’s number, and sponsor number. Therefore I think it is advisable to include all of these on anything you send — whether you are printing your own stationery abd/or sending paper items.
Thank you. I was confused of how to package 8.5×11 items in a mailing envelope within a mailing envelope. Thanks! I am hooked on this blog, on research, and on shopping for odds and ends. Thanks for all the great information on this site!
Kim: I found folders at walmart that have no metal on them, just the folder material with 2 pockets.I put her letters and stickers and a small book [found at Dollar general] inthe pockets. I sent one about 1 1/2 months ago and have not heard that of any problem. Sent another one today. I also found some small boxes, that fold flat, from Orental Trading. The child can open them up. I slid letters and stickers in the folded box. Hope this helps.
Thank you. I didn’t think pocket folders would work as they are larger than 8.5 x 11, but that is great!
Vivian – What a great idea!
Hi Lorie – Do you have a printer? If so, you can print the stationery. Here’s the link:
https://www.compassion.com/account/FR421_Letterform.pdf
Lorie,
You can download and print them out on the compassion website here: https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connect-with-your-child/letters/connect-with-your-child-by-writing-letters.htm
The stationary is posted in pdf form (need Adobe Reader-freeware program to view it) here: https://www.compassion.com/account/FR421_Letterform.pdf
To get there through compassion’s homepage, click ‘for sponsors and donors’, then in the left sidebar click ‘Connect With Your Child’ and the link for the stationary is in the center of the screen 🙂
Hi, Vivian and Sara,
Right or wrong, I have been very careful to send only outdoor photos of my family, or photos of family members that are up close so that only the head shows~no furniture or other possessions. When I send photos of my family taken outdoors, I make sure that houses, cars, etc., aren’t in the background.
I have sent photos and postcards of my town, as it’s not about personal possessions, and it’s educational. For instance, we are in a touristy area, and the bridge uniting the two sections of the town got stuck open so that no one could get through. I took pictures of it stuck open and told them about it in a humourus way ( it was the most exciting thing that had happened in our small town that summer).
I send lots of pictures of my dogs, too. Some of my children have been very interested in the dogs, some haven’t. It just depends on the child and their circumstances. Our vet puts pictures of each dog on their prescriptions, and in one letter I cut out the pictures and pasted them in the letter beside the name of the dog each time I mentioned it’s name ( at that time we had 3 dogs).
Compassion tell us that postcards are educational, so I send those a lot when we travel, and have gotten a good response from them. In New Mexico I sent a postcard with a road runner on it, in Arizona I sent one with a coyote, etc. The children were all very interested in that, but my heart was touched when our little boy in Tanzania commented that the only wild animal he ever sees are rats, and that they are ugly, mean animals. I believe he lives in a slum area just across the sea from Zanzabar.
I hope this is helpful information.
Jan
Hi Vivian,
I think this is an excellent point to raise!
I’d pray about this – maybe imagine yourself in the shoes of your sponsored child or someone in his/her family. Would they really mind about the photo? Or do you think it would be overlooked? If unsure, maybe wait until you have heard back from your child and his/her family, until you have an idea of their circumstances so you can better gauge the reaction. It’s just a thought, I hope it helps.
We recently took a trip camping, and our little dog always comes with us. He is really cute, so I have sent my sponsored child plenty of photos of him, as I’m assuming all 7 year old girls think little dogs are cute! I took a photo of our dog while he is on my lap in the front passenger seat of our car, while my husband’s driving, and our dog is looking out the window at the road and the car in front. It’s a really amusing photo! However, I’m keeping it to one side at the moment. I am yet to receive my first letter from my sponsored child, and as Compassion advised to be careful re: photos of homes, cars and belongings, I thought I’d wait a while. Then again, I’m the one probably worrying too much, it’s the cute dog who is the star in the photo! Not the car in front or the car we’re sitting in. I guess i could even cut the photo smaller, and remove the car in front off the picture altogether.
I had thought of taking photos of where we live, but then again, I decided not to. I watched a Compassion film about El Salvador, and my child is from Peru. it made me cry when I saw where the people lived, and brought it home to me what kind of homes our sponsored children are living in. I do plan to take one really great picture of our Christmas tree this year though, putting the focus on Jesus and Christmas celebrations, not presents and things.
I have sent A LOT of photos of our recent trip, which was walking in the mountains, so loads of scenery, and of us with the scenery behind us. Could you send photos of your family in “neutral” scenic places? Or in the garden? We have a family meal coming up, which I would love to share with my child, but I thought “big restaurant – not appropriate given the implied material belongings/wealth/lifestyle difference” – so I’m thinking about organising a little family picnic somewhere pretty, where these issues aren’t a factor at all.
I hope this helps someone!
Sarah: Thank you for your input. I feel like you that sometimes I worry too much, but I don’t want to do anything to upset my litle girl. I have sent photos before but with nutural backgrounds. thanks again
Thank you all for such wonderful ideas. I am a new sponsor
since March 8, 2011. I love sending all the items you mentioned.
Its so much fun putting it all together. I usually check the letter writing tips site at least once a week to see what has been updated. Thanks to all of you so much.
What a kind thing to say. This is definitely a great group of people. It’s just awesome to see so many new sponsors here each week. New people, new ideas… I, too, check here regularly and learn something every time. 🙂
I pray someone can help. Compassion susgest that we not say too much of our personal belongings, and I understsnd that. I would like to send pictures of my family. If the picture was taker indoors the back ground shows a lot. Can anyone tell me if it is wise to send them, ever if it shows belongings that her family can not own. Thank you all for the help you have given.
I might cut around my family and glue it to different colored paper and decorate it. Somewhat like a piece you would put in a scrapbook. I think the child would like that.
I made an A4 Word document, inserted a table and put my child’s name, number and my Compassion code in. Copied and pasted to fill an A4 sheet. I just snip them off and stick them on everything – secure and unmistakeably neat (better than my handwriting!)
Another great idea, is to use the clear mailing lables, put your information on those, then just stick them to everything you send 🙂
Do you have larger size pre-addressed envelopes for correspondence that will take the standard correspondence and such things as a birthday card,Christmas card,etc.? If you do, could you send me a few? Thanks
Hi Bill, I checked with Compassion customer care and they don’t currently offer larger-sized pre-addressed envelopes for correspondence. They only have business-sized envelopes which are included with each child letter.
Cindy mentioned earlier in the thread that you can go to the post office and get express envelopes for free. The cost to send them is just under $5 from anywhere in the United States to Compassion. It’s one of their new flat rate items.
I usually buy a box of 9×12 envelopes from the store and load everything in there — letters, photos which I put in smaller envelopes, stickers which I put in smaller envelopes, etc.
I just make sure everything that’s in there has my sponsor number and child number on it and send it off that way.
I use a regular manila 9×12 envelope and tape the business envelope Compassion sends me each month to the front of the envelope. I do the majority of my correspondence online except when I send goodies. I’ve got a stack of those business envelopes! Once in awhile, I pop 10 into the large envelope I’m sending…don’t know if they reuse or not. Can’t bring myself to recycle them yet, especially if it cuts costs!
I noticed that you indicated you get a envelope from Compassion each month. I have been sponsoring since March and have yet to get one, except when it is for me to reply to one of my sponsored children. I send my letters to compassion in business envelopes or manilla envelopes 9×12 and address myself.
I have been sponsoring two children since March and have not yet received any envelopes from Compassion?
Oh! And I forgot to mention! Blank A5 (or smaller) cards with envelopes are pretty cheap and easy to get hold of. I wonder if children would like them, and to draw their own picture on the front, then they can give them as greetings cards to other people, for birthdays and Christmas etc. If card making kits come with the card as well as stickers only for the designs on top, that would be ideal for the child to make the cards up with stickers etc. Even additional paper sheets to cut and stick on the card blank as a background for the topper – how cool! You could teach your sponsored child proper card making!!
They would love them!
Hi Lisa!
I am glad they’re useful to you. I thought, when my little girl’s a bit older I’ll start teaching her origami (paper gifts right?) – make a little origami creature, print off the instructions and send some origami paper for her to have a go …
http://www.en.origami-club.com/
Also, teach her Sudoku, starting with a 4×4 of course
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/sudoku_for_kids.htm
I love the Activity Village website, there is so much stuff on there!
I LLLOVVEEE the Sudoku idea and website! My question is my child is in India (speaks hindi) and I;m not sure if he would be able to do them because of the numbers being diffirent characters than he knows….any thoughts/suggestions?
Hi Lisa! Thanks! That has really reassured me, I shall stop fretting now! Great news your bank card got intercepted and sent back to you … I should have more faith in my fellow Man!!!
Hi Analia! It’s great you’ve chosen to sponsor! I’m really excited for you! I can’t wait to hear back from my little one, but it’ll be a while yet. I checked with Compassion, and colouring books are fine, the thinner the better of course. I just got a dot-to-dot book for a future letter and it’s pretty chunky (50 pages) but when the time comes to mail it, I won’t send as many additional items such as the stickers, postcards, construction paper, photos etc. I’m also keeping a record of what goes in with each letter, so that I don’t a) send the same photos/stickers/colouring pads etc and b) try to vary things. Especially as she gets older, I imagine she’d prefer puzzles and blank/lined notebooks for school, puzzles etc. Hope this helps.
Are these useful to anybody?
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/?CFID=11079089&CFTOKEN=49837173
You can make your own wordsearches, mazes etc.
http://www.highlightskids.com/GamesandGiggles/gamesArchive/hpTopArchive.asp
Go the purple one in the middle – printables. These are so much fun! I have sent one to my sponsored child, coloured in an item on the list, and then found it in the hidden picture and written “Can you find these things in the big picture?” to show her what to do. I’ve printed off about 6, to last for the next few months, and then as time goes on I’ll print off more etc.
My husband and I have made a word document of Traditional English food, with explanations underneath each dish of what it is, when it’s eaten, how it’s made etc. Also, a sheet of my favourite dishes, and a sheet of his favourite foods, with colour pictures and explanations. I’m hoping to laminate them and send them in a few months time or as appropriate when she tells me about her favourite food!
Those are such good links! (For my Compassion kids and my own little one.) 🙂 Adding them to my list of go-to websites…
Hi everyone! I’m new in all this, my little one lives in Ethiopia, and i’m so exited! i’m reading all the ideas you giving about the letters…can someone please tell me if any envelope is allow to send, i’m not sure, what about the colouring books? Thank you, You all have a great day! 🙂
Maybe using sticky tape and sticking the bandz to the letter or to a photo or postcard you’re sending along with it? I just sent a little notepad to my sponsored child, and sticky-taped it to a pack of stickers so it was noticeable and wouldn’t get lost.
And … how dumb am I?! There are two Compassion addresses in the UK – one, I assume is the admin and office etc, the other is the mailroom side. I sent my letter to the WRONG address. The buildings are 300 metres apart according to online Routefinder – what are the chances that my letter’s safely on its way?!?! I’m so dumb sometimes!!!
Sarah, I’m 100% sure your letter will get transferred over to the mailroom. And don’t feel bad! I once tucked my bank card in an envelope going to my sponsored child and forgot to take it out. A Compassion rep had to contact me and send it back.
How do you package the silly bandz to get them through?
I just make sure they are taped down to keep them from twisting and making the package bulge. Last time I taped them to an index card w their #s on it and before that I have taped them to the inside of a book and to a calendar. As long as you just send a few and they stay flat I think that is what matters.
All the ideas are wonderful. Its great to see what other
people are sending. Gives me some new ideas. Cant
wait to go shopping this weekend. Thanks to all of you.
When I called and explained what I had already sent (the stickers and photos and letter etc) the girl on the phone said that was fine, and a colouring book of 20 pages and some photos and cards would also be fine, she assured me. It all fits into an A4 envelope without making it bulge so I am hoping that’s a good indicator at least. It’s certainly not over the minimum postage limit either. I popped in a few sheets of fluorescent construction paper and a hidden picture puzzle. I’m sure I’ll know soon enough if they don’t get received!
ALL IS SOLVED AND CONFIRMED! I called the Compassion office, and the maths books and colouring books I got are 100% fine, WITH covers left on! All are most definitely less than 1/4″ thick, and fit in an A4 envelope so panic over!
Hi Lois! Thanks re: sending thin booklets WITH covers … out of the 8 page, ten page, and 20 page booklets … will all be safe to send do you think?
I have a couple of colouring books which are a bit thicker as well. They have gummed/glued spines, just like normal colouring books, but I’d say we’re talking 30-40 pages roughly. If not ok, the lady in the photocopying/xerox room at work has an amazing guillotine and can soon sort that binding problem out!
I assum the traditional binding and “book/booklet” reference means proper books/novels, and spiral bound stuff, or anything the thickness of a novel. Touch wood, my 8, 10 and 20 page sticker math books, colouring books and the 30/40 page colouring book will be safe, one at a time!
Whatever you send can be a maximum of 1/4-inch thick, so sometimes it’s better to send fewer pages at one time to be safe. The glued bindings may or may not go through — I’m not sure.
Hi Mary Lou,
We can send only small paper items. Nothing made of cloth or fabric or yarn. If you go to the blog and read some of the entries there you will get some wonderful ideas of things that you can send. Stickers, bookmarks, colored paper, coloring book pages, small booklets held together by staples are just a few of the items. Our bloggers are always coming up with some great ideas, so check back as often as you can!
Hi my new at compassion and i was wonder if blankets and scrafs count as cloths
Hi Mary Lou — Welcome to Compassion and to the blog. Blankets and scarfs are considered cloth items and can’t be sent. One option is to send your child a monetary child gift or family gift. If blankets and warm clothes are something the child needs, the family can purchase them with your monetary gift.
I hope that helps! 🙂
My understanding is that we can’t send anything made of cloth, wood, or foam — even a handkerchief or small scarf. It has to be a “document” or paper/cardboard material.
Yes, we send books to our English speaking children. They have to be very thin and flexible, bound by a staple. I have shared photos of some of my book stash on my blog. (Click my name in blue to hop over!) When sending books, just remember that Compassion staff will not translate. With the Dollar General bible stories, you can put a label on the cover with the verses that contain the story.
Hi Everyone,
Thanks Sara and Vicki for your help! I sent the packet on Saturday. I checked the page you mentioned about the suggested items, and had I know, I could have laminated the palm cross. I can do that next time! Still, I sent the stickers, little notepad, and 5 photos (a large copy of our wedding photo and 4 smaller ones of the pets and me and my husband)
I went to all our local bargain stores this weekend, and got a whole heap of stickers, which I can send her throughout the year. Two sets of stickers were Disney and came with a little album each (one was Princesses – Belle, Cinderella etc, the other was all Winnie the Pooh) The other pity is a little pack of Winnie the Pooh magnetic letters and numbers – so pretty, but more than likely will not get through.
I found four small colouring books, very thin, but it says no books/booklets, but colouring pages are ok. Two of the books I bought are mutliplication and division books, with stickers with the answers on in the centre, for her to find and stick in the answer spaces. They’re lovely for children of her age, not to mention useful for school! They are very thin though: one is 8 pages thick, another ten pages, and the third is 20 pages – not including the card covers. I guess i could always remove the covers, and guillotine the sides annd staples off the pages. I’ve not heard of a limit for the amount of pages sent, so I’m hoping that provided I remove the cover and slice the staples off and put her code and my code on everything, I could still send the books, one at a time, in their entirety, minus the cover and staples!.
My husband and I are going on holiday today so I’m going to be hunting for postcards and going snap happy with my camera! I also thought of making an A4 poster of our favourite foods (using photos of dishes off Google) rather than photographing our meals every day!!! I’m also going into work during the school holidays to photograph my classroom and the grounds – it’s an ideal time, as due to the Data Protection Act I can’t take photos with the pupils in and take them off the premises.
I’m going to send Food Snap, Princess Snap and Times table Snap over the next few months too 🙂
sounds like you have got this down pat. I’ve been doing this for a year and your letter help me. THANKS The little books from Dollar Gen. make it through. I go on e-bay and get some things also. I just sent a coloring book that I made This one was about Noah. I copied pictures and put a short note about the picture [left room for translation] It had 5 pages made a cover from paper with my girls picture copied and marked it as her coloring book. I probable do more of other subjects. God bless
Hi Sarah, You CAN send thin booklets with staples. What you can’t send would be booklets with traditional bindings. You can remove the staples if you wish but it’s not necessary. but sometimes I cut up the booklets anyway and that way they can share the pages with siblings or friends.
Sometimes I type up a story, copied from a beloved kids’ book, then I know Compassion is translating it. I usually do this online. They loves stories! When sending a story like this via snail mail, I can use clip art or actual pictures from the story, copy and pasting them on the page. Once you decide you want to send something, be creative in the format you send it in so they still get your words…something they crave!
For older children, I’ve sent installments of a chapter book. That has gone over very well too! It kind of reminds me of the radio programs we used to listen to, traveling at night, when I was a kid.
Hi Vicki,
Each country has a different age limit for graduating out of the Compassion Program. Our girls are from a few different countries and they all have different age limits. Our two girls from the Philippines have an age limit of 21 years old. One of them is 20 right now and will graduate out of the program this December. If you call Compassion they can tell you the age for the country of each child that you sponsor.
Hope this helps!
I have just written my first letter to my sponsored child, and am fortunate that I speak Spanish so she should understand the letter without translation. I’m sending 2 x A4 sticker sheets, with a tiny (5mm thick) mini notepad and a palm cross sellotaped to the sticker sheets, as well as 4 x A4 Disney colouring sheets, a drawing from my next door neighbour’s little girl, a drawing off a pupil of mine (I’m a teacher). I’m awaiting the delivery of several photos I’ve ordered online, and I’ll pop a couple in the envelope, saving the rest for the next few letters. I hope everything gets there! It sounds like an awful lot, but still the A4 envelope it’s all going in doesn’t weigh much at all.
I love the idea of sending card games – Amazon have a wonderful selection of Snap cards and memory games, times table flash cards etc, so I’m planning to buy a few and split the decks up, and scotch tape them to another sticker pack in a future letter.
Does anyone know if a W.W.J.D. bracelet would get there, if sellotaped to an A4 sticker packet? It’s flat enough, but for the little buckle on it.
Mini unbreakable fridge magnets are nice too! Our local Bible bookshop has some nice ones!
Hi Sarah,
Everything has to be paper. The bracelet won’t go because of the buckle and whatever the bracelet is made out of. Fridge magnets are a no-no too. If you go to Compassion’s site there is a link for letter writing and it lists what’s acceptable. They mail your letters/envelopes as “documents”. It has something to do with customs That way they pass thru customs and are allowed into the country.
Hi Sarah,
Wow, it sounds like you have a great package put together. Have you sent it yet? If not, I wanted to tell you that the palm cross will most likely NOT go through. Customs gets really picky about plants, so compassion only lets dried leaves/flowers through when they are sealed off from the air (like with contact paper, or lamination).
Also I can tell you that WWJD bracelets and any type of magnet will NOT go through. (I volunteer in the mail sorting room and I have been told not to let these go through.) The boxes of letters are clasified as “documents” when they ship, so if customs finds anything that does not look like a document, they can charge big fines, or make CI pay a higher rate.
[quote comment=”27130″]The best translator – the ones at Compassion![/quote]
YES!
This is probably a mailroom volunteer question, but I was wondering if it was okay to send the paper dolls with their clothes already punched out and all put into an envelope together with the sponsor numbers on the outside, rather than sending separate batches of pages? I found a large book of them. I think they are still within 1/4″ but thought it would be eaier than putting the id numbers on every page…?
(I’m a volunteer 🙂
Yes, that would be a great way to send the paper dolls. just spread the pieces out in the envelope and make sure that it is 1/4″ or less (don’t seal the envelope). On the outside of the envelope write your number and your child’s number but DO NOT write your address on the envelope. Place your letter and your envelope of paper dolls into a larger envelope and address that one to compassion.
Hi, Im new to sponsoring a child; I just started two weeks ago. I have a 4 year old in El Salvador. Any ideas on what I could send him? The coloring pages are a great idea. Can I send crayons?
You can send flash cards. He’s only 4, but maybe you can start off with cards that just teach him to count. You have to put the name and child number on every piece so it helps to print out tiny labels to stick on if you are short on time. Split the stack of cards into 1/4″ piles and secure them with a rubber band. I did this and had no problem or return on the cards. This way, you can also send things all at once if you don’t want to send things piece by piece.
Your sponsorship packet will explain that all items are paper only (with the recent exception of those ‘silly bandz’ which surprises me). That means things like pictures, postcards, small posters, bookmarks (without the tassles or ribbons), coloring pages, small books (with staple binding only),stickers and paper dolls.
Size can only be 8 1/2″ x 11″ and 1/4 ” thick. So, no crayons, but fortunately they do have those at the centers Hope the list helps
Hey eveyone…im new to this all and I have a lil girl in India that is going to be 11 this april and i was wondering if anyone knew where to print coloring pages off of the internet and what kind of things to send her…also what size of pictures are we allowed to send?
Hi Barbrae — Welcome! Here are a couple of links to printable coloring pages:
http://www.coloring.ws/coloring.html
http://www.dltk-kids.com/coloring.htm
And a link to some Bible-themed printables
http://www.dltk-bible.com/coloring.htm
And here’s a link to make customized writing paper.
http://www.dltk-cards.com/writingpaper/
Anything you send should be maximum of 8 1/2″ x 11″ and 1/4″ thick.
they everyone thank you for all the sites and stuff…i will check them out tomorrow and see what i can get and our picture that we are sending is 8 1/2 x 11 so that should be ok and if our letter is more than 1/4 thick can we send more than one letter at a time?
also had a ? about the envelope we send it in does it have to be a 8 1/2 x 11 or can it be bigger as long as its 1/4 thick?
The size of the envelope does not matter because the staff at Compassion will take what you have sent out of your mailing envelope and re-package it in their own packaging to send it overseas. The important thing is that everything you send, when put in a pile, may not exceed 8 1/2 wide by 11 high in dimensions, and may not be more than 1/4 inch thick. Smaller and thinner is always fine, too.
ok thank you so much for your help….i was hoping that it didnt matter with the envelope size…everything i sent was less than 1/4 inch thick and it was the size 8 1/2 x 11 paper
Lisa, for some reason those coloring pages won’t open up for me. Do they work for you?
Hi Lois, I just checked them and they were working for me. That’s so strange. Could someone else check the links and let me know if it’s just me?
And Barbrae, if a stack of photos you send goes over 1/4″, you can separate them into two separate piles and send them at the same time. Maybe put them in separate envelopes or paperclip them separately so that the mail distribution people know they can be separated in that way. (The thickness rule applies to things like like cardboard or greeting cards that run thicker than 1/4″.)
Hi, There are hundreds of websites with coloring pages. Just go to Google.com and type in coloring pages for kids. You could also type in Sunday School coloring pages, or nature coloring pages, whatever subject you’d like. Crayola has a lot of nice ones, but there are plenty of sites.
Just wondering if anyone here has sent paper airplanes to their kids? I would like to do this but paper airplanes are kind of sensitive and if they get folded or bent in the mailing (especially at the tip) they won’t fly right. I’m asking this because I’m trying to think of cool things to send to my 7 year old boy in East India. I’m kind of running out of ideas for him; I think he will get bored pretty quick with more stickers and postcards and whatnot. Little boys like things that move… but the ‘paper only’ rule kind of narrows down the options. (It is necessary, I do understand.) I do know that his favorite game is cricket – but I’m in the US, where cricket is not such a big thing as it is in other countries. Are there ‘cricket cards’ (or anything similar) like there are for baseball and football that I could send to him?
It’s not much but there are several cricket coloring pages you can print from online:
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/sports_coloring_pages.htm
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/cricket_colouring_page.htm
http://kidsfront.com/coloring-pages/cricket_bw_500_picture.html
http://www.kidopo.com/coloring-pages/sports/cricket/
You could also find color pictures online of cricket matches and print them for him. Try Google Images.
I loved the idea of photo copying all I was sending. Simply because in a few months I wont remember what I sent and
when. Thought it was a great idea. Also keeping it in page protectors and a note book. I love all ideas that make life simple.
Thank you all for such wonderful ideas. I am working on the local maps. Thought that would be a good idea too. Its great to be able to log on and get such great ides. Very new. It hasn’t even been a month. But I am so excited. Thanks.
A Compassion rep can tell you what languag is spoken locally in your child’s community, you would just have to call. As for Silly Bands? what are they? if they are plastic or a rubber type bracelet then they cant be sent. Under the tab of Sponsors and Donors at compassion.com there is a very good list of can and cants for sending stuff to your child. Once you have clicked on the ‘sponsors and Donor’ tab, click on the connect with your child link and there is a huge amount of resources to connect with your child. hope that helps 🙂
Silly bands are actually ok if you send just a couple at a time, not a whole pack. This is a recent change. We just send one or two at a time.
Are Silly Bands (Bandz? Who knows?) allowed? I’m sure this has been asked but I can’t seem to find a post about it!
Yes, Silly Bandz are allowed in small (read: flat) numbers.
*I volunteer in the mail processing room
I’m sure they are NOT. PAPER only. Compassion stays within guidelines for what customs would consider a document. Silly bands aren’t even close. Those things sure are popular, I’ll give em that much
Silly Bandz have made it through. Somewhere in this thread, someone tells how they must be sent to make it. 🙂
Hi Helen,
Last month I included a laminated map in my two boys packets. One side was of the United States and the other side was of the World. I found a package of Silly Bands that were of the United States. The package only had five Silly Bands in it.
I also included a puzzle of the United States. Everything made except the puzzle of the United States. I thought the puzzle would make it as I put the puzzle pieces in a zip lock bag.
Hope this helps, Helen.
Con, I have seen on here that puzzles can go through but they have to be putt together and wrappped tightly in saran wrap to hold them together. I have sent the small cardboard try puzzles for kids (like 20 pieces). Thay are already in shrink wrap so it was easy. Some send puzzles with more pieces by sending them in sections and telling the kids to watch for them, but it feels too teadious to me, personally.
Hi Helen,
Last month I included a laminated map in my two boys packets. One side was of the United States and the other side was of the World. I found a package of Silly Bands that were of the United States. The package only had five Silly Bands in it.
I also included a puzzle of the United States. Everything made except the puzzle of the United States. I thought the puzzle would make it as I put the puzzle pieces in a zip lock bag.
Hope this helps, Helen.
Hey there all, I was just wondering if there was a way to find out what language my sponsored child speaks. She is in Kenya about 105 km northwest of Nairobi… I’m not even sure where that is, but I would like to be able to send her a small gift with our letters that has something in her language on it. If anyone has a clue as to the language there it would be greatly appreciated
English and Swahili are the official languages of Kenya. You might find she speaks one of the two.
Most likely there’s a section in your child’s profile about the primary language/ethnic group of your child’s community. Check under the Community and Project Information section on the paper profile, or the Program Information section if you have set up your online account. Hope that helps!
Thanks, I’ve tried looking there. It says that the 2most common languages are English and Kiswahili, but that there are also many indigenous languages spoken as well. I found the name of her community Angata Barrikoi I might just try google-ing that and see what I come up with. I’m assuming it’s not English since the letters I receive from her have been translated
Even though Google Translator isn’t to be completely trusted (due to idioms, etc), you might try typing in part of her letter–if you can make out the characters she’s writing–and tell Google that it’s supposed to be Swahili, and see if Google translates it into anything resembling what the translator put. That might help you determine if she’s writing in Swahili or a local language. That’s all I can figure.
I have a 19 year old in TZ, and all of her letters to me have been in English (except for her first one). So most likely she’ll be learning English in school, but will write in whatever language is most comfortable for her, at least until she gets older and has more experience with a second language.
I am completely new at this. Haven’t received my starter package yet, but am so excited about the prospect of writing. Received a
lot of wonderful ideas, what to write, what to send and to pray for
my child and family each and everyday. Thank you all.
Marcy, welcome. It’s great to have you here! What country is your child in?
My child is from Tanzania. She is 9 years old. I am very excited about sending my first envelope to Compassion. I have included
coloring book pages, stickers & bookmarks. I will be including a
short letter too. So many questions to ask. I want to make sure that I dont overdue it for the first time.
“OVERDO” it!! Choose a time, maybe every few months to overdo it…sending letters in between. Sometimes I send extra copies of the same thing for my children to share with their friends and/or siblings, even writing that on the items. That way it makes for a special day for many at that particular Center!
[quote comment=”26723″]Just start with “Hi, my name is ___ and I am so happy to be able to write to you and get to know you. I live in _____, which is _____ (and tell a little about where you live; you could even send a map or two with your area colored in — maps available online for free). Tell about what the weather is like right now, and what holiday is coming up, and how you will celebrate it. Tell a little about your family. Ask what she is learning in school and at church. Tell what you are learning at church. Tell what your favorite subject was in school. And so on. Don’t make it too long, as each letter has to be translated. Better to write more often and make them short letters.[/quote]
Lois, I am in the same situation as Andrea; I am a new sponsor and this is my first time – I am drawing a blank as well as to what to write to my children. This was very helpful. Thank you!
Help please friends. The children that I choose to sponsor are usually under 10. I signed up to be a Correspondence sponsor and they sent me the folder for a 16 yr old boy!!! What type of things should I send to him? They list his school level as US 8th grade.
For my sponsored children ages 8-20, I make Avery labels through Microsoft Word with their first names on it in different fonts. They use them on themselves, their belongings, etc. Find out what his interests are, then find things that correspond with that theme. If he likes to play soccer, even soccer stickers are cool for a young man that age…maybe riddles? Once he knows some, he can share them with friends…the gift that keeps giving AND entertaining!
FYI: You can also go directly to avery.com to do labels – no cost.
Becky, that’s awesome! I too got a correspondence child who is much older and I have to say, I have loved corresponding with an older child. They just give you such a good picture of their life and what it’s like to be a young person in their country. Our child is 20 now – not a child anymore 🙂 – and is graduating from the program in a couple of months.
We’ve sent Bible verse cards, a “my favorite things” letter, postcards with paintings by well-known artists, small calendars, sports cards (soccer/football), photos of us and our activities (church, school, recreation, etc.) And we write a lot of letters with questions about his life. We try to focus on what his goals are for the future — what he plans to do after the program. When they hit the late teen years I think it’s a good time to start putting the focus there.
Ask about sports. Ask about what he likes. You can send him book markers; but maybe more mature ones. Posters are also a thing teenagers like. Devotional pieces since he is older and can be more serious with a devotional..
[quote comment=”26684″][quote comment=”26558″]Go to Google translator and see if they have that languge. You could translate things with that maybe. Or call compassion and see it that is just a dialect for a major language and maybe that will help.[/quote]
I’ve heard that the google translator can’t be depended on. Has anyone had actual experience of a translation that wasn’t accurate?[/quote]
Yes. Friends of mine tried to translate “we love Russian” and ended up writing “we love the Russian man”. DO NOT depend on Google translator. The best translator I have found I forget the direct link but if you type in paralink translate into google you should find it. However by far the best way would be to use phrases from a reliable source that are pre translated, not to try and translate your own. A computer cannot translate accurately because it will not pick up nuance. Better to not use phrases in the child’s language at all than risk sending something that says something entirely different to what you intended.
Exactly! Google translates words, not the meaning of the phrase. Another example: Translating from French to English, a lady wanted to say her daughter had just had twin girls (“jumelles”) but instead, proudly announced that her daughter had just given birth to binoculars.
I recently signed up to sponsor a girl from Kenya. I got the packet home and started to write to her but am drawing a blank as to what to say to her. I have never done this kind of thing before and am just unsure of what to say to her. Any suggestions as to how to start my first letter to her??
My blog has a lot of ideas and samples of letters we have written. http://meeshimama.blogspot.com
Andrea: I am fairly new at this [almost a year] but I started out by telling my girl how happy I was to sponser her and to get to know her. I asked about her family and told her a little about mine. I reminded her to obey her parents ank asked her about her favorite bible stories and songs. That opened her to answer the questions. she is only 4 so the writer helped I am sure. Hope this helps some God bless
Andrea, congratulations on your sponsorship!!! My advice
just introduce yourself. Tell her a few basic things about your family, what you do, and what you like. Ask her a few simple questions as well. You may also want to include that you are praying for her and write a Bible verse. Children love anything you write, so don’t be hesitant! 🙂 Hope this helps!
Just start with “Hi, my name is ___ and I am so happy to be able to write to you and get to know you. I live in _____, which is _____ (and tell a little about where you live; you could even send a map or two with your area colored in — maps available online for free). Tell about what the weather is like right now, and what holiday is coming up, and how you will celebrate it. Tell a little about your family. Ask what she is learning in school and at church. Tell what you are learning at church. Tell what your favorite subject was in school. And so on. Don’t make it too long, as each letter has to be translated. Better to write more often and make them short letters.
[quote comment=”26558″]Go to Google translator and see if they have that languge. You could translate things with that maybe. Or call compassion and see it that is just a dialect for a major language and maybe that will help.[/quote]
I’ve heard that the google translator can’t be depended on. Has anyone had actual experience of a translation that wasn’t accurate?
Google translator is not accurate. I have tested it with Spanish. Sometimes the translation is perfect; sometimes the translation is just plain silly. 🙂
Online translating is not the way to go! It’s not a person that speaks that language that’s doing the translating. It’s “mechanically” generated and no matter how much info is written into the software used it just can’t make accurate translations the majority of the time.
The best translator – the ones at Compassion!
I am sponsoring a 6-7 year old boy in Tanzania, and beside printing off coloring pages what would a little boy like him like. I felt like asking him once but then changed my mind. Any ideas anyone?
Thanks!
I plan on sending my 9 year old boy some US postage stamps. I always find it fascinating to see foreign stamps, so I’m betting he will, too. I’m hoping so, anyway! 🙂
My boys are a couple years older but here are some things they enjoy: (one is from Burkina Faso and one from the Philippines)
stickers, sports cards(you can get soccer ones at Dollar Tree), musical cards, calendars with your birthday’s marked, at Dollar General they have some small look and find books (toy story and cars) and even though he may not be able to read it you can easily explain to find the items in the box in the picture beside it. I know a lot of people have sent puzzles which I have not tried yet but will soon. One of my boy’s mentioned liking robots and I happen to find a pack of note type cars with robots to color on the front and sent him several so he could give them to his family or friends- those were at Micheals and they have a lot of little paper craft type things too that might be good. Hope this helps!
Thank you! I will have to ask him of things he likes. He mentioned liking lions so I sent him Lion King Coloring pages. Thanks for the great ideas!
FYI : Foam crafts are no longer allowed unless they changed it. I saw it on a “cannot send list” from somewhere
I contacted the org. last week as I had found a foam craft to send to my little girl. I was told that foam is not allowed.
Aww. Well, since foam is out,, I guess the next best thing is thick stock paper.
Someone also mentioned that they had no problem getting paper/foam planes through to their child. He might like that too.
If you google kids coloring pages animals you will find many sites with free printable pages of animals.
Emma,
I have a 6 year old little boy in Brazil and so far I have sent him stickers, mazes and coloring sheets in his language (I think Kiswahili in the national language of Tanzania, there’s a lot of stuff in that language out there) paper helicopters (http://motivate.maths.org/content/helicopters), postcards of cool places, pictures of my family and pets, paper cars that can be popped up into 3D, and little paper bags with cool designs on them. these two websites have lots of neat stuff to print and do:
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/
http://www.dltk-kids.com/
Hope theis helps!
Thanks!!!
Does anyone know how the grade levels work in Haiti? My little girl is 8 years old and in fourth grade, her favorite subject is math. So I thought I might send her some math pages, however, I’m not sure if fourth grade here is the same in Haiti. I tried to google this subject but came up with a whole lotta nothing! 🙂
Thanks for your advice!
Try going into your account on compassions site and look under your ‘child information”. Mine says their grade level equivelant to the US. Hope that helps
Thanks! I did that and learned that the grades are the same in Haiti as they are in the US.
[quote comment=”26471″]I would like to send my sponsored child items in her own language.\
She is from India and her language is Bhili. Does anyone know where I can purchase inexpensive things for her?[/quote]
I’d search online, i know there is many websites that you can print out coloring sheets and thingslike that in many different languages. As for a store, not sure…i buy things at the dollar store, there is a ton of stuff there that you can get. and if she is in India, she may be learning English so some things in English like flash cards and such might be good to send 🙂
Here is an adoarable and FREE pink paper fawn to print out onto cardstock and fold to make her 3-D.
http://www.myfantastictoys.com/paperfawn.pdf
Enjoy:)
I would like to send my sponsored child items in her own language.\
She is from India and her language is Bhili. Does anyone know where I can purchase inexpensive things for her?
Karen, Hindi and English are the two official languages of India. Perhaps she speaks or reads one of the two…
Go to Google translator and see if they have that languge. You could translate things with that maybe. Or call compassion and see it that is just a dialect for a major language and maybe that will help.
Why use any automated translator? Just write in English: Compassion has professional translators who do this work seamlessly for you, and as mentioned by Melissa, can save embarrassment—-or, more commonly, confusion.
I’ve tested Google Translate to other languages and back to English, and it often changes the meaning. Human languages are complicated, and translation is very hard for computers. Even some short phrases and single words can be misinterpreted by a computer.
Compassion’s web site has some pre-translated phrases, and you could go a general web search for “common phrases in Swahili” (or whichever language). Do you read the Swahili part of the letter? The child may not look at the English part of the letter and may not notice the effort, so I would suggest again on sticking with English and focusing on building a relationship.
I’ve heard that the google translator can’t always be trusted to be accurate with their translations. Has anyone had any experience with a translation that wasn’t accurate? I realize there’s no way to tell from items you’ve sent to your child but perhaps you’ve run across an experience in your own life. Thanks!
I used Google Translate to write a letter in Swahili to my child in Tanzania. Something I wrote was translated and I went ahead and sent it, online. Later I reverse translated it back to English and it showed me asking how her sister’s breasts were! I was horrified! I never received anything back saying that it was wrong either from the country or my child. Perhaps it translated correctly one way but going back it didn’t work OR maybe they got a good laugh at my expense! Anyway, I keep to short phrases rather than paragraphs with that website! I let the experts do the main translating!
DO NOT depend on Google translator, or indeed any online translator. The best translator I have found I forget the direct link but if you type in paralink translate into google you should find it.
However by far the best way would be to use phrases from a reliable source that are pre translated (such as “hello” or “how are you?”). A computer _cannot_ be relied upon to translate accurately because it will not pick up nuance or idiom – for example, imagine what a computer might make of the phrase, “I was over the moon”!!!
Better to not use phrases in the child’s language at all than risk sending something that says something entirely different to what you intended. To be honest even short phrases + a computer’s translation can = saying something you really didn’t mean.
Amen!
Hi Karen — That’s going to be really, really tough. There are 325 recognized languages in India — and Bhili is just one of those. Does she speak only Bhili? Does she do her schooling in a different language or read a second language that might be easier to track down?
There are videos on Youtube of Bible stories told in Bhili — but that’s not going to help you much. There are also a few random things on Amazon about Bhili that you might be interested in. But I couldn’t find any printables for kids…
Anyone else out there have any luck with this???
p.s. Here is the gospel of Mark written in Bhili: Pawri which I believe is an offshoot of Bhili.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37038145/Bhili-Pawri-Bible-Gospel-of-Mark
Jessica, i agree with Judie…I would tell her i’m glad that she is enjoying the gifts. Financial sponsors know this when the decide to add a correspondent and send gifts. There is nothing wrong with telling your child your glad she is enjoying the gifts she recieved.
Hi guys,
I sponsor a 10 year old girl in the Philippines. I have seen a few posts refering to other previous posts about how sponsors letters are distributed at the Child Development Centers. Can anyone direct me to any of the posts or blogs about this topic as I’m not able to find them. I’ve never read anything about this process so I’m really interested to read about how this is conducted.
Carla
Hi Carla — “The Journey of One Letter” tells about how letters are passed out on a special “letter day” at some child projects. I believe there’s a pic of it, as well.
https://blog.compassion.com/letter/
There was another post that talked about how some child centers call children into the office when they have mail and pass the letters out more discreetly, so as not to make the children who don’t get mail feel bad. I can’t find the link to that one…
A few others:
Here are two with pics of kids reading their letters. (I love these.)
https://blog.compassion.com/sponsor-letter-photos/
https://blog.compassion.com/child-photos-sponsor-letters/
Inside the letter-writing process – Ghana:
https://blog.compassion.com/letter-writing-ghana
If you click on the “About Letter Writing” link (in red at the top of the page) it has a lot of good stuff about the entire letter writing process.
Thanks so much. Those are great posts, I especially loved seeing the photos of the children reading their letters. There was another post I read where someone referred to a post about ‘Larry the letter’ but I had no luck when I searched for that one either.
Thanks for the help.
Here’s the Larry the Letter link…
https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/countrynews/ec/larryletter.htm
That one was on the main Compassion page rather than the blog.
I do not currently support a child financially but am a correspondence sponsor. The child that I write to is supported by an organization and no one at that location is able to write to her. I have just recieved my first real letter from my child and I am in a bit of a dilema. She sent along thank you’s and appreciation for the gifts that she recieved from the financial sponsors, but does not know that I am not the one that sent them to her. She does not know that I am simply her correspondence sponsor. Has anyone else had this predicament? If so, any ideas on how to handle it in my return letter to her?
I leave it to Compassion staff to let the child know about the difference between financial sponsor and correspondent sponsor. It can be confusing and the staff has a better idea of whether the child is ready to know. I just tell my kids that I am happy to be able to write to them. I’d tell the child that I was happy that they enjoyed the gifts.
How old is she? I’ve been told that, particularly for younger children who might not understand the idea of a correspondence sponsor, they might be told they have a new sponsor. At least that’s likely a more common occurrence, with other kids having different sponsors throughout their time in Compassion. Most likely she thinks of you as her sponsor.
If it was me, I’d say something about how I’m glad she is enjoying the gift(s), and leave it at that. Considering the time of year, it might be a thank-you for a Christmas gift that all sponsored children receive, regardless of whether their sponsor donates to the Christmas gift fund. Christmas is the only financial gift that is pooled and benefits all children, rather than going to a specific child.
I have sponsored a child from Guatamala since sept 2010 I have written and sent goodie packages every month since and have been praying. I have received two letters from my sponsored child but had not heard anything since letter in october. I called compassion and they had record of two letters being sent to me nov12 and nov16 neither of which I received. I can understand one letter being lost but two is rather unusual. I look so forward to hearing from my child and greatly covet her thoughts. Compassion has sent me other mail which I have received so this is puzzling. In a way I want to let my child know I didn’t receive them because she may have asked me questions, or her grandmother ,who has been very sick ,may have died and I’d like to respond. Any advise????
Hi Lydia — Did the child write the letters on Nov 12 & 16? That’s a little over three months ago.
I believe it can take that long for a letter to arrive. It has to go through the country office, be translated, go through the Compassion office and then it’s mailed to your home.
If you haven’t received a letter in the next month or so, I’d call Compassion back and ask them to check into the situation. They will inquire with the country office and get back to you.
It is kind of odd that your child would have sent out two letters only four days apart. Keep us posted and let us know when you receive them and if everything is okay!
Lisa, I’m sorry it has taken me so long to respond. On further investigation with a phone call to compassion I found out the two letters I thought I had not received were actually the two letters I had received. The letters were written in Sept. and oct. and were not sent and received til Nov. All is good, compassion also informed me a letter was in Colorado from my sponsored child and I should be receiving in next two weeks. I’m thrilled. Lydia
Lydia, I’m so glad that got straightened out. From what I’ve heard, Compassion keeps really good records of who sent what and when. They can usually get to the bottom of things pretty quickly. 🙂
I hope the next letter you get has good news and that your child’s grandmother is doing okay. Sending prayers their way…
Hello Lisa and everyone else! I do plan on purchasing something from this website soon. I will most definately let you all know how it turns out. Also, if anyone else has purchased any of the paper items form the site, please share your experience.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/FantasticToys?section_id=5262978
My husband and I just started sponsoring our 2nd Child, a 12 year old boy from India. Any ideas what to send him? Our other child is from Guatemala, so I purchased (for myself as a reminder) a doll from an artisan in Guatemala (Also on ETSY!) You can see examples here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/67605552/traditional-handmade-dolls-from?ref=pr_shop
I will let you know when I recieve that too! Happy Sponsoring!
I have children in Spanish speaking countries. I have recently been getting bilingual books en espanol from the Library that might interest them. I use the information in these books to write some things in Spanish that I think they might be interested in. I am also learning Spanish myself so I can read their letters.
You may already be familiar with DLTK that offers all kinds of printables,etc (www.dltk-kids.com). I’ve been there many times but just discovered today that thay have small, paper books you can make in English AND Spanish. You just print out the pages, in color or black & white to color, and then staple it together. They have bibles stories as well as other stories.
When I send items and a letter to my child, I put everything in an 8 1/2 x 11 transparent page-protector, and then put that into a mailing envelope to Compassion. Does anyone know whether that page-protector is forwarded to my child with the letter and items inside, as I have packaged them? It just seems like such an easy way to send everything and keep it together.
Hello! My husband and I are also new to the Development Program/ Sponsor Program . I am slightly confussed in how to send my items. Am I correct in understanding that I can send anything (i.e. Stickers, coloring pages, pictures, flat paper items etc) as long as it is no more than a 1/4 inch thick? And if that is correct , I don’t understand this “envelope inside and envelope” thing. And one more Q … Can I write my child several short letters often? Like is it ok to write …say.. 2 times a month if I choose? Thank you for any help!
Hi Lois — I would guess that they do send the page protector. You’re right that it would be an easy way to keep everything together. Sara Benson, (who posts here regularly), volunteers in the mail distribution department. She might be able to give you a more definitive answer. Perhaps she can answer here on the blog, or you could ask her over at her personal blog. (Click her name above to get to her blog.)
Hi Tina — Welcome to Compassion and to the blog. 🙂
You can take all of the items you’re sending and stick them in one big envelope (of any size) and send it to the Compassion International address in Colorado Springs. That outside envelope will get discarded at Compassion when they forward your things onto your child.
Just make sure that whatever you send in that envelope has the child number and your sponsor number written on it — but not your mailing address. Only the outside envelope to Compassion should have your mailing address.
Hope that helps!
Hi! I’m a new sponsor and could use some help. These sound like great ideas and I’d like to use some of them. Once I print the pages off do I have to fold them to fit into a regular size envelope or can I slip them into a large envelope and just address it to the Colorado Springs address? I just want to make sure my sponsor child doesn’t miss out because I didn’t send the items out properly. Thanks for the help.
Hi Tina,
I use clasp envelopes – 9 x 12 when I send things to my two boys. Each items need to be no more than an 1/8 of an inch thick.
I have found several coloring books at the Dollar Store that I’ve sent them. Since they are thicker than 1/8 of an inch thick, I take them to FedEx Office and have them measure out 1/8 of an inch on the spine of the coloring book and cut them. Then I have them staple the spine of the coloring book. I know my boys haved received because I haven’t heard from Compassion.
Blessings!
Con
Hi Tina, you can send it in a larger envelope if you want.
If you really want it to stay flat, the best thing to do is use two envelopes. Put all your coloring pages and attachments (stickers, photos, postcards, etc…) in the smaller of the two and label the end of the envelope with your child’s number. Then place the envelope and your letter inside a larger envelope that you address to compassion. Using that method will make sure that your items stay flat and are easily shipped.
you can go to the post office and get express envelopes that are FREE and they are the right size for compassion. the cost to send them is just under $5 from anywhere in the usa to compassion. go to the post office and ask about it. it is their new flat rate stuff.
Does anyone have any ideas for things to send to a fourteen year old girl in Indonesia? So far I have only seen ideas for younger children.
Hi Diane,
I also have an older girl in Indonesia (she’ll be 16 in July!). I have sent her a Dover book of “stained glass butterflies” and told her that I know coloring is a little childish, but I still enjoy it (and I’m 22) so hopefully she will, too. I have also sent her blank notecards that she can use to write her friends. I send her stickers sometimes, especially vellum stickers. I like to send postcards whenever I go anywhere, and above all, I send lots of photos.
I have a 17 year old girl in Ethiopia, and I also struggle with ideas. I bought a set of prayer cards called “101 Days to Knowing God for Girls.” I include one with each letter I write her. I found the cards at a Christian bookstore. I have also sent stickers, bookmarks, and very thin decorative note pads. I have sent postcards of our area and lots of pictures of our family.
I have an 2 older children (18 and 19) in Ethiopia. I have sent maps to them. One of them got so interested in the maps that she is now studying geography! I also use decorated computer paper for the different seasons and holidays for my stationary. I like your idea of the prayer cards.
In 2008, my husband and I went to Ethiopia to meet Mekdelawit and Elleni. This was so significant because we now know so much more about them. Our letters are more meaningful since we have connected in person and know something about their country. I would read up on Ethiopia and mention something about the geography, history, important people or sights and ask questions about their homeland.
great idea! I sponsor a 21 yr old in ethiopia
I was under the impression that sponsorship stopped when the children/teens were 18. What is the cut-off age?
It depends on the country. I know that in Ethiopia and Tanzania kids can stay in until 21/22. My girl in TZ just turned 20 in March, and her expected completion date is the month in which she turns 22. I can’t speak for Western African countries, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Kenya does the same, as well as other countries in East Africa.
My 13-year-old correspondent in Peru already has an estimated completion date, being the month in which she turns 18. So, maybe it’s by continent. I’m not sure about the Asian countries…but any child available for sponsorship online that was over 18 has been from Africa (including Uganda and Rwanda, if I remember correctly).
Actually, it varies from country to country, even on the same continent (Peru – 18, Bolivia – 22). I copied the list a year ago from Our Compassion and here is what it said:
Africa
Burkina Faso 22
Ethiopia 22
Ghana 22
Kenya 22
Rwanda 22
Tanzania 22
Togo 22
Uganda 22,
Asia
Bangladesh 22
India 21
East India 22
Indonesia 22
Philippines 21
Thailand 22
Middle America
Dominican Republic 20
El Salvador 18
Guatemala 20
Haiti 20
Honduras 18
Mexico 18,
Nicaragua 18
South America
Bolivia 22
Brazil 20
Colombia 18
Ecuador 20
Peru 18
“The countries are different in how they determine completion dates and when they report those. Some countries wait until the children are older to determine a completion plan as some children progress slower than others.”
Diane, 14-yr-old girls like stickers, such as flowers, butterflies, rainbows, horses, other pets, etc. You might send a pocket calendar, bookmarks, postcards, and educational flashcards (like the kind in the dollar section of Target; send a few each time). Online there are lots of websites offering free coloring pages, some of which feature world maps, science and nature pictures, various ethnic cultures, and so on, that would supplement what she is learning in school. One site of many is crayola: http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/
This site also has shapes that can be cut out and/or folded, such as a swan. But if you google free coloring pages, you may find much more. You could also use decorative craft scissors to cut the fronts off greeting cards, punch holes in the top and bottom of each one, and suggest she could tie them together with ribbon, string, or yarn, and hang it up.
How do you send items to your sponsored child?
Hi Jamie — When you get your information packet in the mail, you will be assigned a sponsor number and your child will have a child number. Whatever you send, (cards, letters, photos, stickers, bookmarks, etc.), will need to have both numbers written on the item. OR put the items in an unsealed envelope with both numbers on the outside of the envelope. Do not put your home address or phone number on these items. Just your sponsor number and child number.
Everything you send can then be placed in an envelope (of any size) and sent to the Compassion address that will be in your sponsor packet. You will be sending it to the Child Correspondence Dept. in Colorado Springs.
The outer envelope you send it in will be discarded. The rest will be processed and sent out to your child’s country. There it is translated and distributed to your child’s Compassion center — and ultimately to your child.
Some guidelines — anything going to your child’s country can be no more than 1/4″ thick and no larger than 8 1/2″ x 11″. Anything paper is fine. No foam, cloth, food items, etc.
Enjoy! 🙂
There is a tab for New Sponsors and a tab called About Letter Writing at the top of this page. There are some good & infomative articles at both.
You will receive all the pertinent information with your introductory packet. Basically you send the items to Compassion Internation in an envelope, usually along with a letter, and they will translate your letter and send it along with your gift items to your sponsored child. The gift items are very limited in size and type, however. I usually slip them into a transparent page protector when I send them; that’s the size limit.
I also made a set of handwriting practice sheets, with numbers in English and Indonesian with the numeral in between the two. You can make them anyway you want.
http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/index.htm
On Highlights Kids magazine website, there have a bunch of printable hidden images. You can print them out for all seasons.
http://www.highlightskids.com/GamesandGiggles/HiddenPics/HiddenPicsPrintable/h8hiddenArchive.asp
Thanks for the web site, Becky. I will check it out.
I found some great websites for free printables. One has games and skill builders you can print off and keep in a file folder. They have up to 3rd grade level http://www.FileFolderFun.com.
Another has bible verse cards you can print off. http://homeschoolcreations.com
I just recently started sponsoring a child and love reading what you guys send, and getting ideas. This may be a dumb question, but alot of the online printables you mention have English wording. Are they able to read that?
Great question! A call to Compassion will answer that if no bloggers can. Personally I try to send printables with as little English as possible. When I sent a Bingo game, I simplified the directions as much as possible so translating them would be easier and much less time consuming. For printables like a maze, all you would need is “Start & Finish”. I’d venture to guess that many children will figure out what to do on a printable on their own. Also, you can do a part of the printable as an example. Like with a word find, you can show a word found (“circled”) and draw a line to that word in the word list.
Hi everyone!
I sponsor two boys, one from Honduras and one from Brazil. I found a bookmark that had the books of the Bible in Spanish I will be sending it to my Honduras boy.
I send the small pass-along cards with different scriptures on them. I send a few sheets of colored construction paper. “More Mazes” Teacher Created Resources, Inc. This is a great activity for “eye and hand” coordination.
I found David, The Giant Fighter booklet by Pencil Fun Books. These are great Bible Story Buiders. I send postcards and photos.
The Dollar Store is my friend. 🙂 I bought 3 decks of cards for $1. I took one deck of cards and took them out of the box, flattened the box and put them along with the playing cards in a zip-lock plastic bag. One of my little boys said they received it.
I have heard of sponsors that have little girls making cut out paperdolls for them.
I hope these ideas are helpful.
Blessings
Con
I didn’t even think of a deck of cards. That would be great! Thanks for the idea…
I just wanted to mention, for others who come across the blog, that decks of cards can’t be sent if your child is in Thailand. They have very strict rules having to do with the sale and use of playing cards in that country. (All cards must have a government stamp, cards can’t be played in public, etc.) As far as I know, it’s fine for children in every other country. 🙂
I just am getting into sponsoring a child. I have wanted to do this for a long time. Have not yet received my packet with info. Can you tell me HOW do you send thee gifts to your child (cards, etc).
I thought we could only send a sheet of something. Coloring page of stickers. I am surprised that a deck of cards gets through.
There are a lot of games that come in card form that should be “safe” to send. Jennifer has a point about the gambling, and I recently read that one country actually bans them coming in as they put out their own “official” decks of cards. However, I highly doubt Old Maid, UNO, Concentration/Memory etc. are a problem and I have had no difficulty getting them to go through when I package them correctly. I do divide them into 1/4″ stacks, but I don’t send them separately. (I can’t imagine the letdown of getting a few cards and having to wait for the rest….. ) What I do is take the stacks that are within guidelines and use scotch tape to bind them all in separate little 1/4″ stacks. I bind them all that way and then tape those stacks to a piece of paper, making sure to leave space between the stacks so that the paper will still be flexible. I have sent flashcards with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to my children, even if they are past those lessons themselves. My theory on that is that they will likely know a child that can still use them, and if not…. then the center will gladly take them! Also, remember that when you send the directions for any games/cards that you send….. to write them as simply as possible, leaving space for translation.
Most cards are glossy so scotch tape will work fine but if the cards aren’t then masking tape will work and not damage the cards when it’s taken off.. I found some of the common kid’s game i.e. Go Fish, Old Maid, etc. using pictures of peope from the bible (simply drawn and colorful – attractive to kids). Where did I buy them? Where else, Dollar Tree!
I forgot to mention that when taping I first put a band around the card stack and wrap it “backwards”…. so that the sticky side is out. Then I put another piece of tape on, placing it over the first one and putting the sticky side down. It works wonderfully, and causes no residue. I MUST go to Dollar Tree soon….. Everyone finds such good things to send there!! 🙂
Hi Eileen,
When people are sending “a deck of cards” it usually means they are splitting the deck up into 1/4″ stacks and sending them separately. I personally shy away from playing cards at least because some countries have a lot of gambling issues, and I don’t want to send something that might get misused. Still you can send things like flashcards and pretty much anything paper as long as it matches the thickness and size rules. Recently heard that the silly bandz are even allowed in small “flat” numbers, but it surprises me a little. They are very popular
I too have a buddy in Brazil & find it hard to come up with things he can do; I never thought about playing cards I’ll have to get some & send to him~thanks!!
Also for your friend in Honduras we are priviliged to have the author of “Hank The Cowdog” live here & he does have these in spanish & other languages just not portuguese~anywho just a suggestion.
Keep up the good work & advice!!
Hi Pat,
I have never heard of “Hank The Cowdog:” Is this a book? Have you sent them to your child in Brazil? Are these online?
Thanks for sharing, Pat!
Blessings!
Con
Welcome to the blog! These are great suggestions. 🙂
Hi Lisa,
Thank you! It has been a while since I’ve been on the blog. I have been enjoying reading everyones comments on this blog. There have been some really good suggestions posted.
Blessings!
Con
Greetings! Have any of you used Etsy to purchase items for your children? I have ordered custom cards for my Angela in Guatemala. Today I came across a fantastic shop on Etsy that sells gorgeous paper playsets and dolls. It is incredible, the children can put the playsets together as crafts (they may be too difficult for younger kids). You just purchase the PDF file and print it out, so you can have it very fast!
Check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FantasticToys?section_id=5262978
Hi Angeline — Are you going to order one of these? If you do, could you post back and let us know how easy or difficult they look to assemble. They are really adorable – I’m just trying to get an idea of what age they’d be best for.
I love Etsy. I see so many things on there I want to buy for myself! 😉
For all of you with English speaking/reading kids I saw some small bible story books at Dollar General today- around 10-12 pages which would probably be good for older kids. They meet requirements and seems pretty cool- one was called Jail house rock- I assume maybe about Paul.
Also found some small Look and Find which would be good for younger kids- they had Disney princess, Toy Story, Cars and Dora. Just some ideas.
I found those too. Even though they are in english, the bible passage is listed and they could still read the story in their bible and enjoy the pictures. I have also thought to put them through a google translator and put it inside so the translator wouldn’t think we expected it to be translated. and the seek and finds (like where’s waldo type pics) can just have a note that says “Look for the little things inside the big picture” or something. I got the toy story ones to send sometime.
Some of the things that I am sending as gifts are stickers and flashcards. I got them at the Dollar Tree. The flashcards are for multiplication, so I don’t have to worry about any language barriers, and they have cartoons on them, so they are still fun. I called and was told that I should put my child’s name on each card. I am also going to send them in small bunches so that they meet the width requirement.
If you want a simplier method you can also place the cards in a plactic sandwitch bag and just lable the bag.
I picked up a couple boxes of Valentine cards for children on clearance…20 cents for 32 cards! They are paper ball games…you tear on dotted edges and fold to create a little basketball hoop and paper ball and the others are a soccer goal and paper ball. cute, totally sendable, and only 20 cents!!
also…the folding instructions were given in visuals…no language barrier!
I thought of another question! Is it too late to send an Easter card? My child is in Haiti – and I only received her information about two weeks ago, so I’m not sure how long it will take to get things to her.
Thank you in advance for your patience and guidance!
I am a new sponsor with so many questions! 🙂 I saw that books aren’t allowed to be sent, and of course I bought one for my child before I knew this. Oops! It’s 1/8th of an inch thick and it’s about 5×5″. It is bound on the side. From your experience, is there any chance it would go through?
Helene,
The booklets will go through only if they are bound with staples. Books with any kind of hard spine wont. and as far as timing your mail, call compassion as ask what the average length is for Haiti. Easter is a lot later this year (April 24th!) so it might still make it. Either way, I’m sure they would still love the card
Ok! Now that I’m clear on that, I think I can “deconstruct” the book and put it together again! 🙂 Yay! If I cover the printed pages using the contact paper idea, and then bind it together with some string I should be good to go! I did get an Easter card for her with the mindset that if I send it tomorrow, in a perfect world, she’ll get in in time for Easter. If not, like you said, I’m sure she will enjoy it regardless. Thank you for your help!
Helene: I am fairly new at this also[6 months]. I found little books at Dollar Store. They are 8×6 and bout 8 pages, very colorful. They have bible storie plus other childrens stories. I have sent at least two a month or more and they haven’t come back. If your D.S doesn’t have them talk to thier manager. This is what I did [I read about them on this site] I now see they have a big assortment in the store now. I pray you enjoy bring ing joy to your little one. The book has 2 little staples in it but no hard binding.
Thank you so much for your suggestion! I’m going to go to the Dollar Store tomorrow and see what I can find. I did go to Target this afternoon and found a coloring book with tear out pages for $0.50! I did get a cute Sesame Street Activity book with coloring pages, mazes and dot-to-dots games. Since she is 8, I’m hoping that she’ll find them fun.
Okay I know I just asked a question but I have another one! I saw that we can send music cards to the kids. Where should I place the childrens’ numbers & my sponsor number?
Also, when sending something to have sent to the children could I put them in the right sized envelopes (unsealed) and then place more than one envelope in a big envelope to go to the letter writing center?
Hope this makes sense! Thank you!
Hi kristen!
The 8 1/2x 11″ rule is for child items only. Yes, you can use any size envelope for mailing everything to compassion, leaving any envelops for the kids (cards usually) unsealed, because everything is checked first. Sponsor and child # can go anywhere as long as its on there: I usually do it on the back or an inside corner. Many type up labels in advance to make it easier, or just by hand like me! As far as finding the exact BIG envelopes, I think the 9×12 is the closest size, I’ve never seen and 81/2 x 11 one anywhere.
Hi Kristen – For the musical cards, I’d put the numbers in two places. 1) On the outside of the envelope and 2) either write the numbers on the inside of the card at the bottom — or write them on the back. You could also write the numbers on a mailing label and put it on the back of the card, so the child can remove it..
And, yes, you can put the right-sized envelopes in a bigger envelope to send to Compassion. Again, just make sure that the child number and sponsor number are on the front of each envelope and put the child number on whatever is inside, just in case it should get separated from the envelope.
I have a question about the envelopes. I know it says they cannot be bigger than 8.5 by 11″ but I only see 9 by 12″ ones. I figured I could find the 8.5 by 11″ and put their names/numbers on them and then send them to Compassion in bigger envelopes but I can’t find them. Do you buy them somewhere or just make them?
Thanks!
I’ve always heard that it’s the size of the document that matters, not the size of the envelope. Most often, particularly when items are sent in the regular letter envelopes, the items are transferred to an envelope that is suitable for shipping. However, I’ve sent a couple of 9×12 envelopes inside a larger mailer to Compassion–so that only the outer mailer had my address; the inside ones only had the children’s names and numbers (and mine too). I’ve never heard that I needed to do it differently–so either they kept my original envelopes to forward to the children, or they did like always, and take everything out and use their own envelopes anyway.
I’ve come across something called “catalog envelopes” that are 8 1/2 x 11 exactly. I can’t remember where I purchased mine. But I did find a place online that sells them:
http://www.univenture.com/shop/11×8.5_horizontal_catalog_envelope_pack_of_25.php
Ooops…I just noticed those are actually 9×12. That’s not helpful…sorry. 🙁
Thanks, Lindsey. I’ve thought about doing that, but hadn’t tried it yet.
In looking for modestly dressed paper dolls I notice that almost all paper dolls have scanty underware before they are dressed. Is this a no no? Or do we have to limit ourselves to paper dolls that have really old fashioned underware ( pantaloones). My girls are from India and Indonesia,
Jan,
I wasn’t sure so I’ve drawn on/ glued on bathing suits for some of the paper dolls I’ve sent just in case.
See my comment above yours–the ones I found were modest underclothes which really surprised me because they were Barbie brand. I may be wrong, but the underclothes are not as much the issue as the outfits can be. There’s really only so much you can do about underclothes, I would think as long as they’re covered it’ll be ok.
For anyone with Hobby Lobbys I found some Barbie paper dolls yesterday that were really nice and actually modest clothes (no bikinis and skimpy things) for $9. Had 3 dolls and 150 pieces! Had to take them apart and out of the binding because otherwise it wouldn’t go through, and I may decide to send the sheets of clothes in more than one mailling becaue the thickness was a bit close to the limit, but the size was fine. Also considering just punching the clothes out and putting them in an envelop–that way I think i could send them all?
What opinion would you give me about sending pictures of young models from Penny’s books or Sears catalogs of the style clothes Americans wear? (Teens clothes mostly) Also, I have wondered about any pictures of foods such as a birthday cake or that sort of thing. They cannot get nice clothes or fancy foods, they may just yearn and feel depressed, so is it a negative idea to you all? Thank you
As far as clothes, I think showing a few items (and the handmade paper doll thing from Shari is a great idea), is fine as long as its in moderation. Showing our “style” is one thing, showing pictures of a closet full of clothes or shoes, for example would be another story. Same thing with food. Showing common foods or your favorite dishes is one thing…tables full of food at Thanksgiveing? Not. They may not have much but seeing a LITTLE of new things can inspired them to dream a bit
Shari,
I actually cut out and glued JCP catalogue pictures onto thin cardboard (from cereal boxes) for homemade paper dolls. I picked out modestly clothed full length ones.
Lindsey
I make “writing kits” for sponsors–a year’s worth of stationary supplies–pre-addressed and CUSTOMIZED for a sponsored child/sponsor pair. Stationary, cards, envelopes all in a storage case at your fingertips to write every month. Write to me at [email protected] for an order form. Kits are $15 + $2 shipping.
I make my own coloring pages then scan them so I can print multiple copies. I did this for my nieces at Christmas and they loved it. You can personalize the coloring pages which is really fun for the kids.
For older kids — or even somewhat younger — today I found in the dollar section at Target, thin booklets with pictures and text. One was animals of North America and the other one was Strange Plants of the World. I think they would be ideal to send.
Also, it has previously been suggested to order from Dover Publications, so I did that this week. I was very pleased with the small booklets of bookmarks, one of wild animals and the other birds. Very nice.
Hey everyone. I have loved reading the ideas on here! Can I send one of the really small (not thick) shutterfly albums? I sponsor two girls Marible (almost eleven) and Neema (almost twelve). I’d love to put some of my favorite pictures in an album and send it to them.
Also, I have always stuck to just sending coloring pages (when they were younger:), stickers etc. in the regular envelope. Can I mail an 8.5 by 11″ to the Compassion mail center with the letter in it?
Thanks for your help!!
Hi Kristen.
I am pretty sure a shutterfly album would be fine because they are all pictures (is that right?) as long as it meets the size requirements. I think they would love that!
We have just recently taken on some extra kids to write and sponsor so we always send the bigger envelopes with all the letters- I do not think it matters the size envelope you send to the Compasssion office as long as the contents again meet the requirements. Hope that helps.
For Older kids…
Girls–Mine still really enjoy coloring pages and they are 16 and they love cute stickers because they dont really have access to that type of thing and if they did think they were too little kidish i encourage them to share with younger siblings.
Boys–I have found aton of free printable mazes (and priint the key on the back side encase they get stuck) just from looking around on google
I am about to send a letter to them about the super bowl, they love any types of sports.
But I think that in some places(not all)that being 15 isn’t the same as 15 here as far as maturity levels. for example, My girl who is 12 got an elmo alphabet book with her bday money.
So really as long as you write and put love into your letters, thats all that matters 🙂
Thanks to Michelle Rausch, I’ve been playing around with a couple of photos sites, http://www.dumpr.net/ and http://funphotobox.com/ where you can upload a photo of your child and do all sorts of manipulation to it. I encourage you to check out my gallery on Our Compassion. I’ve made several photos and printed them on 8×10 sheets of glossy photo paper and they turned out just GREAT. I put Anjali, from India, on a magazine cover and it looked so gorgeous that I printed the photo itself in 8×10. I found some racing car options that I used for Pedro, in Brasil. Lots of options–and they are free, can be downloaded to your computer and printed however you want.
I am just sponsoring my first child, a 13 year old girl from Indonesia named Diyan. I thought it was cute that her name is very similar to mine. I just received my first letter from her and I would like to send some gifts to her. I know what 13 yr old girls like here in the US, but I am not sure what they like in Indonesia. Can anyone give me any ideas or direction? I have some plastic coated bookmarks with Bible verses on them, but need more Ideas. Thanks in advance.
Welcome Diane!! That’s so precious that you two have such similar names. I’ll bet your little Diyan thought that was pretty cool. 🙂
I agree with Jennifer that you can send a more adult version of the stuff people send to the younger kids — musical greeting cards with contemporary Christian songs (a lot of Christian bookstores have them); photos of your family and the area where you live; photos of your church/school. Oriental trading has a lot of coloring projects — many that can work for older children. For example I just sent crosses that look like stained glass (but they’re cardboard) that can be decorated for Easter.
Another suggestion — look around on people’s blogs, who post here. You see a lot of great ideas that way.
Hope you find some good stuff! It’s great to have another dedicated letter writer on board. 🙂
Older kids take a little more thought, my oldest one turns 12 in June, but stickers that are just “older” always work, small calendars, photos of you always work, small posters, laminated pressed flowers always sound great on here, but I haven’t tried that yet! Go back through here. There’s lots of ideas.
A quick thing to do as well is make labels with your child’s name and number as well as your name and sponosr #. This way you can just stick the labels on your items 🙂
I have sent mazes and dot to dots that I have printed off the internet. One time I was able to send a portfolio folder with items in it, at least I believe it got there :). At the begining of the year, I have sent the small calendars to my sponsored child as well. Bingo games are good too that you can print from the internet.
A question about sizes: I know it is no bigger than 8 1/2 x 11 or 1/4″ thick. What about banner type things that are longer but when folded aren’t: birthday banners or pin the tail of the donkey things for example, or holiday banners/decorations?
HI Jennifer — If you can fold it to meet the mailing guidelines, it will go through. 🙂
Thank you for the helpful article and great suggestions! We just sponsored our first child, 4-year old Sanya, from Uganda. I just checked out the Dover Publication website mentioned in one of the posts–what an awesome site (and great prices), full of ideas and gifts that we can send to Uganda.
Bobby and Kathleen — Welcome! Congrats on sponsoring your first child. I’m so happy you’ve found some ideas here. Sanya is such a beautiful name — it means “radiant” when translated from Arabic. So pretty!
I really need some ideas for a 12 yr. old girl. I’m sure she’s getting too old for stickers etc. I try to write 2 times a month & love to include something in at least 1 letter.
They never outgrow stickers–just choose “older” looking ones if it concerns you: also I send book marks, paper dolls, puzzles (put together and wrapped tight in saran wrap to help it stay together)–and put in a ziploc for the pieces; scrapbook papers. Really anything with color I think they love; cards and small calenders
I think girls of all ages like stickers! Just look for some that aren’t too juvenile — flowers, rainbows, animals, graphics, etc. How about laminated maps, scenes and flowers cut from calendars, a collage from cut-up used greeting cards, bookmarks (purchased and homemade), scrapbooking paper in pretty designs and colors, postcards, neon-colored index cards (send a few each time), seasonal poem decorated with your own artwork or stickers, photographs of family events, photographs and descriptions of your family’s favorite foods, and so on. I am sure others have additional ideas.
I’m having the same problem, since I have mostly teenagers, as well as a 12 year old girl and a 9 year old boy. I’ve been sending stickers, since I still liked things like that when I was that age. And, I found some suitable paper dolls ( modestly clothed) I could print from Dover, onto card stock. One of my teen girls in India has asked for more photos of my baby grandson that I’ve told her about, so I think I’m going to send that, as well as pictures of the rest of the family. Sending things to older children is challenging. I’ll be interested to hear from other people.
Just rechecking. Saw on compassions site that “books and booklets” cannot be sent. I assumed that meant thinks with heavy binding or spiral bound things. Found some small (15 page) bible stories that arte just stapled. Is that still okay?
Hi Jennifer — If it’s just a staple binding (like the little Dover books) they do go through. Anything with a thick spine or with an actual bookbinding does not. That’s my understanding. With the staple binding, it’s really just paper folded in half and secured by a staple — which does fit the paper document criteria at this time.
My understanding was you could send little stapled booklets… as long as you remove the staples 😉
You dont need to remove staples from the little booklet type, but when there is an actual spine to the binding, you need to take the pages apart and out of book form. That is why a few posts up (I think its ‘up’) I mentioned taking apart the paper doll book I found because the binding was attached by threads, and I cut the threads out and separated the pages. I have seen instructions from Compassion about handmade photo pages being attached by staples, so I think it would be fine.
There has been a lot of jigsaw puzzle sending mentioned on this blog if it is wrapped tightly in saran wrap to keep it together, etc. Well, I am sending a couple of those small cardboard tray puzzles of bible stories (15 pieces). They were thinner than the allowed 1/4″ and smaller than 8 1/2 x 11″ and were already shrink-wrapped, so I sure hope its okay Cross ur fingers!
I guess I could always try the packing tape idea, because the bracelet is pretty sturdy. I guess we’ll have to wait for letter distribution to reply. 🙂
Hi Victoria — I talked to a customer care person via Compassion’s Live Chat — they said that friendship bracelets won’t go through, even if they are completely attached to a piece of cardstock and fully-covered by tape. Sorry about that. 🙁 I do understand Compassion not wanting to push the limit of what customs will allow.
Hi Gracie – Foam won’t go through, but if you can find something similar in paper or cardstock, I think that would be awesome! I sponsor all boys, so I’m always on the lookout for good boy-things. (Of course, girls would love that, too.) 🙂
I found Valentines singing cards at Micheals for $1! I know it’s too late to send them for Valentines day, but they had hearts and roses on the front, and when you opened it up, it lit up the words “I Love You” and played music. There was no Valentine’s day message so I thought I could send it anytime of the year. I thought it was a great find and wanted to share.
Can you send the cards with music in them? they are not to fat?
would sure be fun to so that!
Lynette-
Hi. I have sent 2 or 3 of these cards and they have gone through- it has been a little too recently to hear how he liked them but has been long enough that I would have heard if they could not accept it. I think it is a great idea!
I heard that foam is not acceptable. I am taking a correspondence conference call this afternoon and can double check, though.
I don’t know if this has ever been mentioned before, but I was talking with someone else who said you can send those little foam airplanes. This is a great idea. You can also get greeting cards for a buck at the dollar stores. I’m going to try getting one with a sports theme or animal on it, trim the “greeting” page off, and write an encouraging note or Bible verse on the back of the picture card.
I’ve heard foam is not okay. It may have changed since your friend sent his. Not sure why, maybe because it tears easy, I don’t know. Would like to know why myself, because there are a lot of neat, “flat” items that can’t be sent. It does get frustrating, but I usually enjoy the challenge
Hi Victoria — Compassion can’t send cloth or ribbon. It’s on their list of prohibited items. Because of that, my first instinct would be to say friendship bracelets won’t go through.
I wonder, though, if you took a piece of clear packing tape and taped it to a piece of cardstock, would it go through?
The only reason I ask this is because I know, for example, you can’t send flowers — but you can send a pressed flower that is laminated to paper. It’s the kind of the same idea with the bracelet. Maybe if it’s firmly affixed to paper it will go?
Can anyone from Compassion’s letter distribution center clear that up for us?
Maybe the packing tape would wreck it anyway…
We celebrated our child’s birthday at our house with a birthday cake, balloons and a hand made card. We then took pictures of us celebrating and sent him the pictures. Hopefully, he will feel very loved, knowing that we were thinking about him on his birthday.
I am wondering if anyone has tried sending a flat friendship bracelet. I make them very often and never though about sending one to my child until today. Is that something you can do? Since it is flat?
I have been volunteering in the mail processing room at Compassion, and I can tell you that we were told that braclets are NOT allowed. The reason for this is that when compassion ships the letters the boxes are declared “documents” when they go through customs. For purposes of integrity Compassion does not allow other items to be shipped.
Hi Sara — What if the bracelet is taped flat to card stock — fully covered with a piece of packing tape? (See my response below…) Is that something you could check on next time you’re in the mailroom?
I notice that the list of no-nos says no tassels. Should I assume this means that for bookmarks that have little tassels on them, they must be removed?
I’ve also always removed them because it makes them not “flat” It also might be a choking hazard should anyone have a smaller sibling
Hi Lois — I tend to err on the safe side. I would probably remove them.
I send an email to my girl in Uganda on the first and fifteenth of each month (give or take a day or two) and I sent her a packet of goodies around the first on the month. I have sent stickers, origami, hand-written Bible verses (a little more personal than email), pictures, cards, etc. Hopefully, by sending something three times a month, Nrenda’s name will be called on mail day.
https://blog.compassion.com/letter-writing-ideas-from-the-moody-bible-institute-scholars/
This is an amazing video, reposting from another link on here so we never lose sight of why we chose to do this in the first place. It made my day watching this.
I have a question. How often do you write your child? I have been sending a note once a month. I send photos and write about them.
I try to send out one letter a week although it’s hard to write once a week so what I often do is write multiple letters/cards at a time and then write on the back of the envelope what they are about. I find this helpful for those hectic times when there just isn’t enough time in the day. All I have to do is pick an envelope out, and pop it in the mail.
I know that there are a lot of people out there who have committed to writing once a month on a certain day of the month.
I think one letter a month is an excellent goal, and probably more than most sponsors do, so I think that’s wonderful.
I have committed to writing my 4 kids about every two weeks, even if it’s just a short letter.
I think the more we write the better. Letters can take that long or longer to get to each other, but I’m sure the kids LOVE hearing from you that often. I also like doing it online, because it goes directly to the center and as a result, reaches them a little faster.
Maybe someone has already asked this — what about those Sketch-a-Scenes, that have a little plastic peg for kids to scratch off the black to reveal the colors underneath. Are the plastic or wooden pegs not allowed?
My instincts have always said no to those because it might be considered too sharp, like how they do things at an airport, plus the scratch thing leaves a bump in the page that costumes probably wouldn’t like because its not “flat” enough. I do find the little posters with the markers and send those without the markers in them with a note to color them. That’s similar.
Hi Lois — People on the blog have sent those without the plastic peg. They’ve told their child to pick up a stick and use that to scratch off the black.
Thanks — I’ll try that.
I know that during Christmas Compassion accepts cards for unsponsored children. Can you do this year round as well?
No not yet. I just asked this question on Facebook yesterday. They are working on expanding during Christmas (some kind of pilot program with Dayspring where cards can be send online at Christmas to unsponsored kids (I think thats how they described it) but year around for everybody is just too complex right now. Sending cards at Christmas is still fine though
This may feel like too simplistic of an answer but while I am certain their reality in the external world is nothing like ours, internally all people are the same. Just let him know you plan to write more often and are wondering about the things he is most concerned about: family? School? Favorite things he likes to do and things he would like to do if he had the chance. Just like compassion suggests, it is important to be careful around some issues: maybe ask more questions about his own culture there and share about ours, like holidays and stuff like that. Hope that helps?
Hi Teresa,
I purchase Spanish cards at Hallmark. The nice thing about Hallmark is that they have the translation printed in English on the back of each Spanish card so I know exactly what the card says. Nice!
My “child” is 17 and is in P4 class at school (Rwanda) according to most recent letter. I have a new sence of committment to him. I have sponsored him for several years with sadly little communication on my part. I would like to get better at this, but with him being 17 I’m not sure what is age appropriate. I don’t think 17 in Rwanda is the same as 17 in USA.
Hi Jaqi — That is awesome! I hope you find some really inspirational ideas here at the blog. I actually have a 20 year old (he is graduating from the program in May.) I’ve kind of let him guide the letter writing process — if he writes he’s interested in something, we pick up on that and go from there. Some things we’ve written about:
* The World Cup — and I sent some World Cup soccer cards
* He’s into nature and natural surroundings — we sent postcards and photos of what it looks like in our part of the country. And when we travel we send postcards.
* We sent each other a “my favorite things” letter. (I have a pic of this on my blog.)
* We wrote each other about what our favorite books were.
* We talked about our jobs and our education — and asked what his plans are for after graduation.
* We wrote our favorite Bible verses on card stock and send those.
* Of course we send birthday cards and Christmas cards.
I’ve really enjoyed corresponding with an older child. You really get to learn so much about their life and their country. (I encourage people who sponsor a younger child to also consider sponsoring an older child, as well!!)
Also I saw that Dollar General has these around the world magic eye valentines. You know the kind where a 3d picture is suppose to pop out at you(don’t worry I can never see them either but this one I actually did) but they are pretty neat because they have landmarks from around the world like the eiffle tower and mona lisa and stuff so even if they could not see the 3d picture the valentines themselves are cool and I think give a little fact about each place. 32 for 2.50 I think. Just a thought.
I found a neat website for kids products, it is shapesetc.com. They have shaped notepads,large and small, stickers, cutout shapes that the kids can decorate, a bunch of stuff, check it out.
That website is pretty cool and made in the U.S. which is kinda neat also.
Just a few weeks ago I sent our Timothee a pin the tail on the donkey game for his birthday. They are a dollar at Wal-mart and have the poster type donkey that says Happy Birthday, a paper blindfold, and I think maybe 18 “tail” stickers with the actual tail on the donkey dotted so you can see where they go. And the front has a picture that can kinda show them how to do it. I am guessing it went through o.k since I have not heard differently- it was not too big and flat so there is an idea maybe…
What department are the Pin the Tail on the Donkey games? I’ve looked everywhere, including the party area, in ours and can find none. I’d love to send it to both of our sponsored children.
I found Pin the Tail on the Donkey games in the party dept. at Fred Meyers. If you don’t find them at your store, try another store. I’m going to send them to each of my children for their birthdays, along with party supplies~like someone else on here suggested.
At the Wal-mart here we have a party section that has like the plates and napkins and then on the next isle or so there is a section that has just some generic favors and birthday banners and that is where they are at this one. Also I noticed they have them at the Dollar General in there party supply section- Hope this helps!
Hi Steph, that is such a wonderful idea. I didn’t even think about doing that. I sponsor 2 children in Tanzania and their birthdays are within two weeks of each others, so I am looking for some good ideas! But I love your idea.
Thanks Paula! I am hoping he will enjoy it! I was originally picking up a happy birthday banner to send and then saw that and thought it would maybe be more fun. Good luck on your birthday goodie search!
Sharon, thanks for sharing, that’s an awesome idea 🙂
When I hear from my child in Bolivia, wonderful drawings are shared in the letters, from both my child and her mother’s drawings who writes on behalf of my sponsored child who is 6 years old. I wanted to make something special of their drawings and share back with my child and her family. I took pictures of the art, downloaded to my online Kodak gallery, after zooming with the edit feature, I pulled the photos into a collage and sent the order off. Very reasonable. One 5 x 7 collage and one 8 x 10. I live in a rural area and have been happy with Kodak’s service and quality and the sales they offer. Can’t wait to get the prints and send them off to my child. And have one to frame for myself too!
Sharon, I love this idea! This would make a great birthday gift for a child.
When the mail arrives in Colorado, I have been told it is all opened and sorted. Should we not seal Birthday card envelopes?
Becky, that’s such a good question! Do not seal the envelopes that need to go with your cards. Just write your sponsor number and child number on the outside and leave it unsealed.
The Compassion folks need to be able to access what’s inside to check the contents and translate.
Yes, I’ve heard the same thing, that the mail is opened and sorted. A) to avoid sending your address from the outer envelope to your child, B) to make sure they put all the mail to the same country together, and C) to ensure that items being sent are appropriate (either topics in the letter, or photographs, etc.)
So, if you seal the envelope enclosing the card, it will most likely be opened to check content (I’ve even heard that if it’s written in the child’s language, they’ll have a translator check it before it’s forwarded). If you want the envelope sent to your child, my suggestion would be to 1) write the child’s name and number on the envelope–and on the card, too, in case they get separated, and 2) send it in a second envelope to Colorado.
Since I don’t work for Compassion, I can’t say with any certainty that the envelope will make it to your child, but that’d be the best way to have a chance. I’m sure it’d be neat for the kids to take the card out of an envelope. 🙂
Hi Carol,
One of the girls that we sponsor speaks spanish. I buy her Hallmark cards in spanish. On the back of each Hallmark card they print in english what the card says. That way I know what I am sending since I don’t speak spanish!
Where do you purchase your cards in Spanish? I would love to get some.
I enjoy reading other sponsor’s comments and suggestions. Our 9 year old girl lives in the Dominion Republic. Would it be a good idea to get a greeting card printed in Spanish? We have emailed a birthday donation and well wishes. This truly is a blessed experience sponsoring a child. We feel like we really know her. God Bless
I found these great accordion frames at Oriental Trading for a steal and decorated them for each of our kids!
http://bohemianbowmans.blogspot.com/2011/01/accordion-collage-amabobs.html
When we send a greeting card is the text of the card translated or just what we write inside it?
Hi Becky — I believe the entire card is translated. Anything that is not in the child’s native language will be translated.
Shari I used a Day Spring Valentine card which had a bible verse and the message was Christian. I did not tell my child the hx of Valentine’s day I just told her how I celebrated it in school and then how we celebrate it now.
My child is just 10 years old and I do not think she would be interested in the hx of Valentine’s day so I did not look the hx up I shall maybe give her a hx of Valentine’s day in upcoming years after I research it. Also my mail to her has to be translated and so I try to keep my messages short.
thanks Henrietta. I will do the same. My Rwanda child is 9, so your advice is very welcomed. I am very adapt at crafts and have a lot to share with her, so I might supply the papers and the stick on’s and teach her how to do it. IDEA FOR ALLl: Send big pieces of wrapping paper of any theme. Draw the heart or tree or anything on the plain back side. Challenge her to cut them and make a picture with a story. Only problem, do we know if they have little paper
sissors? We can only hope for the best.Actually, paper can be torn with a heavy weight places on the edges…gives a homemade effect.
Lisa and Henrietta, and others…………I would like to tell my two girls what Valentine’s day is all about, but to be honest, I do not know the full story. Could anybody give me some information to send to my children? Appreciate any help with this. How to tie this into our Christian beliefs to tell them? Cupid? St. Valentine? Arrows? Hearts both whole and broken?
HELP!
I told my girl in Uganda that Valentine’s Day was a day we give small gifts to someone we love – I didn’t give her a long history of the symbols, etc. I did send her some coloring pages with hearts on them – I think I found them at coloringcastle.com – great site and FREE!!
Hi Shari — When I send something for Valentine’s Day, I’ve just explained that it’s a day in the U.S. when people exchange cards with those they love. We send an actual Valentine or a Valentine we’ve made and some stickers. You could also include a Bible verse that talks about the importance of love.
The origin of Valentine’s Day is pretty nebulous — to me at least. It might be traced back to the death of a saint, it might be traced back to a Roman celebration — but it’s not particularly clear, and I’d have an awful hard time explaining it, so I stay away from the historical aspect.
thank you Lisa. I have a good idea what I want to do now. One is clearly to avoid the origin stories.!
What are you sending for Easter this year? I am looking for ideas, because we need to send in the coming month. Oriental Trading has some neat items including the pop up “party boxes” like we sent to our children recently.
This year we’re sending two things – both from Oriental Trading;
1) “He Lives” Make-a-Scene Stickers along with some paper.
2) Color-Your-Own Holy Week Crosses. These are thick paper crosses with Easter scenes for the kids to color.
They also have “He is Risen” bookmarks to color.
The party boxes are so cute! I need to pick up a pack.
I bought my cards at a Christian book store in Ft Wayne Also I saw some of their cards in our Hallmark and one drug store.
I am sending a dayspring Valentine card to my child It has a nice Christian verse Also I explained briefy when we celebrate Valentine Day and how my husband celebrate now with exchange of cards and baking of heart shaped cookies and exchange of cards when in school.
Lisa,
Where do you buy the Dayspring items? I was checking out their website and it looks like they have some really cute singing cards and was just wondering.
Lindsey
I get mine at Family Christian bookstore — I believe that’s a nationwide chain. I have seem them at other Christian bookstores.
Here’s the link to their store locator:
http://www.dayspring.com/corporate/locator.asp
Super-cute idea! LOVE DaySpring products. 🙂
I’m not sure about the musical greeting cards because there is usually a small chip that makes a bump in the envelop, and it wouldn’t be considered flat, ..? Everything else sounds great Lisa!
So far, so good with the musical cards. But if that should change at any point, I’ll let you all know ASAP. I’ve sent them the last few years and they’ve gone through.
A page or two back a couple folks were talking about musical greeting cards and said that they go through. I sent one about a month ago and so far haven’t gotten any news that they couldn’t send it on.
The cards DO go thru i have sent them several times and the kids LOVE them 🙂
My son brought home a popup christmas card they made in school. It is very cute. Then we got to thinking that all kinds of pictures could be inside. He wants to make several on dinosaurs for our boy in India where the dino pops up and then there are facts about the dino. He also wants to do one on planets. This will be a great project to send.
I have read on some people’s blogs that they have been sending a couple “To a Friend” cards and notes and LOVE the idea….BUT I’m not sure what kind of things to write and how short to keep it in length??????
We made cards that said “Jesus Loves You” and have a Christian picture on the front, (Jesus walking with children was a good one.) On the back or inside we’ve put a favorite short Bible verse and some stickers.
We felt those could go to any gender and would be easy and quick to translate.
You may have already seen my blog talking about how I recently started sending friend cards. I’ve kept the messages really simple, so that anyone could receive it. Basically, God cares for you, etc. With whatever verse I’ve come across recently that I think is appropriate.
I sent my child a musical birthday card for her birthday about a month ago I called an asked if if was okay I am new to Compassion and have a lot of questions about writing to sponsored child and I found that your comments helped me a lot
Welcome, Henrietta! We’re so glad you’re here. 🙂
The Frugal Sponsor’s Motto: Dollar Tree, Dollar Tree, Dollar Tree!
http://bohemianbowmans.blogspot.com/2010/12/dollar-tree-compassioning.html
Here! Here! My favorite store, long before I became a sponsor even! You can’t go wrong and there’s always new stuff coming in plus unlike some $ stores, EVERYTHING is actually only $1.00!
I am having trouble coming up with paper things to send to my boy child. I can come up with cute coloring pages and paper dolls, for the girls, but what do you send to boys?
Becky,
I love this blog because I’ve learned about so many different items I can send. I’ve made and bought bookmarks (without the tassel), sent band-aids, and I also send coloring pages. I also like to send puzzles. Hope this helps 🙂
How about musical greeting cards — and pop-up greeting cards, (I found those at Barnes & Noble.)
From Oriental Trading, I found a few cool things for boys.
1) They have a set of 3D stickers of the planets that comes with a set of flat, paper 3-D glasses.
2) They have a Bird Book — two pages of bird stickers and two pages of scenery, to stick the birds on.
3) They have a design your own fish tank — it’s a little paper fish tank with stickers of fish, seaweed, colored rocks, ships, etc.
4) They have a design your own race car — a large race car sticker with wheels, numbers, flags, etc. to decorate it.
The Oriental Trading catalog is a gold mine…
These are some of the things I have sent to our boy in India: lots of sticker pages and thin sticker booklets — trucks, animals, horses, sports, etc. — the craft stores have some nice sets; laminated world maps and country maps (from Staples); copies of mazes and coloring pages from online sites; outline maps to color (from online); colorful bookmarks; postcards; 8 1/2 x 11 pictures of the four seasons — snow, foliage, and so on; calendar pages of American scenery and wildlife; family pictures and pictures of kids in our our Sunday School class; pictures of favorite American foods; sports photos; and so on. I am sure others have even more ideas.
How do I send pictures to our sponsor daughter? We have been sponsoring her for 2 years and she would like to have pictures. I thought I could attach them to the letters I write via the website but didn’t see a way to do that.
Jene’t, I had heard that plans were in the works to give us a way to attach pictures to our emails, but we don’t know when it’ll actually become available.
In the meantime, you are more than welcome to write a letter on paper and send as many pictures as you like. Yes, it’ll take a little longer (but maybe only a couple of weeks–and depending on how often the project workers pick up the mail from the country office–which could be monthly or quarterly, if your child lives in a rural area–there may not be any difference in delivery time)…but if your child has asked for pictures, she’ll gladly wait a little longer to receive them!
Even without the pictures, thank you for your commitment to writing!
How much ahead of time should I send Birthday greetings to my sponsored children? I have one coming up in April and another in May. If I send a monetary gift online for their birthday does that need to be done way in advance also?
Becky,
I registered on Compassion’s website for my child and they sent me an e-mail about my child’s birthday with information on when I should send the gift/card by so that they receive it in time. It was about 2 months before his birthday.
Hi Becky — I would send it three months in advance — whether you send it by mail or online.
It will need enough time to get there, time for the project workers to consult with the family and then time to actually purchase the items for the child’s birthday.
My child recently asked if I would ever visit her one day. While that is something I would love to do, fincially I don’t know if I ever will be able to. How do you explain that to a 6 year old? It’s breaking my heart to not tell her yes.
I would just be honest. I wouldn’t tell her “no” because you never know what the lord will provide, but something like “I would love to be able to visit you someday, but right now I cant say when that would be.”
Hi, Lindsey,
I have a correspondence child in Tanzania that used to beg us to visit him. I would love to visit him, but don’t see how we could ever manage it. I finally told him that I wish we could visit him, and that we’d love to see his beautiful country. I told him about films we had seen of beautiful Tanzania. Then I explained that it costs a lot of money to travel that far, and that we would have to save up our money for a very long time to be able to travel that far. He wrote back that he was praying that we would be able to save enough money to visit him. He hasn’t said anything more about it since then. I hope that I have let him down gently. It’ so hard for a young child to understand the huge costs of travel.
Hi Darlene — I think your idea of assembling the puzzle (so it’s flat) and shipping it in three parts (so it fits the size requirement) is the perfect solution. This should go through perfectly!!
The size envelope you use to mail things to Colorado doesn’t matter — those envelopes are opened and discarded and can be any size. But if it’s an envelope that needs to stay with your package to your child, (for example an envelope that holds stickers, or whatever), that does need to be within the mailing limits of 8 1/2 x 11. Those envelopes should have just your sponsor number and your child number on them. (Not your home addresss.)
Anything that is up to 8 1/2 x 11″ and 1/4″ thick, and is made of paper or paper product, can be sent. You don’t need to send additional postage to Compassion for them to mail these items, and you send them to the same address as everything else. (I noticed you asked about that earlier.)
I hope your letter writing is going well. Are you a new sponsor? If so, welcome!!! 🙂
Darlene, have you seen the article about how many pieces of mail that they process daily and yearly ? I can’t remember the exact numbers, but it was astronomical. They do give general guidelines for mailing, I think that if we stick within those guidelines, chances are high that our mail won’t be rejected. It’s probably hard for them to give us a definitive answer just from a description. If I had to look at as much mail as they do, I would be cross-eyed by now! 🙂
I hope that your puzzle goes through! Some of the people on here have such good tips for getting items accepted! I, too, used to think postage was really expensive, but after Compassion sunk into my heart, it’s a drop in the bucket for me. 🙂
RE: 8.5×12 packages
I don’t understand if a manilla envelope is slightly larger than the mailing limit BUT the item is WITHIN the limits of 8.5x12x1/4 inches, why can’t they tell you if it will ship. ?
Postage is too expensive to just send it and wait to see if it is returned. And why is it best not to assembly the puzzle since that is the only way to control the pieces and thereby control the size.?
If they don’t want paper puzzles they should just say so.
That’s a wonderful idea, Lisa, but how can you tell which of the 53 children from Ecuador is one of the 24?
Good question! 🙂 The link I posted should take you straight to that group of kids. But if you’re doing a search from the main page, the kids are in the following child centers — EC104, EC142, EC134 and EC479.
It would just be soooo nice to see all of those kids sponsored by Christmas — especially by awesome letter writers like ourselves. 😉
This isn’t exactly a letter writing idea — but, for those who sent Christmas cards to Ecuador via the DaySpring partnership — I just wanted to let you know that there are 24 kids left to be sponsored from the child centers that received the cards. Thirteen of the children have been waiting for a sponsor for more than 6 months.
If anyone is getting ready to sponsor another child, please consider these children! I’m not sure if everyone knows this, but right now DaySpring is offering a $30 gift certificate to anyone who sponsors. Just a little added bonus. 🙂
Here’s the link if this is something you’re interested in:
https://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm?Page=1
Thanks for letting me post that!! And Merry Christmas to everyone who posts on this thread — I think you all are amazing. I get so many great ideas here.
I got my puzzle from dtjk-kids.com and it’s wonderful. Very bright and cheerful colors. It is 8×10 so fits the size allowed and I’m going to put it together on a piece of cardboard and wrap it in Saran Wrap. I’m told that will work. It’s just too cute. yes, it was for our child’sbirthday in August but I’ve just got to send it soon. The only problem is I personally do not like puzzles and I have to put it together LOL. When I taught preschool the rule was “you take the puzzle apart, you put it together.” Guess it’s payback time.
RE: JIGSAW PUZZLE
I had a jigsaw puzzle that was a little larger than 8.5 x 12.
IDEA- I assembled the puzzle and divided it int 3 sections.
Then put the sections into an old page from a photograph album. The puzzle stuck to the tacky page and then I taped the clear cover over the sections. It looks good.
They told me that if it is rejected, it will be returned to me.
Just thought of another possibility for shipping the puzzles. Put it together and slip it into one of those plastic page protectors that you get in office supplies. Dont forget to seal the opening though. They’re alread 81/2 x 11 so that’s good too!
I found some neat rulers at OfficeMax. They have a variety of animals — dolphins, cats, dogs, horses — and when you move the ruler back and forth it looks like the animals are running, playing, jumping, etc. They are paper/cardboard with a clear coating — and flat — so they should go through. The company that makes them is Mooviestudio. I posted video on my blog of what they look like, if anyone wants to take a look.
Regartding the website I just submitted for you to check out, I just discovered down the left side you can also choose Bible activities. Very cool. Just use your color printer to print what you want.
Maureen
Just to let others know and particularly the sponsor who was asking about having trouble coming up with paper items – this site has many, many items 9including items for older children) you can print out/create for your child. Check the choices in the left hand column. For Christmas I sent a Jesus Bingo and a Santa Bingo game. After printing out the pieces, I covered them with clear contact paper so they will last. This site is invaluable – http://www.dltk-cards.com
This site has some great things and I really like the door hangers becuse you can just put a picture and something like “welcome” at the top and the also send stickers for the kids to decorate it themselves 🙂
http://www.dltk-kids.com/ Check out this web site I just now accidently found . I printed Easter cards for our two children because it’ll take 3 months to get to them and none are out, obviously. You can print all sorts of things we’ll be able to send to our sponsored children. Dominoe’s, door hangers, etc. with their names on them, and cards for all occasions. Very nice website.
Maureen
Love, love, LOVE that website. They have cute printable Christmas coloring pages. Lindsey was asking about what to write in the generic Christmas cards to unsponsored kids — I just wanted to suggest printing a few of these out and slipping them into the Christmas cards next year.
Another idea with the puzzles is that some tourist areas have puzzle postcards. You are supposed to take them apart and make the recipient assemble them but they could be sent in one piece.
I was wondering if anyone on here ever wrote generic Christmas cards to unsposorder children and if so, what they wrote in them.
Lindsey, I sent out the christmas cards this year to the unsponsored children. I told them about how much God loved them, so much that He sent His Son for them. I told them how God had good plans for their life ( Jeremiah 29:11) and how we wanted to share all of this with them today. The cards could have gone to a girl or boy. Ask the Holy Spirit to help, thats what I did and I did send the same message to all the children.
Shannon and Jessica-
Thank you. While I sent a few this year, my plan was to hit the sales after Christmas and work on the cards all year round to send out next November but I struggled with what to write this year. It’s hard when you can’t ask questions.
I did here:
http://bohemianbowmans.blogspot.com/2010/11/christmas-card-drive-of-epic.html
The puzzleI I just ordered from snapfish (with his name on it) is 8×10. Just so it’s not bigger than 8 1/2×11 is what I’ve been told. I HAVE sent something larger but folded it so that it still was no larger and still no thicker than 1/4″ – a poster, I think. It’s been a while. It went through at the time. I’ve never sent a puzzle before but after reading previous posts I decided to do it. It does take 3 months to get our letters from our 2 children, one in Kenya and one in Bolivia. Our Bolivian child is a prolific writer. Sometimes we get 3 letters a week, often a letter ever week. What a joy he is. Our girl is younger and doesn’t write as often but does write dear letters when she does. Wish we had the $$ to visit them both but will never be able to. I do,however, have fun always looking for something to send them. Sometimes I get something off twice a month, other times just once a month. They are always so joyful in their letters. Amazing.
My child lives in India and is only 6yrs old. I didn’t know that I could send anything other than what would fit into a small envelope.
You spoke of puzzles. How big are they 8×10″ or 3″x5″ which seem to be too small. Do you send them to the same address etc? In an 8×10″envelope? I want to send book marks and other things. Must you send additional postage?
Our child lives in India. We just got our first letter from him. Does anyone know if the children generally have any knowledge or desire to know the english language? I was thinking of sending flashcards…like you’d use with a young child… to show the alphabet, basic words etc…He is 13 years old so maybe this type of card would be too childish for him…though it seems that his 13 may be a bit younger than an American 13!!! Any advice is appreciated! thanks 🙂
Our child is from India too and they generally speak English there since India was British for a period. He writes his letters to me in English also. I’m going to visit him in February and I’m so excited!
Whitney, several days ago I tried to send you a message asking where your child was in India. For some reason it never showed up on this site. I write to 4 children in India. One is a sponsored child and the rest are Correspondence children. 2 are India and 2 are in East India.If you will be near any of them, I’d love to send a small present along. Would that be possible? I won’t ask you to do it unless you are going to the same Child Developement center. I know you are going there to enjoy your own child, and will be limited for time.
Whitney…..I have a child in India also. Possibly you could contact her whilst you are there? Maybe just by some chance she is near your child’s location. Sure would be worth a try to see if it could be done. Let me know what you think of this idea.
Shari
Megan,
Most children in India learn English and will eventually write to you in English. I have a 15 year old from there and he writes all his letters in English. Even if your child doesn’t know the language he would probably love it anyway!
Hannah,
I have children in India that are about the same age as yours. i could use some new ideas as to what to send to them. What do you send?
Megan,
I know my child is studying English as she wrote about it in a letter. I have sent her flashcards with animals on them and the animal names below although I did it more to show her pictures of which animals could be found in my state, states ive visited, etc.
Feel free to ask your child if they are studying English. My child told me she was studying English after I asked what subjects she was learning in school.
I’ve made my own simple template similar to Compassion’s stationary to print onto my own pretty paper. That way the bottom isn’t wasted on the monetary gift section of Compassion’s form.
http://bohemianbowmans.blogspot.com/2010/12/letter-writing-ninja.html
I’m anxious to see how my puzzle is held together when it comes from Snapfish. I’ll post it – should arrive in a few days. Can’t wait. I bought it for our child’s birthday which isn’t till August, but I know I’ll send it asap. I can’t imagine he’ll be any more excited getting it than I am sending it. I was thinking that maybe a puzzle could be held together with Saran Wrap. Put it together on a board, then put Saran wrap around it. Any thoughts on that?
Hi Maureen — The Snapfish puzzles are so cool! I love the puzzle idea because it’s something the kids can do alone or share with others at their Compassion centers. As for the Saran Wrap, that seems to be the way to go. Check out Gail and Loren’s posts from Dec. 6, (above.) They commented on that very topic and both said they were able to send it that way.
Regarding the puzzle issue—what if rubber cement is used to stick the puzzle to a piece of thin cardstock. Strong enough that they dont slide around, but temporary enough to allow the pieces to be taken off?
My husband and I are thinking about sponsoring another child. I was going through some of the photos today and has anyone noticed that some of the children have been photoshopped into the pictures, paticularly the ones from Bolivia. Does anyone know why this is?
Can you share a couple of link to these children? I looked through the Bolivia kids but didn’t see any that looked photoshopped. I’m curious.
I haven’t heard of them taking the time to photoshop children into pictures…nor have I really noticed anything like this. I went to check out the photos of the Bolivian kids (since you mentioned it), and I’m not sure whether the fact that the kids are in focus and the background is a bit grainy is due to photoshopping or just the way the picture was taken.
Were you wondering about the background being the same on several kids? It may be that they have several kids from the same project. It seems that the project workers pick a “photo spot” and have all the kids stand in the same spot. To test that, see if you can find the kids’ numbers. The first three will be the project number.
I just came upon the best gift on http://www.snapfish.com They have puzzles for kids that you can personalize with your child’s name, and they’re, 8×10 so they’re the right size. I ordered one with a racing car with our little boy’s name on the side (I wish they had one with a soccer ball). I had some credits, but I think it was $12.95 for the puzzle normally. I’m going to save it for his birthday. They have loads to choose from, although the ones called “Kidtopia” are very large. Click on the one with the dragon and THOSE are the ones that are 8×10. I lucked out with 25% off and free S&H because I do a lot of ordering through Snapfish. Check it out. There are several pieces so it’s a bit too many pieces right now for the little girl we sponsor. He’ll love it though.
All these years of sponsoring and I never thought it would be okay to send a puzzle or that they would allow the plastic bag??
I was wondering, when I send a card that has writting on the front and inside, do they both get translated for my child?
Hi Lindsey — That is a really good question! I would guess that the answer is yes. So many Christmas/birthday cards have print on the front and inside — I would think that the translators translate everything on the card into their native language.
But does anyone else out there know for sure?
Scotch sells removable tape that you can use on paper or cardboard and then take off without damaging the paper. You could use that on the reverse side of a puzzle to hold it together for mailing.
Lois,
I have not seen that, but thanks for the tip; now I’ll have to go looking for it!
I have a question after reading a few of the previous posts. I received a letter (the first one from this child) and unfortunately I can’t read the majority of the translator’s writng. Is it always the same translator? How would I address this? Difficult to respond to something I can’t make sense of. 🙁
Kim,
I had trouble reading some of the translation on a letter also. You might try finding someone in your area that speaks the language and asking them. My child is from Ethiopia. I checked for an Ethiopian church and was able to find one.
Lisa, I had the same problem with my first letter. The person sometimes wrote hers and then his, so I was very confused. Call or send your letter to Compassion. They are wonderful people and want to assist us in any way they can. I received a completely re-written letter that I totally enjoyed. Just give them time to do their job for us.
Bless you
Another thing you can try (for letters that are legible that is) is Google translator (just do a google search and it’ll come up). I had a letter a few months ago and the translation said my child asked if I had been shopping…I thought that was such an odd question for someone in a developing country on a few dollars a week. Turned out when I put the word in the traslator it was “camping” not “shopping”. Big difference! and it made sense then… 🙂
Hi Kim — You’ll get different translators with each letter. Usually the penmanship is really good. Becky — That is a real mystery as to how your child’s siblings’ names and ages would appear if it wasn’t in the text of the letter — and the part about the flood, too.
My best advice to anyone who has real concerns about the translation of a particular letter — call Compassion’s customer care line. (800-336-7676) See if you can arrange to fax or send back your letter and have it re-translated.
I know that the translators already have a huge workload — and it will take a while to get it redone — but if you get a translation that you just cannot read, or you have serious concerns about the content — it might be worth sending it back and having it redone.
There are also private translation services that you can hire online — you fax the copy, (black out the child’s name, location, child number), and they email back the translation. It costs money, but that is an option.
One other suggestion — if you have questions about what was in the translation you can always ask the child about it in the next letter you write. You could clear things up that way.
Best wishes to everyone — I hope things get straightened out!!
Hi Becky,
I hope someone else will answer your question also, because it would be interesting to find out if anyone has had other information written from the translators other than what was written in the childs letter. I have never received other info from the translators that they would have sent on their own. We have 6 children that we sponsor and the tranlators only translate what is written in the childs letter. I always ask each of our children if they have any brothers or sisters and their ages so I can also send paper items to them each time I write to our children. So for me the answer would be no, the translators do not add other info to my childs letter. Does anyone else out there have information to answer Beckys’ question?
I have gotten some additional information from a translator, but it was more of a note on a cultural thing, rather than anything specific regarding my child or his family.
It’s quite possible that the translator lives/works in the same city as the country office, rather than necessarily being at the center where the letters were written. In those cases, the translator would have no way of knowing additional information. (Sometimes they don’t always know the gender of the child, so they might mix up pronouns or use “he/she”…like an American child named Taylor or Riley, could go either way).
Hi Megan,
I have sent the 24 piece puzzles in the past. I had always put them in a ziplock bag and they had always gone through but the last time I sent them they didn’t go through. I think the problem was that I had put them in a ziplock bag and they didn’t stay assembled. I have read on this Compassion Blog page that someone else said that they assembled the puzzles that they sent and wrapped them tightly in saran wrap so the pieces wouldn’t move and then sent a ziplock bag along with them for the child to put the pieces in. They said the puzzles had gone through by sending them that way. I think I will try that next time by putting the assembled puzzle on a small piece of thin cardboard and then wrapping it with saran wrap to hold the puzzle flat. I always cut the box top of the puzzle and send it so our children can see what the puzzle is supposed to look like when assembled. I know our children that we sponsor love the puzzles that we’ve sent in the past!
I have sent 50 peice puzzle to my older boy HEREs how I did it:
I put together the puzzel and took a pic of what the end result is (and one of me working on it i think it is fun that we can share a puzzle: ), then I broke them up in to groups of 10 that went together and seran wrapped the 10 pieces to a notecard with thier number on it and mailed them for 5 weeks in a row with a letter saying something like”here’s the third group of peices for you how is the puzzle looking so far” and things like that.
how about taking a small cardboard puzzle from it’s box, assembling it, placing it in a baggie nice and flat…would that be acceptable. Love this site btw! We just sponsored our first child and we’re excited to send him some mail!!
Megan,
I actually send the 3D puzzles because they seem to stay together the best when I go to transfer them into an envelope. Plus, I can put them together and then tape them so they won’t come apart without worrying about the tape ripping the picture off. I’ve gotten them at Target and the Dollar Store.
In my letter from my child the translation I got listed all her sisters names and ages. In her original letter these names do not appear at all. There are also other differences in the two letters. The translation talked about floods, but that word was also nohere in the orginal letter. Do the translaters sometimes add additional information to the letters?
I haven’t heard anything from my little girlfriend in Peru since the first week in September. How would I know if something is wrong….if she is no longer attending….if she needs further help? She is seven and her tutor always writes the notes, not her. Could it be she is no longer in the program?
While Peru is usually frequent in letter writing, it is not unsual to have a gap in letters. If the gap gets to 6 months or longer, you can call Compassion and they will research it more.
They will call if something happens. The little boy we sponsored a few years ago in Peru was hit by a bus (hurt but not killed, thankfully!) and Compassion called us on the phone to let us know. Later his family moved away from the development center, and they notified us by mail with another child already lined up for us to sponsor.
Hmm…that’s a good question. I’d be concerned too if I didn’t get anything from Nells (also in Peru) in that length of time, since she has previously written fairly often–more than the required 3-4 letters a year. But I suppose it’s up to the individual projects and children if they want to write more often, even though the country is on the reciprocal system.
It’s been 3 months since your last letter–not completely unheard of, but if your girl has been in the habit of writing more frequently, you might consider calling Compassion. I’ve had the experience of one of the people on the other end of the line telling me that I had a letter on the way, so somehow they can tell when the children write (probably through communication between the country offices). It seems typical that children will write a holiday letter to their sponsors so that it arrives somewhere near Christmas, so my guess is that you will be receiving a letter soon.
And to answer your question about if she left the program–you’d be notified if she had left the program and possibly for what reason (but that isn’t always known). They’ll tell you a) for the integrity of your monetary donations and b) to give you the opportunity to sponsor another child.
I have the same complaint, Maureen. I read the letters thru e-mail and I”m convinced that not all messages are sent, somehow. Must slip through the cracks, though I don’t know how that’s possible.
Thanks for letting me know I’m not nuts. I just got off letters by e-mail to our 2 children last night and sent some goodies today. Somewhere I have wonderful bookmarks for them and in our recent move, a month ago, put them somehwhere so I wouldn’t lose them. Well, they’re lost. They’re the kind of bookmarks that are 3D. I’ve sent them before and the children love them. These are butterflies and they look like you can touch them. Well, at least when I do find them, I’ll send them immediately. I wrote something last night that I’ve been wanting to do – I’ll see if it goes through. I asked each child to keep the OTHER in his/her prayers. Gave their first name and country only. So far I haven’t heard from Compassion so I guess it’s okay. I told each that I know the other would love knowing “you” are praying for him/her. The little girl, who is only 7, asked if there was something she pray for in our lives. So dear. I had recent foot surgery so I wrote to pray that the pain would go away. That’s when I added each other’s name to their letters. I KNOW they’ll love that, if it goes through. I quilt and was hoping that when a group goes to Kenya and Bolivia that they could take one to each of the children, but if they do for one they have to do for all. I understand that, but a girl can wish…
Maureen
You know how compassion sends photo’s of your kids, and some are miniture? I sent those photos of the 2 I sponsor in Indonesia to the one I sponsor in the philippines and she got them and commented on them in a letter she sent me. I crossed out their child number on the back.
God bless!
Hi Maureen, actually, sending a quilt may be possible. You are right in thinking that it cannot go through offical channels, however I know that it is possible to get things to your kids (and it is ok to just make one for each child and not have to make enough for everyone).
How I have done it in the past is I have found someone who was traveling to my child’s country (either on their own or with a group) and have asked them if they would take a package for me in their suitcase. If they agreed I mailed my packege to that person and then they took it with them to the country. The person would drop my package off at the Compassion office in the country and it would get delivered with the mail to the project, then given to the child. Twice, after I sent packages this way, I received pictures of the child with the gifts. I have also taken gifts for other sponsors when I have traveled to Ecuador in the past.
A good way to find other sponsors who will be traveling is to join http://www.ourcompassion.org There you can talk with other sponsors and even find sponsors who’s children attend the same project as yours.
Am I doing something wrong? When I get an e-mail regarding a new post I can’t find the previous letter it’s referring to. One talks about an achievement chart – how can I find the letter that was originally in? It sounds wonderful.
I am just curious. Last week I received my first letter from my sponsored child. I am soo excited about it, but I am wondering about something. The date on the letter is 24-1-2003. Any thoughts on this? My child is 7 and as far as I know, she has just started schooling, so there was a translator who did all of the writing.
Hmm…. January 24, 2003….. Is your child possibly from Ethiopia? I know that they have a different callender, so that could explain the discrepency in the year.
Hi Jennifer — Is your child from Ethiopia by chance? They don’t follow the Gregorian calendar that the U.S. does. Their 2000 started on our September 12, 2007. (Their New Year’s Eve is September 11.) So I think it would actually be 2003 there right now.
They also have 13 months in a year. So the 1 would probably be their first month which is Mesekerem (Sept. 11-Oct. 11)
Ah! Yes, she is in Ethiopia. Way to make things hard to track, Ethiopia!! haha. Now here’s another question…my paper work says that her birthday is February 7…is that Ethiopian February or our February??
That would be our February 7. But it would be the last day of their fifth month — called Tir. February 8 starts their sixth month called Yekatit. (Of course, it’s written differently in Amharic — that’s just the way to pronounce it in English.)
Here’s their calendar:
MONTH START DATE
Meskerem Sept. 11
Tikemet Oct. 11
Hidar Nov. 10
Tahesas Dec. 10
Tir Jan. 9
Yekatit Feb. 8
Megabit March 10
Miyaza Apr. 9
Ginbot May 9
Sene June 8
Hamle July 8
Nehase Aug. 7
Pagume Sept. 6
The dates are slightly different during a leap year, but you get the idea. 🙂
Hello Lisa, and thanks everyone for the info on Ethiopian calendar. I recently began sponsoring a girl there, and when I got my first letter it was stamped w/the date 2003. I just thought someone made a mistake! I will have to mark my 2011 calendar w/the Ethiopian dates. Thanks, also, for the letter writing tips.
Someone else had asked about paper gifts for older teen girls, but I never saw a response. Any ideas? Postcards of different works of art? More sophisticated stickers or bookmarkers?
Other paper ideas for older kids (or any): small posters, mini calanders, scrapbook papers, Your other ideas sound great too! Also, all the talk about puzzles (never thought to try that!), but for younger kids I found some of the cardboard tray puzzles of bible stories at dollar general this weekend for $1. I’ve checked the thickness and their not over the 1/4 inch mark so I’m excited. They’re already shrink wrapped so you can skip the saran wrap too! Seems like they should go through. I’ll let you know if they dont 🙂
I have an older boy, rather than a girl, but I’ve sent some things that might work for both:
— My favorite Bible verses printed out and affixed to a colorful postcard or card.
— A mini-size calendar with photos from around the world as the theme
— Someone on the boards mentioned pressed flowers and plants from your region, laminated to paper.
— Articles from newspapers or magazines that mention their country in a significant way — for example when one of their athletes competed in the Olympics, I found articles about that.
— If you’re a long-time sponsor, for their birthday, line up all the photos you’ve received of them in order and scan them and print them onto a piece of paper — or put them on a card at DaySpring’s design studio. They can see how they’ve changed over the years. (I’m doing that for my child’s next birthday.)
I like your idea of art postcards and more sophisticated stickers!
We bought these boxes: http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?mode=Browsing&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sku=3/1310 We plan to personalize them and send them to each of our Compassion kids!
you know Michelle, one of the rewards my son has from sponsoring a young man in the Philippines is that now that he is graduated from Compassion, they still e-mail each other and send each other Christmas and birthday greetings, Amando’s family has even gotten into the act and they send letters we are now Mama and Papa to the whole family
Diane Nichols
Wichita Kansas
Michelle sounds good but the staff in the kids country will have to put them together right.. will u send a bunch of them, I was just thinking about the other kids.. I read the compassion site about Larry the letter.. I had no idea the mail is passed out like mail call in the army movies.. just my 2 cents
Michelle,
Those are neat boxes! I often search OTC catalog and site for fun , flat things but had not seen those. Will you let us know if they go through? It looks like they should!
I have a question – How long is too long? I printed the Father’s Love Letter mentioned above and it fills a whole page. If I send it to my child, should I maybe send and extra for the translator to keep for him or herself as a blessing and a thank you? I don’t want to overburden our translators but the letter has such an awesome message. Also, is there such a thing as writing too often? I just wrote my daughter yesterday and I have so much more waiting to tell her. If I write more than once a month, will she get the letters all at once and does it really matter?
Hi Carolyn — My letters generally run about 1/2 a page to a full page. And what I do to mix things up is I’ll alternate letters with cards/stickers, bookmarks, crafty things. So I would say my kids get an actual letter about once a month to every other month, in addition to a few fun extras. That’s the routine that seems to work best for me. 🙂
I do think if a letter is pages and pages long, it is taxing the translators. But I don’t think a page is too long. And I think the Father’s Love Letter is absolutely precious.
My understanding is the children get letters once a month — there’s a mail-distribution day for each Compassion center — so whatever has come during that month, they’ll get on that day.
I just wanted to say, GOD BLESS YOU for writing. It’s such a blessing to communicate with people who get how important that is. 🙂
Everyone always has such wonderful ideas here. I wanted to share a few things that I have seen recently. At a local DOllar Tree there were paper lunch bags with Disney Characters prinded on them. I know not everyone agrees when it comes to marketing Disney to our children, but for those that don’t mind, they were cute. I saw at a Dollor General they have stickers to make scenes of things like the ocean, or a farm. The stickers are the kind you scratch the surface to reveal a shiny material behind. The kids would have a lot of fun with that. And lastly, today I purchased a large box of Cheerios and inside was a small, thin, paperback childrens book. The book had both english and spanish printed in it. I will be trying to send this to my girl in Guatemala. I hope this gives someone some ideas.
This isn’t a letter writing idea but a suggestion to use Compassion as an “Alternative Gift” this Christmas. Our daughter and her husband are very wealthy and can buy anything they want. So, we’ve decided to give a donation to Compassion for the Unsponsored Children’s Fund in their honor. I’m going to put a note in the card Compassion will be sending saying they might want to consider sponsoring 2 little girls with their daughter’s birthdays. We love our two “sponsored” children and hope they’ll find the same joy in the gift we’re giving in their name. Our daughter is a Korean adoptee and is always talking about how badly she feels about all the starving children in the world, so we decided it’s time to show them how they can help. So – consider Compassion.
Maureen, that is such a beautiful idea.
Just in case anyone reading is new to Compassion and is interested in doing something similar, here is a list of the Compassion funds you can donate to — along with a link to that page:
https://www.compassion.com/contribution/default.htm?All=1
AIDS Initiative
Unsponsored Children
Where Most Needed
Leadership Development Program
Partners of Compassion
Malaria Intervention Fund
Christmas Gift Program
Disaster Relief
Child Survival Program
Medical Assistance Fund
Help Highly Vulnerable Children
Global Food Crisis Fund
Compassion Partners With Opportunity International to Fight Poverty
I just want to thank everyone for their ideas; it’s exciting to find new things to send. Im looking forward to sending out musical cards 🙂
Thank you for the info. I am looking forward to see how much she has grown!
I have been sponsoring a little girl from Honduras since December 2009. The picture I have of her is from August 2009. Does anyone know how often these pictures are updated?
Hi Natasha — It’s typically every two years. So you will be getting a new pic of her next summer.
It seems that the information & pictures are updated every two years, so you should expect an update somewhere late summer/early fall 2011.
These are all great, thank you. I see that we can’t send cloth. I had a project idea for my children, but it used felt. I can switch to paper instead, but now I am wondering if it would even go through with paper. I was going to hand embroider a “child of God” picture, but I am assuming that because of the embroidery thread, it won’t go through. Does anyone know?
And Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Amy — I have a wacky idea — and it may not work — but could you laminate the finished product?
Compassion allows pressed flowers and plants that have been laminated to paper. So I would think if you embroidered in paper and then laminated it, it would fit the “paper document” criteria and would go through customs. The lamination would also give it some extra-protection going through the mail system and your child could keep that forever.
I don’t know — it’s just a thought! I’ve never laminated anything, so maybe the lamination-experts out there could weigh in. 🙂
Anyway, CUTE IDEA!!! I love it and I hope you can find a way to send it!!
Thank you, Lisa! I ended up printing the design on tracing paper and then putting the print and cardstock over a lightbox. I colored the picture in on the cardstock and then glued the tracing paper over the top. It turned out really cute. I will definitely consider the lamination idea for the next project.
Amy, that sounds adorable. Very clever and creative. (I never would have thought of it!) We have such amazing crafters posting here!!!
I’ve sent purchased laminated maps and have sent the laminated scrapbooked page (as noted a week ago), and other laminted items. Most bookmarks are laminated anyway. I’ve never had a problem. I did send a couple of fabric things that went through – a little scarf (those inexpensive ones from craft stores) that the little girl loved to wear on her head, and a pair of socks to the little girl. THen I thought I might try somethng else – a lot of work, but it didn’t go through. I found a little $1.00 tote bag and scanned the cutest kitten onto an iron on transfer. I stenciled the little girl’s name on it. I was sooooo disappointed that it didn’t go because she loves kittens and would have loved that.. They wrote or called, I can’t remember and gaveit to a local preschool I think. But I was so disappointed because the other 2 fabrics went through. Guess it’s trial and error. However, the laminated items always go through – at least so far.
You guys are great; thank you! I’m thinking I’ll definitely use their stationary to send a note, but I do love the idea of email! Is there a particular email address I use to send the email? I’ll keep perusing the site too, rather than keep bombarding you guys with questions!
Many thanks to both of you, and Happy Thanksgiving! Best, Marybeth
Hi Marybeth — To email your child, log into your account on the main Compassion web page. Then look to the left and click where it says, “Contact Your Child.” It brings up the form. You just type your letter in and hit “Send Letter.”
Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless! 🙂
Hi guys, we’re brand new to this and I’m visiting this site for the first time. We’re too late to send our child a Christmas donation, but we will send one for a general gift anyhow. My question is, when we write a letter to our child (just a regular letter), are there restrictions on how long it should be, can we type and print it, and anything else I may need to know? Also, when just sending a letter of introduction to our child, can we include a picture? If sending a letter, do I just send it to the Colorado address (does anyone have that?) and use a regular, letter size envelope to send? Thanks very much.
Those are great questions! I’m excited to hear you are looking for information about sending pictures and letters to your sponsored child. In your introduction packet, there should be a packet about ‘letters and gifts’ to your sponsored child. You should also have an envelope (pre-addressed to Compassion) along with a sheet of their provided stationary (feel free to use your own). If you click the link at the top of this page for ‘about letter writing’ you’ll find lots of other blogs about writing letters. You also can go to Compassion.com, at the top click on ‘for sponsors and donors’ and then on the left sidebar click on ‘connect with your child’, which opens up more information on letter writing, gift giving along with many frequently asked questions. You also can submit a letter to your child through Compassion’s website (you type it into a form) or you can write it by hand or type and print it from your computer. Also, on OurCompassion.org (website that connects sponsors), there have been multiple journals people wrote about letter writing. As general answers to your questions (rather than just referring you to lots of other sources), I try to keep my letters to no more than 2 full pages hand written, but normally they are just the stationary size or 1-2 ‘half pages’ handwritten. You always want to leave room for the translation if you use your own stationary. Your child would love to receive a picture of you in the introductory letter (Compassion should also send you an introduction packet you can send to your child), but make sure to include your child’s name and number on the picture (along with anything else you send to your child). Feel free to use a regular envelope or if your picture or other small paper items that are permissible then use a larger envelope.All Christmas donations are pooled so each child will get one. Therefore, don’t be surprised when you get a thank you letter from your child (part of regular letter sent) for a Christmas present. As your child is sponsored then, he )or she) will be told the present is from you.
Happy writing and welcome to Compassion!!
Address:
Attn: Child Correspondence
Compassion International
Colorado Springs, CO 80997
Marybeth,
Welcome to the family! Have you received your child’s packet yet? If you sponsored him/her online, it’ll take up to a couple of weeks to receive it. When you do, though, there’s a tri-fold card to fill out and send to your child. It’s basically a sponsor profile card, like what you get for your child. There’s space to attach a picture, list spouse/children’s names and birthdays, and a message to your child.
Additionally, every time you receive a letter from your child you’ll receive preprinted stationery to write a return letter–already coded with your sponsor number and the child’s name and number. You’ll want to make sure that info is on anything you send, especially if you choose to write on stationery other than what they send you. There is also a downloadable template of their stationery on the website (sponsors & donors/connect with your child–or somehow through your account) https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connecting/default.htm
Or if you’d rather, you can send an email to your child–it’ll be sent to your child’s country office, printed, translated, then forwarded to your child. There’s a maximum character limit, but I’ve found I can say more in an email than on the paper they send–there’s usually only room for about a page of text (think the front side of a wide-ruled sheet of looseleaf)…mainly to keep the workload manageable for the translators.
Thank you so much for taking an interest in writing to your child! Please write, as often as you are able. The letters mean so much more to these kids than we can even imagine!
I just became a sponsor in October and I love all of the ideas of what to include in my letters. I sent my daughter in Uganda a Christmas card with origami snowflakes that I made for her. I can’t wait to send my next letter so I can use some of your new ideas.
Carolyn, I’m curiours about the origami snowflakes. Are you talking about the type we all made as children where you fold the paper in several folds then start cutting out sections? If so, I can do that. But if it’s something different, is there a place for instrutions? I only know of folded origami that’s dimensional, which is not my forte’.
That is a darling idea — I’m always looking for something cute to put in my kids’ Christmas cards. Thanks for sharing that!
We just got a correspondence child from Colombia. How far ahead do we need to send cards/paper gifts for holidays? I know it’s too late for Christmas, but I was thinking about Valentine’s Day. We sponsor two girls in the Dominican Republic and I usually allow two months – is that about right? We never really know when the girls get the things we send so we’re never sure we sent it on time!
Hi Ann — I usually use 3 months as a rule of thumb.
It can take slightly longer if the child is in a very remote location. (Someone mentioned it routinely took 3-5 months for their chid in Indonesia.)
With your kids being in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, I think 2-3 months would be just about right.
Thanks Lisa!
I’ll work on getting the Valentine packets together this next week.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
I have a question of someone who works for Compassion.
I would like to send my guy in Uganda some paper and instructions for making a paper craft. But what are the chances that the young boy has glue and scissors at the school that he can use to make it?
Dorothy, I have the same question, only from months ago. Have no idea if they may have these items at home, or must use the school’s. I have offered to send money for her father to buy them but have not heard anything back. It may just be too unimportant for the poverty levels our children are living in. Probably, shoes or pants or more food, would be higher on the want list. I really do not know, however, I will be watching for some response for this inquiry.
Shari
Dorothy and Shari — I don’t work for Compassion but am a long-time reader of the blog. Over the years, I’ve seen photos of Compassion centers where it DOES look like they supply things like glue, scissors, etc. (They look a bit like classrooms.) And I do remember one year that my Compassion child in Ethiopia purchased colored pencils with a birthday gift I sent. (And he was living in quite a remote village at that time.) So I tend to say, yes, they will have access to glue, scissors, etc.
One idea I wanted to share — I’ve recently learned that sponsors can make a donation to their child’s Compassion center. You could make a donation and ask that it go toward stocking your child’s center with things like scissors, glue, colored papers, etc.
For anyone who’s interested in that type of a donation, you can call Compassion’s customer care line — (800) 336-7676. The full amount goes to the Compassion center of your choice.
Thank you very much. I didn’t know about donating to the child’s compassion center.
Have the rules changed about sending thin, paperback books? Earlier this year I had sent one and it went through. My little girl loved it. But now I see books are on the ‘do not send’ list. Pity.
I think it’s all about the binding. If the thin, paperback item has only a few staples as binding, or a slight bit of adhesive, it’s considered a “paper document” and will go through. (It’s essentially just pieces of paper folded in half and secured.)
If it has a thick binding or an actual book-binding it’s considered a “book” and won’t go through.
Of course, it has to fit the length, width and thickness rules.
Dover booklets will go through.
Hi Maureen,
Yes, we send paper items to the siblings of our Compassion children. I put their items in separate manila envelopes with each of their names on the outside of the envelope and write that they are the sister or brother of our child and put our child’s name and number on the outside of each envelope. I also tape a copy of the bar code for our child on the outside of each letter to help those working in the mail room. You can find the bar code on the blank stationery that Compassion sends us to write our letters on. I use a copy machine to make extra copies so that I have plenty to use and tape one to the outside of each envelope. I then put all of the envelopes together in a Tyvek envelope or a Priority Mail Flat Rate Box to mail them to Compassion. I use whichever is less expensive to send, according upon the weight. You can get the Tyvek envelopes and the Flat Rates boxes at the Post Office for free. All you need to do is ask for them!
I send extra pictures,stickers, and coloring pictures to my little gire for her brother and ask her to share with him. Therefoe teaching her to share also.
Somewhere I read about sending items to a sponsored child’s brothers and sisters but can’t find it today. Our little girl is through Compassion – anyone know how to go about doing that? Do we send separate envelopes for each child? Same rules apply to each? All in one envelope?? Any help would be appreciated. We can’t send more money but we’d LOVE to send something to each of her 7 brothers and sisters.
are you able to send any plush items like a stuffed animal? or a small key chain with a stuffed animal on it?
Hi Jocelyn — Stuffed animals and keychains won’t go through. Compassion limits items to things that customs considers “paper documents.” They’re looking for flat (or flattish) things made primarily of paper.
If you ever decide to visit your child, you’ll be able to take things like these. Not possible for every sponsor…but wonderful if you can do it!!!
Hi Rebecca,
Our child from Indonesia is older now and just graduated from the Compassion sponsorship program so we no longer sponser her. I was amazed at how long it took for her to receive our letters and for us to receive hers. For Indonesia it takes 3 to 5 months for letters to reach her and for hers to reach us. There have been only a few times where it didn’t take so long. But we need to remember that most of our children are in remote locations, so by the time the letters get to their country and are translated and then delivered to them it takes a lot of time. We’re used to receiving things so quickly in the United States!
For cards, I always write on the inside of the card on the right side under the printed words so that the translators have the entire left side for the translation. You are too late for Christmas, but please send a birthday card as soon as possible. Even if it’s late they will know that you were thinking of them and they love receiving our notes and paper gift items. If your child has siblings you might want to send them some paper gift items in their own separate envelopes also. I always do that so they won’t feel left out. Most families only have one child in the Compassion program, so the siblings don’t have a sponsor and do not receive any letters or gift items.
Compassion asks us to send money for each of our children to receive a Christmas gift from us, so if you have done that your child will get a Christmas gift and will know that it is from you. We can also send money for a birthday gift and a few general gifts throughout the year. We are also allowed to send money for family gifts if we want to bless the child’s family even more.
You can write to your child as many times throughout the year as you would like! Compassion encourages us to write to them! We also sponsor children in other countries and it sometimes takes 3 months for them to receive our letters and for us to receive theirs. I hope this helps!
Our sponsored little boy is from Bolivia and he loves soccer and plays on a team. Last year I sent him a laminated scrapbook page of him playing soccer, the teams name, all sorts of soccer stickers on the page. I scanned stickers of soccer clothes to fit his picture and glued them on, then scanned THAT photo and enlarged it. He loved it. The other item I sent to him and the little girl we sponsor in Kenya was a laminated map of the US (with the world map on the reverse side) that I purchased from Staples. It fit the allowed size and was accepted. I marked where we live (western PA) and when we’ve moved around I tell him where to look on the map. The little boy is older and loved that map, but so did the little girl. Whenever I send cultural items from trips I always encourage the children to share them with their class. It sounds like we all enjoy finding just the right thing for our sponsored children. It such a joy to receive letters from the children and see their growth over the 4 and 5 years we’ve been sponsoring them. They feel like our grandchildren to us.
Super-neat ideas! Love these…
I just received my sponsorship package today. I wanted to send my sponsor child a Christmas card, but I’m wondering how long it would take for it to get to his country (Indonesia) – I don’t know if it will get there in time for Christmas. He also has a birthday coming up in January. Should I send a birthday card now too?
Also, can you send cards and letters anytime you want? And do I include the message inside the card or do I need to write it on a separate paper for translation?
Thanks for any help,
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca — My understanding is, to get something to a child by Christmas, you need to send it no later than the middle to end of October. You can still send him the card, but it will probably arrive after Chistmas. (I’m sure he won’t mind.) 🙂 As for the birthday in January, I would definitely send it now! I think a good rule-of-thumb is to send things about 3 months early — that gives plenty of time for transit, translation, distribution, etc.
You can write a message to the child inside the card — just leave some room for the translator to write his or her translation. And make sure to write your sponsor number and the child’s number on it, (and don’t put your address, phone number anywhere on the card.)
Congrats on sponsoring!!! I’ll bet it was exciting to get your sponsorship packet in the mail!! 🙂
You guys are great with all your ideas and encouragement. I see how it makes me feel having others encourage me, so I can see how it will make the children feel when they get encouraging letters from sponsors.
Judith,
Thank you for your response.
I imagine the children are encouraged just knowing someone is thinking about them and praying for them and their families.
I will also try to look for more sticker activities and maybe send pictures of things/ sites in America instead of just coloring pages.
I am so glad we can come here to encourage each other.
You are right about just a little bit of knowing someone else is thinking about you gives you hope. To them, rats in the fields are just a part of farming life.
As a post script the above sponsored child is not my Compassion sponsored child. I sponsor 3 children through 3 different organizations, but hers does not have a sponsor community to discuss things like this.
I am very grateful for the Compassion blog to bounce letter ideas off each other
I just received my first letter from my sponsored child (her older sister actually). She wrote that there are actually SIX sisters in the family, my child being the 5th child. I have seen posts about sending additional items: coloring pages and such for sibs, which I will of course do. If I write letters to the siblings will those be translated as well or should I just send greetings to all in one letter?
Also, she writes they are all healthy and fine but at this time they are not harvesting due to a flood and rats eating their crops. HOW DO I RESPOND TO THAT WITH A PAPER COLORING PAGE???? Do they even have crayons?? Do they care about coloring and paper when there are RATS eating their crops??
Hi Becky — I think your letters will be so very important to this child! I think it’s sweet that you’re sending along some extra items for the siblings. That is really thoughtful.
I also wanted to suggest doing a family gift — or a special monetary gift just for the siblings. At Compassion, you can send monetary gifts and the full amount goes to the family — not sure how things are set up with the organization you’re sponsoring through. Each year, around the time we send our birthday gift to our child, we also send a $30 gift and ask that it be used to buy something for the siblings. That’s how we’ve kept them included.
Just an idea!
God bless you for sponsoring!!! 🙂
Great advice from Judith! You can show/write about your compassion. Just knowing you care and are praying for them will be a huge comfort. Plus a letter and anything you send will take their mind off their situation, if only for a short time. It’ll be therapeutic for them. You could make a connection with the story of Noah’s Ark and how God took care of them. Just a thought.
Are you aware that you can check the websight and read about crisis’ updates in general and more importantly what is happening in all the individual countrie tha Compassion Serves. From the homepage, click on the links at the left – “Crisis Updates” and “Country News”.
Wow. That’s a tough letter to respond to.
My first letter from my boy was written by his parents, saying he had recently been sick with typhus. A disease that in the western world is practically unheard of. I responded by saying I was praying for complete healing, and continued good health for him and his family.
In your case, your child’s family is facing another aspect of poverty we often don’t think about (okay, flooding or drought we can understand, but rats??).
True, a coloring page won’t fix their problem. But maybe it’ll be a glimpse of hope in an otherwise hopeless world for your girl and her sisters. (Chances are they have colors at the student center, btw…or you could send stickers.)
I read a book just yesterday about a pilot during WWII who helped fly food and other supplies into Berlin after the Soviet blockade. Gail Halvorsen, aka “Uncle Wiggly Wings” (after the motion he made with the wings of his plane, so kids would know it was him) would drop little parachutes with candy attached for the children, even though we might say they needed food more, or to live in a peaceful environment. “The candy dropped by Col. Halvorsen did not just represent a sweet treat, it provided hope for the children of East Berlin. It also showed that someone cared enough to bring a little joy to them. The children explained to Halvorsen that they could go without food for a bit, but if they lost their freedom they may never get it back. So, using a handkercheif parachute with candy attached, Col. Halvorsen provided the children with a bit of hope of freedom they needed to survive.”
Just like the candy didn’t meet the immediate need of food, your stickers and coloring sheets won’t keep the rats away. However, your prayers and letters of encouragement will help them bear up under the burden of struggling to survive in circumstances we can’t imagine. Even if you decide to hold off on the coloring sheets for a while, definitely write back and let her know you’re praying for her and her family.
Hi Stephanie,
Compassion always writes us a letter to let us know if an item we sent was not allowed to go through. They ask us to contact them within 2 weeks if we would like the item returned to us and if not they will donate it to a charity in their area.
I have received pictures from my child that the project staff has taken showing my child holding up the items that I sent. That’s how I know that my child has received the items. Not all projects are fortunate enough to have a camera and a way to develop the pictures, but a couple of mine do. I hope this helps! Blessings!
I have a question. Many of you ask if you are allowed to send a certain item, such as a musical card, etc. The responses sometimes say, “I have never had a problem… what I send goes through.” HOW DO YOU KNOW if what you sent goes? How do you know if your package is too thick or if you are sending something that won’t go through? I try to go by the guidelines, but sometimes I’m wondering if my envelope is a little thick …. would we ever find out if something we sent didn’t go through?
Hi Stephanie… Don’t worry! If something of yours doesn’t fit in the requirements, you will get a phone call or an email asking if you want the item returned to you or if you would like them to donate it to a local charity. In almost three years I have had two items rejected. Both times I was notified by email. So if you haven’t heard anything, then your items were just fine!!! 🙂
Hi Stephanie — If something you send won’t go through, Compassion will contact you and make arrangements to either send the item back to you or donate it locally.
So you will get an explanation as to why it can’t be sent — too large, materials that can’t be sent, etc.
If you’ve not been contacted, then everything you’ve sent has been okay. 🙂
@Stephanie, YES Compassion will comtact you (usually by email) if something you sent can not be mailed to your child. They will give you the option to call them if you want them to mail it back to you or if you would like them to donate it somewhere.
I’ve had them do this a couple times to me with in 2 weeks from when I mailed it so you will always know if it is not sent to you child.
I bought one of those musical cards for my child’s birthday. He pushes these little plastic pegs inside the card and it makes some cows moo different melodies. Will this go through customs? Sure hoping! It is under 1/4″ thickness…..
Hi Kitri — I’ve sent musical cards numerous times and have never had a problem.
I have noticed that some of the musical cards are getting rather thick — so I guess it is important to check that it’s not exceeding the 1/4″ thickness rule.
To explain: Vicki has told me how to use clear contact paper for covering pictures and other things. This is my reply to her.
Shari
VICKI..bought it today. Yikes, sorta expensive isn’t it/ $4.99 for a roll….but I really do not care, this will be great fun. I may even send some out to my girls to use for themselves.
Thanks for the idea Vicki, I have a lot of ideas swirling around.
Shari
Not yet Vicki. I look forward to doing this big time! I have a lot of pictures on my Kodak Easy Share site in albums that I print for my girls. Animals and people, so this will be wonderful for them ! (and me)
Whilst here, opinions requested for sending pictures of my house, or my patio which is SHARIVILLE where I feed and care for a lot of animals. Thought I read somewhere, not to send too many pictures of all our fancy stuff to the kids being considerate of them having nothing.
Thanks, Shari
I sent my child baseball and football cards in a letter.
I have recieved a few letters since them but there was nothing said about recieving the cards. If you do not send them to the children do you let the sender know?
Thank you…
Thanks for your question, Chuck! Yes, if we do not send an item, we will contact the sponsor. They have the choice of letting us donate the item to a local charity, or we will mail it back to them. It’s possible that the letter you received and the letter you sent crossed in the mail. Please wait 5-6 months for a response to that specific letter. Thanks again. – Darren
Someone above mentioned sending thin books, but later the “don’t send” list says books and booklets cannot be sent. So, what about very thin coloring books or sticker books? Is there a problem with them, and if so, can the individual pages be cut and sent? What’s the difference?
Hi Lois — If the booklet is simply paper secured with staples or a small bit of adhesive, it will go through. It’s considered a PAPER DOCUMENT.
If the booklet has a thick binding or an actual bookbinding it’s considered a BOOK and won’t go through.
My understanding is, Compassion sends only things that customs considers a “paper document.”
When you send packages that contain something other than paper documents — for example foam, cloth, books, etc. — you have to start filling out customs forms for these items, your packages will be opened and examined by customs in the receiving country — slowing down the process, increasing the chances that something will be lost or stolen, etc.
If you do send something to Compassion that can’t be sent to your sponsored child, Compassion will either mail it back to you — or better yet they can donate it to an organization in their area — so it still gets to a child in need.
Hi Stephanie,
I put my Compassion childs items in a large manila envelope and then I put that envelope in a larger tyvek envelope to send it to Compassion. Compassion then keeps all of the items in the large manila envelope and sends that envelope to my child. They have never repackaged my items when I send them in the larger manila envelope. They just discard the tyvek envelope that I’ve mailed it in. I’ve never used the bubble envelopes. You can request the tyvek envelopes at any Post Office and they give them to you for free. Hope this helps!
Thanks… I can’t believe I didn’t think of this!
I have a question about packages… I know the guidelines say that the packages must be no larger than 8 x 11 and 1/4 inch thick. Do most of you send packages in bubble manilla envelopes or just regular manilla envelopes. The bubble ones would certainly hold up better, but you could get more stuff in the plain ones. Does it matter? Don’t they take it all apart and repackage it in Colorado anyway?
Stephanie,
Whatever envelope/packaging you send to Colorado will be discarded, simply because it has your address on it, and that information is never released to your child. Just like you don’t have your child’s mailing address.
I have heard that some people will put things in a manila envelope, and then combine several envelopes in a flat rate box to ship to Compassion (when writing to multiple children simultaneously); only in that instance will the envelope need to fit certain requirements…and chances are that if it doesn’t meet requirements, folks at the correspondence office would repackage things to be mailed.
Hi Bev,
I did see your question and then didn’t have a few minutes to respond at that moment. I’m a sponsor too and I’m sorry that you feel like you aren’t being heard!
I have sent many bags to my Compassion kids. Some have had the raffia handles and I fold back the handles so the bag will fit in the manila envelope that I send them in. I have never had a problem with them not being sent since the raffia handles are made of paper. Other bags that I have sent have ribbon handles and the ribbons need to be taken off. So I take them off and tuck them inside the bag bottom where you can’t see them when the bag is folded flat. (You can’t see them when you open the bag to peek in either.) As far as I know, the ribbon handles are sent with the bags. I hope this answers your question!
Bev, perhaps you are just not waiting long enough to see your comments appear. I subscribe to this site and get notifications of new postings. I have seen yours several times…. and the one on raffia handles is just 5 or 6 comments above this one. My guess on the raffia handles is that they would not be allowed. But I’m not an official anything, so that is just my guess. Has anybody else sent bags like this and had them go through or be rejected? Also, Bev, have you checked out OurCompassion.org? There’s a great group of sponsors that are regulars there and they usually answer questions pretty quickly.
Linda, I checked with Compassion customer care — the paper bags with raffia handles will go through. (Of course, they can’t exceed the size limit of 8 1/2″ x 11″.)
Yes, I saw your comment to Bev. Sometimes it’s good to be wrong! 🙂
http://www.fathersloveletter.com/ This has a place to print out the Father’s Love Letter in many, many languages.
I have also been working on a series of Devotionals that you can print out and send to your children on my blog.
Google Translate at:
http://translate.google.com/#en|es|
Translates into over 50 languages.
You choose from down-down boxes from what language to what language. Then you type what you what translated in the left box and the translation comes up in the right box. You can copy and paste and even listen to it pronounced. I use this often in my correspondence to my sponsored kids.
If you sponsor children speak/read Spanish than the below sites would be great
\http://sermons4kids.com/
http://sermons4kids.com/mensajes_para_ninos.htm
They have a kid’s sermon every week, with corresponding coloring page, puzzles (decoder, word search and crossword) and a children bulletin All these are available to print in either English or Spanish.
Thank you! Thank you!
I see stickers are allowed but how about dimensional or puffy stickers? There are so many beautiful and fun ones????
I checked with a customer care rep. It sounds like the issue is whether they’re foam or not. Foam will not go through. But if they are made of paper, they will go through. (As long as they don’t exceed the allowable thickness of 1/4″.)
I keep seeing very cute paper bags with twisted raffia handles. Could those be sent, or would I have to cut off the handles?
Bev, I checked with a rep from Compassion’s customer care — those bags are okay and will go through. No need to cut off the handles.
Vicki….where to buy clear contact paper? I don’t think I have ever seen it, however, that would be perfect for me, as I make pressed flower cards and pictures as a hobby and cannot send any of them. This would be wonderful. Thanking in advance for any information you may have.
Shari
Shari,
Did you find the contact paper yet? It’s sold in most any “all purpose” store – Walmart, K-Mart, etc. It’s located in with the rolls of shelf lining in the kitchen supplies area Be careful to check the roll – there is also a clear one that is textured which you don’t want. Some tips: I cover both sides of the item and then cut it out leaving like an eighth to quarter inch border so it’s completely enclosed. Sometimes without the border, it doesn’t stay sealed. I haven’t tested out just covering one side of a page to see how long it stayed in nice condition. It would all depend on the item I guess. A picture could probably be covered on the front only since it’s not handled as much as a playing piece in a game. Have fun! You’ll be “laminating” everything in site!
P.S. It’s great for preserving newspaper articles!
Shari.. I’ve seen clear contact paper at Ace Hardware, at least in our area. I would think WalMart would have it too.
thank you for the information. Many pictures could be covered this way, and a little album made for them. I am happy.!
Shari
I just wanted to share a website if you’re not already aware of it – http://www.dltk-cards.com You can create and print out all kinds of items such as bookmarks, certificates, greeting cards, memory cards,etc. I printed out very colorful picture Bingo cards for my 6 yr. old child in El Salvador. Then I “laminated” them using clear contact paper. I did a “Jesus Bingo” and a “Santa Bingo” for Christmas. I’m going to try one of ‘common objects” bingos and try putting the Spanish and English word on each playing piece that gets turned over (instead of calling numbers). I’m also going to print out the dominos at some point for my child and her sister to play. Check out the website. You’ll be glad you did!
Thanks so much for sharing Vicki! This site is wonderful and I have added it to my “favorites” for future use. I’m anxious to get some contact paper to laminate my “Accomplishment Chart” I just made for 1 of my children. God’s Blessings!
Vicki, thanks for sharing this. The site is phenomenal!! Love it for Compassion stuff — and for my homeschooler.
That is a great sie. Thanks Vicki
Thanks Lisa. I had seen that list before, but wasn’t sure because I had heard of someone having trouble sending laminated leaves (it wasn’t through Compassion; she was just mailing them to a friend living overseas). I’m from New England, where it’s pretty-leaf season (or was a few weeks ago, anyway) and it’s great to know I can share some of the beauty! 🙂
And just to be thorough, here’s what’s on the CAN’T send list:
We cannot send any metal (including jewelry, ornaments and magnets), perishable items (gum, candy, flower seeds), or any larger items (soccer balls, clothes).
Unfortunately, we can also no longer send the following:
balloons
books and booklets
CD’s/DVD’s
ceramics or glass
cloth items
elastic hair bands
foam crafts
plastic
plastic rulers
ribbons
stencils
tassels
Is it still the case that laminated flowers and leaves can be sent successfully? Natural things like plants or parts of plants are object non grata at customs… and, they’re not technically paper items; in fact with the lamination I wonder if they would be considered more of a plastic item. Any thoughts?
Hi Sharon — You CAN send laminated flowers and leaves. It’s on the list, updated Sept. 13, 2010. 🙂
ITEMS THAT CAN BE SENT
Band-Aids
Baseball and football cards
Bookmarks
Calendars, smaller than 8-1/2″ x 11″
Construction paper
Greeting cards
Laminated flowers and leaves
Magazine pages only, less than 1/4″ thick
Origami
Pages from coloring books
Pages from watercolor paint books (may not send paint brushes)
Paper dolls
Photos of you and your family
Postcards
Scrapbook paper
Scripture cards
Small posters
Stamps
Stickers
I just got a good idea from the Christmas Card Drive post…the one where Compassion is partnering with DaySpring to send cards to kids in Ecuador.
Over at DaySpring they have a section where you can design your own card. Some of the cards have three boxes on the front where you can put photos. I just got my 3rd photo of my child — the first taken when he was 6 years old, the next when he was 8 years old, and the last at 10 years old. I’m going to scan them and put them in the boxes on the front of the card — so he can see how he’s changed over the years.
Here’s the link to the Studio DaySpring page:
http://www.studiodayspring.com/templates/21/U-Design/1/
I like the idea of a popup card and stickers. Great ideas!
THANK YOU EVERYBODY !
I have received wonderful information.
We sent nativity stickers and thin ornaments from Oriental Trading with Christian motifs this year. The Dollar General stores have very thin books called Baby Jesus is Born for $1, which also are able to be sent.
Last year, we printed nativity coloring sheets for our children and sent those with Christmas cards. We sent the Dollar General Christmas books to the five kids we had last year. This year, we only sent them for our two newest additions.
Time is sort of running short for getting Christmas things to our kids on time, though. Delivery times to most projects is 2-3 months.
Shari,
Oriental Trading Company has navity stickers and make your own nativity scene sets. Family Christian has good cards (some with pop out crosses) and some flat Christ-centered bookmarks, etc…
Christian book.com has more good stuff.
Some catalog companies have small advent calendars that fit mailing restrictions.
Often, local retailers are not going to have Christian holiday items so you might need to go to these other sources. Their items are fairly inexpensive and shipping is sometimes free or else usually not too prohibitive either.
I found some small paper bags with cool designs that I am planning on sending. One has snowflakes, the other holly leafs. I thought it would be another storage idea for my kid to keep her stuff in.
Lindsey and others, Have you realized there is relatively small amounts of anything with a faith motif? I am sick of Santas and tiny animals, etc. If anyone does find Christmas items to send to our children, PLEASE tell me about them. It is HIS birthday….why so little merchandise available to celebrate ?
The star of Bethlehem could be hand made, however, I am not good enough to draw a manger scene. Any ideas?
Shari,
Websites for free coloring pages are a great source. You can also find mazes, connect the dots and other activity pages. Just search google for “free coloring pages”. I happened across one site for bingo games. I printed off the bingo cards and then the indiviual pictures (instead of calling numbers), “laminated” (clear contact paper) everything and sent those. One was “Jesus Bingo” and the oher was “Santa Bingo”. I think you might even be able to create your own bingo games.
http://www.dltk-cards.com/bingo
There also are sites (maybe that same one) where you can create your own personalized word finds and crossword puzzles. Just search google. Knowing the internet, I bet you could even get them made in other languages.
P.S. The first Hallmark store I tried (this was in early Oct.) did have Advent calendars. (Annapolis, MD)
Shari, go online and google “printable nativity” I found at least three cute, FREE, nativity scenes that you can print out on cardstock and your kids can color and cut out. Some of them are made so that you can tape or glue them and they will stand up.
Shari,
I search ebay a lot. I don’t always find stuff but I have found some nice Christian bookmarks, and I just recently bought little cards with a cute picture and memory verses on them. I also bought some Christian stickers that show kids praying. I don’t have a Christian bookstore thats very close, so this is the best/easiest way for me to find Christian items.
I was a little frustrated though when I looked in local stores at the wrapping paper and it was all santa, and reindeer, etc. I heard about someone else sending some and I thought it was a nice idea but the closest thing I could find that didn’t involve santa was snowmen so I nixed that idea.
Shari: Oriental trading’s catalog has some good ideas. I got a package of stickers of the nativity scene. It contains 12 sheets so I took out for my girl and her brother and gave the rest to a childrens class at church. Check out O/T web site they are low priced also.
Shari, I found Nativity stickers at Michael’s that were really cute. Another idea is to try a Christian bookstore, they should have Jesus focused Christmas items!
I don’t know if this is the kind of something that you want but Dover Publisher and Current catalog both have nativity items.
Plain white ones would be neat, too. We could decorate them with colored Sharpies. I can’t wait to go and see if I can find some!
The ones I found that are just plain white I actually got at Walmart in the craft/fabric area where they have the candy making supplies.
Becky and Michelle-
I found similar boxes at AC Moore. They had a bunch of different designs, most of them more for females than males, but they weren’t holiday specific. They come in two different sizes and there were one and two packs. I bought a red striped one for my fathers child and a flower design for my girl. I liked the idea of them having a box to put their stuff in.
Becky, I came across some neat pop-up boxes yesterday, but they all had Santa on them and I don’t agree with sending Santa stuff to our kids. (If they learn about a man that brings gifts to good little boys and girls, yet he doesn’t visit them, how would they feel?) I’ll have to keep an eye out for some with other designs. Great idea!!
Every store I go in now I look for FLAT things to send. I was in the thrift store and they had a ton of empty mini photo albums. The pages can be separated out individually and have things slid into the pockets. Some even had a space to write descriptions. In the craft store, in the candy making section, they had flat boxes people use for candy. They just unfold and “pop” into a box. I thought I could decorate it and fold it back flat to send. If anybody has JoAnnes Fabrics near them they had these cute little pads of Paper folding things. They had animals, ladybugs, and paper airplanes with stickers included. They also had one that made bracelets/necklaces. If anybody remembers folding gum papers and linking them together to make chains, this is what it was.
is there a reason wht I can’t scan and print off copies of the envelope the org. send us then tape the copies to the larger envelope. That way the bar code is on it also. Thanks for all the tips I get here
I buy “sticky paper” (plain paper with adhesive backing) and run off my own labels. I keep a set for each of our children, and also a page of Compassion correspondence address. So easy just to cut a label when you want one! If you’re clever you can even add a bar code to your personalized labels.
Rachel….cannot locate your email on here about the labels, however, go to VistaPrint…here is the info
http://www.vistaprint.com
they have great deals…currently offering free items…
I even had a COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL address label printed. The child’s label is great to put on everything, and send some to the child also. You pick your label design and writing. Very pleased with them.
Shari
I’m starting a new series on my blog of Devotions to send to our children. I choose a topic, then I add a Bible verse, a paragraph to explain the topic and a prayer for the child. Today I posted one on sharing. I have lots of ideas rolling around in my head and hope to add at least one Devotion to my blog every week. 🙂
THANKS !! I appricate all the ideas I have read here.
can anyone tell me how the e. mail is sent and is it faster then regular mail? I try to send an e. mail between the other ones and was wondering how long it takes to get to her?
The email is forwarded to the head office in your child’s country where it is printed, translated, and then delivered to the project. Sending it by email takes about two weeks off the normal process.
Was wondering can we send whole coloring books. The real thin ones with like 19 pages.. it is 8″ by 10-1/2 way less than the thickness required.
the guidelines have recently changed and as of now, Compassion is asking that we only send pages from coloring books and magazines.
The “no books or booklets” has been on the list for months, but I am hearing that flimsy, thin books do go through. Like Judith said, they’re pretty much the same as sending a stack of paper. They cannot have stiff covers or real bindings, just staples.
As far as I know, you can send coloring books if they meet the dimensions. If they’re thin/flimsy enough, it’d be just like sending a stack of papers in an envelope, which would still get through customs under the general label “documents” (which I’ve heard is how they’re declared on customs forms…another reason for all the “can’t send”s).
I’ve sent one through before, and didn’t have a problem with it going through.
I bought a child’s jigsaw puzzle (about 20-2 inch pieces) and I include a couple of pieces in each letter. I told my sponsor child to keep them in a safe place and each time he receives new pieces he can connect them to the ones he already has. I think it will be fun for him as it becomes more complete and he can start guessing as to what the picture is. But just between us, it’s a baby giraffe.
We just added two more girls to our compassion family. What do you send to girls ages 16 and 17? Our first two are 9 and 12, but I”m not sure that coloring pages will appeal to these young ladies? Any advice? They are from Indonesia and Ecuador. Thanks!
photo’s of the family is always a great idea. Pages from magazines are always fun. Postcards and scripture cards are always fun. Ask if they have a favorite soccer team. i had an older boy in Uganda once and he had a soccer team that he loved.i went online and found banners and pictures of his team and sent them to him.
Hi, anybody ever send a set of Go Fish cards? I bought some but need some advice on how to send them.
would anybody be able to explain why there is so much time regarding the transport from Colorado to where ever, then a reply back to us? Is the work done in our countries done by volunteers also? Is anything transported by plane or is that too expensive for Compassion to finance? Just wondering…..possibly an explanation could ease our dismay. And, there is nothing we can do about this but keep going as God would want us to.
Shari, your letters go to colorado and are scanned in and sorted by country. The letters for one country are then packed up and made ready to ship. They may be in Colorado 1-2 weeks, they process 60,000 to 100,000 letters per month! The packages may take up to several weeks to get through customs, depending on several factors. They are shipped to the country’s Field Office. There, they are scanned into the system and wait for translation. Depending on how many letters are waiting, this step could take a few weeks, Then they are ready to travel to the projects. Some of the projects are far from the Country Field Office and may travel by car, boat, donkey or walking carrier. Again, this could take several weeks. When you add up all of the necessary stops along the way, you can easily see why this venture takes a while.
We are so used to instant gratification, sometimes it is hard to understand that some things just take time. Now, why are you dismayed? Just because of wait times? I would suggest taking the perspective that we are doing this for the chldren and not for ourselves. Keep writing faithfully and often. You are making a HUGE difference for your child.
If you want more mail, maybe you could look into signing up for some correspondent children. We have 2 sponsored kids and 4 correspondents and we write at least twice a month. With all of those factors combined, we get 4-10 letters per month.
What are you all sending for Christmas? We need to get those Christmas packages out soon if they are going to arrive in time!
I posted many ideas on my blog, but finally decided to go with the Nativity scenes from Oriental Trading as well as ornaments to color and scratch-color angels. Bertille, our newest child, will also get a copy of The Baby Jesus is Born book from the Dollar General. Our other 5 kids got those last year.
Cute ideas! And I love your blog. I’ve always done a musical Christmas card and sent a family pic. I think you’ve inspired me to get more creative this year. 🙂
Michelle, thanks for the tips about the scratch & color angels. I had missed those while browsing the website. Will you color them yourself? I don’t guess the wooden tool included would fit mailing requirements. How will you explain to them what to do? Thanks!
I will tell them to use a stick from outdoors to scratch off the white. 🙂
Paper Pocket Folder guidelines: I just chatted online with compassion. The person I “spoke” to said please keep folders within the guidelines 8 1//2 by 11 and 1/4 inch thick. If folders are are getting through that are larger- it has been an oversight. So I guess I’ll keep trimming….
I am so surprised to hear about all the cutting and folding of pocket folders! I always send them to my Compassion children and their siblings and I’ve never done that! I put them in the 10×13 manila envelopes and I have never had a problem. I even have pictures that my children have sent to me showing them holding the folders to show me that they received them. Compassion has never told me that there is a problem and I have sent the folders to them for years now. I think the thickness is more important than an envelope that is 1/2 inch larger. I didn’t think to cut or fold the pocket folders because I didn’t want to ruin them before sending them to my children!
I heard from someone who works in the mailroom, folders WILL go through even though they are a little bigger than the mailing requirements.
Feel free to check out my blog where I share a lot of letter writing ideas and tips! (Click on my name to go there!)
I have sent folders several times without cutting them. But, what I do is fold them in half so they are now 9″x6″ instead of 9″x12″. I put a rubber band around them to keep them folded (a paper clip might do) and they are less than 1/4″ thick and easy to insert in a 9″x12″ envelope, also. No cutting or mess.
I just got my packet and the max thickness is now 1/8″?????
Oh I knew that I had read that somewhere too!
If that is the case I guess we have to send double the amount of letters 🙂
But I hope it is not!
no it’s still 1/4″ thick, no worries there 🙂
Donna, it does seem like the standard folders are all made larger than 8/12 x 11.
One option is to buy the colored paper/cardstock folders and cut them down to size. You cut the top and the right hand side. And then staple the pocket.
We did this for my daughter’s homeschool art class. We made art folders and keep art samples in them. They are really cute.
I’ll post some pics of what they look like on my blog. Just click on my name, to the left, and take a look.
Oh good grief, why didn’ t I think about trimming them? thanks for your prompt reply and the link to your pictures too. How cute! I’m so thankful for this part of the blog. I’m learning a lot.
I’m so excited that we can send folder!!!!!!!
For Christmas I am thinging about getting some nativity rapping paper and folding up to put in the folder forthem to decorate or wrap things in, I am also making some paper ornement cut outs, about 3-4 blank cards for them to write in to give to family/friends, going to make some paper snowflakes, and a sheet of paper with the outline of a wreath for them and thier siblings to draw, I also foundthis website that has great paper christmas crafts (i am going to send several of the stand up stars and tell them how to make them). ofcourse i cant send all of this at once but will try to get it all sent out in the next 2 weeks.
heres that website http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/christmas/
Someone mentioned pocket folders would be a good way to send coloring pages, etc to our children and then an excellent way for them to keep our letters and stickers that we send. I just bought some at our Walmart, but unfortunately they are 9 1/2 x 12 and so they don’t fit the guidelines…do they make these in a smaller version?
I read recently that you can cut them to fit! Welcome to this marvelous group of sponsors. You will learn a great deal here.
Shari
Hi!
I am about to send my first letter! But I have been trying to find information about the tiny gifts.
I am confused since it looks like all the mail is opened, checks taken out but what happens to the (sponsor and child number marked) paper gift?
Is the gift and letter later put in an envelope for the child? Or is it separated?
Am I supposed to put the gift and letter in a separate envelope for the child inside of the main “Colorado” envelope?
Hope you understand the question! I’m just a bit confused how it works!
Smiles,
Annika
Hi Annika:
What I do is I put my paper gifts in a separate envelope, with just my name & sponsor number and child name & number on the front.
Compassion will send the entire envelope and its contents to your child. (envelope must be 8 1/2″ x 11″ or smaller). If there is a letter, they will attach it to the envelope and it will go with the gifts. (The letter should have your sponsor name/number and child name/number on it, too.)
They do recommend labeling everything you send with the child number, when possible. On the off chance that something does get separated, they can then reroute it back to your child.
Hope this helps!
Thank you Lisa it does help a lot!
Just nervous about the little things getting lost… And do not want to state in a letter about a specific little paper gift and it wont be there! That would be horrible!
I guess it is the same with photographs, as long as you mark them with the numbers they will get to the child together with the letter in the end?
All my best to you!
I know what you mean! Knowing that these letters go halfway around the world, it’s kind of amazing that things do generally stay together and arrive safe and sound at our kids’ Compassion centers. 🙂 Compassion does seem to have an excellent system and everyone along the way seems really dedicated to the process.
Do the translators use other stationary to write the translation on? I was just thinking about it and realized that I don’t leave space on my letters for the translation. I had been trimming around my letters with the scissors that cut out designs. I am hoping that my child has been receiving my letters with no problems.
Hi Robin — That is such a good topic you bring up!! I haven’t seen it addressed on this thread yet.
When I send my letters I always include a space for the translators to write their translation, (similar to how the Compassion stationery is designed — I’ll leave half a page blank .) It’s probably a good idea, going forward, to do that — to make things easier for the translator.
That said, I’m sure your letters went through just fine. The translator may have written the translation in between the lines or on the back of the page.
I copied my children’s number and name as well as my name and number onto labels and put them on everything I send even if they are all in one envelope – stickers, pictures, letters. I have not had a problem but now I wonder if it slows it down because it does not have the bar code? I guess I could just scan the bar codes and make labels. I cannot imagine doing the processing of all the mail so God bless those that help out in the mail room.
It sounds like you ahve a great system down! when your letter gets to the mail room the workers will take all of the attachments (stickers/photos/etc..) and place them into a plain white envelope. The envelope will be labled with your child’s number and then stapled to your letter. The only part of your letter that gets scanned is the letter itself. If you have the barcode on your letter it will go through quickly.
I am so excited I just finished putting together my first gift package for Alexis. I got Christian book markers and I took off the tassel. I got stickers, and I sent sports wrapping paper. Pictures of our familiy and tissue paper. I bought a birthday card and I translated it. DId you know that you can use google translate to translate things.
I have some spanish so I new how to write some of it but not all so I used google translate and it worked perfect.
Thanks, for everyones great idea.
I was told in training that Compassion would rather we not translate into the children’s native language. The reason is that the staff in Colorado reads everything to make sure that nothing inappropriate or culturally sensitive is included. Your letter may have to sit around until they are able to translate it to English to be sure it is appropriate. Just a tip that may help you in the future.
When I end a note for our children that speak spanish with “Con Amor” I also put the english phrase in parenthesis.
I’m surprised to read that. No one has ever mentioned that to me. I’m bilingual, and I write all my letters in Spanish to my child in Peru. I had no idea that it could be delaying his letters! 🙁 I will call the Compassion office tomorrow to ask about this. I just know that there are many times that what my child has written in Spanish is not accurately translated to English. So I worry that if I wrote to him in English, that maybe it would not be properly translated to Spanish.
What a cool package! Your child will love it! 🙂
National Geographic magazines….old ones, are great to cut out animals and other things, especially for BOYS ! Attach a short note on the back of each picture telling name of animal and country it lives in, etc. I did see some ferocious pictures I would NOT send.
Put a hole in the left corner of each, tied them together with a cover paper saying ANIMALS, JUST FOR _____________name of your child there.
Hi: Thanks to all of you I Iearn some thing new every day. I just read that having the bar code on each envelope makes someones job easier. Is it alrighr to scan one of thier envelopes and then print it on a larger envelope? If not what do you recomend as a way to get the bar code on other envelopes. Thank you for all the information. God Bless
The only barcode that is used is the one that comes at the top of the letter forms you receive with the letters from your child. If you make coppies of that barcode (with the names and numbers next to it) you can print that at the top of any kind of paper that you want to use for your letter.
If you don’t have a copy of the barcode, you need to put your child’s name and number as well as your name and number at the top of the letter.
It would be great if Compassion would make just the bar code label available for download. We could print them off on sticker labels and put them on everything.
Sara,
Thank you! I will make sure that I have the bar code on the front of each envelope from now on. Anything to make things a little easier and quicker for processing is great.
Thank you for volunteering in the mail room! What would we do without those of you who volunteer? Thanks for all of your time and hard work. We really appreciate you!
Shari,
Every time I receive a letter from my child there is a sheet of stationery included that Compassion sends to me. It is for me to use when writing back to my child. The stationery has the bar codes on it along with my name and sponsor number and my childs name and number. I think I’ve read somewhere in this blog that we can go to the Compassion website and download a copy of the stationery with the bar codes.
Can anyone verify that? Thank you!
Yes, the stationary is available on the Compassion Website, but I don’t see any bar code on the downloadable stationary. It is on the new stationary sheets that come with each letter from the child, however. I’d never noticed them before, so thankyou for mentioning them. Is the barcode different for each child? I write to 6 different children. Would it be helpful if I copied the bar code on my copy machine and pasted it onto the sheets I download from the website? If so, should I make sure they are from the child I am writing to?
If you copy the barcode go ahead and copy the names and id numbers that are next to the barcode as well. This will help you keep track of the children’s barcodes.
You can download the stationary here: https://www.compassion.com/account/FR421_Letterform.pdf
**But it does not have the barcode on it.
While using the barcode copy does save a few minutes, if is more important that your child hears from you. You can print of this stationary, or just use your own stationary/computer paper/cards making sure to include BOTH your name and number and the child’s name and number as well as a space for translation.
Gail, where do I get this stationary with bar codes on them?
Seems like a great idea to take a little extra time to use them.
Thank you Gail.
s
Why no books? I have a small book that is less than 1/4 thick. It is a mini Bible. I am so excited to send things to my son in El Salvador. I just realized you ccould send things to them
Most likely it wont go through. books are on the list of not being able to be sent. It’s not just the size less than 1/4 in thick, but something that changes the shape of the envelope.
Hi Cheryl — I think it depends on the binding. I’ve sent booklets with just a few pages and three staples as binding and they’ve gone through. (The little mini-Dover booklets.) But if it has a more substantial binding, I’ve heard it won’t go through. I think it has to do with customs rules — sending “documents” vs. books. You can certainly try to send the mini-Bible — if it doesn’t go through, Compassion will contact you and either donate it locally or send it back.
Lindsey,
I’ve only found three sizes of manila envelopes: 6.5 x 9.5, 9 x 12, and 10 x 13. I have used all 3 sizes in the past and they have always been sent to my Compassion children. I think the thickness of the envelope is more important than the 1/2 to one inch size difference of the envelope. They request that the envelopes be 1/4 thick or less. All I know for sure is that my children receive them and I will continue to send them because I have not had a problem. If you have any question in your mind about the size, please call Compassion and they will let you know what to use.
Recently , purchased Christmas designed wrapping paper to send to my girls. It may make them feel good to be able to give a gift to mom or dad wrapped in Christmas paper, especially with a Jesus birth motif rather than Santa. Also, they are gib enough pieces to hang on walls to put pictures on. That is, if they have glue or tacks of some sort. Also purchased tissue…will send lots of tissue in bright colors and suggest ideas of what to make. (Flowers, ring ropes, twisted ropes.) All of these can make for a cheerful inside the home area for our loved ones. Just take a big piece of tissue and start folding it in any shape that comes to mind, or twist it and knot it by a smaller twist, then continue until you have a swag type decoration. Also, I plan on sending patterns of cut out heavy paper Christmas trees, snowman, stars…all for them to trace and cut and color.
Recently I read where someone sent a picture of her hand traced, and received her child’s hand traced back! How wonderful. We should all do this to hold hands.
Michele,
You asked about using pocket folders to put all of your childs things in. Yes, I have done this for many years. I use the regular size pocket folders that have animals or flowers or graphic designs on the front. My Compassion kids love them! I put the letter and all the stickers, etc. inside the pockets and it makes a nice little package. Those folders only fit in a 10×13 manila envelope, so that’s what I put the folders in. I put my sponsor name and number on the front along with my childs name and number. I then put the manila envelopes in a U.S. Postal Flat Rate Box or a Large Tyvek Priority Mail Envelope to send them to Compassion. I check the weight and use whichever is cheapest to mail. I also send the pocket folders to each of my child’s siblings so they won’t feel left out. They need to know that they are loved too!
I have never had a problem with the 10×13 manila envelopes. They always are sent to my Compassion children. I have even received pictures from the children that show them holding up the manila envelopes after receiving them.
Wouldn’t these be outside the specified size allowed though?
While it seems like they would, I had a mail room employee tell me that she always sends these to her children (she told me this last week). Just make sure that there are no brads or metal in the folder.
Gail- I volunteer in the mail room and that is a great way to send everything because it will get to the child easily. If you are using the stationary with a barcode you could even save one more step by attaching your letters to the outside top left corner of each large envelope (barcode facing out). This would allow each letter/package to be quickly scaned and processed.
I am wondering if SMALL PAPER pocket folders (with out metal rings) can be sent? as long as they fit the size requirements?????
If so this would be great for them to keep our letters and goodies in 🙂
I recently saw boxes in a craft store that you buy flat and they fold together. Would we be able to send these for the children to decorate and keep their treasures in?
What a great idea! I am sure it would be acceptable. They are thin and considered paper to me. Hopefully we can get an answer promptly. Good thinking!!!
Not too sure about different dialects, I would think so. I will ask my friend tomorrow.
Hi Sandy — We’ve always sent an extra monetary gift earmarked for siblings. I think it’s the “Child Gift” category and we include a note saying it’s to be used for the siblings.
I love your idea of including something extra in the letters for the siblings — extra stickers, bookmarks or whatever. I’m sure the sibs will be thrilled with that.
I’d be interested to hear what others do…
How do others handle siblings of the child you sponsor? Do you send paper gifts for them also? If you do, do you add a note that you are sending extra things for the siblings? Can you send a small note to the sibling letting them know you pray for them also?… or do you just mention it in the letters to your sponsored child? The boy I sponsor has a little brother who is not in the program. So far I have said in my letters that I am praying for his brother & I have made sure to send enough that he can share, but I have not said that is what I have in mind. Any input of what others do would be appreciated. Thanks!
I am already starting my Christmas packages for my kids, because I know it will take some time for them to get there. What kinda of things do you guys suggest I send them? So far I holiday themed paper, paper ornaments you can color, and nativity stickers
I would love to hear more about your Christmas packages that you put together for your children. I was under the impression we could only send letters or money? Would love to hear what others do!
Hannah,
How about an Advent calendar. My own children still love getting them and they’re in their 30’s! I can’t recall the company I’ve ordered them from before but there are several online. Something else that’s fun is just strips of red & green paper so they can make decorative paper chains.
I don’t think calendars are allowed. Make sure by checking the list of guidelines.
I believe it is this coming month of October that we are encouraged to send money gifts for the Christmas pool—so all children receive gifts. Someone confirm please.
Shari
The deadline to make a Christmas donation is Oct. 31. There’s a link on the front page of the Compassion website right now to do this. Thanks for reminding me!!! This is the one donation I tend to forget about each year — by the time I’m thinking “Christmas” the donation time has come and gone.
My kids like the musical Christmas cards.
I guess I assumed I couldn’t send them because of the metal chip/recording device much like the music cards. I want to send birthday cards that we can record ourselves so they can hear us saying happy birthday. Are you saying these cards are acceptable and will get to our kids?
The ones I’ve sent have always gone through. Maybe I should call the customer helpline and see if that policy has changed.
It fits the size requirement — and it’s technically a document — so it doesn’t break the customs rules. I’ll call tomorrow and let you know what I find out.
Reporting back. Musical greeting cards are okay.
Great idea, Lisa!
Not too sure how to do this, however, I will try.
I am responding to a friend request. I received an email from one of the ladies, wanting to be my friend. What do I do about that? And, yes, absolutely want to be her friend.
I sponsored a child in Aug and immediately sent a online letter from the Compassion website. However, I have not recieved any response back. Is it normal to take this long?
yes it is completely normal to take this long. i just got a letter today that says it was sent July 8th. don’t get discouraged when it takes a few months for a reply because even with the email it takes about three months for their letter to reach you plus i don’t know how long it takes for them to get yours though email. when you send a letter it will be around six months to get a reply.
I think the longest I ever waited for a letter was around five months. Compassion recommends if you don’t hear from a child for six months to call their 800 number, just so they can check and see if something is wrong. They’re very happy to do this for you by the way. But I wouldn’t expect anything until at least November. The emailed message only speeds up your letter receipt time by a week or so, I would guess. Remember that some of the locations of the Compassion Projects are very very remote; some letters may be delivered by canoe! And as other people said, it’s very normal to wait months.
Just a note: Don’t expect your child to directly reply to you first letter or two. Often they may never have written a letter before, and they may simply be copying a “form letter” that the project supplies for them, filling in blanks with appropriate words Something like “My name is ____. I am __ years old. My favorite food is ______. What is your town like?” This is really common, so don’t be disappointed. Just give your child time to get used to the letter writing process, and remember that we probably all wrote a letter like this when we were young kids. Just keep asking the same questions; eventually they’ll realize you really want to know and reply. This might answer Michelle’s question, too! If they don’t say “Thank you for the stickers,” it doesn’t mean they aren’t thankful from the depths of their little heart. They may just have honestly not realized to say it in their letter because the project worker didn’t put it in the form letter. They probably think they are the luckiest kids in the world to get stickers; they probably have never HAD stickers before.
Beverly, I have not heard from my little ones in over 4 months, I think it is. One new one, not at all yet. I try to imagine thousands and thousands of pieces of mail being handled all the time, and try to imagine the pastors and school instructors with all of this responsibility and high piles of paper work to get done. The translators are probably heavily laden with tons of letters. Just keep praying for your children, and the workers of Compassion, and you will feel better. I have been waiting a long time also. I busy myself by writing to THEM! Even if I do not mail it for a week or so, it keeps me “close” to my girls.
Beverly,
It takes a bit for your child to receive your letter, write you a reply letter, and have that letter get to you, but the wait is worth it. It takes about a month for a letter my child has written to get to me, sometimes longer. I think children usually write you right away when they first get sponsored though, I’m pretty sure I did.
The blessing from this program are awesome though, and a letter from my child is one of the few reasons I check my mail.
🙂
Even with an emailed letter, it will still take a while to be translated into the child’s language, and then it will take time for a project worker to pick up letters to bring them back to the center.
After that, the child will write a response–and depending on the country, it might be on a “letter-writing day”, once every 3-4 months. And then the letters need to be brought back to the country office, translated, and shipped back to Colorado, processed and put in an envelope to be sent to you. (You will not get an emailed letter from your child.)
So, depending on how rural your child’s project is, it is more typical to have to wait 4-6 months for a response to your letter.
However, your child may have already written you a letter, once they found out he was sponsored–a letter of introduction, of sorts. But it will still take as much as 3-4 months for you to get that letter, depending on all of the variables I already mentioned. 🙂 It’s a slow process, but it works.
Hello! What an awesome way to share ideas!
3 questions…
1. I always label my items with my child’s name, but I never knew I had to include my name as well. Does the child still receive the material?
2. How do I know that my child likes what he gets? I usually send a letter, stickers and coloring pages, but sometimes I wonder what they are thinking. Do they like it or not?
3. And so far, i’ve written my child 3xs this year…is that enough? Are they expecting more? Thanks for your replies!! 🙂
Michelle I have recently had “address” labels made for my little ones. Her name top line, second line her identification, third line, my first name and number. I ordered them from Vistaprint….very very reasonable. They are stickers I picked out with a butterfly on them. What a relief. I was told to label pictures and gift items long time ago, and I got really tired of writing it. I also sent a bunch of them to her and even will suggest the mail room can keep a bunch in case I miss something. I am a bit obsessed with sending stuff to my girls. I have the time, so I spend about 2 or 3 days piling things to get it ready for each girl. Then I must travel to the PO which is out of the area for me, but I get a great deal of pleasure from all of this, and constantly think of new ways to teach them, and reward them, talk about Jesus, and show them love. You should try to “feel” the excitement they get when a piece of mail is there for them! Sometimes I send as many as 3 or 4 a month. God has given me this pleasure in my senior years….I have a way to feel needed!
Shari
Shari,
Your “address” label idea is so clever! I definitely plan on using it. 🙂 Thanks!
Rachel
Hi Michelle! I’ll try and answer your questions.. 🙂
1. I bet they get there fine, but the staff might have to write your name and number when it is received. I just go into WORD and print out a bunch of labels in small font (#10) and then tape them onto every little thing. I make my name and number one color, and the child’s name and number another color.
2. If your child isn’t telling you if he likes things…. he may not be sure how to say it. Just ask! In fact, in my recent letter I simply asked my one little girl if she gets to watch any tv or movies and if so what characters she likes so I can send her stickers and coloring pages with those characters!
3. Are they expecting a certain number of letters? Nope. They are so very happy to get ANY mail. (Many, many children get nothing…) Are they hoping in the depths of their little heart that they get something each Letter Day when mail is passed out? Most definitely!!!!! 🙂 I send snail mail every month and also send at least one email a month. My child asks me to never quit…..
There is a group you can join called Our Compassion. It is full of sponsors who love their kids and share their ideas on what to send and what to write about….. It is awesome and gives you much inspiration! Come join us!!! 🙂
One of my Correspondence children in India greeted me with “Namascar to you.” I read on Google that this is a Hindu greeting, and went into the religious significance of it. Is it appropriate for me to greet her with Namascar, too, or should I just continue to greet her in the name of Jesus, like I have been doing? I don’t want to encourage Hinduism, but I’m thinking that it may be a cultural as well as religious greeting. I’m hoping that someone here has more knowledge of India than I do.
Of course ask God what to do first, but two things came to my mind after reading your post. I learned about the Quran in classes, and even thought about reading it, in order to get a balanced approach to Christianity. I asked God and I think he encourages us to research other religions because no matter what we find, in the end, we will determine each of them to be false, and Christianity true. Another thought I had that I feel is along the same lines (and I am not good at scriptural reference) was the story about Jesus entering the houses of the pagans. He demonstrated leaving the Christian “comfort zone” to reach out to others. So in this sense I would say greet her with Namascar. Also, I greet Muslims with the traditional “al salam al lekum” which has a religious connotation but really just means “peace be with you.” Also consider how language changes through history. For example, “God bless you” is used casually now when people sneeze, even in the secular world, whereas in the Bible its more asking a direct blessing from God. I think it is up to you and how prepared you feel to enter that realm. Hope this helps.
Thankyou, Brent.
One of the couples at my church is from Nepal. They recently answered my question about some words to use to my Indian child Here is the response.
In India/Nepal believers greet each other by saying “Praise the LORD” which translates to “Jai Masiha Ki”. “Jai” means praise, “Mashiha” means Messiah or Christ and “Ki” means of/to. I would say “Jai Mashiha Ki.”
Thanks, Shari. Are there different dialects, though, depending on the location in India?
Heather, could you please post a link to the page you mentioned that discusses ideas for writing to older boys? I am sponsoring a 19 yr old boy in Uganda and I am wondering what to send to him that he would really like and appreciate. Thanks!
Heather,
My children in Uganda write in English ( my 12 year old writes by himself so I know he’s learned it) and my understanding is that mostly local or tribal languages and English are used in Uganda so you shouldn’t need to translate Happy Birthday at all.
If you are a member of Our Compassion (OC), there is a group on there called Ideas for Mailings to Older Boys. It has lots of ideas for boys 10-12 and up. Hope that helps!
*Books… sorry bad typing :-p
I am brand new to this… have not even recieved my sponsorship packet yet, but I am so excited to get started. I have been reading diligently on what can and cannot be sent. I see that calanders and magazines can be sent but not boos or booklets. Can someone tell me if small activity/sticker boos can be sent as long as the package is less than 1/4″ thick? Or do I have to take them apart to send them? Thanks!
I have sent small sticker books and notebooks which have gotten through with out any problems. As long as it is LESS than 1/4″ thick and fits the other size requirements (I dont remember off the top of my head but its on the compassion site) it should be fine. If you have any doubts about something one item Specifically dont hesatate to call or email compassion with any questions
I write to one little boy and 5 girls. The little boy is from Tanzania. Yes, it is so much easier to find things to send to girls, but I have sent Omary soccer trading cards, a car game that I found at the dollar store, stickers with boyish themes, colorful bandaides, pages from bible story coloring books, and, of course, lots of photographs of my husband, my dogs, and myself. One Idea I’ve had that I haven’t yet carried through: I thought I would cut out a car out of card stock, with a hole for the window, and somehow place a little boy with dark skin sitting behind the wheel. I could lay the little boy against the back of the car with his face showing, and fasten it there with removable scotch tape so that he can put the boy in the car or take him out. Do you think that would work? I haven’t tried it yet.
Our little boy in Ghana has included some drawing with English words underneath them in some of his letters so he is obviously being taught this. I therefore decided to go to one of the free websites where you can print out your own handwriting pages with your own original phrases. I typed up a whole sheet where each line read “God loves Desmond” for him to practice his writing and be reminded of God’s love at the same time!
Here is the site I used:
http://www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/manuscript/texts/7words-index.php
Michaelene in GA
I was wondering if anyone had any boy specific ideas? My boy is from Uganda and is 10. Also, how do you say Happy Birthday in Swahili?
Heather, My boy is from Uganda. He is 14 now and for the past year he has been writing the whole letter by himself. It is all in English. He has been taught english in school. I send him pictures of all kinds of things that my grandson is interested in. My grandson went on a train trip so I sent him pictures of trains. He liked that – never seen a train before. I sent him some pictures of my grandson being silly. Goofy picture! Byamugisha thought it was really funny. Funny pictures of animals and my grandchildren seemed to have been a big hit with my boy. And Builtmore house and gardnens photos from my grandchildren was a hit with him. He was taken with the size of the house. My grandson has sent him National Geographic Explorer magazines. You can go on line a see samples of these. Good pictures. I have had my grandson to write and draw pictures for him to. At least, that way there is some communication with someone young and a boy too. – Since I am an old lady almost 60. Ha!
I am going to take a Christmas card to church and ask the youth to sign it . Maybe I’ll be able to get pictures of them to send with the card.
Heather,
A couple ideas I have for you are sports trading cards. I like football, so I get the football ones but almost every sport has them. Also, I made my dads child a re-usable tic tac to game but instead of x’s and o’s i used baseballs and soccer balls and printed them on cardstock and cut them out. For the board i printed a picture out on cardstock and then drew the 9 boxes on it. Im also planning on making him a memory game using index cards and on the striped side putting pictures of animals. Ive also used google image search to find mazes to print out and send him. You could do a homemade bookmark too, with his name on it.
I sent some soccer/football cards and stickers. With the World Cup being held in Africa this year, my kids were really excited about it and are soccer/football fans, in general. I also bought a soccer magazine and cut out pics of some of the players and sent them in an envelope. I figure my younger one can make a poster out of them, or hang them up at home.
Uganda has their own football team, by the way — the Cranes.
My younger boy also likes musical greeting cards.
I think I’d have a much easier time finding things for girls — I’m such a girly-girl myself — but the Lord keeps sending me boys to sponsor. 🙂 And I love them!!
I live in Austria but began sponsering my child from the US. Is there anywhere closer that I could send larger letters for translation and processing? It seems counter productive to pay the large postage fees to the Us only to have them then sent back in this direction. The turn around time is also an issue.
It may be easier for you to sponsor through one of our Partner Countries. For a list please follow this link: https://www.compassion.com/offices/default.htm
Sponsoring through our UK office, for example, would mean that you would contribute in Euros and your letters would go through the UK to be processed. To move your sponsorship to a partner country, you may email us at [email protected] or call us at (800) 336-7676.
compassion workers,
Can I make my child paperbeads as long as the envelope stays within the correct dementions? Or would that be considered jewlery? The site below explains what I’m talking about if you’re unsure.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Paper-Beads
Thank you,
Lindsey
Well, yes, patience is a virtue, but I also know how hard it is to wait. Especially when you have been diligent about writing and sending little paper gifts to your child. The Photo Book sounds like a great idea, by the way. God bless you for continuing to write and send things to these children. They probably value everything you send.
Recently, I made a “photo book’ of my critters that I feed on my patio. I have Kodak easy share, and take the pictures, upload them and then they are there for me to email…to myself, so I have them in my SHARIVILLE folder. From there, I pick the best pictures, and write some information for the child then print it.. I can go on and on with stories and pictures. I have very little family, humans I mean, so this makes up for that lack. I use Elmer’s glue stick to put them together on the upper left corner, then also number them. I will let you know if I get response from this. In all this time, (about 5 months maybe 6,) I have received one letter from the first child, and nothing from the new, second child. Patience is a virtue.
S
Not to disrespect anybody, however, could some one explain why we have so much time allowed to send a letter to reach our child? Why does a gift of money, in check form take 4 months or longer?
thank you
s
Hi Linda,
It’s ‘shikamoo’ and it’s a sign of deep respect for an elder person. The response is ‘marahaba’ (I accept your respect).
for my kids birthdays…..(i start 3-4 months in advance) but i go to the kids party section of any store. i buy the paper or plastic banner, table cloth. napkins,game tablets, even pin the tale on the donkey, etc…i stick with a theme. and mail these in seperate mailings. then its all their for the party…they are soooooooooooo excited…one boy told me he wouldn’t have had a party without me and that he got no presents but from me, but the party items made it all real,
the kids tell me about holidays but that they have no money for decorations, so this year i’m going to send these items for all major holidays..at dollar tree, i also found strings of garland that are flat paper flowers…and flat table decorations that when opened it folds out to stand up…they also have strings to hang…my kids say their younger siblings love them,(they use them asmobiles)
i do this up to age 16..
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea!!!
This is such a neat idea. thank you! Those that are new to this can sure use ideas.
once a week boxes are mailed from colorado. but the letter you send today may not go out for a few weeks, just that they have so much to check,,,over the years i have found that they fastest is 2 months for the child to recieve a letter….i actually ask the child to let me know in their return letter, the date i wrote and date they recieved. so i can have an idea…each country can vary.
I don’t know where else to go…I received a letter from my little boy in Tanzania with Holiday Greetings and the word ‘shikamooni’ Can anyone translate that for me?
I found this
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shikamoo
1. Swahili word used to respectfully say, “Hello,” to an elder. (Literally means “I hold your feet.”)
Linda, my little boy, Omary, in Tanzania says Shikamoo! The translater says that it is the greeting made by young fellows in greeting elders. The elder answers back Marashubu. I believe there are some words in their language on the Compassion Web page, too. Look under Child Information, toward the bottom of the information under your child.
Does anyone know how often Compassion sends out letters to each area. Every day, once a week, once a month?
They send them out weekly. I think it’s something like on Tuesdays and Wednesdays–letters to half of the countries are mailed out on Tuesday, and the other half are mailed on Wednesday. The days themselves might not be quite right, but that’s the general idea I got from an Advocates’ training call.
I was thinking about getting the game “Go Fish” as it is pretty universal, and I don’t think it would impose a language barrier, but was not sure as cards are not excepted in every country. Any thoughts?
I was writing to my sponsored children recently that we were moving from a house to an apartment. Then I realized something. A couple of children we sponsored had to move beyond the reach of a Compassion project and a couple of our children have recently moved within the reach of Compassion so after I finished describing the area we would live in I told them that even after the move we would still be sponsoring them, one of them has written back already to say she was so happy to hear that as she was afraid that our move would put us beyond the area to be able to sponsor her and she really loved school and was afraid she would have to quit if we moved. Such a precious child!! This was really a relief to her! Can’t wait to hear the other kids comments.
Ooops – I meant thanks to Jan (who volunteers in the mail room) but thanks to you Carol, for your info too!
[quote comment=”19108″]I do not work for Compassion, but I do volunteer in the mail room. From what I have been told the CONTENTS of the envelope must meet the 8 1/2 by 11 by 1/4″ requirements. The envelope or box used to mail the items to Compassion can be any size as it will be discarded once the contents are processsed.[/quote]
Sara, Thank you! Thank you! for clarifying that!
When sending coloring book pages, do I just staple them to the letter, which has the sponsor information on it or do I send them loose and print the sponsor information on each page? I’m new to all of this. Since the translator has to put my letter thru a typewriter or printer, I figured they wouldn’t want anything stapled to the letter.
Hi Connie. The best way to send the pages would be to put them in loose with the numbers on them (at least your child’s number).
All attachements (like coloring pages, stickers, photos, etc…) that come into the mail room are placed into an envelope and then attached to the letter. If something is already stapled to the letter it takes an extra step to remove it before it can be processed.
Judith, I don’t work for Compassion, but I write to 6 kids ( some sponsored, some correspondence) and often send a bunch of their things together, in separate envelopes. I don’t think that 8.5×11″ envelopes exist, or, if they do, I haven’t found them. I have sent things in larger envelopes and they’ve gone through. I always make sure the things inside fit into the size restriction.
I’m confused. I read about sponsors sending items in 9 x 12 envelopes and yet the instructions from Compassion say to “only” use 8.5 x 11?
I do not work for Compassion, but I do volunteer in the mail room. From what I have been told the CONTENTS of the envelope must meet the 8 1/2 by 11 by 1/4″ requirements. The envelope or box used to mail the items to Compassion can be any size as it will be discarded once the contents are processsed.
Ok…here’s my dilemma…I don’t know where to buy 8.5×11″ envelopes…and even so, if my coloring book (for example) is thicker than a couple of sheets of paper, it wouldn’t fit in said envelope anyway (thickness adjusts length/width dimensions).
But that’s beside the point…my real point is that I’ve been told or otherwise read/heard somewhere that the envelope we send to Colorado doesn’t matter. If it has our return address on it, the envelope itself won’t be forwarded to the child anyway due to privacy issues. It’s the material inside that must fit the size guidelines. (Items in this case–where we send things in an envelope with our address on it–these items would be transferred to another envelope provided by Compassion.)
Now, for the people with several kids who send several envelopes–each marked with the child’s information only–and shipped to Colorado in a box or really big envelope–maybe those envelopes need to fit a certain size requirement. Someone who works for Compassion should probably clarify here. 🙂
Hey could I quote some of the material found in this post if I link back to you?
Yes. If you’re quoting material in the post. If you’re going to quote someone who left a comment, you should ask that person specifically.
Lori, not larger than an 8½x11 inch envelope (A4 for you metric folk), up to a ¼-inch thick.
If you sponsor more than one child, you can use the same envelope to mail all your letters.
Lori, the Compassion website says that items cannot be larger than 8-1/2″ x 11″ and cannot be more than 1/4″ thick.
I have sent items in this size of envelope, and i also use greeting card envelopes a lot. They are just the right size for photographs, picture post cards, and some games and purse size calendars. Hope this helps.
Questions for Chris Giovagnoni please. One of my children has a birthday on 10/24th. I would like to send her a gift of money. When and where, please.
And..I have sent a general gift of money to my other child suggesting I would like her to have chickens for the family and herself. Have never heard a word about that gift. or what it was spent on. I think it is about 2 months ago.
Lastly, and rather personal, I would like to talk to someone about one of my children that has medical knowledge. I believe she was born with a deformity, but am only saying this because of the recent picture that has been mailed out. I want this conversation private please. If she needs special help, I want to be involved in this.
In His love
Shari
You are welcome to send your child a birthday gift at any time. You may process the gift online by logging in to your account and clicking “give a birthday gift”, or you may contact us at (800) 336-7676. You may expect to receive a letter of acknowledgement about your gift to your child within 6 months of sending it- so in about 4 more months. I encourage you to contact us at the number above to discuss the delicate situation you mentioned. We would be happy to look at your account and review the child’s file with you.
Can anyone tell me if it is ok to send a letter to your child in an envelope other than a regular 9 1/2″ by 41/4″ one? For instance, would a larger manilla envelope be ok, or does that cause problems with postage? I was just thinking that it would be easier to send something along with the letter if I didn’t have to try to fold it to fit in the smaller envelope. : )
Lori,
I forgot to mention that we need to put our sponsor name and number on the front of each 9×12 envelope along with our childs name and number!
Lori,
I send all of my childs letters and paper gifts together in a 9×12 envelope. Everything fits in them nicely without having to fold them. I also send items to her siblings in their own separate 9×12 envelopes. I then put them all together in a Tyvek Priority Mail envelope to send to Compassion, or a Priority Mail Flat Rate Box, whichever is less expensive for me to mail. I know that my child and her siblings receive them because they have sent me a picture with them all holding them up for me to see.
No, Jen. Those silly bands are refused.
What about those silly bands all the kids are crazy over. The ones that come in different shapes like zoo animals and such. Can we send those since they are actually just shaped rubber bands?
Unfortunately no, we can’t. They are not paper and therefore might cause problems in customs. I have volunteered in the mail room and we were told not to let them through.
I was wondering if anyone ever made homemade paper dolls and if their child liked them.
Lindsey,
I haven’t made homemade paper dolls, but I did find some cute ones at the dollar store and my child loved them! I think yours would love the homemade ones. They love to receive anything we send because it shows them how much we love them!
Gail,
I’ve found some but the doll pre-clothes always seems inappropriate. Maybe I should draw a bathingsuit on them so they are covered but she can still change the outfits.
Lindsey,
Drawing a bathing suit on them sounds like a good idea! The paper dolls that I purchased were Victorian in style and had really nice underclothes printed on them. But something like that may be hard to find. Your child is going to love the paper dolls that you send to her!
Blessings!
Does anyone know by chance how the Rwandan school marking system works??? I just received a letter from my child who tells me he loves school and got 36.6% last term. Is this good??? I can only assume so.
Sharon,
I asked our Rwanda office to answer your question. They explained:
If you send me your child’s identification number via the blog’s contact us form, I will ask the Rwanda office to check into your child’s situation specifically.
Hi Sharon,
Hopefully a sponsor with a Rwandan child will be able to help you. I did do a little online searching but couldn’t find anything about percentages. You might be interested in the following info though.
Any country’s embassy in the US provides tons of information. In the Rwanda Embassy info I found a chart of the grading of a test for graduating high schoolers – Final National Exam. They show a chart with A, A-, B+, etc., like in the US. But then they assign a “Grade Scale” and the boundaries(range) for that scale. For example: An “A” grade scale is 11, and the boundaries are 10.5-11; a “A” is grade scale 10 and the boundaries are 9.5-10.4 I couldn’t find anything about elementary grading, which I would assume would follow the same system. However it gave no reference to a percentage. I thought you might like to look at the website anyway. :http://rwanda.usembassy.gov/rwanda_system_of_education.html
And the following site is their “Ministry of Education” ; http://www.mineduc.gov.rw/ You can contact them by email via the site if you feel like it.
marks
Grade
Grade scale
Scale boundary
Performance
85-100
A
11
10.5 – 11
Excellent
80-84
A-
10
9.5 – 10.4
75-79
B+
9
8.5 – 9.4
Very Good
70-74
B
8
7.5 – 8.4
65-69
B-
7
6.5 – 7.4
60-64
C+
6
5.5 – 6.4
Merit
55-59
C
5
4.5 – 5.4
50-54
C-
4
3.5 – 4.4
40-49
D+,D,D-
3 and 2
1.5 – 2.5
Pass
If he’s saying that in the context of loving school, it’s probably good.
I got a letter from my girl in Peru who was proud of getting a 19 in English, so they also have a different marking system. She’s 12 years old, so I asked if she could try to explain it to me, and told her a bit of how American schools give marks. She hasn’t responded with that information yet…
Thank you all for your info, answers,and suggestions. I will keep them in my file to remind me of a change of items I can send her. god bless you all
I tore pages out of a Bible story coloring book, put binder holes in them and taped the string from tea bags to them so my boy could tie them together. It went thru fine.
Thanks to all who responded to my question about maps!
Vivian,
I often print pictures from the internet or clip art, and then send it back through the printer to put the Compassion letter on it and haven’t had any problems doing that as far as copyrights go.
Vivian, I often copy the page to fancy computer paper that I buy at the dollar store. I hadn’t thought of copying it to pictures, but It’s my understanding that you aren’t infringing copyright unless you try to sell it. It should be OK if you just want to use it for you personal use, or your family ( and these kids are like family, aren’t they?). I’d say, Go for it!
thanks Jan. I am new 4 months at this but yes she feel like family already
I feel the same way about my child too! I love her! I have only been writing for about two weeks! 🙂
Has any one copied the page that we recieve to write letters on I want to copy it on paper that has a picture on the back but not sure about copyright?
Hi Vivian,
Feel free to copy the stationary and print it on wahtever you like. I used to copy the whole page and print it on colored pages, but now I just keep digital coppies of the barcode section (with all the numbers), then I print that at the top of a page of my own paper.
where is this letter to write on located please. I copied it a long time ago and now cannot recall where I found it!
thanks
s
Actually if you remember to put your name and number and your child’s name and number at the top of the page, your letter will get to your child just as fast as if you printed out the stationary from the website.
The only thing that makes it faster is if you make a copy of the child’s personalized stationary which has a barcde to identify you and them. If you are not able to put the barcode onto your letter, it makes no difference whether you use the online form, or you write on your own stationary. The only thing to remember is that you need both your and your child’s names and nubmers.
I’m sure that’s true, Sara. I just like to use the online form because there’s room for the translation. I print it on different types of colorful computer stationary to make it more fun.
https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connecting/default.htm
Just click on the download our stationary. 🙂
You can probably get to it from the “my account” section on Compassion’s website, but you can also get there under the For Sponsors & Donors tab, and then on the side menu click on Connect with your Child (about 2/3 of the way down). Here’s the link: https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connecting/default.htm
I like to send my kids maps of the united states and of their country. I mark on the US map where I live and ask them to mark on their country map where they live and send it back to me. It feels so cool to get it back and know that it’s been in their hands and back to me! I also like to trace my hand or one of my children’s hands and send to them and ask them to trace their hand and send to me. Again, I love to put my hand over their handprint and think that just a few weeks ago, they were touching that same spot!!
lindsey,
translaters only translate the letters, i asked because of words in coloing books, so thats really hard, but i was told that some things can be translated at school if a teacher can speak english, but we can’t know, so i have just asked each of my kids if anyone in their family or at school or the projects or at church can speak or write english that would help them,,,,some do some don’t….just ask
sandy
I have sent flash cards, or cards that are like the game Memory, I use google translator and write the spanish work on the card with the english word. I also type out the instructions into spanish and send along with. This takes a little time, but works great. I have five sponsor children…..but they seem to really like the games.
roma,
i have kids age 5-19 and i send them all maps, of my state, usa and world and their country…puzzle maps are nice if you can find them….you can get laminated usa maps at walmart that even have 3 holes in them to be put in a 3 ring binder. i’ve also send placemats and child activity sheets from restraunts,,,some have great info, maps and tic tac toe, puzzles etc…i have even taken about 10 at a time of the activity sheets from burger king and mc donalds, stapled them and sent to my kid and told them to share with friends or siblings
TO MAKE SURE YOUR KIDS HAVE CRAYONS, GLUE ETC…JUST SEND A CHILD GIFT OF ABOUT 10.OO AND YOU CAN REQUEST THAT IT BE SPENT ON THOSE ITEMS
for teens,,,,,,,i send magazines like,,,IDEALS, IN TOUCH MINISTRIES MONTHLY MAG., COUNTRY, BIRDS IN BLOOM, CHRISTIAN SOUP FOR THE SOUL BOOKS THAT ARE THIN., GUIDE POSTS.
oragamy books, scrapbook materials, i even buy decorative computer paper and send the entire pack, they like “mad libs” tablets. stickers, stationary with matching envelopes , i tell them to use it for family and friends…even send them packs of holiday cards to send their friends and relatives. they also love .word search puzzle books and the dollar stores have them for $!or less and they even have ones of the bible words.
sandy
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but when you send a child/family gift, you can only request what it be spent on. There is absolutely no guarantee that your request will be granted. The child’s/family’s greatest needs will be met first. I will be the first to apologize if I am wrong. And thanks for all the great ideas.
Carrie
I was wondering that myself…
I was looking into this a couple weeks ago, and was told that I could suggest a gift be used towards a specific item(s) but that the Compassion worker and the family will discuss the needs and make a decision. So I think if I ask for my child to get paper and scissors, but she has a greater need, they would use the money for that instead. Chris was on the one who directed me towards the site, you could probably find it a page back or so.
shari,,
sorry pipe cleaners are a no no…wire in them….paper products only
you can have a few staples to hold something together, for example a small coloring book but thats it..
sandy
Roma Lee…about the maps. I sent one map of my childs location–it was large, but gave her an idea of her area in the whole of things, and one of the United States, saying ‘this is where I live” checking off my state. Just paper picture, no fuss. It was a photo from my computer.
I think your child would like it very much. Gives them a sense of self.
Shari
I also found the flash cards at Target, we got 4 different sets. One on Space, US Animals, Insects and Dinosaurs. My little guy in only 4 and thought he might like these. There are 36 cards in each box. I will try to flatten the box and then make two stacks of 18 cards to send to him. Hopefully they will send them trough. That is how I sent a Memory games that we found at Office Max. As far as I know it went through, never heard any different. Keep the ideas coming, they are great and very helpful.
I love the idea of maps. I have sent maps of Tanzania to my boy there, and also maps of Indonesia to my girl there. In each case I put a red dot where I thought their logation was. The case worker for Omary in Tanzani said that I was a little off, but I learned something that way. He lives right across the water from Zanzabar.
Also, when we went on a long trip, across 4 states, with our camping trailor, I made maps for all 6 of my kids, showing the route we were taking. Then I sent them post cards along the way. I’ve gotten a lot of good feed back from this. They all seemed to like the maps and the post cards.
What great ideas, Shari! I’m going to try them.
I sent my boy alphabet cards that has sign language for each letter. You can get them free from Jan Brett’s website. ( She writes children’s books.) Go to the activities page. She has a long list of things that can be printed out.
Coffee filters are great (and pure paper ! ! ! ) to send. I made a flower shaped from one of them by folding it over and over, used color pen to highlight the edges, twisted the bottom tightly, and sent it along with several open, flat filters. This hopefully is the way I am teaching my girls to be creative. I also bought a packaged set of different shaded color paper used for scrap booking, and told them to create a pretty picture. Also, suggested they use some of the stickers I sent along — dogs, horses, cats, and flowers and the last new thing, I purchased crepe paper ribbon, two rolls of different colors for a dollar. I twisted some of the pieces I cut into bows, some into flowers, some just twisting a long stream…sent that along with flat strips for them to create . All of these ideas are my latest and I send them in celaphane envelopes I purchased long ago. Another item is paper stamp collectors envelopes you get for free at the Post Office. They are great for sending small bits to keep them together. i MUST get my girls scissors and glue soon. I believe the easiest way is to gift them with money.
The package of fuzzy sticks I purchased has a name of CHENILLE STEMS….I call them pipe cleaners, which ever you call them, do you think they are acceptable to send my children?
In plain unused form, or bent into a shape of something?
Thank you for your help.
Shari
Has anyone sent a map to their child? I have a 16 year old young man in the Dominican Republic. At Barnes and Noble Book Store I found a very nice map of the Dominican Republic. It is laminated and folds up to fit the size requirements. Would a map be allowed to go through customs? If so, do you think my teenage boy would like it? Anyone’s experience with sending maps, good or bad, would be helpful to me. Thanks
I found these really cool “flashcards” last night at target for only a dollar! There is one for every president of the United States with facts on the back. My child often asks for me to tell her more about the United States and I thought sending some of the major presidents we’ve had would be neat. But I was wondering, do I have to write the facts that come on the back out to have them translated, or will a translator do that seperate? My child does not speak any English.
Someone that works in the Sponsor/Donor Relations dept. probably should verify…but I remember hearing somewhere that letters will be translated, but enclosures would not…probably due to the volume of mail needing translating.
Thank you so much, Allen and Jeff and Sandy!
That’s a great idea: the way you worded the invitation to ask questions. The boy in Peru always asks questions, Often the same ones I answered before, but that’s OK with me. The girl I sponsored in Rwanda was older and has left the program. Even though she didn’t write much, the Lord plants such a love in our hearts for each child that it didn’t matter. I will continue to pray for her though have to wait for heaven to find out how she is doing.
The child in Tanzania is closer in age to the boy in Peru, but I find that the translators have to work harder in Africa and are sometimes difficult to understand. I always pray that the translation of my letter will convey what I hope it does. 🙂
Thank you again. The letter is written and I will post one now to each of the children.
kathy d.
great idea about the photos and cards.
this year my kids had their information updated, so i got new photos of each…i checked with office to make sure they would forward them first,,,,but i mailed them their photos that were on the folded card……some of them, thats the only time their photo was ever taken……also if any of my kids do send me photos, i make about 10 copies and mail them back for them to give to their family and friends
Sandy & Kathy D.
This blog is a big help to us newbies! Thanks to you both for your ideas/suggestions. Actually – Thanks to everyone!
– Vicki
i’m wondering how well your youth pastor knows the bible???
you may want to remind him of some scriptures about the poor..i’m at work now so don’t have a concordinance but look them up……..my favorite is,,,,”whatever you do for the least of these, you have done to me” simply meaning if you even give a drink of water to a poor child, its the same as if you gave it to jesus himself,,,but if you deny the child, you have denied jesus…”
and there are many more scriptures telling us to take care of the poor……again my opinion….he should have been proud of you and even offered to help find money raising ideas and offered to pay any shortage himself,,,,thats the people i’ve been exposed to would do,,,,i hope parents will help with your cause, you can never go wrong doing the lords work, and thats what compassion is doing
i have kids in tanzania, dominican republic and philippines…i just sign love, sandy and jeff on all……as for a few kids in philippines, one 6 yr old boy’s mom writes for him, she said he tells everyone we are his mommy and daddy in usa, so every paragraph she starts with mommy sandy and daddy jeff and she is 36 yrs old…..so i sign it that way…….another in philippines, was more formal, so i just started signing them,,,,tita sandy and tito jeff,,,,that means aunt and uncle, i knew that from being in philippines
so just sign with your first names and let the kid add a title if they want to..
i also start writing to a new kid by saying….” ..the best way for us to get to know each other is to ask and answer questions , i say, you can ask me anything you want and i will answer you, and i would appreciate it if you will do the same, because thats the only way to find out about each other since we can’t be together”
and that has always worked…above i wrote about a page aabout each family member……….they love that and even before i do that, seems the younger ones ask my favorite color and food, etc anyway..its really fun and if you send one of those letters per month and you have 12 in your extended family(pets too) there is a whole year of letters,,,on the back answer their questions and anything else you want to say that time…just pretend its your child at camp or something like that, don’t act like they are a stranger.
i also start first letters with saying “welcome to our family , and that i have their photo on my mantle with my kids and as far as we are concerned they are our child” and god willing some day we can meet but for now we have to share our hearts on paper.
sandy
Jeff & Sandy,
Some more great ideas! Thanks!
-Vicki
Sandy, what a great idea! That should put some life in my letters!
Jan
I am still unable to log into Our Compassion website. My last hope is finding time to dig out my old Windows laptop and try with it. (I now use a Mac.)
So I am using this way to ask for advice. This has possibly been discussed, but I couldn’t find it in a search.
How do you sign your letters? I have been using my first name and have been wondering if that makes the child uncomfortable. Now I have a new child and am in the process of sending a second letter via email and will hold off until tomorrow in case someone sends me advice. “Your Sponser First Name, Last Name seems so formal,” but different cultures have different customs and I want the child’s comfort level.
What is the best way to sign your letter to a child in Tanzania?
Though it might be late, I would still like to know what would be comfortable for a child in Peru.
It would be good if Compassion could include this information in their letter writing tips. Apologies if it is there and I just didn’t find it!
Thanks for any advice!
Peggy
I also sign my letters with my first name (and I have children in Peru and Tanzania as well). Over time, if kids change to calling you something else, you could adjust based on that. I have several who have written me as “Aunt.” The only name from the kids I’ve vetoed is when one of my sponsored children started addressing me as “Ms. Rowe”!
annie,
an idea i think is easier for the writer, is to take one person or pet in your family per letter and write about just them,,,kind of like an intro to that person….for instance ,,,put a photo of you at top of a page and just write all about you, whether in line form or letter form::
full name,,,age and birthday, eye color, hair color, favorite food, favorite sport, hobby or past time,,name of parents, spouse, siblings, pets, college, profession , likes and dislikes, favorite food, least liked food etc….then next letter, do your husband…next letter, daughter, your parents and the pets…they love it, its easy for you, takes up lots of letters and ask the child to do the same, thats the best way to get to know yours and their families and its fun……if you have a printer like i do, i just print a photo of the person on a page and put the infor under
i also send scrapbooking materials to most of my kids and you could make a page of you, your pet or what ever and take space in your letter describing the photos on your page and how to make that page, and send them the materials to make the page also…..
read all these blogs and just use your imagination, they love anything…..ask god to guide your mind and pen before you start, can’t miss sandy
Jeff & Sandy – What a great idea! I’m going to do just that. Thanks!
I was raised with the rule that ladies did not play with cards, only men playing a game was acceptable. I am 70 years old. Glad that rule of life has gone in the pond!!
Hi Dorothy,
I also purchase almost all my books from Dover. For my older children I have sent the ‘adult’ coloring books. They are fabulous! They have intricate designs in geometric patterns. Really an exciting find for the older children.
Hi Alison,
I am surprised it was suggested to you to send a deck of cards. I found adorable ones and sent them to all my kids. Some were even mini ones with smiley faces on them. They were all refused and donated. I had purchased about 50 decks. I was told it was considered inappropriate in many cultures so they would not allow them.
Thailand has some interesting rules regarding card playing. Playing cards is illegal and if you’re caught doing so, the authorities can and will intervene. When actors are playing cards in a TV series, a statement is scrolled across the screen saying that playing cards is against the law. The government is the only entity that can legally sell playing cards — and each card has a stamp of the government seal on it.
I’m not sure of the reasoning behind all this, but apparently someone felt it was a good idea to ban card playing. Perhaps someone in Thailand considers it a sin.
FYI – I have bought coloring books from Dover publications.
They have coloring books that have translucent pages. They have coloring books for just about every subject you can think of. Birds, flowers, national parks, geometrical designs, animals, and some about Sesame Street and much more. Difficulty levels for ALL ages.
And they also have stickers and activity books and paper dolls. I have bought the translucent coloring books of Jesus. (the pages roll up though if colored with a marker.)
The “stained glass” coloring books of Jesus are good for children who can’t stay in the lines good yet. you can shop on line or get a catalog in the mail. I highly recommend their children’s books.
Nevermind! I didn’t dream the idea. haha I found it. It was here at the bottom of the page. https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connecting/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
I saw something somewhere, that gave an idea to ‘scrap’ our letter to our child. Four pages or so, and on each page was a pic and an explaination. Did anyone else see this or did I imagine it? haha I can’t remember if it was mailed to me, the idea, or if I read it on the site.
Thanks
Just to chime in…
I am currently sending a puzzle… 4 or 5 pieces at a time, taped to the page of paper. I assembled the puzzle at home first, and then broke it into 4 or 5 segments, so that it could get sent easily.
Also – I send “Lunchbox Love” cards each time – I weed out the ones that I think are culturally inappropriate, like… how turtles breath… but there are quite a few. They all have positive saying on one side, and a funny fact on the other.
When I talked to Compassion about sending the puzzle, the nice guy mentioned that decks of cards had also gotten sent before a few at a time, so maybe I’ll do that too.
I love the paper airplane idea, and the scrapbook idea… I also try to send postcards or pictures of places I’ve been…
My sponsored child is a little boy of 9. I am always on the lookout for good gifts which I can mail. The last one I sent was a xerox of instructions for making simple paper airplanes, and also a supply of colorful paper for making them. Don’t know how he liked them, but my grandson was crazy about them!
Great idea. i’m stealing it! 🙂
Annie, I have trouble too. I stay at home with my elderly mother, so I don’t have much personally to write about. I almost always send pictures of different things and tell just a little about the pictures. Hot air balloons, ice skates, dolphins, trains, ect. My little man in Uganda has never seen these things. We have cotton farms close by. – I took pictures and taped a few fibers from a store bought cotton ball . My mama used to subscribe to “Country’ and “Birds and Blooms” magazines and since she never threw any of them away, I had lots of pictures to pick from that I cut out and glued to sheets of paper. By the way these magazines have very little advertisements, if any. Sometimes I go on-line and search for “photos” or “images” of certain things. You can find some funny pictures of dogs and cats that way! My daughter’s family went to Builtmore House and Gardens when there was snow on the ground and I sent my little man those pictures. He was very taken with such a big building! I have also sent goofy pictures of my grandchildren. He liked those “funny” pictures too. I hope this was a help to you.
I saw a comment mentioning that this person cut up small cards and put a letter with a picture on it, or numbers, or something to that effect, to help them learn to count or learn English. I was thinking about sending some flashcards, a few at a time, with numbers or letters on it, and a picture. Should I go ahead and send them, explaining what they are and what they’re for? Or ask in my letter first if she would like that? My daughter is in Kenya, and she will be 9 next month, and she is in kindergarten.
Thank you for any help, God bless!
That was me, Rebecca. I cut up personal business cards so one side had the flower picture on it and the other side was blank. I used magic marker type pen and made capitol and lower case letters on each. Then I found some small stickers to place on as many cards that I could to teach her (Rwanda, age 8, Preschool 1)
the alphabet with these tiny cards. They were half the size of a business card….really cute. I didn’t ask her, just sent them…placed flat in a baggie, then sort of taped on the outside of baggie to keep them from bunching.
She has 3 other siblings, so if she didn’t want cards, she could give to sisters and brother!
I just love this sponsorship, don’t you? So satisfying!
I have trouble writing letters. My sponsor child has written me 2 already, and anything I write I don’t think is good enough!
Too long, too complicated, too wordy, want to say more…
Help?
Annie,
I understand how you feel. I don’t have any kids and have no idea how to relate to a 7 yr old, let alone one who comes from a different culture. But from reading all of these blogs, and the Compassion Facebook page, I’ve realized how important it is for the kids to get letters even if its just a simple one.
Most of my letters are filled with questions. What does she want to be when she grows up, what is Ghana like, what is school like, what subjects does she like. Things like that. Also, I know my child asks me questions in her letters so I always try to answer those. If a month has a major holiday in it, I write about that.
I think the key is anything you write will be good enough and your sponsor child will love and cherish.
I wish I could take credit for this idea but one of my friends did it not6 me
She put a picture of her sponsored child on the out side of a Card and wrote “Guess Who Love You(or childs name)
and inside she put a picture of her self and wrote I do
Great idea! I was thinking of something similar, using Jesus as saying something to her on the front, but I would like to ask…where do you get pictures of your sponsored child?
I have only the membership sponsor mail to use. I can easily print a picture from that I guess, but would love more pictures of her.
Thanks!
I know. It was my mother who payed for the first month. We are going to try to sponsor him on our own once the “sentence” is through. We both are trying to save and get jobs to help pay for him. Its too bad that it isn’t cause there were two other girls in our group that were saying that they’ve been praying to do a youth church mission. And that when my friend and I signed up for the sponsorship that it was like an answer to prayer. And other kids agreed that our youth group shouldn’t just sit back and watch . That we need to get out and help others. But our youth pastor is lazy and doesn’t want to do stuff like that. But the pastor and his wife(she was an assistant youth leader) also said we need to do stuff like this. And the youth pastor killed the fire that the group had for this and now the youth program is dwindling. now the only kids that attend is the pastors kids and the elders kids. which is only 4 youth.
It’s really sad. But thanks for the advice!
~Emma<3
Hi.
I have a important question.
My friend and I signed our youth group up to sponsor a child when we went to Acquire the Fire in February. Our youth pastor did not attend with us since it was just me and her and we were girls he had my mother go instead. But we called the pastor of our church when we were filling out the form and asked if it was ok. He thought it was an awesome idea and to go with it. But when we showed it to our youth pastor when we got back home he was mad. My friend and I made a really cool poster about the little boy and put it up on the wall in our youth room. But when we got up and told our group about it the Youth pastor was trying to bring out the negatives about it. That it will cost a lot of money and that it would be hard in the summer when there was no group. And then put a sentence on it. That if we couldn’t support it most of the way or all the way(if we came up short the church was gonna help out) for six months that we would cancel the sponsorship. Sept is the last month and we haven;t even gotten close to coming up with the money every month. Is it bad that my youth pastor was trying to kill it. I mean me and my friend had to remind him to pray for the little boy during prayer time and that he was constantly complaining about. And it wasn’t gonna be that hard either. Just everybody from youth group bring $5-10 a week. What do you think? Is it mine and my friends fault for getting into this when we couldn’t handle it or the youth pastor fault?
I feel bad for the little boy. He deserves a sponsor who will take care of him and love him. And when the church does get rid of the sponsorship should my friend and I take over the sponsorship with our families or let somebody else do it. Its breaking my heart that its this way.
In Christ,
~Emma<3
Thanks But it wasn’t me that made the $5-10 a week suggestion. It was somebody else in the youth group. I’ve talked to my mom about it she was even there and she was frustrated about the whole deal. The problem is is that our youth pastor disagrees with everything if it wasn’t his idea. There are a lot of people in my church that are like that. I know what you mean cause our family has to do that too. Some of the things you do are exactly what we have to do sometimes.
I was just looking for some help cause it just feels like the devil it trying to stop us from helping the little boy. Cause our Youth pastor ever told us that it is unnecessary to even write the little boy and that he doesn’t even care anyways.
~Emma<3
I am sorry you are having to deal with this. I hear your frustration. It sounds like you have tried to talk with the youth pastor about some of the problems. Are you able to go to the main pastor to discus your concerns? I don’t know how many youth you have lost but it is hard to maintain that God-given fire & enthusiasm if someone, especially a leader, puts the ideas & actions of the youth down.
On the topic of writing to your sponsored child, there are some awesome videos on youtube of young adults who had been sponsored through Compassion. They talk about the huge difference the letters made in their lives. Yes, the money was needed, but it was the letters that touched their hearts & was life changing.
As you are prayerfully considering what to do, keep remembering our God is a ‘God who is able’. He will not be put in a box. No matter what obstacles are there, God is able. He gave you a heart for children in poverty & He has plans for you! Pray with your family & with your friends for guidance of what to do next. Focus on the talents & gifts you have to give…. a heart for children in poverty, enthusiasm, a heart for God’s will, creativity… those come through in your writing.. and I am sure there are many more gifts He has given you!
If you are able to continue the sponsorship with a couple of others that would be fantastic… but if you are not able to do it another idea would be to look into becoming a correspondence sponsor. That would be a way to make a difference even if you don’t have the money to do a full sponsorship. The up side is you get the opportunity to build a relationship & be a christian mentor for a child in need… and that is huge! The down side is if the financial sponsor ever decided to take over writing you would have to send your good-bye letter. The other thing that could happen is if the financial sponsor discontinued their sponsorship you would be given the opportunity to either take over the financial sponsorship or to send your good-bye letter.
I will pray for you as you seek God’s guidance of where to go from here. You have God given gifts and He has plans for you.
God’s Blessings.
Emma, you have such a good heart to think of sponsoring a child and being so concerned about that child’s well-being.
It sounds like having the youth group sponsor the child isn’t going to work out at this point. If you and your friend’s families CAN take over the sponsorship, that would be great. You two could get together to write letters and make paper-crafts to send to the child.
I guess whether or not you can do that will be up to your parents to decide. Good luck!!
Recently I was given a lovely 14 years old girl to correspond with.
I have panicked a little! Why? My other child is only 8 and I have adjusted well to her, but I need input of things a girl 14 would be interested in. And, paper or flat. What might they like in the age range? Help me folks! I am guessing crafts for her to make. If I could supply the materials, she could make them Does anyone know if the school would loan or supply the child with glue for crafts? OR…we used to make sticky glue out of flour and water. Maybe that could be suggested to her.
Thank you for any feedback.
Shari, I wanted my 13 year-old to be able to do crafts but also knew that she might not have glue, scissors, colored markers and pencils, etc. So, I sent a “child gift” and requested that they purchase her these things. She wrote me the sweetest thank you for those, saying that she had never owned any of those and was decorating their house with her projects!
Jan, I didn’t know that you could send a “child gift” and request that certain items be purchased. How does that work? I know my child has access to crayons because she sends me cute pictures with every letter, but I wasn’t sure about items like scissors and glue. I would like to be able to get her some if she doesn’t.
Lindsey, Get on your “My Account”, on the left side you will see “Give a Gift” and then whether the gift is for birthday, family, or the child. Once you click the type, a new window comes up, asks the amount and at the very bottom of the page, before you “submit”, you will see a box that you can click if you have extra instructions about that gift. This box is present on the birthday and family gifts, as well. I have made sure that several of my older children have Bibles, written in their language for their birthday gifts through this means.
I haven’t really used the web to contact my child or do donations, I use the old school snail mail method. I’ll have to check it out.
where is this information please? I am also trying to find the letter writing printed sample I have seen once. Thank you
This post is just for you Lindsey: Giving a Gift to Your Sponsored Child: The Whys, Whats and Hows
Thank you Chris! I didn’t know you could do more than Birthday and Christmas gifts.
I too, would like to have the information that Lindsey is asking.
Congratulations on your new correspondence girl!
Are you signed up on OurCompassion.com yet? Head over there and check out the group for sponsors of older children. There are tons of ideas from other sponsors who have faced the same challenge.
You have some great ideas, Shari. I have a 14 year old correspondence girl from India who was very excited when i sent her Cinderella stickers. She knows the story of Cinderella, and thanked me so much for them. And, this child is very smart and a good student.
I think these children are apt to be less sophisticated than 14 year olds in our country. I don’t know about glue for crafts.
thank you Jan. I will do that. I found Barbie stickers with many clothes to change into and not too much attention to bare legs with short clothes and the tops being conservative. So far that is the best choice I have found. More shopping will help. I want to make a clothing example booklett for her. I thought I would cut models out of sales magazines like JCPennys and Lands End, and pick two outfits of each style for her to see how Americans dress. Not sure about this yet. For instance two coats, two hats, two dungarees and tops, two shoes….that sort of thing. Opinions requested. Her picture sent to me is beautiful. She has a lovely red dress with long scarf in the back and the red material has gold stars all over it. Really pretty, so I thought of fashion. I am going to OurCompassion.com now to see what I can learn.
In Jesus
S
I recently discovered these great note books called Moleskines. I was looking around at barnes and nobel and found mini note books that are about the size of the palm of my hand and dont have staples, they are paper back and come in a several colors and types!!! I sent this to my older boy and hopefully he’ll love it
heres the link to look at/order them online-
http://www.moleskines.com/volant-notebook-xsmall-ruled.html
or these
http://www.moleskines.com/klmc710.html
compassion takes the customs laws from the strictest country and that is the rule,,,so as not to comfuse anything….
all mail going to each country is classified as a document….therefore it must be paper and bendable like paper…
if we did sneak something , for example, felt taped to paper and for some reason, it got opened, they would inspect it all which would take alot of time and hold up every piece of mail in that box.
i do know in philippines, they are so corrupt that even private mail that i have sent to family and friends has been opened and the postal workers take out what they want and mail the rest…has happened many times to one of my friends who i sent alot of things to..
if this keeps happening in maybe one country, they will change the rules,,,,
compassion does not change the rules CUSTOMS DOES IT..
and can be without notice to us,,,they are working on a way to keep us better informed of changes….best to just call the office once a month or so, takes no more time that being on here and everyone just guessing..
right now the thickness is 1/4 inch,,,,it can go down anytime again, so if you got thicker stuff to send do it now..
books must be paperback so they bend and can be concidered a document…i sent tiny little golden books and had them returned…. sandy
I have a quick question and I’m hoping someone here can help me. I love making friendship bracelets out of embrodery thread – is that an acceptable item to send? It’s very light and meets the size requirement for shipping. Thanks!
Well rats…I made a few friendship bracelets and included some floss and directions so my child (teenager) can make some with her friends but they are being returned to me. As flat as they are you’d think the would have went through. I had them taped down and everything. I asked them to also return my letter since it was all about frienship bracelets and stuff like that. =(
Shalady, I’m so sorry to hear you put in so much effort and they can’t be sent. Perhaps you can give them to someone in your hometown. I’m sure they’ll brighten someone’s day. 🙂
I have to share a funny story about something that got sent back to me once. I accidentally put my DEBIT CARD into a letter for my child. (Talk about the gift that keeps on giving!!) Compassion called me right away and sent it back immediately. I sure felt like a goofball, though.
Hi Shari,
In March I called Compassion about sending felt. At that time they told me it was NOT allowed. Maybe something has changed since then. I hope so. I still have felt farms, alphabets, numers, etc.
I just betcha it is not allowed. I thought I could stick them on a sheet of paper or three so they will not roll around, but now, I think I better call CO. and ask about this. Thanks for your information.
Well, I think someone else said that they wrapped a flat puzzle in saran wrap so to make sure it lay flat.
I sent one of my kids a puzzle and made certain that it lay flat in the package, but in mailing it shifted and I guess bunched up because they sent a notice that it was too thick and was not able to be sent.
Are plastic bags still allowed? How about plastic sleeves for pages?
I have sent small items like stickers, or a bible verse cut out small in plastic or is it cellophane bags. Great for keeping things together. You can reuse many cellophane bags that things come in when you buy. Also, try using a baggie. I have not yet, as I have a large supply of the clear cello bags. Anyone know if those large freezer zip lock bags are allowed?
More ideas on puzzle sending? Also, I have 2 x 2 inch or maybe a little smaller, felt alphabet letters to send. How about if I glued them to a piece of paper then put that in a baggie? They will surely shift if I do not glue down. Would rather not glue them. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Shari… I’ve used little pieces of tape rolled into a circle so that it is “doublestick sided” and taped them to a sheet of paper. I’ve also used those scrapbooking tabs that come in a small square box and are sticky on both sides. And glue dots from the scrapbook isle…..
I’ve even just affixed everything to the sticky side of a piece of Contact paper. That method works the easiest for the child to remove the items, or if the items are real thin and you don’t want them to rip. When you cut the Contact paper, make it 10 X 13 and leave a margin when you lay the items on it. Then when all items are placed, put a piece of paper on top and fold the edges down onto the paper. That seals everything in place, so you don’t have to worry about things breaking free and moving. Just make sure you tell the child in your note that they need to open the paper/plastic up and get the stuff inside out. Or they’ll be looking at it and thinking….. “uuuh….. thanks??” 🙂
Recently I made little flash cards. I cut up some calling business cards so they were blank on one side and a small picture on the other. I wrote with indelible marker the capital letters and the small lower case letters. Also made 1 through 9 marking the base of the number to show the bottom side. These were little small hands cards. I also found a few animals that began with the letter and stuck it on that card. L Lion, C cat….
Me and my family have sponsored for about 3 years and I JUST learned (when I read this blog) that you can send things besides letters. I can’t believe we missed out on that for so long!!
Hi Elaine,
I send puzzles often and I have never had a problem. I make the puzzle and wrap it in seran wrap so it is small and flat. If my puzzles are larger, I just make it and fold it over in half so it’s still within limits. Then I add a plastic ziploc bag for them to store the puzzle when they are done.
Hi Kathy,
I LOVE the idea of sending puzzles. I never thought of that. I also never thought of sending pages of a book. I would like to send my girl a beautifully illustrated children’s Bible, but I didn’t know how. Sending a few pages at a time would be perfect! Also, if you can send puzzles, maybe foam stickers would be okay as well. Flat hair ribbons could also work.
I just got on the website for the first time today and the list of items they cannot send anymore included ribbons. 🙁
I too just found out we cannot send feathers. I sent one lovely feather. Since then I forgot about that and bought a bag of designer feathers. small white ones. Found out they are not accepted. They are not on the list of not to send so I thought I would pass this on to you all.
Would feathers be ok if they were laminated? I thought I read it was ok to send laminated leaves & flowers & wondered if it would be acceptable if sent that way.
I am sure it would be, Sandy, except my point in sending was to be for crafting. I had planned on teaching her to make things out of features
It’s ok. I added it to my own list of no-nos
When I send pages of a book, I remove all staples from the center and place it flat, I also number each page in case it gets shuffled about….if you follow through with this, each mailing can have the following pages until the book is complete.
I have sent a puzzle that was the size of a postcard and many pages of children’s magazines that have animals. I never knew if the puzzle made it. I have been inspired to push the limits a little now that I read the blog. My girl from Rwanda is older so I will be trying new things. I hadn’t thought of sports cards. Origami planes for the boys.
Something I read lately….ideas for letter writing- one was tell what you learned at church this week. This could be a great once a week letter, even short. Ours was on forgiving. My little girl would probably appreciate some information on forgiving. Just think of how she may grow if I send sermon subject letters to her! I like the idea.
Hi Nancy,
I have been searching for a small photo album. I know I’ve seen them years ago, but not recently, and especially since I want one. Did you happen to buy it on-line? I would love to buy some for the kids.
Hi Shari,
I didn’t know we had the option of having something returned. I have always been told it was donated to charity. I would like to have some of these things back since I just sponsored two new children through a different child sponsor program and they are allowed to receive things Compassion children are not.
I REALLY like your ‘remember to…’ ideas. I am going to try that!
Possibly it is the country our child lives in…the customs there set the rules for Compassion’s mail. Some may accept things that another country does not.
Kathy, I would check with correspondence about the return policy. It was stated in two of my correction emails. Maybe it is new. And I also asked WHAT is the name of the charity they give it to.
I have poor short term memory, and it makes it hard to mail all the correct ‘stuff’ for my child. I frequently have to check the list given.
I recently was reminded that a bag was not allowed. I have sent about three bags and truly do not remember which one was incorrect. Fun, huh? I hate to call for a silly question such as that, and who says the phone service ladies would know anyway?
I totally enjoy this program and truly have love for my little girl!
Shari
I really enjoy corresponding with my child. Her letters back are a joy to receive, and interpreters are doing a terrific job.
Over the past couple of years, I have sent quite a variety of items (flash cards-dividing the set up between 2-3 mailings; stickers, stationery, puzzle book pages, a world map, etc.) I’m working on a birthday card and some little somethings tonight and went online to review the restrictions, just to be sure I’m following the rules. After reviewing the rules, I wonder about a couple of the things I’ve sent in the past–a little pocket sized photo “brag book”, for example.
Now to my question: if one of us sends something that just can’t be passed along to the child, will the Compassion staff let us know that?
Yes, they’ll contact you, either by phone or email. They sent me an email when a photo album was too thick to be sent.
When they contacted me it was by email, and you are given 2 weeks to tell them if you want it returned or given to a near by charity.
I wonder just how many people are involved in processing our gifts to the children. Must be a lot of work, you know? Maybe this could be searched and a simpler process found. I just ordered stickers with my child’s name and number and sponsor and number printed on them. I just had too many items to label and it took a lot of time.
Does anyone try repeating the same paragraph for your child in every letter? I give ‘remember to……………..’ sentences in every letter….things like, wash hands, eat all your food, pray to Jesus every day, be kind to others. It is a learning process for the child, …she’ll be thinking, oh yes, she told me this in the last gift or letter. Soon, she will have it memorized such as a prayer and hopefully actually do it.
The stickers are a great suggestion. So is the repeated paragraph of in each letter Thanks!
… I am writing my second letter today. None of the questions I asked in the first were answered. I’m sure the translators have a real challenge! (my little girl is in Kenya). I am was going to send a paper doll book.. but now I think I’ll send just a section of it. I’m afraid the staples might not be accepted.
I don’t label all my items, only the letter itself. So far I haven’t had any problem with them not receiving my other items. They thank me for them in their return letters.
Hi Kelly,
I use a 9 x 12 envelope.
Hey, I have a question. Does the envelope have to be 8.5 x 11 inches in size or can it be 9 x 12? I have difficulty finding envelopes that are 8.5 x 11 inches in size. Please help! Thanks!
I have been a sponsor for many years and I always put my sponsored children and their siblings’ items in individual 9×12 envelopes or the 8.5×11 envelopes (one envelope for each child) with our sponsor name and number at the top front of the envelope and their child name and number in the middle front of the envelope. Then to mail the envelopes to Compassion I put them all together in a Priority Mail Tyvek Envelope or Priority Mail Flat Rate Box, whichever is less expensive to send. I know that this works and that the children each receive their individual large envelopes because I have received pictures from the children showing them holding the envelopes that I have sent! I have the same problem with wanting to send too much!
I have the same problem. So I use the 9 x 12 most of the time.
Sometimes i have use for a smaller envelope and I understand the lesser, thinner, the faster. Sometimes we just cannot help sending many many items, right? I do feel the correspondence department will tell us if 9 x 12’s are unacceptable; until then, ……..
I don’t think it’s the size of the envelope that’s the issue. Remember–your return address is on the envelope, which is never forwarded to the child (one of the ways Compassion protects the sponsors)…all of the items are taken out and put in whatever Compassion uses to forward our letters and enclosures to the children. So the items themselves need to fit within the guidelines–not your original envelope.
As of late, I have been including an extra envelope to Compassion. I understand this helps Compassion with this expense. No one has told me that this wasn’t okay.
Marci, I do not yet know what my sponsored child’s siblings name is, but I do know that it is a sister. I had send compassion an email regarding this information. At the time, they could only tell me he had a sister, but at least I can send gender related items. 🙂
Oh Marci, I am soooooo happy for you! Seeing those blue and write envelopes never fails to get my heart fluttering. I am not sure if the names are boys or girls. It’s funny when they omit something like that it’ll take another 10-12 months to get an answer back! 🙂
I wonder how many children are assigned to each translator/letter writer? My first response came, and yes THRILLED is the word, however, I had trouble with reading much of the translators writing.
I have sent a letter of request to correct this. They are very busy I am sure.
Is it really many months to receive another letter from my child?
COMPUTERIZE THIS PROGRAM FAST! (smile)
I just received my first letter from my sponsored child! I am SO happy! Quick question- she has siblings by the names of : Yureidi, Wilkins and Yargeli. She lives in the Dominican Republic- any idea of the gender of these names? I wanted to send something to her siblings as well but I want to make sure I don’t send girly stickers to boys or vice versa. Thanks!
I’m a reference librarian so I can’t help searching for answers to questions. I found the following in connection with some social sites like facebook.
Catherine Yureidi Carpio Hernandez | Facebook
yargeli. offline. Gender: Female. Country: Dominican Republic. Age: 21. User since: October 2009.
http://www.radiusim.com/profiles/yargeli
As far as Wilkins, all I could find was that “Wilkin” was German and “Wilkins”, English, as boys names.
So it looks like Judith’s reasoning was right on!
Honestly, I have no idea either! ha! But if I were to venture a guess, Wilkins sounds like a boy’s name; the other two are probably girls, considering they end in vowels (think Michaela, Laurie). But, that’s just a guess. Someone with more experience with DR particularly, or Spanish-speaking countries in general, might be able to give you more insight. 🙂
Recently, I cut the first three pages out of a soft cover book, numbered each page, then mailed, telling my child the rest of the story would follow until the whole story was sent to her. The pictures were beautiful and I wanted her to have them more than anything. Oh yes, take the staples out before you cut the pages off.
that is a great idea! i’m so doing that next month. thanks.
I am really new to Compassion. In fact I just sent my first letter to my child.
What a super idea! I was disappointed to learn we couldn’t send books but you came up with a great solution!
Here’s one thing I sent recently to my sponsor child. . .a very thin coloring book. It was the alphabet with beautiful flower designs inside of the over sized letters to color. I colored in the first letter of her name in the book and marked the page with my letter to her.
We all know we can send our kids stickers. But can we send foam stickers or stickers with fun googly eyes???
I, also, would like an answer to this question. Foam stickers are just great!
One other thing, I am interested in having a child to just letter write to. I read about this somewhere, and could use guidance please.
MIchelle, you might want to join http://www.ourcompassion.org. There are many correspondence sponsors on there, and we can give you the ups and downs of doing that. You need to call the USA office, and ask to be added to the list. You do need to realize though, that if for some reason the financial sponsor drops the child, then you have to make the decision to either pick up the sponsorship or lose the child also. There are some differences on the way gifts etc., so that is why if you join ourcompassion, or if you are already there, you can ask on the blogs.
Could someone explain to me what is /how the correspondance program works. I’m new to Compassion and have two sponsorships, I am really wanting to sponsor another child but I am a teenager and theres now way I can afford another sponsorship, but I read some where on this blog people talking about just writting to a child?
Could you please explain how this works and where I can find info about it on the Compassion web site 🙂
If you want to sponsor another child but cant afford it why not organize a pool of people to club todethe to sponsor a child or even more mayb a church group or sports team etc
great idea Darren. I did just this with one other church lady who was willing to help me sponsor a child. Bless Christian friends.!
This blog post, Write to a Child is about the correspondence program. It’s a good introduction to the topic. It answers the most common questions about the opportunity.
Loren,
Isn’t that so exciting when you find something new and special to send! We don’t have Target in Canada, so I am a wee bit jealous. I did find a real cool bookmark at Hallmark today. They are the same as the stickers you found, I just about jumped up and down I got so excited. The cardboard frames are a good find, I have been looking for those for a while.
Thanks, Michelle. I really like your idea of having a calendar in the binder to keep track of when you send them things. I’m going to try to put one in each of my binders.
Wow I went to Target today and they have so MANY THINGS THAT YOU CAN SEND to your child!
1.I found baseball and football cards for my teenage boy,
2. “Holographic” stickers (they change when you move them) I was especially excited about those and I hope my little girl it too!
3. Small cardbord-ish picture frames, they were 3 connected by ribbons so i am going to cut the ribbon and send them seperately, they FIT the SIZE RULES!
Also, I had to make a calendar in Spanish for my Spanish class and my brother suggested I make a copy and send it to my girl in columbia and put our birthdays and special US and Columbian Holidays on it! I’m really excited and plan on sending her one every month
Marci, I’m not getting rid of any of my kid’s letters or pictures. I’m talking about combining the two children who have left the program into one notebook. i will not be able to receive any more letters from them at all, or have any more contact with them. By combining these two children in the same notebook, I will make more room for the children whom I still write and receive letters from. Each of their notebooks continue to get bigger, so something has to be done. All I can do for the two who have left the program is pray.
I think you completely misunderstood me.
Jan, you are correct. I did misunderstand you, I must have been quite tired that day and missed part of your story. Thank you for the correction.
Thank you, Marci. I know thqt you are as concerned and dedicated
to your Compassion kids as I am. I’m sorry if I overreacted.
Jan, no need to be sorry, you did not overreact; I’m glad that you brought it to my attention. Yes, these children are so special. My life has changed so much since they have been a part of it, yours too, I’m sure. They are such a gift.
Sharon and Michele,
We sponsor two children, and have 4 correspondence children. I have a notebook binder for each child, with dividers to separate the letters we get from the child from the letters I send on line. I haven’t saved copies of any of the letters I write via US Mail, mostly because it’s inconvenient. I’m going to be updating the notebooks soon, because I want to put their pictures in them somehow. I’ve seen other ways of organizing the letters and information, but so far this seems to work out best for me. Currently, their pictures are up in my studio and around my computer so that I can see them when I’m working there. I had two correspondent children who left the program, and I still have their notebooks. I don’t know how long i should try to keep these. I still pray for them every day, but their notebooks take up space, so I may try to consolidate the two together.
@Jan,
Yes I think its fine to combine the two binders. I sponsored a little girl in Mexico for years who suddenly left the program…I have her letters in the back of the binder for my other two children (I just use one LARGE binder)
Thats great that you correspond and help that many children, I’m sure all of them love you more than you know 🙂
Jan, please reconsider the idea of “space”. Maybe you could put them in a file folder, or a decorative box, possibly just store the binder on a shelf or closet shelf that isn’t being used. Maybe design a small bookcase to store and showcase them? You may have already read this, but here are instances of two Compassion children’s stories regarding their Sponsors’ letters. 1) When their house was on fire the child ran back into their burning home to retrieve their sponsors letters. 2) One child was in safety during a hurricane and left safety to return home to get their sponsors letters. Mine are in binders too and they do take up space, but it is precious space for me, I think of them each time I see those binders and add letters, mine and theirs. I keep mine so that I remember the questions that I’ve asked each of them. I’m praying that the Lord will give you a wonderful idea that will meet the needs of your life and home.
Blessings.
Michele…. I have done the same thing. We only sponsor one child, and I started a binder with ideas, his pictures and letters we have received from him as well as when I write.
I recently made a binder with my two kids pictures on the front; inside there is a calendar to keep track of when i send them things, then a list of ideas as they pop into my head, then dividers seperate their info and their letters. I had fun re reading all of the letters as i put them in and I have been “showing it off” to some friends. It’s helping me stay organized and motivated 🙂
I just figured it out, I need to contact Compassion Canada to find out why my kids do not show up on my profiel. I have done that, hopefully they will show up soon.
I was just going to ask if you were U.S. or something else. Can’t help you with “something else.” 🙂 Hope Compassion Canada can get your kids on there. Also, if you ask the OC questions on the OC blogs, you might get faster response from OC people who can answer your questions…. we have a bunch of Canada people on there.
Hi Debbie and Linda,
Thanks for your help with the OC site. How does a person get their sponsored children to the right of our profile? It says sponsorships but I have no clue how to add my sponsored kids. There is nothing to click on. Thanks in advance.
I am one of the people that welcome new members on OC. I didn’t leave you a message previously, because you didn’t have kids listed, so we weren’t sure if you were a sponsor. Notes have now been left by two of us, so contact us if you can’t figure out the tips we left.
I’ve joined the ourcompassion.org site, but have no clue how to navigate. Can anyone help??
Sharon, a good place to start to is click on “blogs” up above your profile pic and info, near the top of the page. That’s where most of the interaction happens and you can add a new post and ask any question you might have.
Thanks, I had NO idea I could post pictures on OC. I just joined and am not really sure what’s what yet. I just figured out the pictures and have them all up. It took a few tries. It’s so exciting to be able to share them with other Compassion sponsors. My family and friends are happy for me and enjoy seeing the photos but they just don’t seem to get it. The sadness I feel on the weekend because there won’t be mail until Monday. The heart flutters I get when I check the mail, or even when I start thinking the mail might be there. I remember reading once where this will change your life. Oh, does it ever! I think about these little people every single day. They always say thank you in their letters and I try to let them know it’s me who should be thanking them. I feel so blessed to be part of their lives. We are lucky to be sponsors. We get so much out of this.
Hi Kathy,
Have you joined OurCompassion.org? This is a great place for sponsors to connect with other sponsors from all over the world!
By joining OurCompassion.org you can:
• Find others who sponsor children in the same Compassion center as your sponsored child.
• Connect with sponsors and advocates in your city.
• Create groups around interests and causes.
• Share trip photos, letters, blogs and much more (which is what you wanted to do!)
• Mobilize your OurCompassion friends for prayer.
You should check out the site today!
Yup, Kathy’s on OC!!! She must have been thinking of a way to share pictures on these blogs…. ( : GREAT plug, though!!! ( :
Hi Bev,
I too had the he/she in a few letters from Tanzania. It seems the translator didn’t know if the child was male or female and then at the end of the letter there was a notation to someone to check the gender of the child.
I wish we had a spot to share pictures. I would love to share them and would love to see everyone else’s pictures of their sponsored children and their families.
i called compassion yesterday, asked why mailing requirements keep changing,,,was told that it wasn’t compassion, it was the customs,,,and that yes it does change often, and for right now, it is 1/4 inch and books can be sent but they need to be soft cover, staples can be left in and covers on, as long as they are plyable
I just saw some more replies to my post. So THANK YOU, to ALL of you who replied. I signed up with ourcompassion.org and I hope to see alot of you out htere to talk to you more. May God bless you all!
Hi. Thanks for the direction. Just wanted to pop back in to answer Jan before I direct myself to another area. Jan, I have only been a sponsor for 2 months. Thanks for the direction and advice. Being so new, I don’t really know what to do or what to expect. I know emails can be recieve faster than snail mail but didnt’ know how much faster. I will send the things that you suggest. Thanks for your time and help.
And Nina, thank you also for your direction. I am heading over where you suggest I go to learn more now.
Thanks Debbie, I just bought the book. I also thought I’d try – Too Small to Ignore: Why the Least of These Matters Most”. Thanks for the suggestion!
I received a letter from one of our sponsored kids yesterday and she included news that her mother’s sibling was ill. The translator referred to the sibling with the pronoun “he/she” so I don’t have a clue if it’s a man or a woman. The translator also referred to our child’s sibling, mentioned in the letter as “he/she.” This child is in Indonesia. I’m wondering if anybody has had that happen before.
Hi Bev — From what I can tell from my sponsored child’s letters, the Indonesian language has one word for sibling (“kakak”) and one word for parent (“ibu”). There isn’t really a way for the translator to tell the gender unless the person has a very gender-specific name or the translator knows the family personally. In my experience, the translator has generally just picked a gender — sometimes they’ve been right, sometimes they haven’t. “He/she” is probably closer to what your child actually wrote.
Lin, I just keep writing and sending little paper gifts to my children, whether or not I get anything back. The two things that have helped me the most in developing relationships with my children are (1.) praying for them regularly, and (2) writing to them regularly.
I don’t think you said how long it has been since you started sponsoring this child, but it does take time for the child to receive a letter, and then for the child’s teacher or helper to help them write a letter and for the letter to be translated and sent back.
If it’s been quite a while, and you haven’t received your first letter, I’d call Compassion and check. I did this once, and they said it was something they wanted to be made aware of.
In the mean time, just keep praying for this child, and writing and sending little stickers and book marks, and pictures of yourself and your family.
God bless your ministry to this child.
Hi Lin,
I agree with you 100%. It is a one-sided relationship for the most part in my experience. I have been hoping some of the children I sponsor would write more often than the required 3 times a year, especially since I write every single week, sometimes twice. One even wrote back that I must love him a lot for writing so much. Two of my seven write very often, the remaining 5 seem to only write as a thank you for something. It makes me sad. It might never change, but I am thankful for the two who do write. I must share with you a story though – here I was thinking if the children do not write often and never say much when they do write except to thank me for the things I send, then they must not even really know that I exist. About two months ago I received a thank you for the family gift I sent which the family used to repair their home. Since we always receive photos any time something is purchased I expected a photo of the house. The photos I received just blew me away. The little girl doesn’t say more than two words in her letters but the family sent me 9 pictures. One family picture of the 6 children and two parents outside the home. The remaining 8 pictures showed one family member in each picture against one of two walls in their home. Each of the two walls was covered from top to bottom in everything I have ever sent them. Pictures, postcards, stickers, posters, etc. It was amazing. Each family member posed for a picture and pointed to a different picture on the wall. So every time I get depressed that I am not building much of a relationship with the children I look at these photos and realize maybe they don’t know how to open up or maybe what I am hoping for is not something they are comfortable with in their culture but I am important to them just in a different more private way.
Wow, Kathy, I never heard that story. What an overwhelming image I have in my mind of their gratitude for you!! Truly amazing, and very touching…. Like Lin said, I’ll hold onto that image in my heart for awhile, too!
That was beautiful, Kathy. It made me cry, we really don’t know how special we are in our children’s hearts sometimes, even though we may not see it in their letters, or even when we visit. Thank you for sharing that story!
Wow, Kathy… what a wonderfy story….I will hold that one my heart for a long time. That was beautiful.
I also wanted to mention that you should check out http://www.ourcompassion.com and read the blogs. You’ll find great ideas for things to send along!
Lin,
The relationship can be a little one-sided, but this doesn’t mean that it isn’t a true, viable and important relationship. Just like God does WAAAAY more for us than we do for him, our relationship is still real and crucial. We write to our sponsored children twice a month, at least. We hear from some monthly and others a few times a year. I know, no matter what, our letters are important. I’ve met a young man who went through the sponsorship and LDP programs and he told me that the letters he got were as valuable as gold.
Please, keep writing. You can click my name to get to my blog where I like to show some of the letters we send and give ideas on what to write about. You can share your favorite Bible verses and tell her why you like them. Same goes for praise songs. Share what your pastor has been teaching lately. The most important thing is that you send love and encouragement.
Bless you for your dedication to this ministry.
~Michelle Wright
Lin, please join your fellow sponsors at http://www.ourcompassion.org We will keep you so busy with everyone’s kids that you won’t remember if you received mail or not from your own. I have one Indian girl, and her letters are beyond sweet, but each kid is an individual, and you just don’t know. Your job is to write, and write, and write, and tell them about everything you can think of, and one day the letters will come. I feel like I have a relationship with my kids long before I receive a letter. it might not be quite accurate, but I take what I know about them, and have to assume the rest. But really, come on over to ourcompassion. You might also find sponsors on there that have kids in the same projects that can give you a bit more information, otherwise we will tell you everything you didn’t want to know about India. Also, there is a book available on the Compassion site, and Amazon has it called “Sheba’s Song.” It’s about a girl that years later told her sponsor what was really going on in her life while she was growing up.
Loved your comment about OurCompassion: “We will keep you so busy with everyone’s kids that you won’t remember if you received mail or not from your own.” But we all know that is only KIND OF true!!! ( : However, OC DEFINITELY helps fill in those gaps when letters aren’t arriving in the mail!!
Hi Lin, how long have you been sponsoring Ms. India, and how old is she? I sponsor a little boy, Alok, age 6, in East India. I have been for over a year now, and so far, it has been a strict 3 letter policy for him. I also found it frustrating, especially because when he wrote back(or rather a compassion worker wrote for him) the letters were bland and informationless. Also, I sponsor a girl, 12, in Haiti, and they have a 4 letter/year policy, and though it took some time, I have a wonderful relationship with her. She writes the best letters. I tell myself to stick with it, to stubbornly love Alok and shower him with letters, stickers and gifts, because it is my job to make sure he feels loved by me. Maybe when he gets older, his letters will get better, but if they don’t, I have to trust that God is using me in his life without me being able to see the results.
As for how to handle it, I’m using my experience with Haiti as well as India here. Don’t wait for a letter before you write a letter. Write often. In most projects that aren’t reciprocal, the child can’t just say, “Hey I really want to write my sponsor a letter.” and sit down and write, they have to wait for a specific date designated as “letter writing day.” So even if your child passionately wants to share everything in their life with you, they must be able to get as much of it into to that one letter.
Second, remember, that as long as you are writing often, a relationship is being built. You may know little more than the information on your girl’s packet, but she is keeping everything she gets from you stored up in her heart, and if there are a lot of letters, she will feel as if she truly knows you and is loved by you, and will not feel alone.
third, sometimes it takes a while. Maybe the child needs to grow up a little, before figuring out the letter writing idea, or perhaps, it will take a while for the child to trust you (this is especially true for children who have been sponsored once before, or have suffered abuse from adults in their lives). Also, it is hard for a child to believe that an adult truly wants to know the seemingly useless details of their lives.
Trust me, I know from experience with my little Alok, it truly feels like you are writing to a wall at times, but we have to overcome that feeling and force ourselves to understand that these kids really are receiving our letters, and treasuring them, even if the response seems minimal. We already have people who love and adore us in our own lives, but our sponsored children may or may not. It is our job to be the people who treat them like they are the greatest thing since penicillin.
If you need more help or ideas, I suggest you check out Ourcompassion.com It is a place where sponsors gather together to share their ideas, discouragement, encouragement, information and questions. Trust me, if you posted this question in a blog there, there would be MANY replies with ideas and encouragement. If you want to look me up, I sponsor in EI-218, you can type that number into the friend finder, and my profile will pop right up….also, I comment A LOT on those blogs, so you could just find my name there and click it.
Hi everyone,
I am having some difficult with something and I have not found an answer by searching all the blogs and other info that compassion has provided. I am a new sponsor, I sponsor a girl in India. I read all over the material from Compassion that I need to send letters to develope a relationship with my child. However, I can not make a jump between a relationship and 3 letters a year. If the child sends only 3 letters a year, and I haven’t even recieved one yet, how can I develope a relationship with her?
Right now, it seems to me that the relationship is a bit one sided, me giving and her recieving, which is the way it should be but I wouldn’t consider that a relationship. Experience sponsors out there, am I not seeing something that you see?
I must be missing some information, right? I don’t get it. Please explain.
Hi Lin
How long have you been sponsoring your girl? I have sponsored a girl in India for 8 years, at first she only wrote the standard three letters a year, but as she has grown older and more able to write she has written more and more. She is 17 now and I get letters about every month, so I have a really good idea of what is happening in her life. it took time for her to open up, but as I shared with her, she did the same in return. For my birthday this year she sent me a beautiful tailored cloth. Be patient, any relationship takes time. Don’t forgot how important your letters are to your little girl, you may be one of the few adults encouraging her. God bless.
Lin – please come over to the Our Compassion web site and join us. We can be of better assistance and support for you over there, and will be happy to answer any questions and give any information we can. When you get to the site, register, then go to ‘Blogs’ – that is where the immediate discussion is. Start a new blog stating your dilemma, and you will get much help. There are also Groups, but go to Blogs first. We can direct you from there.
Hi, Lin. I don’t sponsor in India, but I will tell you what I know. The children are REQUIRED to write 3 times a year. But they MAY write more. Some countries do, some don’t. Some countries are on the “reciprocal system” and the child will answer each letter you write. It is my understanding that India IS a reciprocal country, so you may get as many letters as you write. Perhaps someone who sponsors in India will have more information for you. It does take awhile to get the letter writing going back and forth…. and the first letter seems to take the longest to get. I sponsor in Ecuador, which is also reciprocal. It takes 2 months for my letter to get there and 2 more months for hers to get back. But in the past month I have received 3 letters.
For lots of good ideas and encouragement and support from fellow sponsors, I suggest you join OurCompassion.org. I have learned so much more since I recently joined, and I’ve been sponsoring for 16 years!
Cute idea! I bet that will have a spot of honor in the child’s home.
I heard of a sponsor who told her child ” here are 10 things I want you to know about me, please tell me 10 things you want me to know about you”.
I tried it with the 3 children I have. Only 1 responded, but it gave me a creative idea to send something different to the children I sponsor.
I recently sent band aids to my child. Just a few wrapped in sterile paper. And I am excited…I found thin foam strips in a package at a dollar store! I made a copy of her picture on my computer, put it on bright yellow, orange and green paper, and put some strips of the bright colored foam around it. Glued them with Elmer’s glue stick. Mounted it on a stiff paper. I am soooo excited about this special picture for her to see! Oh yes, and I glued gold stars around it also, and printed her first name on a piece of strip with gold stars around it. woo hoo!
Jesus lead me and I followed! Should build up some self esteem, huh?
Shari
Recently, as a newbie here, I picked out a book “Frederick” the mouse. I cut the front cover and back cover off, took out all the staples, (really wanted my child to get this book) and then numbered the pages. I pray it passed for her. I am new to all of this ‘learning the rules of mailing’ fussy stuff. Hopefully things will come natural later on.
Lisa, unless you just want to, you do not have to remove the staples. It will pass with staples. It’s just when books have a glued binding or are too stiff (Golden books) or thick or large that they can’t go. Flimsy thin books like the Dover ones are fine. I wish I could find the soccer stencil ones!!!
Okay, that’s good to know!!! I just had visions of staples setting off some metal detector and the bomb-sniffing dogs showing up to sniff the mailbags. 🙂 I’m not a catastrophic thinker or anything… 😉 I found the Dover Soccer Stencils booklet at our local children’s museum.
I was just looking at what I can send my sponsered children, and it says that we can no longer send “books or booklets”. I just purchased several small spanish Archway bible stories to send to one of my young girls (2nd grade). I made sure they were no larger than 1/4″ thick. Can I still send these to her? I was going to send one a month for the next six months. Her birthday is July and I was going to send the first one with a birthday card. Thank you for your help.
Lisa, as long as they are ‘bendable’ and fit the size requirements they should be fine; mine have gone through. By the way – are you in Missouri?
I actually just called this morning about that very thing. The rep said it is because of new rules about things going through customs. He said Compassion declares there are documents in the packages (rates are different for bound books I think)… so in order to change a book into a document, remove the binding (and cover if you choose or if it is hardcover) so it is individual pages. If you wish, those individual pages can be then tied back together using something like yarn through holes punched in the corners. Alternatively, individual pages can be sent in a series of letters. He said if it is tied together only the front need be labeled with your child’s full information.
Hope that helps.
That’s helpful info. I recently bought a Dover Little Activity Book called “Fun with Soccer Stencils.” (My Ethiopian boys love soccer/football). It has 6 paper stencils that you can trace — all pics of a person playing soccer. The cover is folded over and secured with two staples. If I take the staples out it will just be 6 small paper stencils with a piece of paper folded over them. They are flat, paper, and about 3″x5′, so it should fit the criteria for what we can send. I’ll post a pic of it over on my blog. 🙂
You shouldn’t need to take the staples out.
Oops, that’s 3″ x 5″, (not five feet.) 🙂
Sadly, On the list of approved items it also says that they are not allowing some items (stencils, balloons, ect..)
These are paper stencils, (not plastic), so they should be good.
p.s. But I’ll come back and let folks know if they don’t go through.
I think if it fits the guidelines, (length, width, thickness, and all paper), it should be fine.
Our young lady in Indonesia sent us two paintings soon after we started sponsoring her. She is very artistic, and I treasure these paintings. I mean to have them framed, but haven’t done it yet. Her dream is to be a teacher when she grows up. That’s the best gift we’ve received.
The best gifts we’ve given have been to our first child, in India. Soon after getting her, her teacher wrote to us that the family’s situation was really pathetic. We sent a family gift, and they bought 4 goats with it. Since then, with other gifts, the family has added to their goat herd, and bought two Oxen for plowing the fields.
What is, in your opinion, the greatest gift you ever gave your sponsored child and/or the greatest gift your sponsored child gave you??
Does anyone know of a website that translates kinyarwandan??
Chris, thanks for the quick response and the helpful info. And thank you to the people who handle the sponsor mail. I appreciate you so much!
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE FOLKS WHO SORT AND DISTRIBUTE SPONSOR MAIL! When I send cards or photos, I put them in a separate envelope and put the child’s number and my sponsor number on the envelope (unsealed so the translators can get at them.) Will the card or photos be separated from the envelope or will that all get sent to the child together?
I ask because I only put the child number on the envelope, and if the card or pics are taken out, they won’t have the number on them.
In future I will make it a point to put the child number on everything — but this is how I’ve been doing it for three years now and I want some assurance that at least some of the the stuff I’ve sent is getting to my child. Thanks!!!
Lisa,
I sent your question to the folks who sort and distribute the sponsor mail and received this in reply:
These are great ideas! Thank you! Has anyone thought of sending pocket folders with cute designs on them for girls and boys? Also love the bandaid idea!
Thanks, Sara! My husband and I have just saved it on the computer and I think this will be great. I like to use the Compassion stationary form because it leaves room for translation, and it limits my writing, too. YOur idea was very helpful.
Jan
Thanks, Kristen. That’s a lot easier.
Jan,once you find the stationary you can download the pdf and then save it on your computer. Then you can print it from your files whenever you need it. I did this for a while and printed the paper on cool stationary, but then I realized that as long as I put my name and number and my child’s name and number on the paper, i could use other pretty stationary and cards.
You don’t need to login, just go to the Compassion site and click on “for sponsors & donors”. Then click “connect with your child” on the left of the screen. You should then see a link in the middle that says “downloading our stationary”. That link will get you there!
Andrea, I wish the website made it easier to find, but this is how I locate the Compassion Stationary:
1. Log in
2. Go to Contact your child
3. Site Map
4. For Sponsors and donors
5. Connect with your child
6. Downloading our stationary.
If anyone has an easier way to find the Stationary, please let me know. I like to download the stationary on pretty computer paper, but finding the location of the place each time drives me nuts. Maybe it’s just me.
Jan
Someone much earlier mentioned “printing” the compassion stationary… where is that located?
So excited…. Got our second letter from our sponsored child… What a sweetie!!!!!!
Marci, if you aren’t able to sign up I would contact Compassion about it, there are people on OurCompassion from all over the world, sponsoring through the US site as well as all the others. I don’t think you even have to be a sponsor to join. Maybe there is something in your firewall or security settings? (I’m not a computer expert by any means!) But please try again, we would love to have you over there! It is a great place to get ideas and information.
Marci P
which site will be better for translation ???
Terri- I am unable to join that site as I am sponsoring a child on the US network through the canadian- and it won’t let me sign up 🙁 But thanks!
Thank you all SO much- that was very helpful. I am writing it right now!
Does anyone know- would it help if I translated it? I have read on here about maybe not having the entire letter translated by the translator. I thought if I did it maybe that would ensure everything got translated.
Lana,
If you go to Compassion.com and click on “for sponsors and donors” and then click on “connect with your child” you will find a lot of information. Click on “frequently asked questions” and you will be able to find a list of things you are allowed to send. I would also suggest, like some of us suggested to Marci, that you check out ourcompassion.org to find a lot of fellow sponsors who are happy to help and answer all your questions.
Marci P, I’m so excited that you are sponsoring! My best advice to you is to join OurCompassion – the social networking site for sponsors – and ask your question there. You will get a lot of great ideas and support.
I usually start my first letter by saying how excited I am to be sponsoring them, and introducing the members of my family. I tell them I can’t wait to get to know them and ask a few basic questions like what is your favorite color or food – just something to break the ice. I think of it as a foundation for future letters, to give them the background of who you are. And I always try to communication the love that God has for them, and say that God has put love in my heart for them – even though I don’t know them, I still care about them. You can make it short and simple, the important thing is to let them know you are there for them and that they matter! It’s a great opportunity to really invest in a child’s life – I am excited for you, you are going to love it! Please come join us at OurCompassion! http://www.ourcompassion.org
I’m writing my first letter today. I’m excited and almost scared at the same time. I don’t want to say the wrong thing and find out my letter can not be sent. Our child is only 3 so it will be hard to tell him things that are going on in our family for him to understand. Are comic’s allowed to se sent? I have some comic characture’s on postcard size paper I wanted to send along with picture of our family. Do we put everything in an 9 by 12 envelope and send it to Compassion where they review everything and then decide if the package can be sent to our child? Some of the instructions are not very clear. Any help and suggestions will be appreciated.
Hello Marci
Congratulations on sponsoring a child. You are at the beginning of a wonderful journey! I recently added another child to my sponsorship list. Getting started is sometimes difficult since you do not know a lot about a child’s interests and activities. In my first letter I said I was happy to be his sponsor. I told him my name and my husband’s name. I told him my age and that I work in a school library. I told him that I did not know much about his country, but I was eager to learn about his country and his life there. I told him it was Spring here in the U.S. and that we were getting a lot of rain. I asked about the weather in his country. I asked if he had brothers and sisters and were they older or younger. I asked what sports did he like and did his school have a sports team. In closing I told him again how happy I was to be his sponsor, that I was praying for him and his family, and that I hoped to receive a letter from him.
I keep copies of the letters I write my sponsored children so that I don’t repeat myself too much. You can use the Compassion provided letter form or use your own writing paper. When I use my own writing paper, I draw a line down the middle, write on the left side and leave the right side blank to allow space for the translator to write the translation. If using your own paper, be sure to put your child’s name and number and your name and number at the top of the page. Also do the same for anything you send such as coloring book pages, stickers, photos or bookmarks. I made labels using Microsoft Word and Avery labels so I can just peel them off and stick them on whatever I send.
I hope this will help you get that first letter started. Over time as you learn more about your child, writing letters will be easier.
Marci P,
I simply introduce myself, tell them how glad I am to meet them, tell them about my family and what activities I like to do. I ask them questions about themselves, their families, and their friends. I tell them I’m praying for them and care for them very much. I might send a picture or some stickers. Just try to be yourself in your first letter, and you should be alright.
Marci, It is hard getting started, isn’t it? In my first letter I expressed that I was excited to receive my packet of info about her; she’s the first child I’ve ever sponsored through Compassion and I shared that as well. I shared a little bit about my family and where we live (in a general sense, as in what state). I asked some questions about her and her family…told her I would be praying for her. I typed my first letter and inserted some picture files of me and my family, and I also sent a book mark. Hope this helps you with your letter!!
@Marci P,
Welcome to the “Compassion Family”!
Ok so It would be a wonerfull idea if you sent a picture of yourself for them in your first letter becuase that helps them feel even closer to you.
Tell them about where you live, what you like to do, your family, positive things about their country maybe (to let them know that you are interested in them)
Its also great to ask alot of questions to help get the conversations flowing!!!!!!!!
Also, ask about names and ages of brothers/sisters so in the coming letters you can stick small gifts for all of them (like stickers) but make sure they are all similar so their is no “jeloiusy” problems.
All in all just let them know that you really want to know all about them and remember they want to know about you, it might be akward for Them@first, so give it time and things will be great!
Congratulations On your sponsorship its a great thing that you are doing : )
Marci…. In a nutshell… keep it simple. 🙂
Linda…. love your idea too!!
Marci…. In my first introductory letter to our sponsored child, I did just that…. I introduced ourselves…. who we were, where we worked, our favorite colors/hobbies, etc., our ages, that fact that we were getting married, that we have two cats, etc. I try to keep our letters short and to the point of whatever I’m writing about. Makes our letters easier and quicker to translate and hopefully, I will always have something “interesting” to write about. Good luck!! 🙂
Hi Marci,
I am so excited for you! This is the beginning of such a special time. In my first letter I wrote: My name is Kathy, I am your new sponsor. I am very excited about this opportunity to get to know you and your family. I recently found Compassion and started looking through the pictures of children waiting for a sponsor. The second I saw your face I knew you were the one. I am hoping to get to know your family and would like to share my family with you. I sent a family photo and described my whole family. I let them know I would be their sponsor until they no longer needed me and that I would write regularly. I ended letting them know how blessed and honored I felt to be their sponsor.
Hope this helps,
Kathy
DEar Marci,
I start most letters, including my first one, by greeting them in the name of Jesus. In my first letter I introduce myself as their sponsor and tell the child how happy I am to be their sponsor. I tell the child briefly about myself and my family~(there will be time for more details in future letters). The main thing I think your child will want to know this time is if you are married, how many children and grandchildren you have, and what pets you have. Tell the child what area you live in, but not the actual address. For instance, I tell my children that I live on the Oregon coast. If there is room, you may want to describe a hobby or job you have. I also like to tell the child that I really want to know all about him/her. I may close with a bible verse, or just promise to pray for them.
Hope this helps. Most likely your child is enthusiastically waiting for you first letter and will be very excited to get it. If you can send photos of yourself( and your husband and children if it applies) so much the better.
Jan Woodford
Marci P., I’ve been sponsoring for 16 years and written 4 first letters. But I’ve got to admit, I plagiarized for the last one. Have you seen the Jimmy Wambua video where he reads the first letter that his sponsor wrote him? I listened to that over and over and took notes, then wrote it in my own words. I don’t know quite how to find it on Compassion, but it’s on youtube if you just type in Jimmy Wambua. Find the shortest video. Maybe somebody else can guide you to it better than I can. Another suggestion: go join ourcompassion.org and you will find a group of sponsors who encourage each other and help each other out. I’ve been much better at my letter writing since I joined.
I need help please. I just got my package and I am reading to start my first letter but I have NO idea how to begin- what did you all say in your first letter?? Do you tell your child you are their sponsor? I have tried MANY times to start this letter but I have nothing written down so far….
Linda, what a great idea! I’m going to try that with each of my children. I love it!
As I was putting my most recent letters in their notebooks it occurred to me: I think our sponsored children would LOVE to see a photo of US holding all the letters THEY have sent to us, plus maybe their photo!! They would definitely know then that their letters mean as much to us as ours do to them!! And what a tangible connection that would be, seeing a little piece of themselves in our arms…
Julie, It is my understanding per the new “Items That Can Be Sent” list (dated April 5, 2010) that the only acceptable items you can send are paper products, with very few exceptions: band-aids,laminated flowers or leaves and stickers. That’s it! Whatever you send can’t be more than 1/4″ thick. In terms of sending a package to your sponsored child, Compassion does not allow you to do that. The only way to send something other than a paper product is to send money and then give directions as to how you hope your gift will be used…(?) but even then it is up to Child Development Center as to how that money will actually be spent. (See Jan Woodford’s comments about this.)
I am a creative person but I am finding this ‘send paper products’ list extremely limited and very challenging.
When I send my child small gifts, do I include them with the letter that goes to Compassion Internationl or can I send a bigger package with my letter to Compassion Internationl? Just want to get it right 🙂
Becky, I’ve gotten lots of great ideas from reading the suggestions in this blog. Some that have worked for my older girls: Age appropriate stickers, tattoos, and finger nail decals. Your bookmarks are good, and I like to send those, too. Family photos are good. Small tablets. Once I copied the child’s picture on the computer, then put a paper frame around it ( you can get these from scrap book supplies, or make them). Once I sent a small blank book, with the child’s picture on the inside of the front cover. Once you get started, I’m sure you’ll be thinking of ideas of your own. The Dollar Store is a great resourse for paper things.
If your girl is interested in sports, sports cards pertaining to the sport she is interested in are good, and the Dollar Store has them cheap.
I am sponsoring a young lady in Guatemala. She is 16 and she is my very first sponsored child. I’d like some fresh ideas of things to send with my snail mail. The approved list of items that they will deliver is very limited at best.
I sent her a bookmark! I’m off to a good start! She’s a teenager so I’d like to send something age appropriate.
Thank you for your ideas.
Nancy,
near New Delhi
Thank you everyone for all your answers to my questions.
Pastor Prakash,
Wow, you live in India! What area? The Indian girl I used to sponsor lived in Ranchi (or near that area.)
I just called Compassion to be sure I was doing it right, because I wanted to send instructions for a birthday gift I was sending to one of my children. I wanted her to have a new dress, shoes, and a doll. Compassion Rep said to put a post-it on the check that said: Special Instructions, then the information. Also, she said that it is still up to the judgement of the Child Developement Center~if, for instance, the child would prefer a soccer ball, or needs something other than shoes, they would do that, and to please understand. I thought this info would be helpful to some of you who are new. At the same time I sent a check as a family gift, hoping that this would make it more likely for the child to get something of her own in the birthday gift. In the past this particular child’s money has sometimes been spent on family gifts, with the explanation that the needs of the family was very great. We have helped this family out a lot, but really want the little girl to have some things of her own. She is motherless, and I want her to have a doll to hug.
Nancy,
I just asked because I live in india.
Heather, I think it’s wonderful that you have been able to sponsor that many children. God bless you!
The Lord knows your situation, and I know he will bless you for the effort you make in helping these children.
I have just received notice that my little girl in Brazil has left the program. She is the 2nd child I have had leave the program. The first was a little girl in India. When the child in India left the program, I started sponsoring another child in the same project, she has been a real blessing to me. But at this time, I won’t be sponsoring another child in Brazil. We were sponsoring six kids and one CSP. Now it’s five kids and a CSP. Thinks have been tight and we’ve worried about how we were going to continue sponsoring all of them. So maybe it’s better that we only have five for now until I can work more. And I will continue to pray for her just like I continue to pray for the first child I had in India.
Nancy, I have two sponsored children, one in India and one in Indonesia. I currently have 4 Correspondence children. One is in Tanzania, and the other 3 are in India. The two that I lost were in Indonesia and Ethiopia. I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad about the boy in Ethiopia, since he was 21 and had almost finished the Compassion program, and I’m told that he has a good job in Construction.
Yes, I’ve received letters from the pastors of my two sponsored children. They were very nice, although they were general, not specific about my particular children. Nevertheless, I thought it was nice to get them.
Pastor Prakash,
Are you talking about the Indian girl that left the program? She was in Sikrabasa Child Development Center. And what kinds of details do you want?
Jan,
Yes, it is very sad to lose a sponsored child. I have lost two of mine. A little girl from the Dominican Republic moved, and my little Indian girl was taken out of the program. I’m interested to know how many sponsored children you have and how many correspondence children, it seems like you have a lot!
Everyone,
Have any of you gotten letters from your sponsored child’s pastor? That is so cool! I got my first a while back, from the girl we sponsor in the Dominican Republic. What were you pastor’s letters like?
nancy
in which project was your child?
do you have any other details of the child?
yes
Loren
If you ask any details of the family they will give you without doubt. i am sure about it
Loren, you can still pray for her.
@Jan- The same thing happened to me, a little girl I was sponsoring in Mexico suddenly left the program and I never found out why. It is definately hard especialy because she was the first child I sponsored but I am thankfull for the time I had to get to know her and hopefully I had a possitive impact on her life 🙂
Nancy, it’s sad when you lose touch with a child, isn’t it? My correspondence child from Indonesia moved to a different island, and a young man in Ethiopia left the program just before he graduated. I’m told that he is working in construction. I had sent gifts to each of these children just before they left, and I’ve never heard anything about them, so I don’t know if they got the gifts, or if the gifts were given to some other Compassion program. I can still pray for these two children, though! And I do. I don’t know what’s going on in their lives, but the Lord does.
my sponsor children do not share much with me about their siblings and I wanted to send a little gift in each letter for all 4 of the brothers. Problem is I have no clue how old they are! If I called Compassion could they tell me their names and ages?????
Thank you Jan Woodford and Pastor Prakash!
Pastor Prakash,
I used to sponsor a little girl from India, but her parents took her out of the program. 🙁
jan
Oh sorry, i thought about coreespondence shildren out of compassion.some do it directly. as for compassion corespendence children you can ask for the same project SRA
thank you
I have a sponsored child, Parvathi, at EI409, and correspondence children at IN445, IN661, and EI416. Mamatha, in IN445, is the Correspondence child who I first started sending gifts to. I have other children in Indonesia and Tanzania. The one in Indonesia is sponsored. I’d love to have more correspondence children, but my husband and I have agreed not to take any more at this time. YOu see, we are very attached to some of the children, and if their real sponsors could no longer sponsor them then we would want to take them on. but it would be a hardship for us. So we won’t take any more, and maybe risk not being able to keep them if their sponsors moved on.
yes Nancy .
they will do it for you.
Jan.
In india which project/ place is your child?
Nancy.
defenitly they will send you. a photo with the child. why it take 6 months time to get a letter from him?????? do you have any sponsor relation assosiate there??
Nancy,
yes defenitly they will send a picture to you and according to compassion if you send more than $60 as a birthday gift or family gift aor general gift or any other . you will get the phot without asking. but if you ask defenitly they will send even your gifted amount is less than $60
do youhave children in india?
Nancy, I send gifts to Correspondence children by sending a check to Compassion, with a post-it note on it that says which child it’s for, and the child’s number. That’s very important. You cannot send money to Correspondence children through the internet. It has been a great blessing to me to do this. When I first began writing to correspondence children I didn’t know that I could send them money. So I sent a beautiful birthday card to Mamatha in India. She wrote back and elaborate Thankyou letter that made such a fuss over this card that I knew that she was hurt and disappointed. I could just read between the lines and realize that her teachers or someone had told her to make the best of it and thank me for the card, even though she was hoping for more. I immediatly called Compassion and asked them if her real sponsor had sent her a present ( No) and was there some way that I could. The answer was that I could send her a check through the mail to Compassion. Since then I always send a check to my Correspondence children~sometimes it’s not as much as I’d like it to be, but it’s always something. The children are so grateful for gifts.
Pastor Prakash,
If you ask for them to send you a picture of the child with the gift, do they do it?
And Jan Woodford,
How do you send money to your correspondence child?
I just started a correspondent child. He is an eight year old from Guatemala. I’m very excited, and wondering about other people’s experiences with correspondent children. Also, does anyone know about how long it could take to get my first letter from him? I know it could take up to six months, but I’m wondering what other other people who sponsor children from Guatemala have experienced with the speed of letter writing. Thanks for all the helpful info! 🙂
Jan woodford,
As a sponsor you can ask spesifically to the sponsror relation assosiate to buy the doll for the child and the balance can be use for the medicine. as for the poor family background the family will never say to buy the doll for their child but they will try to use the money for some other needs of the family. but we can sure that atleast the child should get the specific items. as for you corespondence children you should try to talk with the person through whom you send teh money. i think you are contacting your child through any church or any pastor. If you have any person who look after the child and give back the details of the child other thatn the child or family it will be good. many who help corespondence children through church and pastors.
in my first letter to each child, as a part of introducing myself,i tell them that since we can’t be together or talk, the only way we can get to know each other, is to write it all down . i tell them that i want to know everything about them , their family, school, project, community etc. and that i will tell them the same about me. i tell them that i love to write and send small gifts in most of the letters. and i tell them that the most joy i get is when i recieve one of their letters in the mail and i ask that they please write often , at least once a month because i write once a week or two……and so far it has worked, i get a min of one letter a month per kid, more from some..and i also tell them in that first letter that i want as many photos and drawings as they can send me….i tell each kid that i make a scrapbook just for the letters, photos and drawings i get from that child, i tell them if they are interested in also making a scrapbook to let me know , and i will send them the materials. i tell them of my other sponsored kids and that they do the same,,,it has worked great.
just don’t be afraid to ask, they don’t realize how much we are interested in them unless we tell them
Pastor Prakash, I have a child in Indonesia, and in India. I also have correspondence children in India and Tanzania. We send monetary presents to our Correspondence children as well as our sponsored children, but often the money I send to the children ( both sponsored and correspondence) end up being used by the family. One of the Child Care centers explained that there was a critical need by the family. Also, when I specified a doll for my Indonesian girl ( because she had said how much she liked dolls) the money was used to buy medicine for her grandmother. I now hesitate to be specific, because I think the local Child developement center knows the needs of the children more than I do.
Jan in which placae is your is your child???
i work as an SRA. and i get many leter from many sponsor ask me too purchase some thing for the siblings or puschaase whatever he/she wish to have. i do ask the children to what they wish to get. then the children say.they need doll. carrom. chess. bat ball. etc. i do it for them and send the photo to th sponsors. i think you can also do the same to your child
Jan woodford,
you can send the list of items which you wish to give to your child.
Ask the SRA to purchase the same items and provide a phot of the gifts with the child. defenitly you will get teh photo and your child will get all the items which wish to give to him or her. even it is 10kg or 100kg
As for samaritan purse. i have seen it and received inmy church also. we have only 12 children in the church but i call many 40 children to present the gifts who are not christian and never got samaritan purse before.this is the seccond year. but i never seen anybody sending a letter with the gift box or asking the child to replay , even an email adress. if there were any email adress defenetly I send them the replay who received the gifts nd the picture too.
some time we do mistakes so our desire not fullfilled
As much as you ask you children . they will respond
because letter writing is not experienced in many families in many places. But compassion is still works on that.. it is good.
there is no way to send samaritan purse to send to a perticular child because it will be taxable. so it will coast much.
But there is a way you can present any thing to your perticular sponsord child.
make a list of items which you wish to present your child.
example.
Foot ball
carrom board
chess board
Prefumes.
Shampoo. any thing whichis usefull for your child. or whichis usfull for their education etc.
calculate the amount. how much it coast in your place.
send the amount to your child with a perticular purpose, and the list of items which you wish to be purchased for your child. and ask the sponsor relation assosiates to puschase the same meterials and request to send a photographs of the gifts with your child.
i am sure that you will be surprised and never think about the coloring sheets and the stickers only. i do it , i experienced it. i am happy in it. i hope that it will help you. try once and tell me.
SOmething that also has to be taken into consideration is the time it takes for our country to the childs country to get the letter. It takes 3 months for me to get a letter from my child. The packages have rules because some countrys have a really strict mail system. Some of the compassion delivers have to go to great lengths to deliver our precious cargo to our children so please do not get discouraged because you cant send everything youd like to your child. I send mostly paper things. Paper plane printouts from the web. Drawings from my kids, letters, pictures, scriptures, and lots of stickers depending on our holidays. He sends me letters with lots of drawings in the back, sometimes I get pctures and they all end up on the fridge. He is 9.
Pastor Prakash, we have put together boxes for Samaritan’s Purse before, but we were never able to send them to our particular child. We never heard where they went to, in fact. Is there a way to have Samaritan’s Purse send them to our own sponsored child? That would be exciting, if possible.
homany of you gave a foot ball to your child? pr a carrom board to your child.
remember your gifts is not only for your child but it will be used in the family members and the siblings too. so when you send some thing to your child dont forget hes/or her siblings
think if in one home one is having food and th other is only just whatch on it then what will be the feeling of the other child?
Try to Give your child a Full BOX of gifts…….
praise be to the name of the Lord.
After few months i am back again to the place.
greetings to you every body
hope you all send gifts to you children in this occations.
can any one say what was the best gift you ever send to your child????
is it asticker???
or a ribbon? or a BIG BOS full of GIFTS
as samaritan purse offer many things .
what was your best choice???
I have just sponsored my first child from Kenya! I am going to Kenya on a missions trip in September to the Mathare Valley and thought it would be awesome to sponsor a child in that area. I look forward to meeting her! I nice way to start a long lasting friendship!
I have also gone to the Dollar Tree and picked up some items to send to her – I found some gift boxes that were collapsed and all she has to do is fold them to make keepsake boxes to keep her special items in. I found a zipper pencil pouch for her. I have a very pretty composition notebook and pencils I plan to take with me among other things. I’m enjoying writing her letters and hoping that we can at least begin a friendship prior to our meeting! I know places like Wal-greens will take your picture and make it into a puzzle – I think I’ll do that for her too! I wish the guidelines weren’t so strict on the size of items, but you guys are giving me such great ideas – that makes it easier! Keep them coming!
GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We received our first letter from our little boy in Rwanda today. Only took a month and a half to get here from the time he wrote it. Well…. his sponsor wrote it for him, but still exciting to open the envelope. He thanked us for our monetary Christmas gift and said he bought food for his family and they had a feast for Christmas!! What a precious little boy!!! He turns 6 in June.
Hello everyone!I have been reading these comments and I am so encouraged . I just wrote the first letter to my sponsored child in Nicaragua. It’s really helpful to see your ideas and suggestions. So I can send an envelope that is 8.5 x 11 and not thicker than 1/8 “? Is it ok to write evey week or two? I know my child has a brother. How do I know if he has a sponsor?
Beth,
I understand your confusion with the gift giving. From what I have heard, the children/project are NOT required to give you an account or even a thank you for your gift.
I have kids in many projects and I have noticed that some children always thank me for gifts (Occasionally with a photo), and others never do.
I have sponsored a 13 year old boy from Rwanda for almost a year. The suggestions for older children on this site are great! I have been sending monetary gifts over the year wandering if he was able to buy things for himself and his family. I just received a letter from him telling me that he was able to buy a goat, a chicken, and food. It was so nice to hear that he was able to help his family. For others who send monetary gifts through the year: does Compassion let the sponsor know when and how the money is spent for the child? The only way I found out was through the letter the child sent. In the past I have sent $100 gifts with no response from the child and the last gift was for $25. If anyone has any answers, that would be great.
Well I couldnt manage to make it all the way through the post but a suggestion for boys is anything to do with soccer. All my boys are in Africa, but I know that in Africa and Latin America futboll is HUGE.
P.S. Sorry to add a second comment right after my first, but I forgot to add that origami books can be purchased online (for very cheap!) through stores like amazon.com, and are also often available in stores’ book or craft sections. So, it’s something that anyone, not just someone living in Japan, can do!
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas everyone! I just started sponsoring a little boy in Rwanda a month ago and I would have never thought of sending all these different things! I wanted to add one more idea, which I don’t think I saw on here.
I live in Japan so origami books are very common. At the “dollar” store here I picked up several books that each have a dozen or so different designs and I’m folding a different one to send with every letter. I’m also making one of each design to keep at home so that I can tell him we have the same ones. Once he gets older (he’s only 6 right now) I also plan to send him a copy of each origami page so he can try it himself.
They’re fun for me to make and they also show him an interesting little piece of Japan.
Linda- Oh what a good idea that a little money be set aside for a family picture! That would be great to take and make a boarder around it or frame and send back to the family! I bet many of them dont have family pictures!
I love the ideas! I have sent a musical card and Kalpana in India now 18 loved it. I also sent her a card with my recorded voice. Haven’t heard how she likes it. I am going to send her a crossstitch kit minus any metal and the hoop. I also ordered stickers with her name on them from Current and she adored them. Remember in many countries they are learning English. Kalpana now writes to me in English. You can send money for gifts and ask that some money be set aside to send you a picture of family with the gift. Just a few thoughts that I’ve learned along the way. I also send her a small calendar and put dates of all our birthdays and hers in it. You are such a blessing, all of you.
I have ready through every 932 posts on this blog and I have learned SO much.
I signed up to sponsor a little girl from the Dominican on the 26th of March and I am waiting excitedly for my package. I am in Canada, however our website did not have any Dominican girls so I am sponsoring a little girl from the US site, through the Canadian site- a bit confusing but I’m so happy that Compassion could do this for me.
I taught English in the Dominican for a week 2 years ago and I left with a piece of my heart in that country. I can’t wait to start sending things to my sweet girl and I thank you all for your suggestions!
Chassidy, I have sent scrapbook pages, where I attached photos to cardstock, slipped them into those clear page inserts that would go into a notebook, then tied them with ribbons through the holes for the binder. This kept them within the size limitations and I found that 4 pages was less than 1/8″ thick. As for the comments that I made, I sent a written letter in accompaniment to the “photo album” which explained what was on each page. That way the translator would interpret the letter, even if the page explanations only stayed in English. Since I sponsor several kids, and thus send multiple copies, I used one of the flat rate white envelopes from the post office, which allows you to send everything that fits for $4.90 (those photos get heavy pretty fast, so if you plan to send the photos to even 2 kids, it’s cheaper than using the manilla envelopes. What did you include in the photo albums? I am keeping Walgreens’ photo lab in business as the sky is the limit on the pages you can do, even beyond family and pets and seasons – trips to state parks or national parks, even Easter egg dyeing and hunts!
I have a question. I have made small scrapbooks for my girls as was suggested earlier in this blog. It was a great idea! I am wondering if it is ok to send them in a large manila envelope? And also, I wonder if the translators will know to open them up and translate the picture descriptions I have written on each page? Has anyone had experience with this before?
That’s great news Amanda, I have one too and am thrilled with it. I laminate all the pictures I receive from the children, I look at them so often I didn’t want to damage them. Making a bookmark is a great idea! Thanks!
I just bought a laminating machine and am using it for things I send my kids! I am so excited about it. It was only $26 at wal-mart and it works great! You can see a pic here —-> http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=193282&id=100000487025307
So far I have made book marks, an American flag and laminated pictures! I would recommend this for everyone!
Good news to hear Dara. Made me cry. (Of course, I’m having a crying day today for some reason… strange.) Prayer is powerful, but I already think you have a great relationship with your sponsored child that will last a lifetime. Enjoy!!!
Today we received our first letter from our sponsored child!!! It was amazing….. The last line of his letter read “Please pray for me so that our relationship can last forever and that God can give us a long life.” I was so happy that I cried and lost my contact in my eye! I love that little boy….what a blessing he is to my life! I never expected his first letter to come so soon – I can’t wait to hear from him again!
one thing that I found while out west was a puzzle card. there are about 10 or so pieces of a puzzle. you suppose to be able to write on the back but with compassion having to translate I would not recommend that. I haven’t tried sending it to my sponsor child, do you all think that it would work?
Katherine….
Where in Rwanda is your sponsored child. We sponsor a little boy in Rwanda too… Project 736. I can’t think of the name of the place just now, but it is in northern Rwanda. How has your experience been? What is your child like? We’ve only been sponsoring a few months so far, so haven’t had a letter back yet. I have sent three letters so far. I figure he should be getting my first letter sometime early in April.
Kathy,
Again, I am glad to hear your `relationship` with Miss Ghana is going so well. And, to hear how well she is doing. It`s always good to hear good news. Keeps us all motivated and encouraged. 🙂
Sharon
Kathy,
I am in the States; the rules are the same on the Compassion Website for us: No plastic, no fabric (that includes ribbons), no metal…
Know that your items are a surprise blessing to some other unsuspecting children. God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. “Your” child may not have received the blessing of your gift, but some other child did!
Enjoy the challenge of trying to think of gifts within the guidelines. Think of it as a kind of scavenger hunt.
Thanks Sharon,
In Miss Ghana’s latest letter she calls me her mother and asks how her brothers and sisters (my children) are doing. That makes me feel really good, I am so happy she feels like part of the family. I have never called her my daughter for fear of upsetting her parents but I feel the same way. I hope you hear soon, keep us posted!
Hi Stephanie and Nancy,
I have tried hard not to respond to this but I am really frustrated and trying to understand how there can be different rules. I was recently told almost everything I sent was removed in the last envelope I sent to the children I sponsor. I was so upset I didn’t sleep for days. I was already informed I may only send something to the children I sponsor just once a month. That was hard enough to deal with. I try really hard to make a fun envelope once a month and to find out they will receive none of it just devastated me. I did send very thin flat plastic bracelets and was informed nothing plastic may be sent. I sent ribbons also, very narrow thin ones and they too were removed. I am in Canada, perhaps that is the difference but shouldn’t all the rules be the same for Compassion offices worldwide? If you have any thoughts, I will gladly hear them. I am reading your posts where all these things are being sent (scrunchies, cloth jewelry, cloth, thread, etc.) and every time I try the same thing I get a phone call or an email saying the items have been removed.
Idea for Jan and Jack
Jan, write about one-half or three-fourths the amount you usually write, then sign your name as usual. Then have your husband Jack write a paragraph or two below your signature and sign his name. Your child will get a personal letter from each of you everytime you write, but it will be only one sheet of paper for the translator to deal with. I hope this helps.
This is in response to Jan Woodford’s comment.
Jan, I think it would be fine for both you and your husband, Jack, to write your sponsored child.
It sounds like your child needs and is desperate for a “father figure”.
When you write, sign your letters, Love Jan and Jack. When your husband writes, he can sign his letters, Love Jack and Jan.
I don’t think this would confuse your child. The child clearly understands you are husband and wife.
I think Compassion only wants one person to write to a child if a large group sponsors one child together. For example, it could be confusing or overwhelming for different members of a Sunday school class or youth group to write to one child.
I think your child would love hearing from both you and your husband. Good luck!!
So many good ideas here. Some relatives and I were talking about pet chickens we had as children, which gave me an idea. I wrote to some of my children about pet chicken experiences: The banty hen named Cocky that adopted any eggs we bought at the feed store and raised babies that grew to be twice her size. How the neighbor’s dog used to come over and chase and scare the grown hens that used to be Cocky’s babies, and how little Cocky would chase the dog home, pecking at his tail, while the two big hens tried to hide in fear. I’m going to try to think of more childhood stories to tell the children about.
Also, I found some pocket Kleenex packages in pretty prints. They were to thick to send as they were, so I took the packages apart and bound them to a piece of light posterboard with Saran Wrap, laying them out in several piles so that they were within the width guidelines. Thanks to whoever suggested the Saran Wrap. I’ve used that idea several times already.
I have loved the ideas here!! The dollar store is a great place to shop for this. I have bought stickers and coloring books there and torn pages out of the coloring books to send a few at a time. I also found some paper hanging decorations from Valentine’s day that fold up flat (but expand when you pull the strings on both sides). I sent those in my most recent letter, I hope they get through.
I also plan to try the puzzle idea (make a puzzle then wrap it in plastic wrap). Sometimes when I buy Cheerios I get little kids books which I send, even though they’re in English. Recently I bought some punch-out jungle animal masks from Amazon.com and sent some of those to my 7 year old boy in Thailand.
Amazon has tons of books of paper dolls, and I bought a book of African paper dolls for my little girl in Rwanda. Should I cut them out myself, or send them and let her do it? I wasn’t sure if they have a lot of scissors available at her project or if they will even be small and sharp enough to do that.
Thanks to everyone who posted great ideas for items to send along with letters. My husband and I are supporting a little girl in El Salvador. We are so happy that we can do this in Jesus’ name! I see where alot of sponsors have many children who they have taken under their wings.. I think it’s wonderful! God bless each one of you as you continue to keep in touch with your little ones whom the Lord loves!
Kathy,
It makes me feel really good to hear your little ray of sunshine in Ghana is doing so well. It makes me laugh when I think how school books made me feel as a child. It is humbling to know how excited and proud these kids are just to have a new school book and supplies. I pray Miss Ghana will continue to do well. Keep me updated.
I just sent my third letter to my little boy in Rwanda. Of course, I haven’t heard anything back yet, but I am hopeful.
Sharon
Stephanie, thanks so much for your note of encouragement. He’s a dear little boy, and I do pray for him and all of my children every day, but because of your note I will especially concentrate on his school work in my prayers. Thanks again.
Jan,
Never underestimate the power of your prayers.When I received the report card for my first sponsored child in Tanzania a few years, it looked pretty grim for him, too.He was doing so poorly! But he always asked me to pray for him and his schooling and when I really committed to doing so,I began to see the improvements. He has come so far and best of all he tells me he knows that when I pray for him,those prayers will be heard and answered!
I’ve sponsored Gabriel in Indonesia for about a year and a half and I haven’t received a report card (or progress report, or anything similar). However, it’s a fairly new center (2 years?). So I’m not sure whether Indonesia as a country does not regularly send out reports, or whether the project is still getting up and running.
Uncle Jack sends his greetings and love through me. We’ve always been told that one person should be writing the letters, so that the child doesn’t get comfused. We both look forward to Omary’s letters and Jack makes suggestions about what to include in the letters I send back. Omary’s teacher says Omary likes it when Uncle Jack says Hi, and I talk about Uncle Jack a lot in the letters.
I am so sorry to hear about your little boy. What if “Uncle Jack” wrote him a letter or two?
I received one report card from my little correspondence boy in Tanzania~and it was kind of a shocker. He wasn’t doing very well at all, and I’m pretty sure it has to do with emotional problems, which he’s written about quite a bit. Since then, I’ve really tried to encourage his school work and tell him how important school is. There’s not much more I can do from so far away. I think this is a sad little boy, who wishes he had a father. He always asks about my husband, and I always tell him that Uncle Jack says Hi, or Uncle Jack sends his love.
I wish we could visit him, but it doesn’t seem likely.
Author: Kathy Olson
Comment:
Sharon,
Back to the topic of my two special kids. I received a letter last week from my little lady in Ghana and she was proudly holding new school books, and said she was so happy she was able to go to school and have all the necessary books and paper. She looked so happy and proud and was standing so tall. She is first in her class (I love receiving her report cards) and I am so proud my heart burst. She spent the money I sent on school supplies.
*********
Does everyone get report cards on their sponsored children? If so, how often? I’m curious as to what they contain information-wise! 🙂
Deena – Your total “letter” with extra inclusions needs to be less than 1/4″ thick total.
Nancy – While balloons are fun, they can also be a choking hazard to younger children in the household. They aren’t really recommended.
Debbie – You can’t send metal or magnets, as it’ll get picked up by mail scanners and x-ray machines when the packages are en route. It causes delays in shipping and extra fees. The metallic blanket isn’t technically metal, so that’s probably why it would be able to go through. The jewelry was likely fabric or plastic and relatively flat, so that wouldn’t be an issue. As for the fabric, most items would be too bulky to send. I’ve sent ribbons myself. If you’re not certain, you can call Compassion.
Nancy,
I didn’t think we could send fabric (e.g. handkerchief, scrunchie, washcloth) and metals (e.g. little metalic blanket. jewelry)?
I’d love to send some different gifts, so please explain! Thanks!
I have had a terrific time hunting for things to send to the 7 children I sponsor. I send the same to the boys and girls usually. Some I have learned are more frilly and some more rugged so the gifts are sent depending on that. They can also be for the mother or father too. I don’t send specifically to the siblings because of possible jealousy. I allow my sponsored child to decide who gets what in the share. I have sent handkerchiefs (sp?), scrunchies, bandaids, photos, stickers, coloring books/pages to color, drawing pads for their own art work, folded cloth, thread without the center holder, washclothes, napkins, tableclothes, and cloth bracelets, necklaces that can be folded flat. I have sent camping equipment like bandanas, emergency blankets (the little metalic ones), wallets opened fully so it is within the size range, math cards, maps of their own countries, and even a small mirror for camping. The great part of the sending is that if there is a question of if it can go or not Compassion decides. I get an e-mail or a call asking if i want to donate the things not able to go to a charity of thier choice. Only happened the first time I ever sent anything. That was too big for the envelopes they use and too much – like Christmas1 couylden’t send balloons like one person was able to do above. Oh, well. Anything I learn about thier country they love. Some write so much it is hard to keep up seriously and one writes barely ever and it’s only a few lines (my youngest ;O ) I think I treasure the letters from the children more than they ever could from me, but I understand I am incorrect.
Enjoy and be blessed by your child(ren) and the chance we have to bless and be blessed by them!
Sharon, I sent a picture in a mat to my girl in Thailand. I put a picture of me on the left and one of her on the right and, as you said, decorated the mat itself with stickers. It went through fine and she loved it! She said she had it near her bed so that I would be near her always!! I think you should definitely do it!
I just sent my very first snail mail letter to my sponsored child today! I’ve sent a couple online because I know they get there faster, but I was really glad to get something tangible in the mail to him! I love him so much, I hope he enjoys his letter! Thanks for all the ideas – what a great blog!!!
In my next letter to my little guy, I’m planning on taking pictures of us and our cats, laminating them, and then attach them to matting frames. Then glue two matting frames back to back. Maybe even decorating the fronts. I think this will be really cute and still within the size guidelines. Wish me luck!! 🙂
Jan Woodford, the 11 year old I sponsor is from the Dominican Republic.
Nancy, what country is your child in?
That’s great news, Nancy! I’m so happy for you, and it encourages me. Thanks for letting us know.
I can’t believe it! Jan Woodford and Loren, I just got a letter from my 11 year old girl, that she wrote herself. I hope that your girls write the letters themselves soon! Thanks for the encouragement of letting me know that others have had these troubles too. Praying that you both have the same experience as me.
I too have found a lot missing from the translations. Very frustrating.
If I send multiple small items that are less than a quarter inch thick is that ok. Or do all items together have to total less than a quarter inch? I’m sending 2 small coloring/activity books and a notepad.
All of my children are in Nicaragua. I send cards in Spanish that I can get from the Hallmark store. The English translation is found on the back of the card. They are Sinceremente’ Cards. I also send Christian English/Spanish coloring books and small flat books. I also send Christian stickers in Spanish.
Great! Thanks everyone! What about foam? Is that ok to send too? There are a lot of cute foamie shapes, masks, etc…
Card board is totaly fine to send, i often send mini fuzzy posters that i get at hobby lobby and places like that. The crosses sound really cute, im sure your child will love it 🙂
Dara, cardboard is fine because it is technically still paper. As long as it is less than 1/8″, go for it!
Hi Dara,
I have had no problem with cardboard.
Perhaps someone has already answered this question in the past, but are we allowed to send cardboard? I found some cute cardboard crosses with the black velvet patterns on them, and I thought it would be nice to color one for him and send it. It is small and thin. Maybe I could color one for him, and send a blank one for him to color himself. Is that allowed?
Sharon, Following is a link to Compassion stationery you can download if you’d like, however I know a lot people use their own stationery and write on one half and leave the other half blank for translation. Just always be sure to include our sponsor number and child number at the top if using your own stationery.
No worries about the letters you’ve already sent. From my understanding, the Compassion translators will just use a separate piece of paper to translate the letter on. 🙂
An idea for older boys. I ordered a pair of Nike shoes for my son and received a free folded poster from Nike. I sent it to one of my sponsored children and looked up other sports posters. I hate folding things but it still looks great.
I just read elsewhere that you are supposed to leave space in your letters for translation. Is this true?? I have sent two letters so far and didn’t do this. 🙁
I just discovered something I can send to my girls in Peru. Someone suggested sending sticky notes (Post-it notes), so I was looking at the dollar store last night. I found a magnetized note pad like you stick on your refrigerator to write your grocery list on. You have to remove the magnet, of course. Just pull it off gently. If the back of the pad (cardboard) tears a little, cover the blemish with a sticker. If the pad is thicker than the guidelines allow, just pull off some of the pages for your own use until it is thin enough to send. (If you keep some of the pages, you can tell your child you are using note pages in your home just like the ones you are sending – you’ll both feel more connected). These note pads come in many pretty colors and designs and are larger (4″ X 8″) than most Post-it notes.
Thanks for all the great suggestions from everyone here. I have been struggling to think of something interesting to write about, but now I have lots of ideas.
Jan Brett, the children’s author and book illustrator, has an amazing website filled with her beautiful artwork – including coloring pages, mazes, games, and other educational activities. Jan has traveled extensively – including a trip to Botswana. Those who sponsor children in Africa could find illustrations of African animals to send. The possibilities are just endless with this website: http://www.janbrett.com/
Thanks so much to Jan C for the idea about sending pictures of the storm. Here in California we aren’t affected, but the Yahoo pictures were spectacular. I sent several to my Compassion kids!
I also loved the suggestion of National Geographic coloring book pages. I found a great one of a kangaroo and, since I have a girlfriend in Australia who takes care of orphaned joeys, it was a good jumping off point for stories about her work there.
I am wondering if when you send them email letters if we can cut and paste a picture into it? Do any of you know if this is possible or if it will work???
I’m not sure what the print quality of the picture would be or if it would create a problem or not; just brain storming ideas please let me know what you think!!!
@Nacy, I sponsor a 10 year old girl (in Columbia) and her tutor still writes her letters for her on the other hand my child in India has written all of his letters to me since i started sponsoring him when he was 13 years old. I think it just depends on the progress in school of the individual child and the area they live in.
For those of you who have sponsored children who live in areas where it never snows… I just went onto YAHOO! news and there is a slideshow of the snowstorm that has hit the eastern US this week. There is a place on the screen where you can print out the photos, all of which are quite impressive. I have printed them out on regular printer paper to mail to my children in India and Bangladesh. The photos that I have sent them of our snow – TN even had a foot! – show us playing in it and all, but I didn’t have any way to explain the difficulties that also arise (buried cars, digging out sidewalks 3 feet deep in snow…). I will use this yahoo news photo site a lot because it is easy to print photos off on paper that I can attach to my letter. I can then explain the photo in my letter for the translation purposes.
Nancy, we have a 12 year old that still doesn’t write to us herself. We have had her since 2007. The first communication we received was Compassion telling us that the child’s mother had just died. This may explain why she was listed as an urgent need. It is a little discouraging, especially since we have helped the family out quite a lot. She lives in East India. One Compassion rep. suggested that I say something, a year or so go, like, ” I can’t wait until you are able to write to me yourself.” I did that, but there were no results. My letters are always answered by someone at the school. I just keep on writing and sending paper gifts. Thank goodness we sponsor other children ( some are correspondence) that are very responsive. I take into consideration that this child is being raised by a single father and older siblings.. What bothers me the most is that the people who write for her talk as if both parents are still living. Apparently they don’t know her very well.
Wow, Jan! Thanks for the tip on the Nat. Geo. website. I have a 12 year old in Mexico who is outgrowing coloring sheets. I just printed her tons of articles!! Great idea!
I sponsor an 11 year old who still doesn’t write to me herself. Has anyone had the same experience? Does anyone know about when she’ll start writing herself? Thanks for all the great ideas and encouragement!!!!!
I went ONTO THE national geographic website last night to see if i could find any magazines in my older kids’ languages – no luck… HOWEVER, for the 2 younger ones I sponsor, who speak Spanish, there is an article monthly IN SPANISH, which you can print out and mail. it is from the kids’ edition, I believe it’s called Explorer, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer . There are also coloring pages of animals under the “Little kids” magazine portion of the website, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/littlekids!! This is definitely a great resource; please check it out!
Hi there! I posted this a little while ago and thought you can pick and choose what you’d like to adopt as your ideas. So, here you go!
“When I am writing to my little guy, I try to remember I need to be as plain and simple as possible but still be intriguing and fun, because they are children. And I say this for a couple reasons: 1) being that they ARE children, not scholars, intellectuals, or college graduates. Simply because they are not looking for someone to impress them. On the contrary, THEY are the impressionable ones. So they dont need a song and dance about ourselves, just a listening ear means the world to them, giving them the time of day, and asking questions make a big difference to them and 2) because they have a short attention span. My husband wants to get into the logistics of his mind and understanding certain things and how things work. I’m like “Honey, you cannot be so engaging, or overwhelming. You have to bring yourself to his level and remember he’s a child. He wants to have fun and most likely wants to learn, but not be so confused by our wording and phrasing of certain things. Its ok to maybe even talk like a child and be simple with your words.”
And 3) because their language is so different and the way they word things may not be the way we do. Since they are from a very different part of the world. They just may not pick up certain phrases or have very lose grammar. I just try to remember the way my nephew talks. He’s only 4 but he’ll leave certain things out when he gets excited or worked up about something. For instance, in pure excitment he’ll say something like “Why you do that?” or “no, i no like that.” But when given the chance, they’ll come off as pretty smart little ones. Another example of my nephew would be when he smells something cooking, he’ll say “mmm, what’s that smell?” So their very perceptive when we least expect.
My little guy is pretty smart, and he’s has the idea about asking questions and making comments, and man, do they have a memory! Lol. He knows about praying. He’ll request prayer for himself and his family and remind us that he’s praying for us too. Almost puts us to shame. He’s going to be very smart as he gets older, and quick-witted. He’ll be a fast thinker and an intellectual. Most importantly, he has a big heart. He keeps asking my husband if he’s “ok”, and ask’s about how his job is going. He’s always writing that he loves his Uncle James in highlighter on his letter. Its so cute. He’s going to be used mightily for God’s purposes.
Usually, I like to write about the things that are encouraging and uplifting, maybe funny and provokes thought. At the same time, I’ll tell him about things that we do here. For instance, my husband and I spent some time at my mother’s visiting for dinner. We had a great time playing with my nephew Even. Well, I mentioned that and what we did; running and playing, that we would tickle him and he would laugh. But also, I encourage prayer by mentioning that he wasnt feeling good and everytime he would run, he’d cough.
I talk about our church life, that I “sometimes take care of the little babies when the mommies and daddies are in the church. And sometimes the babies cry because they miss their mommies.” I should mention also that I try to stay away from things that would be difficult to explain. And if its going to provoke negative thoughts, then I’d rather just not mention it. For instance, my husband helps out in the tech booth at church. He works the projector and sometimes records the services. Explainging this to my little boy would be difficult and most importantly would bring up a sensitive subject of materialism. If its not going to uplift and help him overall, then its not worth mentioning. A simpler explaination of what he does should be found, if he asks. But just mentioning he helps in the church is enough.
THIS WAS DONE JUST A DAY OR TWO AGO…more recent.
“Since the last letter I sent to Sam, the Lord has encouraged me to continue sending letters, eventhough he may not respond to all of them. Just for the fact that he knows whats going on in our world. Not only to keep sending letters, but to focus on certain things when writing to him. For instance, designate the next letter to talking about what we like to do around this time of year. So, the Lord has placed it on my heart to talk about the different ministries James and I are involved in. So for notetaking purposes, this is just a quick rundown of the things I want to share with him.
– Park Ministry: one saturday a month, my husband and I team up with another couple in the church, as well as a young gentleman that is head of the ministry, to go to a park in our area and feed the homeless. Just before the meal is prepped and ready to serve, this young gentelman will provide a word for them just before eating. He’ll read a story from the Bible or talk about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Depending on the occasion and the crowd, we’ll set up the meals for buffet and we serve them, or we’ll serve and take individually. We average about 25-45 people. Its awesome because they are full meals, including refreshments and dessert, like cake or cookies or snacks. Its really great. Then if we’re led by the Spirit my husband will go and talk to a gentleman, if he’s alone, or we go as a team to another couple or woman.
– Words2Encourage Ministries (greeting card ministry): several years ago, the Lord placed an idea in my path, encouraged by my late sister. Send out cards to people the other days one wouldn’t normally recieve one. In other words, just because. Not to concentrate on holidays, birthdays, special occasions or milestones, but to send out a card to someone because they were on your heart. Plain and simple. Its been an extreme blessing for me, as well as the recipients. It sorta pushes me out of my realm of comfortable and familiar.
– home bible studies: me and my husband, along with my mother, hold bible studies every other saturday. We’ll invite our friends, family, neighbors. Its really alot of fun and intriguing because my husband is a great illustrator. He will act out something from the bible or use the areas of our home to use as an example of parables Jesus gives. We usually provide the meal. Every study holds a different menu, or theme. For instance, one saturday will be spaghetti dinner, the next saturday we meet will be appetizers only. So its different every time. Usually when the word is good, the food is as well 😉
– Prayer Team: My husband and I are on our church’s prayer team, my mother serving as the captain. We meet every Monday night and address certain issues that we need to submit to the Lord in prayer. Actually, we meet tonight for our prayer team prayer meeting! Pastor usually starts with ‘praise reports’ then goes to ‘prayer requests’. Those topics for prayer usually range from leadership, ministries and activities in the church to personal prayer requests, urgencies and medical concerns of the members. We would sometimes pray over someone with an illness, be it physical or mental. Also, Pastor encourages any of us to go to someone else and pray for them or ask for prayer. Its really been a powerful move of God, and have seen many healings ^_^ .
These are not even the tip of the iceberg! We are involved in much more, but so as not to overwhelm Sam, I’d rather keep it light. Rather than bombarding him with all we do, together and seperate, I’d rather concentrate on those that would encourage him about what his “aunt and uncle” do for the Lord.”
When I am really into making pictures and cards and such for my kids (and when i don’t have a term paper to write :p) I make like 3 or four things to send to each of my kids b/c that way I have some thing to send every week even if I don’t have time to sit down and make it that week. I just write a note to tell them how things are going right before i send it, that way the letters stay up to date. This works great for me becuase i have medical issues and am sick ALOT+being in highschool i dont have much extra time. I recomend it to any one struggling with time issues.
Hi to all of you!
I can see here the problematic to correspond with older kids or teenagers. Well I think that one thing that I would do if I had a teenager, I would try to get few National Geographic’s in their own language and cut few pages, so they can read about different subjects. (or maybe an entire one fits in!) It can certainly bring some discussion ideas, open their interests as well and they will be learning something out of it. I am personally learning the language of my sponsored child and hope to write to her in her language when she will be older. With internet today, we can get anything ordered from different countries and in any language. I think that since I was a kid, National Geographic always impressed me. As a Sponsor, I wish to pass on, the passion of studying, learning, discovering and I would hope that they achieve everything at their maximum potential. I can only give the energy to do it for them, and up to them to take the decision to use it. One day, it will be entirely in their hands and from our side, we can only have HOPE as always 🙂 …So give then TOOLS and it’s fun at the same time!
Linda,
I recently tried the numbered question format myself. I listed 5 things I am learning and asked Daniela to tell me 5 things she is learning. It had been so long that I had decided it wasn’t going to work. Then, my last letter, she told me what she was learning. I almost missed the fact that it was an answer to my list of questions because the translator did not number them. But I glanced up to Daniela’s letter in Spanish and noticed circled numbers. It was exciting to realize she had actually answered my question! Too bad the translations are not more exact. But even so, I treasure every letter I get.
Kristen,
I just wanted to share a “mistranslation” I encountered with Daniela in Ecuador. I had written a long time back that my mother had died. Months and months later I got a letter from her telling me that HER mother had died, and that I should not be sad because her mother was in heaven. I thought she was taking her mother’s death very well… I wrote her back immediately and expressed my deepest sympathy. Later I was online and checked her info on Compassion’s site. It had been updated rather recently and said she lived in the home with her mother and father. I thought, something is weird here. And one night out of the blue I was thinking “mi casa, su casa” which is of course, my house is your house. And I grabbed her letter and looked at the spanish part and it said SU MAMA, not MI MAMA. And then I looked in my Spanish translation book and it said that SU could mean mine, hers, its, his, etc. I called Compassion to make sure, then sent Daniela another letter telling her that I rejoiced to learn her mother was alive and well. Whew!!! I am now studying Spanish on rosetta stone. 🙂
Kristen, that’s just unreal! I’m so glad you realized there was more to the letter. For more common languages there are forums out there where people are happy to help with translating, but the less common the language the harder that type of thing is to find.
Carrie, I have laminated bookmarks, photos, flashcards, paper maps, and pretty much anything flat that the child might want to save. I obviously don’t laminate games, stickers or coloring pages as that would pretty much kill the purpose.
Caitlin, my husband’s (East Indian) family has a live-in maid with two daughters. They were 3 and 6 at the time. I grew particularly close to Preity, the 6 year old, during our visit to India last year. She even cried when I left which of course, made me sob buckets!
This past month his parents were sending us some photos and asked if I wanted anything. I requested a drawing from the youngest and a “letter” from Preity since she had recently learned how to write.
I received a stick with scribbles from the 3 year old, and Preity’s letter said, “Hi Madame! Bye Madame!” and that was it. I had to laugh cause it seemed so impersonal, but I know from his parents that she talks about me all the time and can’t wait for me to come back. You’d never know that from her four word letter though!
Please don’t think you aren’t making a difference to your Indian child. I’m certain you are. When you ask questions, try numbering them and highlighting them.
Also, I suggest you kind of tell him to answer the questions. I realize that may seem strange, but if you word it like, “I have some questions for you. I would like you to answer when you write back,” you’re more likely to get a response. This may seem a little abrupt, but they don’t use “please” and “thank you” in India much at all. They’re pretty straightforward and tend to command things. Your child won’t find it rude or strange.
Interesting side note: This actually applies to adults too. I received a little scolding from my husband’s parents for saying “please” and “thank you” to those beneath my “status” while I was there. It made me sad cause I’m not above anybody else, but that’s just the culture there.
You are able to send sports cards to your child, but Pokemon cards in particular cannot be sent to some countries because they are viewed as inappropriate as they have different meanings in different cultures. Other than Pokemon cards, all others should be fine to send and I’m sure your child will love them
I’m sorry Debbie, wood items cannot be sent to your child
my child writes in Amharic and I could see exclamation marks. I did notice that the translation seems hastily done, and some of it is illegible. Since he said English is his best subject, I tried to write clearly and with simple English so he can see for himself what I am writing.
Thank you all for your advice and encouragement. Of course, I will continue to write. Numbering questions seems like a good idea. May help the translator be more accurate.
Thanks again all.
I sponsor a 21 year old in Ethiopia who most definitely writes his own letters and I get the same generic letter every time. Essentially, I am working hard at school, going to church. I thank you for you sponsorship and I pray for you. Please pray for my family and my country. I have also never had an answer to one of my questions. Usually he writes in Amharic so I have no clue but his last letter was written in Oromo and I could see lots of exclamation points and question marks and even a date written in the body of his letter. I got very excited because this young man doesn’t usually write with so much emotion but, again, the translation was much shorter than the letter and didn’t contain all of the questions or exclamations and didn’t refer to the date he had written at all. So I sent it back for re-translation. I got it back pretty quickly and found out that he told me his father had died but that was left out of the original translation! I still didn’t find out what the date was referring to so I’m trying to see if they can get that info for me. It occurred to me that maybe all of his letters aren’t so generic. Maybe they just haven’t been translated well. And if my letters are also not getting translated properly for him, no wonder he’s not responding to my questions. I was very disappointed that the translator would leave out something as important as his father dying. That just seems negligent to me. He leaves the program in June so there’s really not time to do much about it but it makes me wonder sometimes what my kids are actually reading when I write my letters. We are really at the mercy of the translators!!
@Linda-Im sorry about your frustrtion. It is important to keep in mind your childs situation and that they probably are not used to being made the center of things, or the main topic in a letter. He/she might feel overwhelmed and not sure how to respond to adult like that. Continue to show your love for them and eventualy they will be comfortable opening up to you.
Also know that if your child is young an adult is doing the writing from what the child tells them and they might change the wording around a bit and in translation some of the spunk and “slang words” that makes them sound like kids does not have an exact english translation so that changes the wording around as well.
All in all keep up your relation ship, show them how much you love them, and pray for them and for an improvement in yalls coresponding.
Linda, at the age of seven, I’m sure that a teacher or caretaker is writing for your child. He will have to be bigger before he can write for himself. My boy in Tanzania is 9 now, but still does not write for himself. One thing that I have found helpful~it was suggested on this blog, I believe~ is to number your questions. For instance, I might write (1) how many brothers and sisters do you have? (2) What are their names?, etc. Also, telling your child details about your own life may help the letter writers when they write for your child. I hope this helps.
Hey Linda,
I understand the feeling. I get much of the same from my 6 year old in East India, which I’ve heard from other sponsors that their EI kids are great writers. I think that for kids this young, sometimes it is hard to convince them that there is a person that they can’t see who lives in some distant magical land who cares about them, and the other thing is,It’s intimidating to write to an adult, especially one they are supposed to respect so much, they’re trying to give answers they think you’ll like. Maybe other times the worker has to hint them along into a letter. Whenever I get frustrated I have to remember that the important thing is that he is receiving my letters, and learning that he is worth something to me, and I just then have to keep writing like I’m going to get an actual response, though experience tells me I won’t, because maybe, someday when he has matured, he will grasp the idea that I want more than his fear and respect, but his friendship as well. Besides, in the end, there is no harm in writing good things to a child you never get to know, maybe we miss out on it, but we have no idea how it is affecting his life, and if one letter a month affects his life for the good, I figure it’s a rather cheap investment. In an encouraging note. My 6 year (who I’ve sponsored for about a year) is starting to open up and share a little more. It was no autobiography, but last week, I finally received a letter where he answered a question.
Debbie,
One thing I have noticed is they do acknowledge each and every little thing we send them. That was comforting to know they are receiving everything. It takes a while to go back and forth. Your little lady likely hadn’t had time to receive what you sent. The minimum I have found is 2 1/2 months one way, the longest has been just over 4 months one way.
Brenda,
Perfume samples! What a fabulous idea! I haven’t seen any recently in magazines, but will keep looking.
Hi Linda,
I share your frustration. It’s hard to wait so long for a letter and have it be something so impersonal. I sponsor 7 children, only with two do I have a very close relationship. They write constantly and send good, long letters and lots of pictures. I write every single week, and send oodles of goodies and pictures. One never wrote to me until I called Compassion, that took 11 months for a first letter (Honduras). One took 11 months and 1 week to even acknowledge my family gift (Kenya), and that was only because I called Compassion to even see if his family received it. I feel lucky that I have such a close relationship with two of them (Tanzania and Ghana). The others seem to write when they have to, and the letters are short. I wish it were different. It does hurt. My questions never get answered either. It makes it difficult to get to know them and their family. One boy has two siblings and after a year and a half of writing every single week I still don’t know if he has brothers or sisters. I have read that it takes a while to establish a good connection. That they are not used to letter writing and don’t know how to correspond. That they are guarded in their emotions. I am still waiting to hear something about their friends, their lives, instead of the usual “I pray for you, see ya’ later” letters. The ones I adore are 6 and 9. I am so emotionally involved with these children, it seems my life revolves around scouting out new and different goodies to send them, taking pictures of just about everything to send them, thinking of things I can share with them that they’d find interesting, waiting patiently every day for the mail to arrive scanning for the white envelope with the blue emblem, thinking of them all the time (somehow since sponsoring them I am so conscious of wasting water) and then becoming so deflated to receive an impersonal short letter. I do understand that if they are reading and responding to these letters in class that it would be hard to go over every child’s letter. If they cannot read, they have probably heard the letter once and by the time the child responds he may have forgotten all the questions. I don’t think they really understand that we truly are interested in everything about them. I am patient and despite the lack of connection I am still so happy sponsoring them. Maybe some day it will change. I am in for the long haul either way, this has given me so much joy. Sometimes you get a little nugget of a real comment and it’s lovely. I sent some pictures I received by email of people who dress up their pets for Halloween. Those pictures went over well, a little girl in Rwanda who doesn’t say much was apparently laughing so hard she fell over.
I hope things get better for you and your little man in Tanzania. Little children do get help writing their letters from an adult, someday they will be able to write on their own. I would imagine these people who help with the letter writing have to help many other children, hence the short letters. Judging from the different blogs I have read, there are many others feeling the same.
Playing-cards might be pulled out, but starionary-cards and flash-cards will go through. I have sent math flash cards to my kids as well as animal flash cards (more for the photos than the descriptions).
My kids loved colorforms when they were growing up–but are they allowed? Aren’t they plastic?
Debbie, Thanks for the tips about the colorforms. I will have to keep my eye out for them the next time I am at Target. It sounds like you have many ideas for what to send.
Unfortunately, pencils are NOT allowed to be sent. I am not sure if wood is allowed, but I know for sure that pencils will be pulled and donated.
Maybe does not fit here but don’t know where else. I am frustrated. The letters I receive from my 7 year old boy Tanzania are nothing but ‘I am learning bible,I pray for you, pray I do well in school’ Sorry but feels as if someone is telling him what to say and filling it with ‘Christianese’. Do not mean to offend here. I ask questions about favorite subject, what family spent the Christmas family gift for, and get only very religious responses worded like an adult. Is there some censoring going on here. I enjoy his drawings but that seems to be the only non-generic response.
Hi Caitlin,
Unfortunately we are not allowed to send cards. I sent about 50 different kinds and they were all pulled and donated to charity. I was told some cultures did not approve of playing cards so that is their reason. I have been told that Old Maid or Go Fish would be acceptable but after my defeat last time I have not yet tried with the other kinds of cards.
Debbie, I am so excited to hear that you received your first letter from your young lady in Ethiopia! I can hardly wait for the day when I receive my first letter in the mail! Your comment gives me such hope to know that it will be soon. Thank you and I encourage you to keep on writing to your young lady. Have fun!
Bob, I haven’t seen those in years, but I loved them. My own children loved them, too.Please let me know if you find them anywhere.
Bob, yes Colorforms are still available – the original version and some modern-day versions. I found the originals on Amazon and the modern-day at Target.
Scotch-Brand makes great no-heat laminating sheets and pouches. I’ve found them at WalMart, OfficeMax and similar stores with prices ranging from $2.20 for pouches to hundreds of dollars for business cards. There is the right item at the right price for just about everyone!
When writing on my own personal stationary, I have left space for translation – sometimes along the side, other times at the bottom. I have also typed a letter and simply created a two-column sheet much like the Compassion stationary then decorated it using stickers – e.g. snowflakes, flowers, etc.
I found some beautiful folded notes bearing my young lady’s first initial, ‘A’ so I have mailed her a few notes with envelopes at a time so that I would not exceed the specified package thickness.
I know we cannot send fabric, plastic and metal. What about wood? I am thinking of having her name engraved on pencils since she is a student. I also bought some pretty file folders and plan to mail a few at a time to her.
All the best to each of you; thank you for the wonderful ideas. I love reading them!
Someone mentioned sticker scenes, and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed Colorforms when I was a kid – does anybody remember those? There were all sorts of backgrounds with sheets of thin plastic characters and accessories that you could stick on the background and create your own scenes & stories. I think they would be suitable for mailing… I wonder if you can still buy them?
I have some laminating sheets that I got from Wallmart, I think. I don’t need gadget to use them. I’ve used it to laminate book marks,photos, anything that might get damaged. I understand that some of their houses are dusty or damp and paper things are likely to get damaged. A while back I made some homemade paper dolls and laminated them before I sent them. Just recently I framed their photos with scrap book frames and then laminated them. Holly,your laminating tool might produce more professional results than mine, but it’s been good enough for my purposes.
Thanks, Holly! THis was helpful information for me, since I write to 4 girls in India, and 3 of them are teenagers. Thanks.
Holly, what do you use the laminator for? Do you laminate everything together to smash it down for mailing? Or are you laminating the puzzle pieces, bingo cards, etc?
I’ve put things in sheet protectors to try to smash it down in size for mailing and have also wrapped things in plastic wrap but have never laminated anything. I almost bought a laminator the other day for something else, now I’m sorry I didn’t knowing that you will soon be letting me know how I can use it for Eva. Thanks for your help and input everyone!
Sorry to post again so soon, but as someone suggested I visited the Oriental Trading Company website and found some paper games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Bingo and other picture games.
They also have sticker puzzles (not sure how that works) Design Your Own Beach, Safari, or city Scene (with stickers) and thin cardboard sunglasses.
I even spotted some thin learning games for Math, Science, & Health that appear to be more picture oriented than word oriented.
I recently purchased a small home laminator for $25.00 and some pouches for $10.00 and I’m so glad I did. It’s been super useful!
Thank you all for your kind responses. I am going to go ahead and plan for a meeting and will be certain to let everyone know all how it goes. It will be a while yet, but I’m excited!
Also, for anyone who is sponsoring a child in India, it may help you to know that Indian children do not grow out of toys and things like that as early as American children do. I think this is so refreshing because two of my oldest nieces stopped playing with dolls at 11, which is too young in my opinion!
Most 12, 13 and even 14 year olds in India would still very much enjoy receiving stickers, tattoos, paper dolls, airplanes and other such items in the mail.
I’m afraid I’m absolutely clueless on other cultures though.
Thanks y’all! I do have a male sponsored kid, so I think that’s partially why I needed some help. I just started sponsoring him a month and a half ago and I’ve received one letter, and my response is going out today. I’m soooooo excited!!
Oh, and your 20 year old might appreciate some blank stationary for personal use(Cards or letter style). For a girl, stationary’s easy to find, but if it’s boy, there are other options (Like monogrammed stationary, and other nice, but not feminine things). You could even send seal stickers with this, and make it more impressive. For blank card sets, I’d check Michaels. They always have a variety of sets of 8 cards and envelopes for a dollar (always a perk), and they usually have a few snazzy monogram sets
Annabelle-
There are some thin, lined paper journals yo could send, that I’m sure would please them, also if you get the journals with plain covers, I’d send some nice stickers (the sophisticated ones from the scrapbook isle) and maybe some letter stickers along, so that your 20 year old could decorate it. Though it sounds like it might be immature for a 20 year old, you can be the judge, being a 20 year old, and I’m 24 and would like the idea myself. If your sponsee is artistic, consider including sketch/watercolor paper, also there are a few “coloring books” she might appreciate (geared towards us adults who still love to color), one’s by Ruth Heller (Designs for coloring), another is printed on velum paper, so that when it is colored, it can be hung on a window as a sun catcher(From mindware, the one I bought is called Ecolights). Also, depending on what language you sponsee speaks, you could include some mind puzzles. Think of those things you feel a little guilty for still wanting when they hand things out to kids, but still want (lol, we all know that us twenty somethings still want to color the kids menu while we wait for food). If you’re diligent, you can send a puzzle (for an older kid, I would send multiple pieces at a time, that way you could end up sending an impressively challenging puzzle) or maybe a deck of cards, ten cards at a time. As a 20 something, I enjoy having sticky memo pads, especially if their cute/interesting, as well as the “list” pads for making somewhat longer notes. I find, with the hard ones, once you finally hit one thing that seems right to send, the world just opens up and pours ideas on you.
As for the translation. I leave a space for translation usually (unless it’s a post card, because, quite honestly, there’s not much room on those) that way you sponsee can see your handwriting right next to the letter in their language, and if she is learning English, this could be quite helpful. But if you don’t leave space, the translator will either write on the back of your letter (if there’s room to do so) or on a separate piece of paper and then send both your letter and their translation to the kid.
Annabelle, soccer cards are good, too. for boys. And, if your girl is sports oriented, it might work for girls.
Annabelle~is your child a boy or a girlt? I have a 20 year old boy in Etheopia. I send him stickers of things like cars and sports stickers. I know he likes sodccer, so I send him sports . I send him pictures of my husband and I and picture post cards. Male themed book marks are good.
A girls might like nail decals, book marks, pretty stationary,grown up stickers ( flowers, etc.) pretty emery boards, .
I have a little boy in Brazil and I will be sending him pages from a Where’s Waldo book! I’ve heard that “Waldo” goes by different names in different countries so we’ll see if he recognizes the character! Also, I am sending him a scrap of Braille paper that spells his name in Braille and explaining what that is and how legally blind people use different items like white sticks/canes and magnifying items and talking computers. One thing I thought of if I had a girl would be to send some of those perfume samples you find in magazines. 🙂
I’m 20 and the child I sponsor is 20. . .yet I cannot seem to think of things to send other than postcards/pics.
any ideas?
also, if i use my own stationary, must i leave room for translation, or include more paper? how does that work?
Thanks for the encouragement Debbie. And, so glad to hear things are going well with your child. 🙂
Yesterday I received my first letter from the lovely young lady that I adopted. She is in Ethiopia. The letter was simple and short, but I treasure it! It was not readily apparent whether she has received all that I have sent her. I sent my first letter in November. Her letter was dated December 8th. I received it January 29th. I have ‘snail’ mailed her a letter or card with a little gift each week and have emailed three letters. I now know a little more about her interests, so I look all the more forward to writing her now! For those who are waiting for their first letter, hang in there!
Hi Jenna,
His number is 271. He is in Pointe-a-Raquette, a tiny place south of Anse-a-Galets. Looking at a map he seems just across the water from the major devastation, but I don’t know what the distance across the water is. All staff members were found, one didn’t make it. They haven’t yet said if the children are ok. I suppose that might take a while.
Hi Kathy,
I have a little boy in Haiti too. I know how hard it is to wait to see if they’re okay. What project is your child from (the first 3 digits of his child ID number)?
Does anyone else have a child in Haiti? I have been trying to find out if my little man is ok, but so far no word from Compassion. It’s hard waiting.
@ Bev – I’m sorry for the confusion on the 1/4 inch versus 1/8 inch issue. The change was made in October to 1/8 inch. Sometimes it takes a little while for things to be updated on the website but I assure you it will be changed soon. 🙂 The card is fine to send to your child, and it’s a great idea! I know the kids would love to hear their sponsor’s voice!
Hi Patsy, To answer your question, yes, it still needs to be passed through the translators hands to check for the letter’s content and to make sure it is translated to the child’s dialect (just like we have different dialects of English). You are not saving the translator any time by translating it yourself :).
Hi Holly, your child will be absolutely thrilled to meet you! Compassion gives you the amazing opportunity to connect with your sponsored child like that, so I would take the opportunity and change your life while making a huge, lasting memory for your child that lets them know someone across the world really does care about them deeply! I am meeting one of my sponsored children in June and I can’t wait!!
Holly, I’m sure your child would love to meet you. What a wonderful experience for you and for him. It will make your child feel very special and loved.
(FWIW, the list of things you can send still says 1/4″ … I tell ya, this thing is going to drive me nuts!)
However, I have another question. In the past here people have talked about sending those greeting cards where you can record your own voice. Is this still permitted? I just saw a cute card at the store but decided to double check before spending money on it!
@Holly79-I believe that you sponsor child would be thrilled to meet you! HAving you take the time out of your vacation to come and see him on your own with out a whole tour would make him be overwhelmed with love and excitment not to mention make him feel extreamly special! And showing our kids excatly how loved they are by us and God is one of the purposses of our relationship with them 🙂
Thank you so much for your replies. I’m pretty emotionally overwhelmed right now, in a very good way. I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t at least attempt a meeting when we head to Gujarat in November. Once we are more certain of the exact dates, I will contact Compassion well within the required time period.
If for some reason, the meeting is not meant to be, the Lord will prevent it, but if all goes through just fine, then I’ll know it’s the right thing to do. I guess it’s time to start working on my Hindi again!
It’s most of the kids dream to get to meet their sponsors, so your child would probably be thrilled to get to meet you and your husband. It’s definitely a life changing experience.
Yes Holly79 they love to meet the people that support them. I have visited all 3 kids I sponsor in the Philippines and they all have said that they loved the visit. To them you are a hero! Most the them are shy. But a visit would be a great gift for them!! That is what my child told me…”a visit…what a great gift!!!” That is what I have seen. Without a doubt I would say Go and don’t worry about it!
Really!? Oh wow, that would be incredible! What a great organization! My heart is thumping triple time right now!
Even better, my husband is fluent in Hindi (our child’s native tongue) and I can speak a little of it. I’m getting butterflies. I wonder if he would even want to meet us? I guess I have no reason to believe otherwise, but I’m terribly nervous at the thought of it and I’m a grown adult! Part of me is worried that he wouldn’t like us in person. That probably sounds weird, but I always get nervous meeting someone for the first time.
Do the children usually like visits like this or do some of them feel like it’s an intrusion? I just never thought of it even being a possibility!
Holly79
You can call compassion or go the the web page and set up a meeting in India. You can visit the student center or ask to have the child visit your area. You will need to cover the cost of the visit. But it is very easy to set up the visit. They just want 6 weeks or more to set everything up.
You don’t have to go on a special tour, you can go on a personal visit. You just have to fill out the visit request form at least 6 weeks prior to the visit, and have a background check. (I haven’t visited yet, so I don’t know full details and requirements) you should call compassion’s 1-800 number or go to their website, sponsors and donors section, where it says visit my child, and they’ll have all sorts of information for you. I am with Jan on this one, if I was in one of my kids’ countries, I would love a chance to visit…especially since on individual(non tour) visits, it seems like you get to spend more time with your kids, and since you go often, you might get a chance to really get to know your sponsored kid, and really watch him grow up!
Holly, yes you can meet your child on a personal visit! Compassion just needs to know at least 6 weeks in advance, so call them and they’ll be able to give you more information.
Jan, we would love to be able to visit him, however don’t you have to go on a special tour to do so? I’ve never heard of a sponsorship program being able to accommodate personal visits, however I am newer to this.
I have a little girl in Peru and when I write to her I type in English on the left side of the paper and then I copy my typing and paste it into translation.com and convert it to Spanish/Latin American.
I wonder if someone still has to translate it from this and if I am helping/or making it worse for the translator.
Does anyone have any knowledge of this?
Holly, will you be able to visit with your child while you are in India? I have 4 children in India ( some of them are Correspondence children). If I had a chance to go to India, there’s no way i would not try to visit them.
Hi All! I am American and my husband is East Indian. We met here in the US and this is where we reside. We are sponsoring a 13 year old boy in India as India is obviously close to our hearts.
My husband and I travel to India to visit his family (in Gujarat) every other year. We are going again in November and I was wondering if it would be possible for us to mail a small – medium sized package (once we arrive) to the Indian agency that works with our sponsored child to forward to our child upon approval. Since we will already be in India, the package will simply be going via courier from Gujarat to my child’s state, so international customs will not be an issue.
Many thanks to any and all responses!
Hi Sharon!
I’m so excited you have joined with compassion.
I first heard of Compassio nwhe nI attended a concert with michael W. Smith and Mercy me….Michael is a huge sponsor and spokesperson for compassion..which I didn’t know until I went to the concert. There was a huge table set up in the back with tons of pictures of children. I felt bad looking them over…it made me feel like certain children should be chosen and not others..so I closed my eyes and picked one. I chose a little girl from the philippines. She is 10 now…She was around 5 when I signed up. I hear from her grandmother several times throug hthe year..and I have gotten some pictures colored in by my sweet child.
I know your experience will be wonderful. 🙂
Dot
Reading through the posts, I see there has been some discussion about what our sponsed children should call us. From the very start my three children in Peru have called me “Madrina” – it was translated “Sponsor.” When I looked up Madrina in my Spanish-English dictionary, I found that it means “Godmother.”
I must confess that I have been one of those sponsors who have been lagging behind in the correspondence, but thanks to all of you I have found new excitement and inspiration in writing to my children. Thank you!
Debbie, I hope you receive a letter soon from your young lady in Ethiopia and to Danielle, thank you for telling me the length of time it will take to receive my first letter. God bless you both.
That’s great Jenna!! Thank you so much. I was thinking of tearing it apart, but wasn’t sure if the little boy would understand how to put it back together. Thanks again!! 🙂
That’s fine Sharon, we will send it 🙂 What a neat idea!
@ Sharon, I’m so glad that you are interested in Compassion! To answer your question about our sponsorships…I am 16 years old when I was about 6 my parents started sponsoring a little boy who was the same age as me. When I was 11 I decided to sponsor a girl with my own money because even then I could see the difference Compassion was making in the lives of children. Now I aslo sponsor another boy with my money. So, with my two sponsor kids I write almost every week. Both of them call me their Sister and we share family pictures and stories. It is important to tell them what is going on in your life as well as asking them questions about their lives. The more interested and detailed your letters are to them the more detailed theirs will be to you. I have a deep love for my “brother and sister” and for all the compassion does. I hope that you have great relationships with your sponsor Child too 🙂
I am putting together a package for the mail tomorrow. I am sending a little folded cardboard Easter box to my little guy. The length of the folded box in 11.25 inches. This won’t be accepted will it??
Christine, it can take up to 6 months to get the first letter from your child. If it takes longer than that, call Compassion.
Christine,
I signed up to sponsor a 17 year old young lady from Ethiopia. I sent my first card about three months ago. I had included two flower-tipped hair pins. I just got a message last week that the pins were removed and donated to charity. I have sent a card or letter each week but have yet to hear anything from Ethiopia.
Ladonna,
I really enjoyed your ideas, thank you very much! Especially the soccer pictures idea!
I am new to sponsoring a child through Compassion (after attending a Christmas concert at a church) and so don’t have any stories to tell as yet, but wondering about everyone else. How did you first come to Compassion and/or sponsoring a child, and how has it changed you?
I enjoyed reading so many great ideas and feeling the love so many sponsors have for their kids. I too am in love with my kids, and believe every effort we put in to building our friendship with them is worthwhile.
Here is something I do that my kids really like: print one page with several photos about a specific thing like Thanksgiving, a particular season, or something your family is interested in, and tell a little about it in your letter. You can find photos on google images of just about anything. There are lots of things you can teach them about that are not focused on material possessions or our very blessed American lifestyle.
I sent a Thanksgiving page with about 8 pictures of things like fall leaves, pumpkins, a live turkey, a cooked turkey, pumpkin pie, etc. In my letter I explained what they were seeing and told them about our Thanksgiving holiday. They loved it!
Another time I sent a page of photos of our family’s favorite college football team with a brief explanation of what they were seeing. That was really a hit since “American football” is something they did not know much about.
In many countries the boys are soccer crazy. You can find out if they have a favorite team and send them pictures of that team. The Soccer World Cup is coming up, and in many countries that is like the Super Bowl, World Series, and College National Championships all combined in one! I’ll definitely be sending a World Cup page to them.
I think it is good to give them glimpses of interesting things they may not know much about. One of my boys thanked me for “increasing my knowledge”. One of my girls said she was so happy that I “share my life” with her. Not only do they enjoy learning about something new, it also makes them feel like they know more about our family and what it is like where we live.
Finally, I agree that keeping in touch with your sponsored children is a huge encouragement to them, whether you “feel it” in the letters you get from them or not. Each time you communicate it shows them that you were thinking about them, and that they are important enough for you to take time to to write/email. That in itself is a huge self esteem builder, and when you add the power of prayer to the mix… you truly will have a positive impact on their lives!
My prayers are with all the Haitian children and their sponsors.
I signed up to sponsor a 17 year old boy from Ethiopia last December and I would like to know if anyone who has a sponsored child in Ethiopia if you could tell me how long does it take to receive a introductory letter from your child? Thank You.
about the other kids that don’t get letters or gifts…sometimes i send things and tell my kids to share.especially pages of stickers
and i have some kids that will also learn english, so i send about 10at a time of the activity pages given free at burger king and mc donalds and tell them to share with the others that don’t have and i’ll send them more for their sharing
i also send things to siblings of my child because i have 6 kids all close in age and i understand the sibling jealousy…..and i thank them for sharing
one girl even told me she spent some of her christmas money that i sent to buy for another child not in compassion that wouldn’t get a gift last year…
that made me feel so good that she’s learned that lesson
Thank you Sara, you are correct. The more we are able to send to the children, the better and the little things like that make a huge difference.
Pamela,
I ditto Kathy. When I read your story, it made me very sad. It encourages me to make sure my sponsored child gets proper attention from me, and a prayer every night from me for the others.
Pamela,
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I had tears in my eyes. It’s nice to hear our letters mean something even when we don’t get to hear it from them directly. It makes me so sad to think children don’t receive mail. I know how excited I am to check the mail every day.
Hi Sharon,
There is no posted list of acceptable items to mail on the Canadian website so I have been using the US one.
Good luck with your little man, it’s very exciting waiting for a letter.
Caitlin,
Your Seran wrap idea is fantastic! I was up ’til the wee hours making puzzles and wrapping them. Thank you so much!!!
(unoffically) I volunteer at Compassion and we have let things go through with staples. Hopefully someone offically knows, but I am 99% sure that it is fine. Normally if someting comes through with too much metal, we try to take the metal part off and sent the rest.
Hi Bev,
Sorry aobut the crazyness with the 1/4″ vs 1/8″ policies. I think that part of the confusion was that it was a recent change and we (the sponsors) were all commenting with information from different times.
I have noticed that sometimes the website lags behind and is not updated immediately and when there are new changes, some of the phone reps are not aware till a little later.
I don’t work for Compassion but I have heard from several of the employees who work in the mail department that yes, the limit is now 1/8″. While it may not seem like a big deal to us, the extra weight and height can increase shipping costs quite a bit. My best guess is that this decision was made because it allows more of the money to go to the children instead of the shipping.
Can anyone tell me officiallY: does it matter if paper products have staples in them, since the staples are metal? I would like to send some small books and would prefer not to have to disassemble them, but will do so, if it means they will not make it to my children otherwise.
Good DIea Becky! I’m going to follow your lead! I didn’t know we could send books! i jsut sent a letter about the snow we got….Thank you!
I was reading that we can’t send rulers. I found a great way to send them. There’s a website that allows you to print rulers, I printed it on colored paper & then laminated it. It looks great. Here is the site:
http://www.vendian.org/mncharity/dir3/paper_rulers/
I am sending the ruler to show him how much snow we got. I also sent a book about seasons since most places only have a dry & rain season.
This 1/4 – 1/8 thickness is driving me crazy. One day someone from Compassion tells us definitively it’s 1/8, the next it’s 1/4 and then someone else says it’s 1/8. I could sponsor another child if I had 5 cents for every time the width has changed from messages by Compassion staff members!!!
I’m wondering why an additional 1/8″ makes such a difference.
Jan,I just spoke to the staff at Compassion yesterday and just recentely the rules for letter thinkness have gone down from 1/4″ to 1/8″. Hope this helps
Hi Marvin! That is a great idea. While some sponsors would appreciate letters being emailed to them, Compassion values the preciousness of each child letter and as part of our ministry to sponsors, we feel that having that tangible letter is very unique and is hopefully treasured as much by the sponsors as the sponsor’s letters are to the children. 🙂 Thank you Pamela and Kathy for sharing stories like that. It warms my heart to know that what we do here really does impact them in a very personal way. Kathy, you can send the puzzle flat in a Ziploc baggie and put small pieces of cardboard on each side. This will ensure that we can send it to your child. And I just wanted to emphasize that it should be no thicker than 1/8 inch. You all are awesome! THANK YOU for writing to your kids!!!
Thanks again Kathy for the info. We have just started correspondence with our child in Rwanda, and so far have only sent the information card about us to him. My first real introductory letter to him will be written this weekend. So, I guess it will be a few months before he gets anything from me, and to us from him. But, I look forward to hearing from him and watching him grow happy and healthy.
You mentioned the different regulations between the US and Canada. Is there a website that lists the regulations for us Canadians?
I mail through the US and have managed to get puzzles through. THe best way I found was to assembled the puzzle on top of a piece of seran wrap, and then fold the seran wrap around the puzzle when done, tape it shut, and then for extra measures, I taped that to a piece of paper by all four corners, just to keep it from slipping. The seran wrap sucked right upto the puzzle, and held it together and flat pretty well.
Hi Jan,
These are tiny 50 piece puzzles. They still are challenging though. I found a bag of 8 different puzzles during Halloween. I was so excited when I found them. They fit fairly flat in a tiny snack-size baggie. I know Compassion has slightly different regulations between the US and Canada offices. I am in Canada. I was not allowed to send tiny rulers although on the US website it was listed as ok if no more than 6 inches. Mine were pulled out and donated to charity.
If you make the puzzle and put half on top of the other half, then put a sheet of paper on both of the outsides and tape it, it might stay flat. I don’t know if I am explaining myself properly, I can see it in my head and it looks good! :)I also sent the tiny picture so they can see what it is supposed to look like since we can’t send the box.
Kathy, how do you keep the puzzle pieces flat so that they pass the 1/4 inch rule?
I have a puzzle I’ve been wanting to send, but I’m not sure how to do it.
Sharon,
You mentioned wooden puzzles are not allowed. I send small regular cardboard puzzles in a plastic bag and they are ok.
I found a card that had a little paper tiara for my sponsor child..I thought it was the coolest thing….you could make one! I’m sure she will love it!
Sharon,
Back to the topic of my two special kids. I received a letter last week from my little lady in Ghana and she was proudly holding new school books, and said she was so happy she was able to go to school and have all the necessary books and paper. She looked so happy and proud and was standing so tall. She is first in her class (I love receiving her report cards) and I am so proud my heart burst. She spent the money I sent on school supplies.
My little man in Tanzania says I should be able to tell what a difference I have made in his life by looking at the pictures he sends me. He says his cheeks hurt every day from smliling so much. That was the cutest thing I ever heard. He says they have food, clothes, presents from me, and now people don’t look down on his family anymore. He also says he shares everything I send him with everyone. That made me happy too. As a contrast the picture I received from Mukashema with her family shows her actually scowling and crossong her arms. She looked furious. It’s hard not to take it personally, but I am definitely more attached to the two who write all the time. I am still happy with them all, this is such a blessing to be able to do.
Hi Sharon,
Mukashema is 8, she is from a family of 8 in Rwanda, her letters are very short and infrequent. She doesn’t say much, I admit it hurts, since I write once a week and I still don’t know that much more about her since her letters don’t tell me much about her life. I am spoiled with two other children I sponsor. They write so often, and send oodles of pictures. I am trying to be patient with the others I write to. I just want to get to know them better. From reading many other sponsors’ posts it seems that it takes a while to form a close bond. Every letter I receive is a gift to me, but I wait so long to receive a letter that I am just heartbroken when it is so short.
The two children who write so much – one will be 7 tomorrow, he is in Tanzania. I know he must have help with his letters but he is so chatty, and so full of love. I recently sent pictures of a birthday party my 4 kids went to. All the children had their faces painted. He was so excited he said he just didn’t know what to say about such a fantastic thing. So he says I just love all those children and want them all to come to my village to meet me. Last February we went to Sea World and Legoland. He was so happy with the photos he said he felt like he was there. He said all the villagers came by to see such photos. My other one is a 9 year old girl in Ghana. She too is chatty and I love it. She tells me about her family and last month I even received a photo of her and her best friend. THAT was very exciting! 🙂
Thanks for the info, Jenna. I was wondering how it worked. 🙂 Hadn’t thought about getting “credit” for writing letters, but I guess that’s how they find kids who would be in need of a correspondent sponsor.
What a sad story Pamela. I am planning to routinely write to my child every couple of weeks or so. I can hardly wait to get to my next letter.
I am responding to posts that express uncertaintly about whether the children enjoy the letters that they receive. We had the joyous privelege of visiting the home of a compassion child in Honduras. One sponsored child opened up the family’s storage for their most important possessions. (It was a broken microwave over.) He pulled out a letter that was falling apart from age and handling and handed it reverently to us to see. IT was the only letter he had ever received from his sponsors. His brother is also a Compassion child> we asked him about letters from his sponsor and his face fell and his shoulders slumped. He has never had a single letter.
so yes, they deeply treasure the letters that they receive.
Thanks for the information Jenna. I am curious why compassion does not use this same type of system for the return letters. Scan them and email them back to us. I just received 6 letters in the last week. Each of them has 0.38 of postage ($2.28) E-mailing them back could save a lot of time and money. I get 20+ letters a year each with 0.38 in postage. I would assume it also costs something to ship them from Asia to Colorado. Just curious. thanks
Re. Sending Stuff. I kind of satisfied my desire to send big stuff by making up 2 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child this year. I know my sponsored child didn’t get them, but someone did. Its another great cause!
I get regular letters from the mother of my sponsored child and she asks us to write often, they love the letters.
It’s great to go to dollar trees and grab colorful little notebooks, stickers, and bookmarks. I found a roll of 180 motivation stickers that say things like Good Job! And Bingo! They have cute flowery designs. They were in the dollar tree in the teacher section. I also love the nail stickers idea, I am going to do that one. I always have little extra gifts like these ahead of time. I always have something extra to send. The girls love them. I also have found that sponsored children love receiving letters where you drew pictures of the two of you together, or of your family. Thanks for all the great ideas!
Judith, to answer your question about the emails, they stop at the Compassion office in Colorado Springs first so we can give you credit for writing the email to your sponsored child, then we email your letter to the field where it is printed and translated. It does cut down on the time it takes for your child to receive your letter by quite a bit since the letter does not have to be processed manually.
Donna, you asked what size envelope you can use… Compassion can process any letter with attachments as long as it is 8 1/2 by 11″ or smaller and is under 1/8 inch thick.
AT least, I don’t think I did. Oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter, as long as no one is offended.
I just read back over some of the old posts , and see that I am being given credit for post 701. I never sent that, and hate to take credit for something I did not write. Appologies to whoever wrote it.
Jan Woodford
Jan, that’s a good tip; I actually wrote a letter directly to the translator and asked him/her to help and gave the instructions there. Hopefully it works out! Kathy, I’m not sure about the water, I never even thought of that. I hope they can still use them but if nothing else, they look pretty similar to stickers and who knows what other uses they might find for them. 🙂
The children love to get letters, Nadine from Haiti,wrote in her last letter,I not hear from you. I ask CO. It just takes time. So if you want a card for a special day, I send it three months before. I send things mentioned in the comments even if not in her language. One question I have, what size envelope can I use? Thanks
Hi Holly,
I have often thought of sending tattoos as well but I never have. I didn’t know if they could spare the water to put them on. Does anyone else send them? I would like to but am not sure about the water issue.
Holly, I love the idea of sending the children tattoos. Something that might help: I’ve been sending directions in my letter of anything I send to them. For instance, when I sent a cardboard racecar set that had to be put together, I told him in the letter that he might need help from his teacher or his big brother. As I understand it, if you put something in a letter, it will be translated. So, when I find the tattoos you talked about, I’ll tell him what they are,and how to use them.
I’ll look for the tattoos. Thanks.
I am excited to be reading all these suggestions. I, too, search for inexpensive items at the dollar store – bookmarks, cards, stickers, etc – but for special occasions – Christmas or birthdays – I go to Barnes & Noble Bookstore. They have a shelf of Spanish Language Children’s Books (My children are in Peru). Some of the books have the text in English and in Spanish. That’s where I found a beautifully illustrated story of Peter Rabbit. It was about the size of a thin coloring book. Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas on this blog.
Thanks Kathy,
Are your letters from Mukashema very long to you? How old is he/she? I am very excited to be writing to this child. I am so new to this that I’m not really sure what to do, or what to expect. My wish is that I can bring at least a little bit of happiness into his life from afar.
I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned on here or not, but I found some little books filled with those kids’ tattoos that you apply with water. I’m sending my two boys tattoos with jungle themes since they both live in Africa. I think kids always love these; I’m hoping they will get through and the translators will be able to help them figure out how to put them on. They are flat pages you can send individually if you tear them out of the book or you can even send individual tattoos. I got them at Target. Just another idea I hadn’t seen in any of the posts I read so far! 🙂
Hi Sharon,
I do type my letters, I find it faster. I just write my letter and send it, I don’t leave any space for translations. My letters are rather long, I have 4 children of my own, so there is always something to write about and always pictures to send. My letters from Mukashema are written on a form letter where the top half is for the child or social worker to write the letter and the bottom half for the translation to English.
Hi Sharon,
I wondered about that too. I was buying books for my two who speak English and not the other ones. I decided books are good and even if they cannot read them they can enjoy the nature pictures. So I now send them all books, although I do send more to the children who speak English.
I found some thin primary story books for my little guy. It features bright pictures and short sentences. I know there is a 99.9% chance my little guy will not be able to read this and no one around to translate for him. Will he still appreciate the book? What if I were to generalize the story in my letter? That way it would get semi translated for him. Would that work?
jeannie,
i have never recieved a typed letter…..have you gotten many that were typed? it may just be the person who has translated it for you???but it shouldn’t be a problem,,,i think it was a nice idea, they way you did the paper, sure looks alot nicer your way.
sometimes i may send a coloring book or story book, and i just write on the inside cover, a few lines
sometimes i have just sent a tiny gift, ex a puzzle in a ziploc bag, and i just write on a post it note and tape it to the baggie or put it inside, and i have never been called by compassion and it goes to the child…so who knows??/
i just recieved info on two new kids today and the letters said 1/8 inch haha and the office says 1/4 and look at all the different things here…
it all goes thru, just don’t get too far out of the ballpark i guess.. sandy
Thanks Kathy for the info. A couple more questions??
How do you write your letters to your little girl in Rwanda? Do you type up a letter and just send it that way, or do you hand write one on half a page, leaving the other half for translation?? Do you receive letters from her this way too?
Thanks again for the info. 🙂
I called Compassion a few weeks ago and was told that 1/4th of an inch is the correct size. But I have a question….I sent a letter on colorful stock card writing on the left, and leaving the right side for the translation. It was about snow and I decorated it with snowmen and snowflake stickers, which weren’t flat (kind of like the stickers used in scrapbooking). After I mailed it I got to wondering if this creates a problem with the translation. On the letters that I receive from my little girl, the translation is typed. So if my letters are decorated with stickers (flat or not), would this be a problem? Perhaps decorating the paper isn’t such a great idea. Does anyone know?
Hi Sharon,
My little lady in Rwanda does not speak English. I wish she did, I have 2 who do speak English and I am loving it.
In my introductory Compassion letter since sponsoring a child in December, they told me I could stuff an 8.5 x 11 inch envelope to one-quarter inch.
Official size is 1/8″ thick max. That was recently reduced from teh 1/4″ policy. That is the offical word and the call center should all have that new info now.
I sent my first snail mail letter to my child today. My plan is to write short letters (so as to not run out of ideas too quickly), and send him a little something special every couple of weeks or so. I so wish I could see the smile on his face when it is announced that he has mail! 🙂
marci, i don’t get why they tell us all such different things,, and i’ve said that to the ones on the phone and they just say, i don’t know…
but i have been a sponsor for 2 years and have always sent things 1/4 and never got any calls or things back.
on an advocate call about letter writing, i asked about the email letters and they are supposed to get there aprox 2 weeks before snail mail…
all things do have to go to the translators tho, to make sure nothing in appropriet is in there..when mail gets to the country office and gets sorted,,,it is then picked up by local folks who take it home with them and they get paid, by the piece, to translate…that is helping the local economy. as for how long they have it,,,,its up to when they get it done..then they return it to the office to get paid..
sandy
I write to my child in Nicaragua in Spanish – not perfect Spanish by any means, but I can get my message across. Does anyone know if letters written in the child’s language get sent directly to the church projects or are they still sent to translation for correction? I’m wondering how quickly my letters get to her.
That’s funny. Somewhere along the way I got the idea that the emails were already sent directly to the country offices where they were then translated, etc. [pause to check out the website] Ok, I found this under the “Contact your child” section of My Account:
How long does it take for my child to receive my letter?
Correspondence between you and your child is not “overnight mail,” but it is efficient — given the remote areas many of the children live in. Delivery may take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Writing online shortens the delivery time because your “letter” goes directly to the Compassion field office in your child’s country.
[me again] This must be where I got my idea. If it’s not set up that way in all countries yet, I’d love some clarification. People tend to take what’s published on the company’s website as being the official policy.
My understanding (at least from what I saw in Ecuador) is that the emails are printed off in the country offices and then translated and delivered to the children. This may not be the case in all situations, but at least for Ecuador, you letters do get there quite a bit sooner and money is saved on shipping.
Sharon asked…
Maybe a few days… your email goes to Colorado (hopefully that will change in 2010) for sorting and shipment to your child’s country office, where it is sent out for translation, recollected, and distributed to the various church partner projects …
Depending upon how long it takes a letter to go from your house to Colorado Springs, that’s what you save using email — along with a few cents of postage 🙂
Hi Kathy,
Just wondering too if your girl from Rwanda can speak/write English, or do your letters always need to be translated?
Sharon, I’ve read that emailing cuts approximately two weeks off the time it takes to receive the letters. I am not sure how accurate that is.
Sharon – You will only save the mailing time to Headquarters in Colorado Springs by emailing over “snail-mailing.” The email is printed there and goes through the same process as regular mail. Eventually, they plan to send these on to the country office (which will save a week or more), but that process isn’t in place yet.
I asked about that one time. The person I talked to said that emails would get there a little faster~not much. They still have to be translated.
Just wondering if anyone knows how much faster an email gets to a child as opposed to a letter? I know letters take “forever”, but what about email?
This is very informative! I’ve been sponsoring a girl in Bolivia for a year and a half and so far all i’ve sent is a postcard, stickers, pictures, and a bookmark. i didn’t think you could send bobbi pins or small notebooks or anything that wasn’t flat.
how can you measure 1/8 of an inch? they have stickers where i work that are bubbly and glittery and i wasn’t sure if i could send those. there are very few that are actually flat.
i’ll have to keep an eye out for more fun things i could send 🙂
@ Jeff and Sandy
I was the one on the Training call the other night with Compassion and this is the second time from Compassion that I’ve been told the thickness is 1/8th inch, and the paperwork that I received by email was documented with 1/8th inch. I am forwarding this discussion on to the Training Coordinator whose call I was on for some clarification. Maybe Compassion can add to this post for clarification as well. I’ll let you know my findings.
Blessings,
Marci
I just received my first letter from the girl my family and I sponser in Uganda- very exciting!! She is around the same age as me which is really lovely.
I am glad that she was able to write in English so it doesn’t take more time to arrive due to translating.
She wrote about the harvesting and her primary school leaving exam. I loved the way that the letter page is set out with headings like ‘school’, ‘home’ , ‘drawings’ and ‘questions’ as well as the main letter secton.
I shall be writing her another letter very soon!!!!
Thanks for that info …. I wondered!!! The page that gives the information regarding what you can send still states 1/4 inch as the guideline. I’m glad as I just bought some Highlights books that I want to send…… 🙂
i called compassion today telling them that the thickness is being discussed here again….the man assured me that it is and has been 1/4 inch for the last year…don’t understand about the advocate training saying different..
Thanks for you ideas on boys, Jan C. I have 5 girls and two boys. As you say, the boys are the hard ones. I’ve found some great things at the Dollar Tree. Soccer cards are available at the dollar tree. YOu have almost everything else I send covered. They do love photos of my husband and I and our 3 dogs.
I have 3 girls, from age 6 to 13, that I have no problem finding goodies to send. Then there is the little boy I have started sponsoring recently in Bangladesh, who is 9, and it takes a different mindset! I still send him a few pages to color that are more “manly”-like, such as pictures of cars or superheroes. I have found stickers of the same thing , as well as soccer balls, which he loves. Also, I found a paint-with-water book the other day (which is 1/8″ thick) that was of cars and large machinery, at Dollar Tree. I have also seen books on paper airplanes or ones that are pre-printed. I found a calendar with soccer stars; it was too large to mail the entire calendar, so I tear out 3 months at a time, fold them and mail them with each letter. He also likes animals and pictures/stickers of them. And, maps are good, especially a map of the world, with a mark where you live and one where he lives. If you can find a map of his country, that is great, too.
Oh yeah…. in case anyone was wondering besides myself, wooden puzzles are not allowed 🙁
Hi Kathy,
How old is your Child?? My little boy is 5… turning 6 in June. I look forward to writing him and hope that he is encouraged to write me back as well. I’m not sure what boys are like as far as letter writing. The nail stickers are a great idea, but need more ideas for boys if anyone has any suggestions.
Hi Sharon,
I have a little lady in Rwanda (in ADEPR Save), she is sweet and I enjoy her letters. She isn’t as open with me as others I write to. I am lucky, two of the children I sponsor write a couple times a month and send oodles of pictures. Becuase of our connection I feel like it is not really there with the others who don’t write as often. I still wrtite weekly to all of them hoping some day to feel closer to all of them.
Thanks for the nail sticker idea! Love it, love it! I ran out and bought some today.
Marci – Thank you so much for clearing up the issue of the regulation thickness.
I love the personalized stationary idea from Debbie. Great idea!! I wasn’t aware that we could send bobby pins. Also love the nail stickers idea, though I won’t be able to use it since I sponsor boys.
@ Diana and Sharon
Per an Advocates Training Class, as of October 2009 the regulation thickness is back down to 1/8th of an inch.
It just keeps us challenged to find new ideas of things to send to our kids ~ as stated above, there are plenty of great ideas here on this blog as well a the OurCompassion site. Blessings.
Debbie, you said you send bobby pins – I thought metal of any kind can’t be sent? If the bobby pins aren’t metal where do you get them from?
Thanks for your ideas!
What awesome ideas! Here are mine…
I sponsor a young lady (17 years old). I have sent her:
~ Bobby Pins tipped with Flowers
~ Stationary bearing her initials
~ Folders (she is in school)
~ Matted photos
~ Calendar
~ Small, thin notebook
~ Book Marks (paper; I may laminate the next ones.)
~ Greeting cards instead of letters
~ Small stickers for her fingernails (tiny flowers)
Sharon – We sponsor a child in Rwanda, but if you go to ourcompassion.com you will find many people who may sponsor in the same project as you. It is another fantastic site with lots of resources. Good luck and welcome aboard!
Sharon – I am pretty sure anything wooden will not be allowed. Cardboard is fine to send though. Just make sure it fits in an envelope less then 1/4 of an inch thick, 1/8 to be safe as I’ve heard varying answers on the thickness that we can send. I don’t sponsor kids in Rwanda, but if you sign up on OurCompassion (like Facebook for sponsors), you can find tons of people sponsoring in that country and maybe even in the same exact project as your child. You will most likely receive your packet in the mail 1-2 weeks from the date of registration. If you haven’t already, you can sign up on the Compassion site for an account so you can email your child from the site. You won’t be able to get a response back through email though, as it has to go through translation first. Letters typically take a couple of months to get back and forth, but it is so worth sending them. The kids love the letters.
Anyway, congratulations on becoming a sponsor. I hope you enjoy writing to your little boy. If you do want to check out OurCompassion, you can follow the link from this blog or from Compassion’s home site. There’s a letter writing group on there with TONS of ideas on what to send. Everyone is really nice and friendly.
Sharon, I had sent balsa wood paper airplanes with the metal clip removed and they did not get through but it may have been they were damaged. I do not think wood will get through customs, i suggest you call compassion and ask them. They are more that happy to answer your specific questions. your ethusium and love for your newly sponsored child is evident in your writing here. May God bless your relationship.
Since I like to sew, I am working on making bookmarks for a couple of the girls we sponsor. These are not cloth but very strong paper. Besides sending stickers, I also decorate my letters with stickers.
Diane Nichols, Wichita Ks
@Jan
I have a couple of kids in India and they are teaching them English there. There letters are sent to me with no translation required. Also, one of my kids parents write for him because he has not learned to write in English yet. There is a good possiblity that your child is learning English. Hope this helps.
Hi to all and Happy New Year!! Ny fiancee and I have just sponsored a little boy in Rwanda. We haven’t received any information yet about this child, but look forward to starting correspondence with him. I already have a stash of stickers and such to share with him.
I love all the gift ideas you have all posted…. took me a couple of days to get through them all… hahaha. I wonder if a wooden puzzle would be okay to send? You know the ones where you can push out the pre-punched pieces and build a car or horse for example?
Also, as I have read all of your posts, there is not much mention of sponsored children in Rwanda. Does anyone here have a sponsored child in this country?? What has been your experience?
Hi Jan, I also have a child in India who speaks a dialect I cannot find anything published in. For him (he’s still young) I find picture books where it is either no words at all (told entirely by pictures) or the pictures do a good enough job telling the story that even if it’s not in his language he shouldn’t need this (I test it by pcovering the words before I read the story and just looking at the pictures and then reading it to see if I managed to figure out the story correctly) . I figure he’ll be happy to read the books, and maybe when he gets older, if he decides to learn English, children’s books are great helpers in language learning. Asside from that I’ve found sticker books with reusable stickers that I can sent to him, and other little things like that.
I have loved perusing the aisles in Dollar Tree and Target for the $1 treasures of stickers and activity books and even multiplication/addition cards. Even some stickers for boys like transformers, spiderman, and cars….
I am curious what others do for their non-English speaking children. I have one in India that speaks Telugu and one in Bangladesh that speaks Bengali. There is no way I can translate the words on the pictures and there is no way that I can send them small books in their own language like I would if they spoke Spanish. Does anyone know of any resources for Christian products in these languages that children would enjoy? I have found an online Bible translation service for Telugu, where I can print of pages of the Bible and mail them to my 13 year-old Indian child, who is now reading Luke and has it in her own 2 hands! That resource is http://www.teluguchristianmedia.org if there is anyone else looking for material in that language.
Hi Debbie,
I missed the Avon idea, what is that? I am always interested in new ideas. Thanks in advance!
What great ideas. About three months ago I adopted a young lady – age 17. I like the Avon idea. Any other ideas for things to send to young ladies?
Remember the television game show “Concentration”? There was a large board segmented by a grid of about 20 numbers. The contestants had to pick 2 numbers to try and make a match. If they were successful, those 2 numbers were swept away and a portion of a hidden rebus puzzle was revealed.
For those of you that have talked about not receiving very many or very personal letters I can relate to you. My sponsored child, writes just about 3 times a year. her letters are sometimes not very personal either. But as I’ve gotten into writing more often, the letters she sends seem to brighten up a bit. Though she looks angry in her picture, in the letters she is very very sweet. She wants me to come and visit her. I pray that those of you who only get letters rarely will be able to go on and that your kids will start writing more too. Thanks so much for all the great ideas!!!!!
Good ideas, connie! My vet puts little pictures of each dog when he gives us a receipt. I talk a lot about my 3 dogs in my letters. In one letter I cut out pictures of my 3 dogs and pasted them beside their names as I talked about them in the letter.
thanks Diana, great ideas. I sent pictures of the snow & snowmen & & told my child what snow is & how it feels, I like the idea of the paper snowflakes. I explained that we have 4 seasons & one is winter. & then for each season we are in I will send pictures & tell them about that season. My child only has 2 seasons we he lives & that is dry & rain season so our seasons are very different. thanks again for ideas.
Thanks for the great ideas that you’ve all shared. Here are some of my own. Dot to dots and color by numbers are cool and you can find some online through search engines that you can print out for free. I pick up blank, bright-colored note cards and stickers. You can use letter stickers and design their name on the front or you could use scrapbooking stickers and make a scene. Target had some really nice nativity stickers. It was the whole scene: Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, sheep, angels, stars, everything. Each character was a separate sticker so you can design the scene however you’d like and then you can send your children a sheet and they can design the scene the way they’d like. You can also send some blank note cards so that the child can design a card of their own to give to their tutor, friend, or family member. If it snows where you live, take pictures. You can write their name in the snow or make a snowman and send them the photos. Also, you can make those snowflakes out of construction paper and send those along. Poems are also nice. You can write them about anything. If you can find your child’s name online and the meaning behind it, you could type that up and laminate it and send that along if it’s appropriate. One last idea is stories. When I was little, I used to get Highlights magazine. They had stories each month where they would replace a couple of the words with pictures. You could type one up on your own computer in a cool font and color and insert clipart pictures for some of the words, for example, a cartoon picture of a dog instead of the word dog. You can be as creative as you’d like with the story and adjust them according to age. Hope some of these ideas can work for you!
I had fun reading all of your comments , so many great ideas.An inspiration I got after reading your suggestions was making a gift contribution specifically to be used to buy Christmas gifts for the siblings of my sponsered boy because as we all know Compassion has a policy of enrolling only one child per family in it’s program.I feel like all childern deserve gifts at Christmas time.Another suggestion I have is is my little brother gets magazines like Ranger Rick after he’s done with them Ill tear out pages to send to my little guy.
Hi all,
My mother and I forced all our family members into letting us take headshots during our Thanksgiving Day get together. Then we printed out all the photos fairly small and constructed a photo family tree using them. We wrote everyone’s name and birthday under the picture and included our sponsor kids (made a photocopy of their sponsorship photo to use) too. I then made color copies of our final piece and laminated them at FedEx Kinko’s.
We are sending these to our children with their Christmas cards. Over the next few months we’ll send stories about family members. Or mention what we did for a family member’s birthday. Since I have a large family I thought this was a nice way to keep them organized and to show them that they are a part of our family too!
-Andrea
Are these children given Bibles in their own language as a result of participating in a Compassion school?
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Thanks, Sandy! I will certainly check into that publication (Libros Arco)! I wish I could have such publications available for another girl we sponsor from India! Does anyone know of resources available for children of lesser spoken dialects (mine doesn’t speak Hindi or Bengali…)?
@ Alaina- thats a great website thanks for sharing it!
@Jan C- thats also a very helpful website, thanks!
I got a letter from my little girl and at the end it said, “sending love and a Big Bug your way…”
it took me a minute to figure out it was suposed to say Big Hug, it was a typoe and i told Laura about it so in the next letter she drew a picutre of a a bug hugging both of us. its our litle inside joke now 😉
Here is a great idea for Spanish-speaking sponsored chldren:
Concordia Publishing House publishes the Libros Arco series of 30 rhyming Bible stories in Spanish. Each book is paperback, beautifully illustrated, 16 pages long, and suitable for ages 5-9, possibly older children as well (depending on their reading skills). The dimensions are well with in limits, at 8″ X 6-1/4″ X 1/8″.
Barnes & Noble carries a few titles online, as does christianbook.com. I wanted to be sure my child in El Salvador will eventually receive the full set, so I went straight to the source. At Concordia’s website (www.cph.org), I ordered the full set for less than $80.00 delivered.
I’m so excited! For the next 30 months, I have a great gift to send Merari in each monthly letter, along with stickers, photos,bookmarks,etc…..
I found several websites offering Bible coloring pages by typing “Children’s Spanish Bible Stories” into google. Among them was http://ministry-to-children.com/free-sunday-school-lesson-plans-for-children-sunday-school-lessons/ which had several stories with coloring pages that can be printed for free! Also, http://children.calvarychapel.com/SITE/curriculum_n.htm looked good! I suspect such is available in other languages, as well. You will need to send a letter each week just to get in all the available lessons!
And, I found a neat kit today at Hobby Lobby, a box which has foam mosaic projects that can easily be placed between 2 pieces of cardstock and sent so the child can do his/her mosaic project with the small adhesive mosaic squares. There has been some discussion about whether foam is allowable; I am going to try it as it is quite thin, light, and non-metal.
And, if your child speaks Spanish, there are thin Bible storybooks in Spanish at Lifeway for only a small price, so the child could have an actual book.
Kelsey,
One more thing you should consider. Operation Christmas Child can send boxes for $7.00 per because they send them in large groups. The money doesn’t just pay for customs and postage, it also pays for someone to “babysit” the package to make sure the items aren’t stolen. An individual $7.00 or even $20.00 couldn’t pay for that.
If it helps any, know that all Compassion children do receive school supplies and hygiene items, as well as a yearly doctor visit (my Mother’s child always includes when she has seen the doctor recently). Extra money you send can be used to buy “fun clothes” (the boy in South America mentions when he gets material for his uniform, but always let’s us know what he spent birthday or Christmas money on. This year it was a pretty sweater and a nice pair of pants.)
I think we would all LIKE to be able to send more things. But these items would never make it to the children. If you really feel a burden to send something larger and personal look through the planned sponsor trips and ask if someone going on the trip would be willing to deliver the item to the local office. That is the only way you would know a larger item made it through.
I think we can all agree that anything you give to a child is for the glory of God no matter who you give it from. Compassion isn’t perfect, but they are trying hard and I believe succeeding in carrying out a difficult but worthwhile mission.
-Andrea
P.S. I think a fun thing to send for older kids could be comic books with staples removed.
So…This particular topic notifies me by e-mail, so that I get every comment in my mailbox. it feels to me like everyone has gotten what they want to say to Kelsey’s topic out, and continuing on the topic would only be for argument’s sake. I like this topic becausde of the creativity people come up with for the things we are allowed to send, but I’m a little tired of receiving e-mails of arguments, especially since the arguments seem to be basing off of misunderstandings of meanings and hurt feelings. This isn’t pretty at all, and it doesn’t seem to be carrying anyone towards a positive result. I’m ready for people to drop the argument and move back to the awesome paper items people discover to put in envelopes, please.
Kelsey,
It was more that I was sending too many goodies, especially after I became attached to the siblings as well. I would send packages to them too. I offered to pay the cost of all my mail but it was explained, and I fully understand, that while I send all this stuff, other kids in the project would rarely receive a letter, let alone all the extra goodies. It does make sense, and I am fully happy to comply. I had been searching for 19 years for an organization like Compassion. I had always wanted to send things directly to a child and the family. I think that’s why I send and write so much. I have had this burning desire to do this and had to wait so long. I am making up for 19 years all at once. Compassion is the ONLY sponsor organization where we may directly affect the child by sending little goodies and sending a family gift. I am just thrilled they upped the limit we may send. We are absolutely changing their lives through Compassion. Every other sposnor program I looked into was the same, you may sponsor a child but you may not send anything to the child or family, it had to be to the project as a whole. Compassion has been a dream come true for me, but I find myself picking things out for my kids and wishing I could send a t-shirt, a baseball hat, socks or other goodies to them. I do take comfort in knowing I send a family gift each year and have seen the difference it is making. I love these kids like they were my own, it’s crazy how attached I have become to them. I feel so blessed for this opportunity.
BTW, more things to do would generate more jobs in this declining economy. And since compassion lists the areas that people need to fill as “EMPLOYMENT Opportunities ” I assume people get paid for it.
Sandy,
So now you are saying World Vision is not worthwhile either?I AM NOT saying that people should abandon their Compassion Child. I am not saying that all. All I was saying was if not spending extra money on our child to give him other things was an issue for some people that there are actually other ways to help people around the word that do not cost as much. Example: There are 5 children dying every 2 minutes because they do not have clean water to drink. LIFE outreach International takes donations to dig wells for them.$24 will provide a lifetime of clean water for 5 people. Thats probably more important than another child’s education, but still I sponsor a child on Compassion too. Furthermore, the reason I said that this was not a a hate comment before is because some people get so offended if anyone starts to rock their boat and think of ways to improve things. And even after I said it, you still took it as one. Becky Little said she was not writing her comment out of hate either and she is on your side. Do you think hers is a hate comment too? Probably not, because she agrees with you…
This is rediculous, the only reason I said anything in the first place was to see if anything could be done with sending things. It was not meant to be negative at all. I am just going to have to stop getting on here,I came for ideas and suggestions but all I get is people bashing me for having an idea. You people take things way out of context!
Kelsey,
I am not saying that at all. I think you are missing my point. My point is don’t be frustrated or disappointed with the shipping restrictions because our money is being put to good use & the kids are thankful for what we can send, they would be thankful with just a letter. It seems like you are putting compassion down for not letting us ship other items or pay the extra cost. When it is read it is taken very negative towards compassion & that’s not what this blog is for. And I am not saying that the kids in other countries wouldn’t benefit from it, but these are compassions rules & there are reasons for these restrictions & I think we need to respect compassion & not take the restrictions as a negative thing. If you want to do that for children there are plenty of ways to do it. Like the christmas operation project, or adopt a family for christmas, or christmas angels.
And I am not writing this because of hate I am writing this to tell you how your post was viewed that’s all. I think it’s great that you want to help other people in need it’s just we need to respect compassion on their decision making.
We need to put things into perspective. Yes when you give something personal it means a lot to the child and family. I have visited all 3 children I sponsor/ sponsored and they do value the little things I gave them. But the way the system is set up it is not practical to ship boxes because we do not have the church address. And most people do not want to send things. Before I left for my last mission’s trip I went around and asked people if they wanted me to bring something for their children. Only one family sent me something to bring. One project I visited has 400 kids… I write every month… they thought that was amazing I am like the only sponsor in the project that writes that much and regularly sends family gifts. I was like a hero to them compared to others but I really don’t do that much…send an email once a month and a few extra dollars a year. Most people write 2 or 3 times a year and never send extra money to help the family.
Each type of ministry is complementing each other; and if you want more personal contact you can sponsor children through smaller ministries or directly with local churches. I can give you names in the Philippines if you are looking to change…. Compassion moves money from the developed world to the developing world. Yes I have frustrations with this but that is what they do…other organizations send western missionaries that I can have personal contact with…send boxes…but that’s not how compassion operates. I also would be reluctant to criticize world vision for working in closed countries. I know some people that work in closed countries (10/40 window) and most of the un-reached people live in this part of the world. And helping the people is the first step to reaching them.
Just a few comments:
@ Kathy Olsen
“Last year on the website it said we were able to send 6 inch plastic rulers. I bought about 50 thinking they could share with siblings and friends. I received a letter saying it was no longer allowed.”
According to the October Advocate Letter Writing Training Class, Plastic Rulers (within size limitations) is acceptable to send.
Try calling to verify this if you like. I just checked and it has not been updated on the website yet.
Also: “I try so hard to find different kinds of stickers and other allowable things but how many stickers do they really need?”
I visited my girls in Burkina Faso in February 2008, let me tell you, these kids LOVE stickers, and when I was able to deliver the gifts that I had purchased for one of my girls, after she had opened her gifts I heard her softly say, “no stickers?”, She wasn’t being ungrateful, she had just longed for stickers. Such a simple pleasure for them. I had brought her stickers, but I ended up giving them to her Project Center. That taught me the value of stickers, I’m tellin’ ya, they LOVE them.
Kelsy, it sounds to me like giving the sponsors options would give additional work to Compassion employees, thereby taking them away from other jobs, or costing compassion more in other ways. I do not agree that it doesn’t matter if it takes longer to get there, either. I want my children to get my prayer requewsts, etc. in enough time to keep them relevant.
Becky,
You’re right…these children are most thankful people I know! 🙂
Becky,
Are you saying that Operation Christmas Child is not a worth wile project??? I agree that they may not NEED SOME of the items that I would want to be able to send, but they dont really NEED stickers,photos, etc. either and those cost money too. Me and my family usually fill shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and most of the stuff in the shoe boxes consists of school items and hygiene items anyway. I definitly think the child would benefit from it.
Also I am not saying that it should take away from the money that Compassion is using to help them,I think we should be able to send bigger items at an added cost.
Kelsey,
Are you aware that World Vision works in many countries that forbid the Gospel? That they warned sponsors of children in these countries not to mentioning Jesus or anything Christian in their letters…that it could endanger the project workers and children? Good works…no fruit there.
And are you encouraging CI sponsors to abandon their CI sponsored kids and the Christian education the kids are receiving? If we are still here after the $6.00 price increase this past summer, $3.00 less somewhere else probably isn’t an issue. Christ first…always.
And finally, if you feel the need to say “please do not take this as a hate comment,” you probably need to rethink and re-evaluate your comment.
I found this website recently:
http://www.childrenstory.info/biblestoryforchild/cb1.html if you cut and paste this into your browser, there are coloring pages for 61 Old Testament stories and 36 New Testament stories. My kids love these!
Well said Sandy. Yes it would be nice to send other items that we are not allowed to send but that would cost more to ship and that would take away from the money that compassion is using to help them. Just look at it this way, is a $7 item going to help them in the long run or is $7 towards their education/health going to help them in the long run. And the kids are soo happy with anything they get. My husband is from an african country(Nigeria) & I have a few friends who are from Ethiopia who have seen the kind of poverty that these kids live in. And they all said that these people are some of the happiest people to be around. They may not have much but they are thankful & happy for what they have.
You could always find a shelter or something here in the US where you could bring socks/clothes/toiletries…etc to help them.
Sandy,
I am glad that Compassion does not charge us with the cost of customs. All I am saying is that I think that it should be an OPTION. If I was able to send my child a package of things he needed I would gladly make an extra $7.00 (or more) payment.
I am not tight with my money when it comes to these kids. If anyone out there is so concerned about saving a buck here and there, World Vision has children that need sponsored and it costs $35 a month. That saves you $3.00.
Please do not take this as a hate comment. It is not intended to be.
Compassion tells us to be creative in finding things to send. I think Compassion needs to get creative and find ways for us to send our children things bigger than a magazine. Let the letters go on through and send the packages to customs. It is okay if it takes a little longer to reach the child.
Kathy,
That is crazy you were asked to NOT write as many letters! I can’t believe they told you that! I would think that they would encourage correspondence with the children.
The socks sound like a good idea. I read on the requirements that nothing fabric could be sent. If they go through please let me know.
Pastor Prakash
I have been SO lucky with pictures. I have received a new picture for every birthday and family gift I have sent and with two of the children I have received pictures for no reason. It has been so special to ‘meet’ the whole family, I have looked at those pictures so often I bought a laminator so I don’t ruin the pictures. They are my treasures. This year, thanks to you, I am going to ask that each child receive a soccer ball as part of their gift.
Kelsey, I agree and unlike you I am frustrated. There is so much we could send that would still be small that would actually be helpful. Last year on the website it said we were able to send 6 inch plastic rulers. I bought about 50 thinking they could share with siblings and friends. I received a letter saying it was no longer allowed. I have had things go through that made me happy but it would be so nice to send some different things. Especially for birthday or Christmas as you mentioned. I try so hard to find different kinds of stickers and other allowable things but how many stickers do they really need? I write often (apparently too often, I was asked to cut down) and hope some day soon they relax the limitations. I was thinking a pair of socks would fit nicely in the envelope, it must get cold in the winter months. I think your party favors should go through.
I don’t understand how Samaritain’s Purse has “Operation Christmas Child” and actually asks people to fill shoe boxes with goodies and ships them to underpriveledged children all around the world and we can only send paper items under 1/4″ thick to the children we sponsor. Would it really be THAT hard to allow more options as far as sending our sponsored children stuff? At least for Christmas and birthdays? I’m not mad about this, I’m just saying that I think it is possible for things to be better than they are.If Samaritains’s Purse can do it, I think Compassion could find a way. It’s just very frustrating.
But, as far as ideas for sending things, I got some blow party favors that I am going to try to send. They are made out of cardboard so hopefully they will let them go through.
it will take along time, but anyone new here;,, i really suggest you read all the posts here.. there are great ideas proven to work or not work….read so far and just remember the # you were on and read another time…it is worth your while
no magnets, i even asked about tiny chalkboards.no…
they want items to be flat and made of paper or cardboard.. they have alot of mail to go out each week,,needs to be controlled by size and weight. and many things will send up a red flag at customs, and then they will pull out the box and go over all of it again to find the problem,,holding not only your letter up, but everyone’s. best to stick with stickers, color books, books, paper dolls, scrapbook materiels photos. etc..
Can you send magnets? I sponsor a little girl in Uganda and she is 5 (soon to be 6) and found a princess magnetic play scene that is small. Will this go through? I also always send stuff in my letters and have vowed to wrte at least once a month. I always bring a pack of stuff with me to work and write when we get slow. I also make it a point to collect postcards when I travel and send these so she can see other parts of our country. And big packs of stickers can be used for several letters. I also try and find fun cards to send that she can keep. I love getting letters from her….it makes my whole day!!
I have a BRAND new sponsored child, I just sponsored her a few days ago, she will be 15 in April and lives in El Salvador. I know that in that part of the world the 15th birthday is very special. I am looking for ways to help make that especially memorable. Any ideas???
No candy or gum can be sent.
I was reading some of the blogs from Compassion and saw someone had written to the parents. I feel that God is asking me to do that too. It would give me a clearer picture of their needs.
Compassion says that the one child is just an entrance point into the family.
I am just going to write the child using her number and send along with it a letter to her mom. I feel the parents need to know just as much as the child that God’s love is for them too. Maybe I can send something to that mom that she has wanted for a long time, (pictures, information, knowledge, etc.)
If the mothers and fathers can feel loved by God and feel happy, the better care they will give to their children.
I did not realize you could send letters/gits to parents or siblings. How is that done?
please try it
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Yes I write with 2 moms of sponsorkids. They are so happy that we picked THEIR child. It makes me feel a little ashamed, they are so happy that we picked their child, they feel so special about it, while I think of course your child deserve this! The moms are of my age (24) and they have 3-4 kids, it’s a completely different world. I’m glad I can help them. I think especially the moms need our courage en prayers.
Hi Sherry
I have found that most of the mothers or grandmothers depending on who they live with help the kids with the letters. So they are part of the process. I have visited all 3 kids I sponsor and for the younger kids the parents seamed to be more thankful of the visit. One child I sponsor…the first time I visited her was on a sponsor tour so the parents do not travel to the city only the project case worker and the grandmother was very sad they could not also meet me. On a 2nd trip I had the chance to meet the family and the grandmother was very happy to meet me. I think maybe happier than the child. 🙂 The parents really like it when we include them in the letters.
Sorry I reread that 🙂 I meant to say “OR the moms” of the children.
Have many of you written to the parents of the moms, to encourage and help them as they care for their children…..just wondering what kind of response you have had.
Thanks
Kids in the developed world have access to great educational systems, but our sponsored children have more challenges. I try to supplement what they are doing in school by sending age- appropriate educational materials. I try to remember what my own kids were studying in school when they were younger and include pages on art, science, history and culture. I remind the sponsored kids what an amazing world God has created and how pleased He is when we learn about Him through learning about His world. I’ve also just started researching famous sites in their own countries. Not only am I learning a great deal, but I’m encouraging them to be proud of their unique and beautiful lands.
Does anybody know about sending candy? Is it okay to send them candy if it meets the required size (and is unopened of course)???
Kathy Olson
I appreciate your love towards children . thank god that you are supporting 7 childrens. i am sure that my sugession will help you. you can clarrify and confirm that your gift is delivered.
if you request for a photgraphs of the distributing gift. I hope they will send that also
another idea,,,,take a photo of each family member and pets…make them all individual photos..
tape or glue the photo to the top or bottom of a paper, then just like a book report…write the person’s name and relationship to you…the person’s birthday, age, height, weight, eye and hair color..their favorite things and a few sentences about that person.
by doing this until all family members are done, you have given them a great picture of your life and family. and also their own scrapbook…if you are creative and scrapbook, make a fancy page with this info on it..they love it…
i had a philippino friend visit usa and she saw me sell a puppy and give paperwork,,,she was so confused,,,they don’t keep animals in the house or buy or sell dogs or cats…she told me why do you have birth certificates for dogs? when in the philippines we eat them…yuck, but different cultures,
sandy
if you belong to AAA , or go to a rest area, or chamber of commerce. get pamphlets of places all over the world , and maps, they are free.
i try to send note and something 2-4 times a month. my kids and the moms are so excited ,and said i am the best sponsor that they or their friends ever had….wow that makes me feel great and i was just trying to make them happy.
God just put that on my heart…my kids are grown so i enjoy spoiling these kids….
for those who don’t like to write,,sometimes just write a bible verse or a prayer on an index card and write that its just a note to let them know you are thinking about them, i always tell them they are now a part of my family and that we love them and pray for them, and put some stickers in it….simple works just as good as all the thought…
sandy
something that is going over good with my kids is,,,,i send a whole pack of fancy computer paper…..
i also send scrapbooking stickers.
ribbon on cardboard……..
and many different shapes of colored paper…..so they can make their own scrapbooks
good for boys or girls of all ages and no language needed..
number flashcards, send in several letters in a few weeks, so they don’t have to wait so long to get them all………
small puzzles at the dollar store, put some in a ziploc bag and again, in several envelopes so it will meet the requirements…………
plastic sleeves from photo albums and page protectors..any kind of paper..lunchbag puppets can be sent made or send them some bags and materials for the faces.
sandy
I spent hours reading this instead of sleeping 2 nights ago; what insights! I cannot wait to try these out on my newly sponsored child, who I signed up for (and made initial payment) 3 days ago. How long does it take to hear back from Compassion so I can get a sponsor number and begin all this wonderful correspondence? I feel a tremendous sense of urgency to begin a relationship with my 13 year-old girl in India! (Plus, thanks to this blog, I’m stocked up well with stickers/calendar/paper crafts/etc.!) Does anyone know what the usual turn-over is from submitting a form at a concert to actually “participating” in the sponsorship on a personal level?
Pastor Prakash, I am finding your comments very helpful. Thank you so much! I sponsor 7 children and am very surprised that not once has the family purchased a toy with the money I send. I have been sending the full amount each time and thought they could spend a little of the gift on a soccer ball. That would benefit the whole family. I have not ever made a suggestion when sending the money, I thought the family would know best what they need. The children have always been thrilled with their new clothes, mattresses, etc., but I still think a ball or a game would be really special. I may try suggesting that next time. Thank you again for your comments!
For my little girl’s birthday I made her a card and wrote everything in spanish so there wouldn’t be any need for translation. Then on her actual birthday I made a birthday cake with her name on it for my family and friends and took a picture of everybody there for her “party” and sent it to her. She Loved it! And I hope that it made her feel special and important!
Also one thing I sent to my little boy is a paper hat, the kind you get with your meals at the Varsity or little dinners. they are flat and fit the requirements and he loves them.
Just a few ideas, hope they help!
For the children about 12 years you can present many things according to their choice in differend way.
1. you can present your child , a vollyball, a football, cricket bat and ball, suttle , chess, carroms, or any playing item.
one way- send the amount and request to the sponsor relation assosiat to purchase the perticular item for your child. the project will purchase the same thing and will present to your child.
Thank you Pastor Prakash! Great suggestions and reminders!
all ways remember that may be your child will hvae other sibilings, if you send one coloring sheet. it will make problem between the sibilings, so try to sent atleast 2-3 ( according to the sibilings, so your child can share to their siblings if possible.
allways try to send an item which your child was in search or wish
like , Maps, amazing pictures, worlds wonders, your land pictures, try to get a picture of your place in a long sight, beautyfull bible verses which they can keep in their book or home, coloring sheets, ets is good,
i have seen many letter. most of them says , we like to hear from you or how is your family, we are praying for you, thats ok. good
but asking questions will give you more information about their situation and needs and the child’s wishes.
according to that you can send any items. it will help your child.
Sherry and Stephanie (and everyone else),
Thank you so much for your ideas and encouragement. I really have been blessed by this correspondence with YOU!
Stephanie, we did send e-mail to our children the night before last just to get a letter out to each of them while we are still gathering a few items to enclose in envelopes. That was a huge relief; it’s been on my “to do” list for much too long!
Sherry, I could hit myself on the head! PRAY for ideas!!! Of course! Now there’s a great idea!
Thanks again everyone!
Can’t wait to meet you all someday!
Pam,
I try to write my kids every few weeks so if I buy a book of puzzles, mazes, etc…, I usually just send a few at a time. That way they have a few to work on or to share with others until the next installment comes although I try to mix up the things I send so it’s not the same letter to letter.I keep a box of things to enclose with letters so I stash things in there whenever I find them. You may find your children commenting on what you’ve sent which is an encouragement to find other things and write again! I like to send what I can in multiples so that it gives them the opportunity to share.
Sponsorship ends at different times for different children. The general age range seems to be 18-22 but is dependent on the
child and the country in which they live. If you call Compassion, they can give you more information specific to your children. Kudos to you for making the decision to get more involved in the letter writing process. It really is SO important to the children and they will truly be blessed by your increased correspondence. I hope you, too, will be blessed through that process.
My mind goes wild when I go to the store I am always wondering if this will fit the requirements, or will my child like this or that. Both my children, like to draw and so I made a easy to draw book, by Bob Weber Jr.(I have a collection that we got out of a newspaper, every week) He shows how to draw simple figures,using simple shapes, like a frog or cow. So much we take for granted in books, that they don’t have. I pray God gives me ideas, because He knows what they want and need to learn.
My understanding is that you CAN send foam. I have sorted letters that contained foam and it was allowed as long as it is less than a 1/4 inch thick.
Stephanie,
Thank you for some great ideas. I’m glad you mentioned the Sudoku puzzles. Just last night my husband and I went to CVS and bought a couple of Sudoku puzzle books and word search puzzle books, but we weren’t confident about how they would be received. But now I think we’ll try. Would you recommend sending the entire book (about 1/4 inch thick, or should we send a few pages at a time?
I love your idea about maps! I also like your ideas about more sports stuff beyond the cards.
We have not been good letter writers to our kids for the past 6 years, but we want to do better for the remaining few years (actually, at what age does sponsorship end? Or is it not age?). Thank you everyone for your great ideas!
Thank you Sara.
Do you know if we can send Foam crafts? My son made a christmas craft out of a foam craft kit from the dollor store. I’ve been getting mixed answers by reading, some say they have & some say no.
Thanks for soccer card idea, I went to the dollar store today and got a pack, while I was there I got a football & a basketball travel board game. It is for a school 3 ring binder but you can play it without it being in the binder. It comes flat. They had football, basketball, baseball, golf, & shuffleboard. I was hoping to find a soccer one but didn’t.
Another thought about the older kids (especially boys)… I am a football fan so in one of my next letters to my boys I planned to send some pictures of my favorite NFL team and players and explain some of the rules of American football. They may or may not know that what they call football is actually soccer to us. I hope they will tell me about how they play soccer/football and maybe share some of the rules with me.
Pam,
Older kids often like maps.One of my teenage girls likes geography so I’ve sent her a world map that shows the state I live in relative to the entire U.S. and then shows Tanzania relative to the rest of Africa. I also compared the number of countries in Africa to the number of states in the U.S. as they are similar.
I’ve also sent Sudoku number puzzles, Bible verses for them to look up, mazes and visual puzzles. One that my older kids (ages 11-15) enjoy is the Life Magazine picture puzzles, where you see two similar photos and have to try to find the differences between them.Each edition (available at bookstores for about $10) would provide you with many picture puzzles to send in future letters and kids (and adults) of all ages seem to enjoy these.Soccer stuff seems to appeal to boys in many countries, as well. Hope that helps!
Becky, Your letter and all the contents are taken out to be sorted before sending. All of the items you include will be put into another envelope and marked with your child’s number, then that envelope will be stapled to your letter.
If the page protector can be folded smaller than 8.5/11 then it should go through.
Can anyone tell me if the letters stay in the orginal envelope that you send them in or do they take the items out? Also I put my letters & stickers, pictures in a clear scrap booking topload page protector, is that ok?
THANK YOU for the sports cards idea! We actually have a sport card shop only a block away. As soon as I read your suggestion my husband and I flew out the door! The shop owner was glad for some business, and we are thankful for the idea!
At the Dollar tree store I found Soccer Cards, which I’ve been looking for for quite a while. I’m sending them to my two correspondent boys. The one in Tanzanea is 7, and the one in Etheopia is 20. They both tell me that they play soccer.
And Diane, yes, as long as it can fit into the dimensions, you are fine. It doesn’t matter how many times you fold it.
Hey Pam, my kids are getting older and I am running into the same problem. I am about to send some football cards to my boy. I’ve sent bandaids to both of them. And lots of pictures! They love them. I haven’t done it yet, but I saw somewhere an idea to send them articles from the paper, National Geographic, etc. First of all, it would be helpful to know if they are learning English, but I think many children do. I hope this helps a little!
If a poster is, as an example, 16″x8″ but fits the 8½”x11″ dimension folded,will it be accepted if it’s not over ¼” thick?
Or, must its full size absolutely not be any larger than the 8½”x11″?
I’ve read things both ways on the site and want to be positive.
Thanks for the help.
Diane
My husband and I sponsor a girl in Kenya and a young man in India. When they were younger we used to send stickers, but they are now both in their teens. I work very long hours, have little time, and am not creative. Can anyone give me easy ideas for older children? thanks!!!
It is good to send email to your sponsorshild, i think your email will reach soon and reach it in to the project than your gift. so they can write response letter to you. mean while your gift reach to the child you will get teh response letter.
to Michelle,
Hang in there. I know how hard it can be. You should be hearing about your gift anytime! Thank you for helping your child in this way though, and dont forget you can send Christmas cards and letters to her too! but really, you are not being overdramatic…Waiting for those letters is a hard thing!
Thank you, Michelle.
The Lord has laid my Braulio heavily on my heart and I believe this young man needs lots of prayers.
When I hear news I will post it.
8 months is a long time. In the Philippines they write a thank you letter for gifts. I sent a family gift to each of my children in April 2009. The gift was at the project in June and I got the thank you letters in August. I have kids in 2 different project and it took about the same time for each.
Sandy said: “In the meantime, I continue to pray for Braulio and write my monthly letters. I don’t know what the situation is…but God does and I know it is in His hands. What a confort!”
Okay, that would be even harder to wait for!!! I’ll keep Braulio in my prayers….
Oh wow Sandy….. I’d give anything to get a letter from Ludis every month!!! (even every two months would be lovely….)
Right now I’m going a bit nuts waiting to hear what she got with her $25 gift I sent back in early May…. It is a long time to wait…. 🙁 I didn’t think it would be this long.
But now I know approximately how long it will take to hear the results of her birthday gift and the family gift…. which I sent in September.
I guess I figured she’d be able to write thank you’s for the gifts separately from the three letters per year. Which would be nice as her tutor writes for her and my letters from her consist of one bigger paragraph… and I want to know how she is doing as well as know what she got!
Sorry. I’m feeling grumpy and anxious to hear…. This is very hard, this waiting. And with the turnaround time I likely won’t hear until after Christmas for the first gift! (8+ months… oh the agony!!!)
(Okay, I’m being a bit overdramatic… but it IS hard!!!) 🙂
i do the same as dyan (#636 above)..when i get letters, usually once a month per child, they are so thankful and 2 have moms that write, they all tell me they get the most letters and gifts at their project. one girl told me she actually got 12 letters from me in one week?? (the mail has been so crazy this year) but she was so excited, like each were a bag of candy.
THOSE LETTERS ARE SO IMPORTANT! sandy burd
For Christmas, I sent my child from Bolivia a Christmas card written in Spanish. I drew a snowy scene on the front, which may be funny to her because it will be summer in her country! I also sent a small sticker book of the Nutcracker and briefly described the story. I usually get my girls to draw a picture. Sometimes they draw and write a sentence like “my favorite food is pizza,” then I translate it into Spanish. I have also sent postcards of the Amish and described their lifestyle since we live in Lancaster County.
Hi Bev!
I’m glad to hear that you finally heard from Anjali. I celebrate with you as you begin to develope a relationship with her that will bless both of you and glorify God!
I’m still been waiting for an introductory letter from my 16 year-old young man in Ecuador. That’s been 7 months.
Just as I said I would (in my post dated Sept 21st), on the six month anniversary date I asked CI to send a Field Inquiry to country.
The CI policy is:
If a sponsor has NOT received an introductory letter by the 6 month anniversary date of the sponsorship, then Compassion HQ can send a “Field Inquiry” to the country office to determine the cause of the problem.
It takes about two months for CI to receive info back from the field inquiry, so in about a month I should know what’s going on with my “mystery man!”
In the meantime, I continue to pray for Braulio and write my monthly letters. I don’t know what the situation is…but God does and I know it is in His hands. What a confort!
Sandy
Dyan, while it can take as long as six months to get a first letter from some countries, you should otherwise receive a minimum of three letters a year–roughly one every four months–from countries that are not on the response-letter program. If you have waited longer than four months, or so, for a letter from your child in Mexico, you should probably call Compassion’s 800# and ask them to inquire.
Also, I wanted to share that I try to email them all weekly and send a package with a hand written letter and stickers and goodies for them once or twice a month. Hope this helps.
Stephanie,
It all depends on the country and the center they attend. I have never heard from my child in Columbia and it’s been a long time. I only heard from my boy in Mexico once that was the initial opening hello letter. My little girl in India I have heard from twice. Now my boy in East India, however, loves to write. Another letter from him today. I receive 1 or 2 letters from him a month. Hang in there. The letters will come.
Stephanie: With the times on receiving letters, mine was opposite of Bev’s. My Brazil child (and Mexico) were about 6 months. And my all but one of my India children were really fast.I got the first letter from my ethiopia child 3 months after I started sponsoring her.
I think the average is 2-6 months for the first letter. It depends on the country where your child lives (and to some degree which project they attend).
Stephanie- If you write the instructions in your letter they will be translated. Otherwise it will probably not be translated.
Stephanie: I got my first letter from Brasil within the first month, but it took nearly six months to hear from my child in India for the first time, so the time really varies. I just had my first letter from my correspondence child in the Philippines. I think it was 2 months to hear from him.
Also does anyone know if instructions for craft can be translated?
Hi,
I have just got my pack for my correspondent child in Ethiopia.. I really enjoyed writing to the girl my family sponser (who I have yet to hear from)so I decided to write to another child to.
I want to write my first letter but I don’t know whether to mention about who is the sponser ect?
What do you suggest? 🙂
Also does anyone know when you should get your first letter from your child. It has been about three months since I wrote. How long did it take anyone else?
Thank you
First to address Valerie’s question about photo’s of pets: My little girl in Haiti and my sister’s little girl in Central America both love hearing about our pets and getting photos of them. We have sent both girls a collage of photos of our dogs & cats with their names printed under each photo along with stories of how each pet came to live with us and some of the silly things our pets have done. The girls know the pets names and will mention/ask about them in their letters. And, yes, both girls loved the photos.
Second, to address the questions/comments about children that don’t write much (or anything) back: my little girl has been very expressive and great about returning interesting and heartfelt letters, each one accompanied by a drawing she colored. She is five, but her older sister helps her write the letters. I think that this makes a big difference in how much content is in her letters. My sister’s sponsored little girl is six and her teacher at school helps write her letters. When she was in pre-school & kindegarten, her letters were few and far between and essentially form letters. She never mentioned receiving any of the stickers or coloring pages my sister had sent and rarely responded to anything my sister had written. This year, she has a different teacher and her letters have become much more animated and personal, with thanks for the small gifts she has received. Please keep in mind that most of our children depend upon an adult to help them with letter writing and their letters are only going to be as good as the adult helping them.
Third, another idea I didn’t see mentioned. My child’s mother is a farmer and my child enjoys working in the garden. I also love to garden and raise my own vegetables. So, I often talk about what crops I’m growing, if the bugs are getting them, rainfall, etc. My child finds this an interesting comparison to her garden and will tell me about what she is growing and how those crops are doing. I also will snap photos of my garden and send them to her every once in a while. I make sure they are close-ups so that she is seeing the plants and not my house or a bunch of gardening equipment her mom can’t afford. I got the gardening topic idea when my child told me that my monetary Christmas gift last year was used to buy seeds so her mom could grow rice to help support the family.
Thank you to everyone for your great ideas on keeping letters from being too dull. Writing to a five year old can be a bit challenging at times. 🙂
I want to thank all of you! I have been so inspired by this site, that if I hadn’t just sent an email letter to my 11 year old boy in Colombia just today, I would send another. I have been sending only two letters a year – one for his birthday in July and and another at Christmas. I’ve already begun his next letter, and can hardly wait to get it in the mail. My goal is once a month, with an immediate response to his letters.
I would like to add that the translations on the internet are not all that good. So many words can have more than one meaning, and idioms don’t translate at all. I did that with one letter, and then had it checked by someone in the office who was from Colombia. She made MANY changes, in order for my letter to make sense. Anyway, that was my experience.
This blog was a real blessing to me – and to Luis. Thank you again.
It depends on the country I think, since ones that are farthe away might take longer for delivery. I’ve heard that the minimum delivery time is 2 months for any country, so you’d need to mail it this week if you haven’t yet. I’ve started sending Christas stuff in August just to make sure, since my kids are in Indonesia, and last year it took about 4 months for Gabriel to receive my first letter.
If you want to send money for this christmas, it needs to be sent before the end of the week. (October 31)
If you are wanting to send a letter with stickers and paper gifts for christmas, I would say that it is never “too Late.” But the sooner you send it the faster your child will receive it.
How late is “too late” to send something for Christmas?
For Christmas, I am sending a small calendar with pictures of Colorado on it (our home state), as well as Chistmas stickers, school pictures of my kids, and a Christmas card. I also donated $ online. I did something similar last year. I was amazed at how much my child was able to puchase with the $20 I sent last year – a dress, shoes, meat and more. Anything we send makes a big differnce in their lives.
i want to share that in most of my letters, i write ,,thank you to who ever is translating this letter.. i’m sure it gets boring doing their job..some appreciation makes everyone feel better..
also, i got a letter today from my boy age 10, he said he always thanks God for a virtus sponsor that is not lazy in writing to him…that was so sweet.
Deanna,
Go ahead and try sending the frendship bracelets. I just helped process some letters and many sponsors sent 3d items that were allowed to go through. Just make sure that the bracelets are flat, and that there is no metal on them. Ribon that was wrapped around a card was allwed to go through as well.
Also, anything that has to be taken out will be donated to Operation Christmas Child, so a child somewhere will enjoy it.
Hi.
I am new to this forum.
We have a soon-to-be 16 year old girl that we sponsor from Ecuador.
She has written to us twice. We have written to her twice. Due to a variety of circumstances, I have not written to her nearly as much as I would have liked. Reading through all these posts has been inspiring.
Our sponsor child is sponsored by us as a family. Meaning, our children intend to participate in communicating. These comments have given me some good ideas to help my children.
Question: One of my girls loves to make friendship braclets. It was suggested early on in these comments for a gift. Great idea. Great way for my daughter to participate.
Are friendship bracelets allowed? I am a bit confused. I know it says no clothing, ribbon so I am not certain about the bracelet.
Thanks.
Linda, that’s what happens with the monthly sponsorship funds and Christmas gifts…the money is pooled and items are bought for all the children. Food, school supplies, clothes, etc. But you can send financial gifts through your online Compassion account, to be used for your child’s birthday, or just any time of year for a child or family gift. The money will be routed through Compassion and items will be bought in the local market, so that the community benefits as well. 🙂 Compassion/church staff will meet with the family to discuss how the money will be used.
I have read a few comments that say money was sent for the child or family. I did not think it was possible to send cash directly to the family so it could be used for all. I assumed my contribution was pooled and all children in the specific center were given the same things when anyone needed it. Only the items in my letters were given to my sponsored child.
Paige–if you haven’t yet, join OurCompassion.com and check out the groups for people who sponsor kids in Bolivia. You can ask people there if anyone is going on a trip. I sent a gallon-sized bag of goodies with someone who was going to Peru, and she left it at the country office to be delivered to my child.
And by the way, I’m in Louisiana too!
I sponsor Samuel, who is 9 and lives in Bolivia. He writes the sweetest letters and tells me about how he wants to be a lawyer and loves to play soccer. I am trying to decide what to send in my next letter, and I think I’ll look for soccer cards. And bandaids, stickers, and an outline map of the US with louisiana colored in, because he asked where i lived =] does anyone know if we are allowed to find people going on the Compassion “meet your child” trips and send stuff for our own sponsored children? because i am about to be in college and there is no way i can afford to visit him 🙁 so yeah. email me if you know! [email protected]
I’m doing the same as Abbey and it’s such a good idea. Also, it can be nice for the child you sponser to have someone near their own age write to them.
I had good fun putting together the cards and gifts to send to my familys sponser, Linda.
I recenly emailed compassion to get a correspondence child. I think that a lot of children who really do care would love to do this if they knew about it.
Abby, that is so great! I’ve heard of several families doing that…the parents pay the cost of sponsorship, and the kids get involved in the writing process, or are set up at the beginning to be the correspondent. Whether Armando thinks of you being the sponsor, or seeing your entire family as his sponsor family, doesn’t matter as much as knowing that someone cares enough about him to write to him and pray for him. Keep on doing what you’re doing!
my parents are the ones sponsoring Armando, but i found out that i can “sponsor” him as well. I don’t particularly have to give him money, but I can do stuff that my parents can’t. for example, my mom was just saying how she was feeling guilty that she wasn’t corresponding with our sponsor child. I can write letters to him and get to know him, and be sponsoring him too. so i encourage all you kids to get involved! Send them a letter, it’s easy!
I just mailed my Christmas cards today…I had handmade them all and decorated with stickers and a story about the birth of Jesus. For an extra little present I sent them all sticker albums to put all the stickers in that I send them in the letters. I used to make hand made bracelets out of string to send, but it seems there are restrictions now. It’s good to hear that foam can go through again.
I have small wooden airplanes that can be assempled. I removed the small metal clip on the front of them. If they have access to a paperclip at the projects it could be used to “fly” it. Can that be sent with instructions to a child? They are not more than a 1/4″ thick.
I sent little foam stickers to one of my children. I had read before that the thin foam stuff was okay.
Do the children have glue they can use at the compassion centre?
So they can stick down sequins and other decorations ect…
I want to send some cards and decorations in a small sealed plastic bag (like the food freezer bags.) Would this get through or do I need to trasnfer them to another paper packet???
Also, if anyone is sending a card to their child for christmas or any other celebration, make or buy some others which the child can hand out to their family and friends.
Clear plastic packaging is fine. I have volunteered with processing sponsor letters and that kind of plastic can go through.
When your letter gets to Compassion they will take all of the stickers and other items that you send and will put them into a separate envelope that they will then staple to your letter. I have seen many stickers in plastic go in, and I even saw one person who had sent a flat plastic bracelet. That would have gone through, but it had metal snaps so it had to be sent back to the sponsor.
the things you just mentioned are fine
they mean plastic molded things etc..it is alot of $ for heavy things and some things just won’t make it thru customs
I have a question and I sure hope someone can take time to answer me. My email is cheap_socks and that is @yahoo. The Compassion website says it is no longer able to mail plastic items. My question is… does that include the clear plastic packaging that stickers sometimes come in? I also have a small paper game of pin the tail on the donkey and it is packaged in clear plastic. Thanks
Hi,
What is everyoen else sending their child for christmas?
I’m going to send some christmas bauble cards that she and her siblings can make and decorate (with sequins,stciekers ect that Im sending) and give to their friends.
Do they have any glue at the centres?
To string the 2 parts of the cards together there is a small bit of elaticated chord. Would this get through the regulations?
Also, the idea about the chirstmas mandalas is very good.
I thought that a small advent calendar was also a good idea
Any other ideas?
RE: Foam Crafts
I took an Advocate Training Class (about a week ago) and they stated that Foam Crafts were acceptable, I even verified with them at the end of the call and they said yes they are okay. It will come out in the next updated list on the website which should be soon. I was excited because I had some that I had purchased and wanted to send, but had also heard both acceptable and not acceptable; so my foam project is still on for my kids! 🙂
Blessings,
Marci
Hi Crystal.
I have sent similar stickers to my children. They seem to be OK as long as they are under 1/8″ thick.
The wiggle eyes seem to be OK if they are very small or reasonably flat.
I rarely pay more than $1 for the items I send to my kids.
If the stickers were inexpensive then I would just send them.
If they were expensive, then I would call customer service and make sure they would get to your child.
Have a great day!
Carol
I bought some scrapbooking stickers. They are layered and have the little tiny bobble eyes. They aren’t foam, but the pieces to stick them together are. Would these make it to the kids?
I love the idea of a laminated leaf! It is autumn in Atlantic Canada right now, and I am writing a letter to them about all the things we do in the fall, and about all the glorious colors God has painted across the landscape here… I am including photos, but I LOVE the idea of including a leaf too :o) Thank you!
My kids (Honduras, 3 girls) seem to be very interested in our holidays, so I wrote them a very long letter with one paragraph for each holiday we celebrate. The paragraphs were in chronological order, from January to December. I explained what the holiday was, how it is generally celebrated here in Canada, and what our family traditions are, etc. I included a mini calendar (the ones with photos of puppies and kittens that they’ll enjoy!), and marked the holidays and their birthdays on the pages. I didn’t think they’d have a calendar at home, so I thought they might enjoy it.
According to the list Compassion gives says that you can send pressed flowers and leaves only as long as they are laminated…so I would guess that lamination is okay, as long as it fits the measurements.
I have sent laminated bookmarks and other items. My laminated objects seem to go through the system fine as long as the finished item still meets the 8 1/2 x 11″ and 1/8″ size requirements.
I always call customer service if I am in doubt about an item being sent to a child.
Not sure about letters to Uganda. I have kids in India and South America. Seems like 2-3 months is pretty standard for my letters.
I have made a scrapbook with photos of all the family. Is it alright to laminate it or is that counted as plastic??
And does anyone know how long it takes for letters to get to Uganda?
Thanks
Hi all! Wanted to share some letter/gift ideas for our children.
Bookmarks-home made & store bought.
Coloring books/pages.
Water color books/pages.
Mazes.
Cardboard stencils (approx 6″ x 8″).
Children’s temporary tattoos.
Posters with repetitive patterns-cut down to 8 1/2″ x 11″.
Small honeycomb decorations/ table center pieces-small sizes when flat are under 1/4″.
Seasonal window clings-Sheets are larger than 8 x 11. I cut out the clings instead of sending the large sheet.
Decorated/die cut sticky notes or notepads.
Decorated stationary sets-approx 6″ x 8″ w/matching envelopes.
Greeting cards-store bought & handmade.
Blanks greeting cards for kids to give to their friends/family: Christmas, Valentines, Mother’s Day & Father’s Day, etc.
Decorated computer paper-approx 50 sheets for $1 – I print child’s name on paper for a letterhead effect. Seasonal paper, sports, school themed paper, etc.
Small gift/novelty/treat boxes-they come folded flat & are less then 8″ X 11″.
Construction paper, sketch pad paper, scrapbook paper & tracing paper-cut down to 8 1/2″ x 11″.
Bandaids.
Paper dolls-Superhero, Cartoon, Barbie designs.
Brown paper lunch sacks with cartoon designs preprinted on them.
Decorated paper party napkins-dinner size or dessert size.
Small motivational/inspirational posters-usually 6 to a pack for classroom bulletin boards.
Bulletin board pieces/cutouts.
Paint/Color by number pictures.
Decorated paper treat/goody bags-approx 4″ x 8″.
Colored origami pages w/picture instruction sheets.
Wallpaper & border section in stores-large removable wall, headboard & mirror stickers.
Scrapbook stickers-Good for older kids and young men-the stickers are “realistic” and not childish.
Last but not least:
Oriental Trading Company (Orientaltrading.com) has an unbelievable assortment of stickers, sticker scenes, magic scratch paper shapes, die cut paper shapes, 3D art projects, paper ornaments, rockets (shipped flat), bulletin board cutouts and craft paper.
The stickers and paper goods usually come 12 to a pack but the prices are unbeatable.
Enjoy writing and sending gifts to your children!
P.S. – No foam crafts or stickers, no magnets and no metal objects. Very small pieces of yarn or ribbon seem to be OK. No paintbrushes or scratching sticks for the magic scratch paper. (I tell my kids to use cotton swabs -Q tips- to paint with and any small stick or toothpick will work on the magic scratch papers).
I sponsor a 6 year old little girl in Uganda.(she has 5 siblings)
I had an idea to send a plastic page from an old photo album the kind that has 9 pockets. I put a few pogs, stickers, and band-aids in the pockets,(I only filled 6 of the 9 pockets, and then folded it, to fit a 6×9 envelope.
I have no idea what she does with stickers and other things I send her. I thought maybe this would be a way to keep things together.
Hi Bev!
I sympathize. I write to all four of my sponsored children monthly and include small gifts in the envelopes. All my sponsored children write frequently and we have wonderful relationships developing. I feel that prayers and nurturing my kids through letters are just as important as the monetary aspect of sponsorship.
Well.. not ALL of them write frequently. I’ve been waiting (not-so-patiently!) since April 1st for an introductory letter from my 16 year-old young man in Ecuador. That’s 5-1/2 months. I called CI last week just to see if a letter from him was “in the pipeline.” Nothing. The representative was as disappointed as I was. She reiterated that the policy is to have children “greet” their new sponsors in a timely manner with a letter of introduction. In my case, the birthday gift money I sent in early May has not been acknowledged either. Another reason for concern.
The rep said that the policy is:
If a sponsor has NOT received an introductory letter by the 6 month anniversary date of the sponsorship, then Compassion HQ can send a “Field Inquiry” to the country office to determine the cause of the problem.
If its been over 6 months, I would encourage you to call CI and ask them to make the field inquiry. The Lord as laid concern for the welfare of my Braulio on my heart, so Oct 1st I’ll be calling, too.
Good luck…I’ll be praying for you and Anjali!
Sandy
@Bev -I sponsor a boy in India and it usual takes anywhere from 4-6 months for me to get a reply letter. Definately call Compassion and ask, just to make sure everything is correct.
Thanks, Kathy. That’s very encouraging. Anjali is only 6 and I’ve been excusing it because of her age.
Hi Bev,
I waited for over 8 months for a letter from Honduras. At first I thought he might not be interested in writing, he is 15 and probably past the age of being interested in what I am sending. I called Compassion and received a letter within 2 weeks. It was a photocopy they had emailed to the Compassion office, I received the orginal a few months later. At first I was hurt that he had to be prodded into writing, since with the other kids I sponsor I received a letter so quickly. The other 6 kids wrote within a day or two of being sponsored. After the first letter I then received about 5 in the next 3 weeks. I am not sure what happened but I am enjoying our correspondence and over my hurt feelings that he was probably asked to respond to me. I hope you hear from your child soon.
Anjali is from India. I’ll give it a bit more time and then call Compassion.
Hi Bev,
My little girl, Ludis, is in Honduras…..and she actually wrote to me first! She wrote within days of my sponsoring her.
I think it depends a lot on where your sponsored child is, and which Compassion site they belong to. I’ve received five letters in one year and five months. Each letter had a colored page attached and I’ve gotten four different photos of Ludis. So I count myself lucky, as I didn’t realize not everyone gets that kind of response until I read this blog!
The turnaround between letters used to be 2 to 3 months. Now it is more like 4 months.
Hope you get a letter soon!
Bev, I’ve heard it can take up to 6 months before you get your first letter. What country is your new child from? You could always call Compassion, just to double check everything is alright.
Hi Bev
In the Philippine it takes about 1 month for my letter to reach the project (if I write on line) and about 2.5 months for a letter to reach me from the Philippines. I would call the 800 and ask.
Just a question–what is the usual length of time before you hear from your child for the first time? I’ve been writing weekly for six months now and not a word from one of my sponsored kids. The other one wrote within the first couple of months.
Hi all… I’m new to the blog, but not new to sponsoring. I simply cannot express how grateful I am to you all for all of the ideas listed here. Even just reading the stories of you all and your children are inspiring.
I’m REALLY bummed about the “recent” restrictions. I found some excellent items I was going to send and now I am hoping that maybe they’ll lift the restrictions again in the future in terms of the fabric and balloons at least!
In the meantime, I found a really cool site where you can upload the photo of your sponsored child (or yourself, family, etc.) and turn it into a black and white drawing that they can color themselves. Not all pictures turn out well… but you can play with it. They have all sorts of other options too, like jigsaw puzzles (you could do on heavy cardstock) and “hot” colors…. The website is called Dumpr.
Also, I have a 16 year old teen boy. I asked him about sending gifts for older kids and he said, “Just because we have bigger bodies and look grown up doesn’t mean that we don’t like stickers and paper airplanes!”
He also advised that books with mazes in them are lots of fun for all ages and you can tailor them to the age level. (Barnes and Noble have harder maze books)
Also, he LOVED this coloring page where you can color Christmas ornaments that can be copied on cardstock and sent to the children to be colored and then pasted back to back with a string to hang them from the ceiling. They look like mandalas, and depending on which ones you select, they can keep them up all year for decoration! (sp?) I am going to make a complete one so that my little girl knows what I am talking about. Here is the link in case anyone is interested!
http://dailycoloringpages.com/christmas-coloring-pages/christmas-ornaments-coloring-sheets/
There are also some great Christmas pages on there! (Although they likely won’t get there now…. but you never know?)
Anyways, thanks for all the info you’ve shared. I appreciate it! :o)
I received a letter this week that the little girl we were sposoring for the past 2 years had moved away from the area and was no longer participating in the Compassion program. At first I was very sad and confused, but then I called Compassion. The customer service representative reminded me that the areas serviced by Compassion are very low income. In my case, the sponsored child had moved with her family to a different town and they are doing better now. We’ll continue to pray for our departed child. She wrote very sweet heartfelt letters. I have since received a new child to sponsor. I look forward to being a better letter writer and including more small suprises in the letters. Thank you for the good suggestions.
Here’s what I send to my girl
stickers
coloring pages
pictures
book marks (homemade)
Hi Loren,
Thanks for some ideas. I might just try that. Thanks for your time in writing to me. If you ever would like to email me, my address is ([email protected]) I have been sponsoring her for about 3 yrs now. When ever I get a letter from her, she would draw pictures on the back. They are so cute.
Thanks again!!
@Loren –
@Wendy Griffioen –
Hi Wendy,
I saw those cards too, but it seems after it is opened once it erases the recording. I am sure the card is opened several times before it reaches the child. I send the music cards and the kids love those.
@Sara Benson –
The idea of a card where you can record your voice is excellent!! I am going to do that for my child! She is a bit older and will appreciate that! Thank you!
Photos of me at their age!!
Every year on my birthday, I send each child I sponsor a photograph of me when I was their age. My mother had kept a school log, so I look up how tall I was and how much I weighed. The kids LOVE it.
I have sent many photos of my dogs and cats to my sponsored children….and when I met with my children in Peru this April, I had a photos album with family photos and I included one of my dog….and the kids all were saying “Lily”…the name of my dog, because they recognized her.
@Veronika Cook –
I can tell you just a few little things that might help.
1) I pray for my two sponsor children Daily, different things everyday. You could pray that the two of you become closer
2)I write email notes of encouragement every week, and one snail mail letter with a “present”inside a mounth.
3) ask your child questions and learn everything you can about her then base letters off of that info and presents too. ask about family, tell about your life. One thing i do is sign my letters “your sister in Christ” it makes them seem more like family that way(plus we are all Gods children)
Most Importantly-just always remind her that you truely care and love her.
-Sorry if this is not much help but its worth a shot i guess. I’ll pray that you find the answer and that you and your girl get closer 🙂
I think it is so sweet that people want to send gifts so much that they are getting very very creative in what and how to send the items. It just shows the love out there!
Hi,
I don’t think I have to stong of a relationship with my girl. Do any of you have any ideas for me or adivice? Please email me at [email protected]
Thanks.
Hi Sare,
I started sponsoring like 3 years ago and everytime I get a letter from my girl she always draws pictures in back of the letters.
Every time I want to write back to her I can’t think of what to write. Do you have any ideas? By the way, she’s 9 yrs old. @Sara Benson –
Thank you so much for the information on additional questions to ask your children. I so often do not know what to ask and just go on too much about our selves this will be great, but often questions are not answered, I guess they do not have letters wehn writing a reply. I will be asking these questions and praying for the best.Thanks again
@Brianne Mullins – Awesome!! Is that a new list?
I will share the list with others who I know are having trouble with letter writing.
Between my sponsored and correspondent kids I write batches of 20 letters at least once a month. What I do with my letters is make sure that everything is labeled correctly, then stack each child’s letter and items together then put all of them into one big flat envelope. (I often send pictures or scrapbook pages so I don’t want them to be bent in smaller envelopes.)
Fortunately I live in Colorado Springs and I can save on mailing costs by dropping it off at the office.
@Cynthia Bobick – Your children would love to hear about the simple things of your life and the area where you live. Describing a typical day, what your city is like, what kinds of plants or flowers you have are all good places to start. I think about all the things that I would like to know about them, and then I write those things about myself. I also like to share favorite Bible stories with my kids and relate the principals to their lives.
Once you have received a few letters it will become easier to write. I often am able to write a whole letter by just answering the questions that my children ask as well as congratulating them for the achievements that they share with me.
@Cynthia Bobick – It helps me to consider things I would like to know about my child. It stands to reason, if I’m curious about my child’s daily routine, then maybe my child would like to know about my daily routine. I’m sure your child would like to know about your granddaughter, as well as maybe your neighbors or friends, or hobbies (My girl in Haiti was very interested in my sewing and knitting), if you work or used to work, many kids like to know about that and what your job entails/ed, another thing I use when I’m stumped for a writing topic is remembering back to when I was around my sponsored child’s age and telling my sponsored child about it(Like a favorite memory, or least favorite chore, a bully at your school, a favorite chore, a game you used to play-like tag, something that could be reproduced in your sponsored kid’s play. My girl listed “group games” as one of her favorite activities, so I devoted a letter to dodgeball, some other time I’ll devote it to another childhood group game). The kids just want to connect somehow., Once you find those things you have in common it is much easier. It’s also good to remember that these children don’t have life easy, so it’s okay to send them encouraging notes, or tell them what you’ve learned about God in a dark moment of your life, or to ask for prayer (It makes the kids feel like you think they’re important if you do, added bonus!).
Oh! and also, we have another great resource: a list of questions you can ask to get to know your sponsored child better!
Thank you for all of the ideas. I have been wanting to write to our child, but I have been afraid to write the wrong thing. It seemed like the site told about all the do nots rather than the dos.
Hello everyone!
I see the conversation going on about mailing requirements and I have some official answers for you.
Carrie, it is correct that each individual package can only be 1/4” but if you have multiple packages you can put all the individual packages into one big mailer and send it to Compassion. (But, as mentioned, please make sure each individual package has the correct information on it).
As for the 1/4” requirement, just to bring some clarity, we needed to limit the size and type of items mailed due to Customs Regulations and the possibility of the shipments being delayed or not getting to the center at all.
Please know that if the item/items can’t be sent we will contact you via email or letter to let you know your items cannot not be sent to the child.
@Cynthia Bobick – I think it was completely fine to write about the death of your daughter. No doubt your sponsored child understands death, either friends or older family members. She may surprise you and tell you she is praying for your comfort.
As for other things to write about, talk about the weather and terrain where you live, holidays, how people celebrate in America…it seems the children enjoy learning about their sponsor’s country. Ask about similar things where your child lives. Sometimes I’ve written about a Bible verse that I’ve read that caught my attention, encouraged my children to memorize Bible verses, or even asked what they like studying in school.
Hope that gives you some ideas! 🙂
@Cynthia Bobick – It sounds like it would work.
A couple of weeks ago I sent Christmas cards to each of my three kids all in the same envelope–mainly to save postage, particularly because they ended up being a bit larger than what would fit in a regular card envelope. Each card was labeled with all the child info, the same as if I was writing to the child or sending an enclosure. I haven’t heard anything back saying it was inappropriate to send things to different children in the same envelope. (If someone from Compassion is monitoring this, and can correct my assumption, please do so!) But my guess is, if the items you send fit the requirements, it shouldn’t matter too much how you get them to Colorado. Where you might find a glitch is how they try to pack them to your child. Depending on the combined size/shape, it might work better to send them over time…
Dunno for sure, without having seen them. Just a thought. Sounds like a cool idea though! 🙂
First of all, I’m sorry about your dad. My passed away from cancer in November, so I can absolutely feel your pain. Second, yes, I think that is fine. You should be able to send everything in seperate envelopes (but in one big mailer) if you want your child to get everything at once. I don’t think they would have a problem with that.
@Cynthia Bobick – How awesome that you’ve come to realize the importance of writing! I write to my kids every couple of weeks and often don’t have anything “meaningful” to write about. So I just look around. I will write about what the weather is like today and that leads into a discussion of what the weather patterns are like in my area throughout the year and I can ask my child what the weather is like where they live. I will ask them what their favorite subject in school is and tell them about one of my favorite subjects back when I was in school and why I liked it, or about a great teacher that I remember. Our world is kind of a mystery to them just like their world is a mystery to you so even the mundane details will be interesting. The letters don’t have to be long, just a note to let them know you are thinking about them. Bible verses are good to put in and you can discuss what it means to you and why it’s important. Also send a little sheet of stickers or a couple pages from a coloring book. I have sent my kids 2 copies of coloring sheets and asked them to color one and send it back to me. For a really little kid it might be fun to trace your hand and send it to them so they can compare yours to theirs. Pictures are always a big hit, too. Keep in mind depending on where your kids live we have different types of trees and flowers, different animals, etc. These are all interesting to the kids. No matter the topic – just write!!
@Carrie Haddican – I have done this before and haven’t heard that it was a problem. I have 5 kids and have filled envelopes for each of them and crammed them all into one big envelope to go to Compassion. As long as the individual envelope that is addressed to each child is less that 1/4 inch you’re okay.
I am a grandmother who sponsored a child from India, I am afraid I just wrote my second letter, thankyou everyone for all your comments, I did not know this site exsisted and you have all show me how important writing is. I never knew what to say as I only have one grandchild who is now 18yrs old. I have been involved with my daughter who has been ill for a long time and found it would be too sad to write about. She passed away this January 2009. I wrote about her and how I miss her and now she is with Jesus and in no pain. I hope this was appropriate. I don’t feel I have anything to write about not having small children and one grandchild who is 18yrs. old and no pets. I was afraid to ask questions as the place my sponsored child lives in is very poor with dirt floors etc.
Here is an idea I hope will work, does anyone know a better way or does this sound good? I bought a pack of 36 Winnie the Pooh flashcards to send to our 6 yr old girl. To get them in the same package within the dimension specifications I have taken a piece of construction paper and taped two pieces of 3″x8″ white paper on it one towards the top the other along the bottom, taping them along the sides and bottom leaving the top open. Because of the metal restrictions I use a piece of tape, not staples, down the middle of each white piece of paper this way making two “pockets” on the each piece of white paper taped to the construction paper. Then I put 9 cards in each pocket so the package is within the 1/4″ restriction. What do you think (did I confuse you?)?
I started with my child in April. In May my father became ill and passed away and I have been at his home taking care of things all summer. I have felt so bad that I have not communicated more than the one email I sent initially. I called Compassion to ask this question, please someone let me know what you think because Compassion did not understand me. I know that they cannot send a package more than 1/4″ etc. to Eva. What I was wondering was this: If I create several 8X11 brown envelopes packages that fall in the guidelines and each is addressed properly with my child’s info etc can I put all of these envelopes in one priority mail envelope to Compassion International so that I don’t have to mail them all separately?
@Sara Benson – They said that the photo album couldn’t be sent through, so I was given the option to have it returned to me or donated to charity–and I had measured the album before I mailed it. It seemed to be within the 1/4″ guidelines. Maybe it was too rigid? I dunno…
I told them that they could do whatever was easiest for them, by either returning it or donating it. I haven’t received it back, so I figure they donated it somewhere.
@Jacob –
Yes, I use a 9 x 12 envelope and it is full. I send about 30 a month to my 7 kids and have never had a problem. The bags when not opened measure 8 by 8 inches. I can fit 3 in an envelope at a time.
I have four young children so we are always taking pictures of something. They do love the pictures and their comments are adorable. I sent pictures of my 3 boys in hockey and one of my sponsored children asked about the funny thing on their head (helmets). I also sent a picture of my 4 kids eating sour messy popsicles, again by the same little boy I was asked what odd thing they were eating. We always send pictures of things outdoors. I am very careful about backgrounds and try to have it be nature or a white wall.
@Valery – I’m 23, single, living on my own. I have felt a lack of pictures to send. Yes, I have sent a few pictures of my cat. I also explained that I don’t live with my family, but sent them pictures of my parents and siblings anyway. I think the kids like to see that we are human like them in that way. I also send pictures of celebrations (like Independence day: family and friends with sparklers), events(I live in the countryside, so when the chickens hatched chickes, I sent pictures of chicks and me holding chicks), travel pics (and cool postcards)(I travel a lot because I have friends who live in cool places, like Yosemite, and Monterey), and I’m a life science nerd, so on this trips, I usually snag a picture of some cool nature detail and explain the educational value of it. Other times, when I have felt that I have neglected to send her a picture in a while, but can’t find any pictures to send, I have taken a picture of me reading her most recent letter, also of me holding a sign that said, “I love you, (name here)” in the child’s language. I keep my camera on me, so I can snap fun pictures of family and friends to update her with. I try to think of it as a newsletter for her, so while some pictures may seem mundane (like a picture of my youngest siblings goofing off) to her, it’s an update and informational picture providing a view into life. Other thoughts, if you work, maybe you can show a picture diary of what your work day is like, same for school(even better if you’re in school, because it’s encouraging to their studies to see you study!)…just be careful to keep the pictures close shot to clip out items that seem terribly expensive. And in situations like part of my job when I have to use a computer, I just leave that picture out and describe that then I have “to write down blah blah blah to keep records” next picture.
Valery, I send lots of photos of my 3 dogs. One of my girls in Indonesia has 2 dogs of her own. My little boy in Tanzania doesn’t have any pets, but he sure likes to hear about my dogs, especially my old deaf dog, Buffy, who seems to perk his interest. He wants to know all about her. My vet puts tiny pictures of the dog in each report I get from their office. In one letter to my kids I cut out the pictures and put one beside each dog’s name as I talked about them. Since I consider my 3 dogs as part of my family, I dont’ think of them as writing about possessions. And children and dogs just seem to go together.
Hi, Valery. I foster dogs for the SPCA and almost always have a picture and/or story to share with our foster kids. I haven’t been on Compassion long enough to hear back from them, but I think that photos of pets would be a wonderful thing to share.
@Valery – I have sent pictures of my dog to my sponsored children. Just general pictures of her lying in the yard. I often think they would find it strange how we treat our pets like members of the family as I think that is a pretty western thing. This occurs to me every time I spend $25 on a bag of dog food and realize that this is more than my child’s family lives on for a whole month, not to mention what I spend on toys, beds, nail trims, etc!!
I’m only 20, so I don’t have a “family” of my own to send a photo album of, however, I was wondering what y’all though about sending pictures of pets. My “baby” is my dog, but I didn’t know if this would be appropriate since we’re supposed to avoid photos that show wealth or possessions. Let me know what you think, or if there are any guidelines regarding photos of pets.
Out of curiosity, did a rep tell you that 1/4 inch book could not go? or did you have something get returned?
Right now the info page is listing 1/4 inch as the maximum.
https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connecting/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
Jacob, the easiest (and most general) way to think about it is: if it’s flat, paper, and fits into a 8.5×11 envelope (I’ve used 9×12 and they haven’t said anything), then you can send it. Which is neat, because that opens up to sending a thin coloring book and not just a sheet or two with each letter. 🙂 Oh, and I think the items have to be no thicker than 1/8″ thick. At one point I had heard 1/4″, but I was told a 1/4″ photo album wouldn’t go through, so I think they changed it back.
@Kathy Olson – I thought we could only send what could fit in the correspondence envelope they send us? The bags you are speaking of would require a larger envelope. Would it not?
Here are some ideas:
I always tell my sponsored child how much I enjoy his smile. First of all, because if he knows that his smile is nice, he’ll be likely to smile more often. And it has been said those who smile tend to be happier people. Also because it is something that I can tell him consistantly. He knows that I am going to mantion his smile somewhere in the letter, and it helps him know I am dependable.
2. I always mention my husband. Because my sponsered child is a boy, I want him to know he has male support in his life.
3. I have a sister who is only 3 months younger than the child I sponsor. On his birthday, I have her write him letters and tell him what is going on in her life.
Just some ideas…
I agree Gail, I do tell them how special they are and how proud of them I am, and how improtant they are to me. I was very surprised at how much love I am getting from them and their parents. I was told not to expect too much emotion at first so imagine my surprise when within the first 6 months of writing 3 of my seven have repeatedly asked me to visit and told me how much they love me and want to hold me tight. Their parents have even added comments. That’s more than I ever thought possible, that they feel about me the same way I do for them. It’s incredible.
I’ve really enjoyed seeing the creativity of everyone’s ideas. I definitely will be taking a few 🙂
I think THE best thing we can send, besides our prayers, is encouraging words. In some cultures compliments and affection don’t exist. Every word of kindness, love and encouragement mean so much. Think how good a compliment means to you – it will mean so much more to your child because they love and respect you so much.
So along with the stickers and paperplanes and whatnot, in your next letter – tell your sponsor child how very proud you are of them – it will make their day!
@Stephanie Green –
Hi Stephanie,
I was beyond thrilled when I discovered two of them speak English. I didn’t know for a while, someone else had been writing their letters. They are 8 and 12 so they are old enough to write to me now. Cetrina is in Ghana in the coastal community of Zenu and Githanji is in Kenya Southwest of Nairobi. They are both very smart (top of their class) so I have been sending all kinds of books on nature, animals, sealife, planets, etc. They are loving them! Cetrina tells me she rereads them every day and her dad is so proud of her learning all these new things. My latest purchase (it just came in the mail today) is bound to thrill them. It’s a choice of a Disney book and the child’s name, birth date, and friends names are inserted into the text of the book. They both have younger siblings and I included all their names in the book so even if the book may seem a little old for them, they can read the book to their younger siblings and they will all hopefully be tickled seeing their names in the book.
I spend hours searching for different things since I write about 5-6 times per month and fill their envelopes. They love the music cards, they are expensive but worth it when I get their letters back. Another recent ‘discovery’ I was pleased with is a very inexpensive, very sturdy paper gift bag that feels more like cardboard. I sent them a bunch so they can keep their photos, stickers and whatnot in them. I found them at Walmart, they are 77 cents, come in bright colors and once opened don’t fall over.
-Kathy
Kathy,
I, too, search the stores for items to send:-)
I’m curious, where are your children who speak English?
@Melissa –
Hi Melissa,
I use a 9×12 envelope just packed with goodies. I have 7 children I sponsor and spend hours searching stores and the internet for things of paper to send them. Two of the seven speak English so I have been sending them books I order from my kids’ Scholastic book orders.
http://www.homeword.ws/languages.asp
Printable Bible coloring pages in Spanish, Malaysian, Indonesian, and the language of Southern India.
Generally, sponsors’ letters received in Colorado are batched to their respective country offices on a monthly basis. From there, they are sent to “local” translators, then returned to the country office, which sends them on to the individual projects.
Weather, infrastructure constraints, and remote project locations all contribute variability. For the most part, delivery would follow this one month process.
Hi, the paper airplanes sound like a great idea. I have sent stamps, postcard, paper dolls, thin books (at least they can see he pictures and use iminagmination (sp?) with them except for the ones in spanish in Mexico. I sent bandaids too. Some comic strips and newspaper pictures taped or glued on constrution paper. I hope they like them. I do not have children,and all of my friends kids are now adults, so I hope I am able to connect to them in love. I pray that they know we love them and God does most.
@Rebecca – I have been praying about what to send to my young man in Haiti as well. My son and I love to make paper airplanes so it occurred to me that we could send him these. At paperairplanes.com there are pictures of airplanes with the folding lines on the paper. I thought I would send one folded, then send one that was not folded and send brief instructions with a pictures of my son with one. I have also sent pages out of Eye Spy books. Our kids love those and I asked the interpreter to interpret the words on those pages as well. I also have a son and keep my sponsored son updated on what my boy is doing through the year. We sent photos of the derby races the and egg drop at boyscouts. I also sent photos of the volcano he had to build for class.
So glad to have found this blog. I have just sent my frist package of stikcers, constructions paper and tic tac toe paper games to my boy in Rwanda.
@Steve K. – It takes a while for children in these countries to develop letter writing skills. I have been very blessed as my 5 year old in Bangladesh does not write his own letters yet, but he has wonderful social workers and I have recieved 9 letters in 12 months. I wonder if once he goes to school and learns to write if I will get letters at the same rate. Anyway just know that your child loves to get your letters of encouragment and support. So good job writing! I try to write once a month and I hope and pray I say and share information thats a blessing to him.
Thanks so much to everyone who answered my questions. You were so helpful.
Now I have one more question. Are letters delivered to the children weekly, or monthly? Just wondering how often they receive deliveries? Thankyou!!
Hi, as far as I know you may mail 8.5 x 11” envelopes, I have mailed to Citlali in Mexico a book that was in spanish about 1/4 ” in thickness, I had to remove the cover so it would be thin enough. As far as I know it went to her. I am waiting for her reply. God willing she has it.
@Melissa – Basically, keep in mind that you can send anything up to 8.5×11–even calendars, from what I understand–I think I read once that our letters are transferred to other envelopes anyway (so your return address isn’t forwarded on to the country/child). So in a way, it doesn’t really matter what size your envelope is, as long as the item you’re sending meets the requirements. 🙂
My question is: how big of an envelope are we allowed to use? Some people mentioned post cards and little sticker books…but I would never be able to fit those in a regular envelope. Thanks for your help.
@Caitlin – Last year, Gabriel in Indonesia didn’t receive a letter from me written around September 1 until after New Year’s (not sure exactly when he started getting my letters), so I’m figuring on sending a Christmas card within the next week, to give it a few extra weeks to get there.
Does anyone know whether greeting cards are translated? For some reason I got the impression that they might not be, so this year I made a card–using the front picture from an old card I had received and gluing it onto folded cardstock, and putting a greeting inside; I had found a widget through iGoogle (WordMonkey) that translates into Indonesian. Hopefully it’s fairly accurate! 🙂
That’s highly recommended.
Two months, sometimes three, is typical.
Hi Darcy. They are really strict about the metal, because many times the post offices have some sort of metal detector, metal in an object may means the mail gets stopped and somewhat raided for things the post worker might want. I have sent ribbon, it probably will not be removed if it is not loose, but the restrictions have recently changed, so things are a little up in the air. If I were you, I might try putting the ribbon on in such a way that if need be, it would be easily removed, or sending a sheet that is not dear to you with a ribbon on it, so see if that goes through first…or call compassion and ask. As far as people and where they sponsor, check out OurCompassion.org. You just have to sign up, it’s not that invasive, but then you can link with other poeple who sponsor in the same area, or sponsors in your state, or other interests. I sponsor in Haiti, which is on the same island as DR, but not the same country, so I imagine the mailing might be similar bu t not identical. It takes about three months for my girl’s letters to get to me, and I was advised in the beginning to give a three month mailing cushion for birthdays an what not. Also keep in might that Holidays (like christmas) are some of the heaviest mailing times, so it may take even longer to get mail through to our kids during holidays
@Darcy – I am pretty sure that there can Not be any metal at all, so if you were to use the metal brads the package would not make it thru, as for the ribbon I think that as long as it is Not loose and it’s attached to something then it is fine because I sent like 4 pictures of me and my family tied together with ribbon and it made it to my little girl.
Okay, Just one more thing I’ve been wondering about – does anyone else have a child from the Dominican Republic and do you know approximately how long it takes for your child to receive your letters? I was just wondering so that I can at least attempt for her to receive a birthday treat and card at the right time. Thanks again!
Also, am I understanding correctly that you have to write child’s name, number, and my sponsor number on everything-sticker sheets, coloring pages, etc.?? Just wondering because I hadn’t paid attention to that info anywhere else. Thanks.
I’m a new sponsor and I love reading everyone’s ideas for things to send. I’m so excited about bringing some happiness to a child’s life.
I was thinking of crafting my sponsor child’s name out of scrapbooking materials and attaching a ribbon for her to hang it from. Not sure yet if I will just make it small or send a couple letters in several different envelopes so that I can make the letters larger. Anyways, I’d love to use eyelets and/or brads. I noticed that it says you cannot send Metal or ribbons. How strict are the guidelines? Is it okay if the ribbon is attached to an item like this? Do they just want you to avoid sending loose ribbon? And would metal brads be okay attached to the project? Let me know if anyone has answer. Thanks!
lol, farm kids know something many kids don’t. You treat your livestock well, because you need them! And it rarely disturbs them to find out where bacon comes from. I grew up a farm kid, but my sister, 7 years my younger, did not because we moved and had changed venues by the time she was old enough to realize what was going on. She was horrified to find out where meat came from…where it had never really crossed my mind, it was just how life was.
@Ann –
Hi Ann,
If I didn’t know that you were talking about a little girl from the Philippines, I would have bet you were talking about a Mid-Western farm girl!
Isn’t it interesting that there are still human similarities regardless of the stark contrast between societies?!
I can almost see this little girl chasing after her pet chicken…chicken feed in one hand…and a drumstick in the other!
I love it, too!
Hooray! Got my first letter and drawing from my little friend! Her favorite food is fried chicken and her pet is….a chicken! Love it!
OK. I’m confused again. Is it 1/8″ or 1/4″???
@Kara Elizabeth – Let us know! If it’s been several months without hearing anything, it’s probably safe to say that they went through.
I had sent a photo album in April, and I think it was sometime in June when I was told that they couldn’t forward it; probably right after they switched back to 1/8″. 🙂 But it might be a while before you find out.
Has anyone else seen such a delay between initial mailing to CO and finding out that an item couldn’t be sent on to the child? Just curious.
Loren: Okay, I guess it is worth a try then. Thanks for the info! =)
Hi to all and God bless,
I have loved reading all of your letters an suggestions…they are all just wonderful…and the prayers going out for these children, I know, do help them, and I know God answers many of them…which is very encouraging…
I was wondering for the older children, if getting some of the search for word puzzles and tearing out the pages and letting them know how to do them..they could learn our alphabet and some words by using these and just beginning to find the words.. Also tearing out pages in magazines and putting on hard back cards..maybe things you know the kids enjoy..or what their age does here for fun…look up activies for teenagers on here..like craft etc and see if there are some simple ones that you could send the things for them to do…also at the bible book stores, they have so many of the small cards with the names on them, but that would be hard to find, but the ones that have bible verses on them, or the bookmarkers as someone said..
Maybe with the older ones you could ask what they like to read and even print out some short storys that wouldn’t be too long and send them..or if they are into poetry, try printing some that you think would be of interest to them…If they haven’t read poetry it could ecourage them to try to write one and send to you…. God bless all of you and your children….
@Kara Elizabeth – I’m 15 and the kids I baby sit and I made my litle girl two of those bracelets(one for her and one for her little sister). This was in April and I know they went thru. But I’m Not sure if they will still let them go thru since they have gotten more strickt about the rules. Like I said, it went thru in April….i dont know if it would now or not.
I am 13 and am new to this sponsoring idea. I haven’t even gotten my little girl’s packet yet, but am trying to think of things to send her. I also made her a bracelet made of embroidery floss, but I had read on Compassion’s website that they can no longer send ribbons or cloth. Does that include the bracelets? I would love to send it to her, she is 5, and my 6 year old sister really enjoys it when I make her bracelets!
Hello all! I wanted to share something fun I have done for my 6 year old in Ecuador. I went to walgreens.com and uploaded a bunch of photos of me, my husband, and my son. Under the gift section I created four 4 x 6 collage prints. (0.29 cents each!) On the first 4 x 6 I just put pictures of me and added a title Soy Tiffany. Me gusta cantar. (I am Tiffany. I like to sing.) On the second collage print I put only pictures of my husband and titled it with his name and something he likes to do. Third collage was only of my two year old son and his tile was similar to the first two titles. Then on the last 4 x 6 I put pictures of my husband, my son and me and I also added a picture of Shirley (or Ecuador girl). This time the title was Yo amo a mi familia. (I love my family). I am going to tie the pictures together with a little string and send them to her. I hope she likes it!
One more thing to add. I was reading some of the posts about what your sponsor children call you. Shirley calls us her Godparents. We didn’t ask her to she just decided to call us that. =)
“Please do not send any items including metal”
Would a stapled item fall under this category? I have a small, thin paper book held together with 2 staples. If necessary, I can try to bind the pages together with tape.
Hi friends,
I would like to give the official list of items you are able to send to your sponsored children. I hope this helps when searching for items to send.
You may send small paper items:
postcards
greeting cards
singing/recordable cards
stamps
pages from coloring books
band-aids
baseball and football cards
calendars (smaller than 8-1/2″ x 11″)
laminated flowers and leaves
origami
paper dolls
construction paper
scrapbook paper
scripture cards
small posters
stickers
bookmarks
appropriate photos and pictures of you and your family
The items you send cannot exceed 8-1/2″ x 11″, and cannot be more than ¼” thick. It is a good practice to label all pieces with the child’s number.
Please do not send any items including metal. Due to strict regulations, please do not send:
ornaments
magnets
perishable items (gum, candy, flower seeds)
larger items (soccer balls, clothes)
plastic 6 inch rulers
hair ribbons
tassels
craft foam
stencils
jewelry
The risk of theft or loss of a package en route is high. Further, the duty charged by foreign governments often exceeds the value of the package. That’s why we work exclusively through monetary gifts that can be used for in-country purchases for your sponsored child.
We will try to contact you within one month if there is an item we are unable to send to the child. You will have the option of donating it to a local Colorado ministry, or we can mail it back to you.
Hope this helps! Thank you so much for your commitment to writing your sponsored children. It is such a huge part of Compassion’s ministry.
I also got the ankle socks I sent rejected, as well as some pocket combs. But I send the combs in different envelopes, and sent about 6, only four have been rejected, thus far. I have my fingers crossed because the last comb was one of my favorites, I hope he gets it. I was sending these to India, and it seems like it’s harder to get things through to India than it is to get them to Haiti.
And I got an email yesterday that the little “brag book” (mini-photo album) that I had picked up at Michaels’ didn’t go through due to the size requirements. It seems like whoever wrote was using the 1/8″ measurement (whereas I think it would have gone through in under a 1/4″).
Just wanted to give folks a heads-up. I had mailed this probably sometime in May (so I’m not sure why it’s taken so long to find out; perhaps letters are in Colorado longer than I had imagined).
Well, just an update on what will go through and what won’t. Remember my socks that “went through?” Well………just got an e-mail today saying they did not. I had spent a fair amount of money on several pairs of socks for my children. I sent a pair to two of my boys and when I didn’t hear otherwise I thought they went through. Socks will not be accepted so it’s probably best to save your money and go back to paper because it does seem that that is really all they are accepting right now. Has anyone else had things sent back? So disappointing!
@Andrea – I only sent them a few weeks ago, so I don’t expect any response for quite a while.
@Tamm – i am sure that you can send the recordable cards, i asked the office. sandy
@Heather – i have asked many different phone clerks about labeling everything. i usually put small things in a ziploc baggie, and was told that each of those things doesn’t need labeled. i usually just put my letter folded in the ziploc, the numbers are seen thru the bag. i have even used the larger freezer bags, easier for all….sandy
I have used last few days reading these posts and got an idea to mark table cloth to each of my children ( not a big one, but for the plate and cup) and now I read that cloth is not allowed… I would still like to mark them, because if socks went through, why then not mine… So harmfull.
I just returned from a 2 week vacation, so haven’t seen any of these messages in 2 weeks, was I correct in seeing something flit past–we can’t send ribbons any more?
Tamm, Yes somewhere in the miles of blog, it did say we could send those…I love your idea!. My child in Uganda writes to me in English so it never occurred to me that she probably also has a native language. Good luck! @Tamm –
I’m not sure if anyone has asked this question yet or not…Does anyone know if we can send those cards that you can record your own voice? I have learned how to say I love you in Luganda and would really love for my little girl in Uganda to be able to hear me tell her that in my own voice.
I do. Everything that I send gets a label just in case it gets separated they’ll know where it should be sent.
Do you label everything? Photo Album? Stickers?
Yesterday I was on a shopping mission to find things… probably could be heard mumbling under my breath in the aisles, “no plastic, no metal, no cloth, no jewelry, no markers, has to be flat…” which excludes just about every fun thing in the world (slight exaggeration…) but there are some good sales at AC Moore and Target in the dollar bins. My best finds were a Dora Rub’n’Color picture pad that requires no paintbrushes or markers, just a popsicle stick is included for rubbing to get the colors to appear, (they didn’t say no wood yet, did they?) Even so, any stick would do. The other is a huge page of stickers on a theme with a Sticker Album included. Some sticker themes for boys(for those who mentioned difficulty finding things for boy: cars, planes,boats,trains,jungle and sports. Also saw balsa wood gliders. There were little twelve piece puzzles that would easily fit in the size requirements (4 to a pack for $1.49!). The one awesome thing I saw was a huge “Big Book Bible Story Coloring Book” which comes with a CD for reproducibles… If you are sponsoring a lot of little kids, that would give years worth of coloring pages, they each come with the bible story. Expensive though, I ended up finding it cheaper online. Just throwing out ideas. Thanks to all of you who’ve contributed to this blog so far; it’s been such a help, inspiring me to be a better writer than I have been.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Barbara. I just called compassion and received the same information.I had been saving up a number of questions I had about my children, so this was a good opportunity to ask them. blockquote>Originally Posted By Barbara M.I just called Compassion to inquire if the socks that I had sent had made it through and the rep said she thought they had but now they have once again restricted items to “paper only”. She said I was lucky to have sent them when I did. She said they had gotten really loose with the rules and now they are getting more restrictive. Paper items only. Has anyone else received this response? I asked her if they couldn’t post that somewhere as many of us are trying to send more than paper. Just thought I would pass on what they told me today.
I just called Compassion to inquire if the socks that I had sent had made it through and the rep said she thought they had but now they have once again restricted items to “paper only”. She said I was lucky to have sent them when I did. She said they had gotten really loose with the rules and now they are getting more restrictive. Paper items only. Has anyone else received this response? I asked her if they couldn’t post that somewhere as many of us are trying to send more than paper. Just thought I would pass on what they told me today.
For those of you who mentioned wanting to add the translations to your letters; Just came across a website that has parallel Bible translations so if you wanted to include a bible verse on a self-made bookmark, for example, you could put in the language and the book and verse and it would bring it up, with the English right next to it. I tried it in German, just to check it and the translation was pretty good. What is exciting to me is how many languages are available. I’m going to try the Thai Bible verse translation on a bookmark I made for my Thai girls.
http://www.ethnicharvest.org/parallel/parallelscript.mv
@Barbara M. – all you have to do is call the office and ask. they will call you if they want to take something out, they will ask if you want it back or if they can donate it to charity. if they can’t get you on the phone, they may just go ahead and donate it..its happened to me…i sent metal hair clips in the beginning.
i have sent some odd shaped things and questionable things and wonder but don’t hear from anyone, so i will wait about 2-3 weeks and call. they can tell you, what date they recieved from you and if an “attachment” was recieved, and if it was forwarded. and also if they tried to contact you…they are awesome at keeping track of every piece of mail………sandy
@Heidi – Wow! That hearkens way back in then blog.
Yes and no. Those colors can be of help, but it varies for every child. For example, my blue glasses are made out of 3 different hues of blue and some black tint to shade. When I was tested I tried on just about every shade from the color wheel. For me, blue is what calmed the chaos, however, when I tried on a pair of yellow glasses it caused so much overpowering chaos in my mind that I had to rip them off fast. But that’s just me, there are people who need yellow tint, and maybe blue is their screaming color. Some people need both (hence, green). There is a website that has more information than I do, and I think they have teacher testing kits as well. http://irlen.com/
@Caitlin –
Caitlin,
About the SSS, does it help to wear pink (or blue) tinted glasses? I’ve only been teaching elementary school the last five years, (career changer) but another teacher bought pink tinted glasses for a student who described the text as seeming like it’s moving. Just my 2 cents…
Also wanted to mention that they carry little sticker paper dolls from countries such as Indonesia, India, Mexico, etc.
Precious is in GH220. 🙂
@Barbara M. –
You could always ask your kids if they got what you sent. Of course that is bound to take awhile, so Im sure you could call or email compassion and they could let you know.
I’ve wondered the same thing though. Sometimes I think the kids just forget to say anything about it. For example, I usually send pictures every few months, at least, and I didnt hear anything about them until it had been awhile since I sent any and then that was when I was asked about sending more pictures.
@Heather –
Yes, your letter should be given along with the translated copy. I usually use the stationary they provide or make sure to leave space for the translation to be added to the bottom. I’ve gotten letters from my kids that have an extra sheet of paper stapled on because they wrote more than the form allowed. If they give us the original of the kids, I would assume they do the same with ours.
@Michelle Cassens –
Michelle, I think it’s wonderful to sponsor a student so close to your own age. I have found that if I share things about my own life, the children are apt to open up about their lives. For instance, when I wrote my children 10 random things about my self that I wanted them to know,and numbered them, and asked them to do the same, the response was very good. I told them things about my pets, my hobbies, my interests, and anything I thought might interest them. Also, if you ask them specific questions about their lives( their favorite friends, their favorite subjects in school, etc.) they will probably be glad to tell you about themselves. Number the questions so that they will remember them all.
I think it’s a wonderful thing you are doing.
I, too, wonder about my children getting things that I send. When enough time has passed that I KNOW they have received it and I still hear nothing I wonder. I know if things are pulled out as not being allowed we are supposed to be notified but I wonder if that always happens or do they just pull it out? I have sent some nice things but never heard a word from my children. I keep wondering if they ever received them. Anyone have thoughts on this?
@Michelle – What program does your little girl in Ghana belong to? I too just sponsored a little boy from Ghana.
I am student currently in Ecuador, Manaby province and i have hosted a girl about the age of 15. I have never hosted a student before and i was wondering if anyone would have any advice for me. I am only about 17 my self but i thought since i am in ecuador it would be a fun thing to do . I will not be in ecuador more than another week but i wanted to do something to help out he children living here so i decided to host a student. What should i do to develope a strang relationship with this girl, i am a new compassionette, haha… if you have any ideas please please please let me know!!
Does the child get the handwritten letter that we send along with a translated copy? i want to decorate my letter but I’m not sure if he will even see it.
I bought some small, thin composition-style notebooks for my 2 children also, Jeanette. Do you know if your girls have received them yet? I sent mine about a month ago and have not yet received a letterfrom either child saying they got the things I have sent. Of course, I usually rceive letters from the 2-3 months after they were written, so I wil probably hear from them this month.
Does anyone know if there is a way to find out if your correspondence child has received birthday money? I was wondering about my correspodence child, but did not know how to find out if he has received any or not.
I just sponsored a boy in Ghana. His name is Emmanuel, please keep him in your prayers. I was printing some coloring pages for him to color and was wondering if he would like superhero ones (superman, batman, etc.)Do you think he will even know who they are? I hope this isn’t too silly of a question. Thanks
Also I found, for my 17 year old girls, small thin note books decorated with flowers at the dollar store. They were about 2 1/2″ by 3 1/2″,less than 1/4″ thick and all paper, no metal rings.
My former correspondence child from Haiti said he was interested in art. I sent him a watercolor print from a local artist. It was mounted but still thin enough so I think it will probably get through undamaged.
Sad news. My correspondence child, a boy in Haiti, lost his sponsor and I am not in a position to sponsor anymore children. I didn’t have him very long, but atleast I got off a few letters and small gifts to him before I lost him. They will assign me another correspondence child, but the rep I talked to on the phone says there is a waiting list. But I still have 4 to keep me busy, my 3 sponsored kids and 1 correspondence.
@Michelle –
Thanks Michelle! I sent the information to 3 other people and we all were able to get our request in before the promotion ended.
Just a little FYI post, if anyone is interested in a great freebie where you can get a free mini scrapbook kit among other things, check the link to my blog. There’s a great offer through Facebook and Creativity for Kids right now.
meeshimama.blogspot.com
@Judith Tremblay – I tend to get a pretty fast turn around on letters from Ethiopia. They get to me about 3-4 weeks from when they were written. I have had 2 correspondence kids in Indonesia since late March and have to hear anything from them.
@Trish – Yes, sometimes it takes a while. Generally I get letters within 2-4 months of when they were written (and it doesn’t even seem to be country-related). But I’ve also gotten a letter a few weeks ago that was written in January. I find it interesting that there’s such a difference in transit times between letters coming from the same country–most of my letters are coming from Indonesia, and I got one in June that was written in late April/early May, but a couple weeks prior to that, I got two from Peru–from the same child–written a month apart, and they arrived within two days of each other! 🙂
So, while I haven’t had a 5-6 month delay, it wouldn’t surprise me somehow. Perhaps they were on the bottom of a stack to be translated? Speculation, of course.
@Amy K. Yes Amy, these have all gotten through the system. I have photos and thank you letters from my children.
I type most of my letters to my little girl in Peru in double columns.
I type my letter in English on the left side
and then I use the internet and go to free translation.com and paste my letter in and it will translate my letter to Spanish. I copy that Spanish version on the right hand side of the letter.
I am sure this is very helpful to the workers at Compassion because no translation is needed. I have never gotten a letter refused and I know that my girl gets them because she has commente on them in her letters.
Anything that we can do to make Compassion’s job easier is helpful.
I also use the translation website when I email letters. I leave both the English and Spanish version on so that they know exactly what I am saying in my letter.
One thing I was wondering was if it is just the letters I receive or others like yourselves…they are very old. I got two letters today – one was from January and the other from February 2009.
So many of the comments in this thread sounded so good, at the time, but many of them will not work. We all need to go by the latest update on the guidelines, out a couple of weeks ago. You’ll notice that, while the old 8″ x 11″ figure is used in some places, on the guidelines page, itself, we see 8-1/2″ x 11″. No need to trim the paper. If you don’t know where to find the information online, go here: https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connecting/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
@Terese – Terese, the 1/4″ thickness is only one part of the guidelines. We can’t send crayons, colored pencils, and other such items in the mail. Sorry! There are so many things we would all like to send, but those would never make the trip.
Even if you found something thin enough, you are only allowed to send paper products, so crayons and pencils won’t work. Sorry!
@Terese – Even if you could find some that fit the size criteria, considering how rigid they are, Compassion still might not forward them to your child. Unfortunately. However, most child centers probably have them anyway.
@Michelle – Just thinking about the paper…a couple of times I’ve written letters on non-Compassion stationery (one of those sheets of computer paper with a fun border), leaving room for translation, and they’ve never been sent back. I also haven’t heard that they had to be transcribed onto smaller paper. And any coloring sheets I’ve printed off the computer have gone through with no problems. So, maybe they’re folded once to be shipped to the countries? (Either way, probably no need to trim the extra half-inch.)
Yes, trim the paper.
If we all try to adhere to what Compassion asks it will be much easier for them.
They won’t let you send crayons or markers – no matter what size.
When I first started it was only paper products….now it has expanded.
Compassion isn’t the ones who are really setting the boundaries…it’s wherever you are sending to the foreign post office. Many things are confiscated because they are “out of the ordinary”.
@Michelle – Nevermind, I found the info I was looking for! Thanks!
Back with another question… The regulations ask not to send anything larger than 8″ X 11″, yet the average piece of paper is 8.5″ X 11″. Do you all trim your paper to fit within the guidelines?
I looked like a complete nut in the stores today – I had my ruler out to measure every pack of crayons and colored pencils in an effort to find some under 1/4″. No luck. Close, but not quite. Has anybody found crayons or colored pencils that meet the size criteria??
@Jennifer Nunley – i think folks here have read my comment too fast, its being mistaken….i was in the philippines because i have many friends there, due to my ex-fiance is from bayawan city philippines..
it was my fiance’ that i mailed a disposable camera to. he did take it to a store and develope it there and mail me the photos………………………now as for the sponsored children..i took kids who were from cities that i had been in, and i sent them money asking them to buy a camera, i put enough money in, to develope it also…i was sending $25.oo each time, and after a year and a half, never got photos from either kid….so in march, i sent each kid $100.oo with the same request…and i said would you please do that first and spend the rest on whatever you want…..i haven’t heard from them yet but enough time hasn’t really passed…sandy
I was thinking about this today… I have some coloring sheets all ready to go out to my little girl in Ghana and the thought occurred to me ~ what are the chances she actually has crayons? Would it be, I don’t know, strange to send coloring sheets not knowing if she even has access with which to color?
@Dwight – How did you get a hold of the child’s caseworker?
Our local Dollar Tree now has a TON of sticker books and activities geared towards VBS.Each pack contains 396 stickers with Biblically based designs and phrases. We just started a Compassion sponsorship today (Woohoo!) and I am going to send some stickers with our first snail mail letter. Also loving these great ideas!!
@Barbara M. – Thanks for the comment. And I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who recognizes Compassion’s number on the caller ID! 🙂 I’ve got it programed into my cell, which is my preferred number on my account. Since it’s named “Compassion” I don’t have to stop and think about where I’ve seen the number before. 🙂
And I suppose losing a child due to the reasons you mentioned could happen to any child, whether we’re the sponsor or the correspondent. Since it seems I had to lose a child, I’m glad that it was one I hadn’t gotten very attached to, in order to get used to the idea.
I think it depends on the project.
I asked my Child’s case worker to take a picture of the family and the home last year. I had almost forgotten when a few weeks ago the pictures came in. The case worker would be the one to take the pictures and I assume they only visit the homes a few times a year. I am not sure about other countries but most projects in the Philippines have cameras….
As for pictures from sponsor tours I would log into ourcompasion.org and look and see if anyone on the web sight has children in the same project. A sponsor from the Netherlands has a child in the same project and I was able to send her some digital pictures from my visit 2 years ago. Most people take digital pictures and they can be email around.
Thanks for the “camera” comments everyone……I guess it was just “wishful thinking” …….so now I’m back to just asking the children once in a while for a photo. Judith, sorry to hear about Luis. I have received two of those calls. One child left due to pregnancy and the other boy was sent to a Buddhist monastery. Every time I see Compassion’s number on my caller I.D. I worry that it is going to be another one of “those calls.” I am just thankful to have them in my life however brief that contact time is and, of course, they will always remain in my thoughts and prayers.
I like your idea, Barbara, about sending a camera along with the traveler for the child to take pictures with. And since the disposable ones are often wrapped in paper, or have a label, it would be easy enough for us to write the child’s name on it (to keep it separate from other things from the trip).
If there’s any potential downside to that, though, is that the person traveling might not visit the project of the child they’re bringing a gift for–in which case they’d leave the gift at the country office. And while they’ll meet other kids than the one(s) they particularly sponsor while visiting the centers, they might not know the sponsors. 🙂 Hopefully all that makes sense…
I’ve sent care packages along with two different people, one to Peru and one to Ecuador, both to correspondent kids. I know the one to Peru didn’t visit my child’s project. I’m not sure about the one to Ecuador. What’s funny, though, is I’ve had a feeling about my little boy in Ecuador for a few weeks now–mainly from people saying how they’ve lost correspondent children either through sponsor’s discontinuing, or the sponsor started writing again. Well, I got a call today that Luis’s sponsor had to discontinue. I was given the option to pick up his sponsorship, but unfortunately I’ve “caught my limit” financially. So now I’m writing a farewell letter (at Compassion’s suggestion). And you know–it’s my week to write Luis anyway. I try to write one child a week. 🙂 (I generally haven’t skipped a week, although sometimes I would double up and end up writing each child once every three weeks!)
It’s sad to lose him, but I haven’t been connected to him very long–about three months. I haven’t even gotten a letter from him yet. It’ll be a bit odd if I do–if it’s just taking a while to deliver–and not be able to respond.
Granted, I’ve been on only two sponsor tours, both to a single country. However, I’m pretty sure that this is pretty standard: Children whose sponsors are visiting are brought to a given place–hotel, country office, or wherever–where they meet their sponsors. The day is spent in a designated location, whether a park, resort hotel, beach, or elsewhere. The children will be accompanied, as a rule, by a project worker and maybe a parent. There is no chance of the child’s using the camera to take pictures of family and friends–unless they have friends who are also meeting sponsors.
The only other possibility is to send it with a sponsor (or advocate) who is going on a tour to your child’s country, with the intent that it be given to someone in the country office with the request to have pictures made. But, yes, that would be asking a lot.
Unless you knew, positively, that a tour group would be visiting your child’s project, there really isn’t any way *that I know of* to accomplish this task, although I sure do relate to the desire! I receive snapshots from only one of our sponsored kids, and I get a couple from her, every year. Nary a one from any other country or child.
I too am always asking for pictures and I think it’s true what is being said here. To most of our chidren and their families it is probably too great of an expense if they could even find a camera. I did have an idea though after reading these posts…..perhaps there would be sponsors going on tours that could take disposable cameras with them, give them to our child and let them fill them up with family, friends, themselves, hand the camera back to the sponsor and the sponsor could bring it back and mail it to us and we could develop it here. I know that sounds like alot of work but I would definitely be willing to compensate the “visiting sponsor” to do this just to have those precious photos. Just an idea.
I hate to say this, but I still don’t know if you’ll get a camera back. It’s a great idea, but they probably still won’t be able to afford to send it back to you and definitely won’t have a CVS where they can develop it. It’s a great idea, but I just don’t know if it can happen. I would love to hear how it goes, though!
I think it wasn’t mailed to a compassion kid, but a friend in who lives in the Philippines.
i have many times sent money to my kids and requested that a camera be bought and after 1 1/2 years of no photos. i asked at the office, the lady said that probably they feel that food, elec , clothes etc are more important..i usually send $25. so this time i sent $100.oo and said to buy the others but a camera for sure, i wrote it on the net, in a letter and told the phone operator,,now just waiting to see what happens sandy
no,,,i sent the camera to a friend in the philippines who never would send me photos……(.not my sponsored kid). that was also before i had gone there and realized no one had cameras, just the rich….even middle class folks barely have enough to pay elec and food. and most all had to carry water, so our small camera was a major hardship for them.
sorry, i didn’t clarify it well..sandy
I’m curious, too!
@sandy and jeff – How did you mail a disposable camera to a child? That would seem to be too large. Just curious!
@Marlyn i wanted to just make lots of copies of my kids and return them to the kids, so they could give to family and friends…so i just went to walmart and also the pharmacy near by, and used their kodak machine to copy the photos sent to me by compassion…i was also able to add the child’s name on the front of the photo…also one of my girls sent a photo of her and her nephew, i made copies of it and put their names on the front and sent them 10 copies and told them to keep sending me photos and i would keep doing that for them….i wanted my friend in the philippines to send me photos and he never did, so one day i mailed him a disposable camera and the money to have it developed…well i got the photos that time, and i made copies and sent back…the friends in the photos were so excited, one guy was 25 years old and had never had his photo taken so i know our kids don’t have them….i even took the compassion photos of each child (i have 4) and sent each kid, a photo of the other, and just asked them to add them to their prayers, because i tell each kid they are a part of my family, so i have to include the other sponsored kids to each other..everyone loves it…sandy
@Sara Benson –
Thank you Sara! I have been searching for an answer to the envelope size. I am glad the size of that doesn’t matter.
I found a helful tool from HP to create personalized calendars, cubes, toys and much more. You can upload your personal photos to use also, as well as your sponsored child’s photo. The link is http://h30393.www3.hp.com/printing/app/us/en/toysandgames-landing.aspx
Everyone has great ideas. I just wanted to emphasize a couple of them that I think would work for any age group. I have 2 12 year olds that will get them. One is sun print paper. I found 15 sheets on Amazon for about $7.50. (It looks like a lot of fun.) Also, Scratch art paper, also on Amazon for about $7.50. These are books, so you could tear out the pages and send a couple to each kid or all to one. I’m also going to use their pictures in stuff so that they can have them, too. Great ideas everyone!
@mary – I another tip I heard to try and get your questions answered you could use in addition is, number or bullet them, so the questions are easier to see and stand out. Because if they blend in, and someone is helping him write, they may not notice them.
@Loren – Loren, thanks for that idea! I read above that we can order extra copies of the child’s picture from Compassion. I need to do that and make her something(s) using her photo. I like that idea! Thanks.
Hey, Maybe you could send some beautiful stationary or if they like crafts you could send them some things to make cards. How about ribbons for their hair. If they like to tell stories- storybooks to read to younger children or if they enjoy art- easy drawing or sketching books. I am also going to send a little finger shadow book I found for them to use telling stories to younger children.
Hope this helps!
The Edgerles@lydia –
Hi everyone. I have loved reading these posts…getting great ideas. I wanted to let you know that i tried to send flat pieces of chewing gum and Compassion called and told me that it was considered food and could not be sent…
I sponsor a 11 yrs old boy in Burkina Faso…and we were getting letters on a very regular basis…but..never got any of our questions answered…so i called Compassion and was told to write something like this is my next letter:
We are really desiring to know you better Aziz through your letters. It would be so nice if you would answer our questions. In your next letter could you answer these questions? and then you could ask us some questions and we will answer them!..It will be fun……
So i am anxious to try this and see if it will work.
I have sent him with the last letter a photo album of our family. so anxious to see if he responds…thanks for all the great ideas!-
I’ve sent coloring books, and even the little photo albums (from Michaels) and so far I haven’t heard anything back saying they couldn’t be sent. It’s been about a month since I sent the first coloring book, so it should be ok.
@Loren – Books are on the list of what we can send as long as they are within the size requirements ie 1/4 inches thick.
Im not enitrely sure if they can get them a book. I only sent them a few weeks ago but so far havent heard that they could buy them a book. If i hear they can Not do that I will post it and let you know. otherwise it went thru(hopefully)
Marlyn- I heard that the kids dont have many pictures of them selves. SO, what I did is I cut a strip of scrap book paper and put their picture on it and layered it with colorfull paper and put a cross on it. They turned out really cute and I cant wait to hear back from them to see if they liked the book marks 🙂
and i sent a check and put the “special” directions about the money saying to buy them a book on their reading level. I wasnt sure if i could do that but i called and the represnative said they could probably do that.
@Hezra – Hezra, thank you so much for the suggestions. I have spent the first week of my sponsorship reading through this site and finding some great ideas. Many of the questions I had have been answered and I am excited to prepare the next mailing. Thanks again for your very helpful ideas!
@Marlyn – I generally make the book marks. I use alpha stickers to put their first name, and then decorage with other stickers that I think they’ll like.
From what I’ve heard, they only translate what is written in the letters. So I would include the verses in the letters maybe in addition to what might be on a bookmark you are sending. Also, biblegateway.com has several different language translations of the bible. Once you find out which language your child is actually writting you in, you could see if it’s one of the listed and you that.
I usaully try to find things that don’t really neet to be translated. Things with lots of pictures or few words. Most the the post cards I find are self explanitory i.e. pictures of the produce grown in my state, with the state name, a bridge with the river name, maps…those sort of things. And if I want to tell them more about it, I just usually make that the topic of my letter.
Hope this helps! Welcome to Compassion.
Hello, I’ve just begun a sponsorship for a child in Ghana and have sent her (age 7)first envelope. I only included coloring pages and a few postcards with some stickers, note paper and a short letter. I was wondering how bookmarks and scripture verses are to be sent, when most things need translation…do you write the verses on note cards or something and leave room for translation? What kind of bookmarks would someone suggest? Do they have Bibles in their languages?
This blog is wonderful for ideas, thank you all for sharing. I will refer to your suggestions often in the future.
@Pam – pam, i know there is 433 comments here, but well worth the time to read them all!! alot of awesome ideas from all these people..and your name labels is also a good idea, i’ll do that also….
also check out “where do you sponsor a child”, and “ourcompassion” and when you read thru “where do you sponsor”, when you come to an address for “spreadsheet” click on it and add your name…..sandy
I love the idea of the notecards with their names on them! I think I’ll stop at Michael’s next weekend (after payday) and get some to send. 🙂 Blank ones that I can then decorate with their name. 🙂
Good ideas with the puzzles too! I’ve been looking at Oriental Trading Company’s website for small little kits for crafts and such. For those of you with only 1 or 2 kids, maybe you could team up with a few other sponsors or something since most of them come in sets of 1 dozen. Between my sponsored kids and my correspondence kids, I have 9, so they would work out well for me and are fairly cheap. I haven’t actually bought any yet, just looking right now.
thanks, the notecards are a great idea, my printer does photos, i think i’ll try to put their photo at the top with the name, that will be cute, even the teen girls would like that..@Trish –
@Caitlin -thanks, i’ll remember that…but the ones i found were small enough to get in a 5×7 envelope and it fit……since you sent the balls are you sure they got them? i hope so…….but when i found them, i used my cell phone in the store and called compassion before i bought them and the lady said ” pretty much anything that fits the size and has no metal or liquid and no markers or pencils and pens,,,i asked that coz i got some of the black velvet pictures to color and had markers, she told me to just make a small slit and slide them out.. sandy
@Hezra – i just saw a small puzzle in a box at the dollar store…had a duck and a kitten on it…100 pieces and some with 50 pieces, i wasn’t gonna tackle any bigger than that..
i did buy flash cards of letters and numbers and math problems, and they were half inch thick so i put half in a letter with a note saying why half and the same day a sent another letter with the rest, so he would get it all hopefully the same time, or not too far apart………thats hard to wait when youre little!!
i called the office about sending more than one like that, the lady said , the more the better, doesn’t matter to them, a box goes to each country each week also..
because i have 4 kids.. the post master told me that if you get a cardboard envelope from them (free), but ask which one,,,for 4.95 i can stuff it with as much as i want as long as the flap closes, no matter the weight..so if i’m sending more than a paper or stickers,,,i send all 4 at once, alot cheaper…last week, it was actually 2.oo cheaper than sending each seperate, to colorado……….sandy
@Tina Adams – It’s funny that you would say that you use labels to identify your enclosures. I just did that very thing 10 minutes ago when I put a letter together for my little boy Isaac. I’m new to this blog, today is the first day I ever read it. I wonder if the kids would like a sheet of address stickers with their name on them in different colors and fonts to label their belongings at home. I wonder if we can make our own stickers with bible verses, things like #1, Love you ect for them to decorate their things.
I also thought of sending sports cards. My Isaac likes soccer. I don’t know if there are soccer cards, but I’m planning on looking at WalMart tomorrow.
I’ve sent hair ribbons many times and they have never been sent back. I also sent hair rubber bands…but because of the metal they could not send them on.
One thing that my little one loves is stationery with her name and a design on. You can easily make this yourself either on the computer or by hand. Also notecards are good. They have little or no access to these things and enjoy them.
Before the recent discussions about the new guidlines, I sent some hair ribbons and 6″ plastic rulers. I taped them down to a piece of cardboard so they were well under the 1/4.”
I haven’t gotten a call from Compassion, so I am optimistic that they went through.
Has anyone been unsuccessful recently in sending those items?
@Caitlin – Thanks for all the info, I was thinking something along those lines, but hadn’t thought about the number! That should make it easier to grasp the concept, and for keeping track of the pieces. Now I have to decied which kid I’m going to try it on first!
A note for the beach balls! Some of the spouts are too thick, because of their caps, I managed to fix that by trimming some of the extra rubber around the plug!
you can send money for the item with discription to the compassion and say them to purchase the same thing to your child
@Sara Benson –
I was thinking about sending a puzzle by putting it together myself, and then separating it into two or four pieces and sandwiching the puzzle quarters between thin cardboard. I thought that I would explain in the letter that they should take apart all of the puzzle pieces and then put the whole thing together.
When I send puzzle pieces, it’s to an older child. And I explained to her when I started how many pieces there were all together, and that I will keep sending pieces. I also put the puzzle together, then flipped it over and numbered off the pieces with a pencil. I send 9 pieces at a time (They’re large pieces to a 63 piece puzzle), but I always send pieces that will connect to the eachother and the last sets that I sent (I send them in the order I numbered them). I line three up on a strip of masking taping (sticky agaisnt the brownside of the puzzle) and stick them in a line in a ziplock baggy, and I tape three sets of three in a manner that I can still roll the bag up into a size small enough into a size that will fit my normal sized envelope. I haven’t sent the picture yet, will do that at the end, because this particular puzzle is an “I Spy” puzzle, that after it’s put together you try to find a certain amount of things in the picture, and because every piece I sends connects to the starter pieces I sent, and I don’t send a lot of pictures at a time, I think it will be fun for her to see the puzzle picture evolve. The next puzzle I send is going to be of a glow in the dark tiger, and I’ll send the picture first, because it’s more difficult, but I’m still numbering the back pieces. Just thought I’d give an idea of how I’ve been sending the pieces sso that they don’t bunch up.
You must have been at Michael’s, Vicki. I was just there yesterday and saw those beach balls. I almost bought one. I’m sorry I didn’t read your latest comment before I went to the store. They easily fit the dimensions of an enveope.
@sandy and jeff – That’s a good idea, I know I was also thinking about using clear packing tape on the back that could be removed after it arrived. Or maybe a combination of the two would work well. Let me know what works for you, because I have one of those puzzels laying around that I was tossing the idea of sending, but wasn’t sure what would be the most effective method. What type of design did you get on the puzzle…just out of curiousity?
@Vicki Small – well , i was in the store while i called compassion…i told the lady that i found a flattened small beach ball sealed in plastic, and she said as long as it fit in the max size envelope it was ok.
about puzzles, i had asked about the ones that were a dollar, with 100 or less pieces…as for them bunching up in shipping,,,what about laying them out on celephane and wrapping them tight so they don’t slide,,,just a thought…sandy
Given the very latest update with the restrictions that put us essentially back to where we were 18 months ago, and beyond, I’m really skeptical about that beach ball. As I read the latest, all I could see was paper. That still leaves a lot of room for creativity, but…a beach ball??
@jeff and sandy – I also hear someone else say they were just sending several pieces at a time of a puzzle (in a ziplock). I guess it depends on how big the puzzle is. If you have too many pieces in a bag, they may pile up and that could quickley amount to more than a 1/4″. So I guess it depends on your kid, and their ability to wait to recieve more pieces, or the size of the puzzle and how few pieces there are to send.
i called compassion while i was at a dollar store today,,,i asked about alot of things as i was looking at them…beach ball is allowed…puzzles,,ones in small boxes,,,the lady told me to flatten the box and put pieces in ziploc bag..or cut the photo on box front out and put it in the zip loc…
i was at the dollar store today, and i found some neat things, so i called compassion office while i was there,,,(the girl laughed) i found a beach ball and wind socks, plastic windchime and foam cutouts of all different shapes…lady told me all but the foam was ok…but a few weeks ago they told me that the foam cut outs were fine???i did send a foam photo album weeks ago, and didn’t get it back tho…the girl was puzzled….i also asked about letter beads and elaastic for making their own bracelets, and she said no, because it is concidered jewelery and thats not allowed..sandy
@Meredith Newmaker
sorry, no cd’s..i called last week about that, i figured if it was maybe christian music or stories, could be played at the project but …no….i guess coz people can put things on them that may be inappropiete, and the staff has enough to do with out having to listen to thousands of cd’s each week.. sandy
@Jeanette – The stamps are a good Idea but you just have to be aware that sometimes the children change projects because they move to another City, or for other reasons. I have a correspondence child who changed projects after about 4 months.
But as long as your child stays in the same project, those stamps will make your labeling so much easier!
@Meredith Newmaker –
The last time I checked, CDs were NOT allowed. I believe that someone (maybe Kees) had said that they sent a book that had a CD in it and that The CD did not get through. Compassion had to take it out and they called him to check if they could donate it or if he wanted it back.
You could try contacting the Compassion Reps at 800-336-7676, but I am guessing that they will say no because of the requirements from the mail carriers.
@Meredith Newmaker – I don’t believe we can send CD’s; they are not paper. Besides, the children are not likely to have anything to play them on.
@Hezra – It’s true that we can use the Avery templates, but if you don’t buy the labels to print on, what are you going to use? One package of labels lasts a long time, although it’s true I don’t make a lot of them.
@Jeanette – I recently picked up some avery labels at walmart, and I was getting ready to print them, when I noticed online you can use some of the avery software for free. All you have to do is plug in the number for the size and add the info, it was really easy. And the option I used you didn’t have to download anything, but you could save them to your computer for future printing. You also have several options for little disigns to add to personalize them. I didn’t seem to have any problems with programs or printing, like I usually do.
I really like the rubber stamp idea, I think your right about long term coasts and saving money. Since a stamp would probably work better for color pages and stickers.
Does anyone know if we can send CDs? They are flat, and I know one of my boys has a computer.
There was a suggestion on this blog about making labels from you computer with the child’s name and number. I send a lot of little things so it sounded good only my printer is lousy. So I looked on the internet and found personalized rubber stamps. I think in the long run this will be cheaper than the computer labels because of the cost of the labels. Of course there are tyhings that will need labels anyway, but I am very excited to get the stamps because I send a lot of little things.
I have just recently sponsored a little 5 yr old girl who lives in Mexico, I live in California. I received my packet and sent off a letter with pictures. I really like the unique ideas everyone has come up with to include in the letters. I thought of something that my girls loved when they were young – those little sheets of soap that melt when you get them wet. I am going to try and find them and send some of those in the next letter I send. I just hope that someone still makes them. Thanks for sharing all of your ideas.
@Ben Page – Yes, your child will have access to crayons or other coloring materials. Your child may not own them, but s/he will be able to use those at the projects.
I am sure that your sponsored child will love to have some pictures colored by your daughter as well. Make sure she signs her name on her art!!
@Ben Page – Chances are your child has access to crayons or colored pencils. One of my children (in Peru) always draws a picture with her letter, and it’s colored. (My other child is too young/too new in school to write on his own, so his dad writes for him.)
I love the “10 things” idea. Will have to try that out. Most of my kids are old enough to be able to (hopefully) provide thoughtful responses to that.
Also, for anyone who has access to Michael’s craft stores, I’ve found an abundance of stuff there recently to send to my kids including Stick-It felt soccer balls, Paper Origami(w/ visual instructions…no translation needed) and colorful Paper Airplanes with cool designs (all the kids have to do is fold). Each of those paper crafts come 6 to a pack (for $1) – good for those who sponsor multiple kids or like to send extras for kids to share with others.
I’m fairly new here too and have found many good ideas reading through this long thread. Many people say they tear the pictures out of coloring books and send them a few at a time (perhaps in a 9×11` envelope), which keeps within the thickness limit. So many people mention sending coloring book pages that I assume the children have access to coloring materials.
We are new to Compassion and we had a question regarding what to send to our child. We found several small cloloring books to send but we are not sure if our child has crayons and it appears that we can not send them due to size restrictions. Do the project centers have crayons for them to use or is there any way to send our child crayons. Our daughter is the same age as our sponsoreed child and she loves to color and we thought it would be great to have her color some of the pictures and leave the rest. Your help is really appreciated.
I thought I’d share another experience I had recently. After our recent elections, I sent a picture of our former President and new President walking together in front of the White House~a picture I xeroxed from the newspaper. I told them briefly about our recent elections, and sent a map of the US with a mark of where I lived ( Oregon) and where the White House was. This wasn’t at all political~I tried to stress that this was a peaceful transition,( since I know that this is not the case in many countries). Of my 8 sponsored and correspondent children, the only one who mentioned it was my little boy in Tanzania, who said that the parents of their president lived right near him~ he often walks by their house.
In the next letter I copied a map of Tanzania, laminated it, with a red dot where I think my child lives, and sent it. This received a great deal more appreciation from my child~of course, it is his teacher who writes~but he thanked me for the map and said that it was going in his file at school. It seemed to be something very prescious to him. Learning from this, I will try to make laminated maps for all the rest of my children as well: in India, Ethiopia,and Indonesia. And, as some of you have already suggested, i plan to look for more things to write about and send about each child’s own country, rather than about mine. It was a learning experience for me.
@Jan Woodford – I like your 10 things idea. It sounds fun! I think I will try it out with my sponsored and correspondence children.
Hezra, there’s no list, just write 10 things you want the child to know about you, and ask them to tell you 10 things that they want you to know about them.
@Jan Woodford -Hey Jan, do you happen to still have that list kinda handy? I think that sounds really fun!
I’m seeing the results of an experiment I tried on each of my kids several months ago. On Facebook I noticed people writing 10 things about themselves, then sending the list to friends, who were supposed to write 10 things about themselves and send it back. Wrote 10 things about myself and sent them to my children, explaining the game to them, and am now starting to receive numbered lists about themselves from some of the children. In turn, I’ve written back, commenting on some of the things I’ve learned about them. It’s been interesting.
@JustJill – Jill,
if by some miracle you find this reply I am sending to you maybe this could shed some light on the issue. I visited Osmari my spnonsor child in Nicaragua last year. I thought the day went great as she was smiling in some of the photos. I sent a family gift later and she bought a bed with the gift. So I am not sure if she was sleeping on the floor or sharing a bed or on a blanket. But I am always fairly upbeat/excited/positive in my letters. But if she is sleeping on the floor every night, an excited letter doesn’t necessarily make her sleeping any more comfortable. So your sponsor child I am sure is extremely thankful for every letter you send and the sticker etc. but there is a lot of other stuff going on that even if you did or have visited you may not be able to see. Keep asking your questions, they will get answered. But if you really want answers to your questions go visit and ask as many questions as you want, take a huge list even and get all your questions answered in one go.
OK, Sara, that really makes sense, and thankyou for telling me. I’ll be careful not to but that information on the check in the future.
@Jan Woodford –
Hi Jan,
I am pretty sure the reason you shouldn’t put any child info on the check is for irs purposes. Since Compassion is a 501c3 there are special rules about donations. The irs does not want people doing a “pass through.”
I have done a few missions trips and the donations had to be made out to the sending group and a separate paper had to be filled out to indicate that it was for my trip.
You can put your sponsor number on the check because it just refers to you as the donor and not to your request for use of the funds.
I’m throwing this in here, especially for everyone who has written to me asking for updated guidelines and the list of ideas of things to send through the mail. One sponsor has just let me know that the updated list on the website now prohibits a few of the things shown a year ago (in the list I had) as allowable. I don’t mean to be shouting, but *please refer to the website!* I will no longer send out the list that I have previously offered, as I assume the list on the website is now more up-to-date than my “update.”
One of my boys bought a computer with his Christmas money. He recited a poem about stars for us in his last letter (“Twinkle, Twinkle, little star….”) I would love to send a CD of my daughter playing it on the piano or another recording of it. I’m pretty sure he has a CD drive on his computer.
Can we send CDs?
Oh, I see, you’re saying to put it on an attached note. OK, I can do that. It’s strange that no one has contacted me about that, though, because I know I’ve been putting the child’s number on the check.
@Rebecca – My boys (7-9 years) love stickers! I send extra because they have told me they share them with brothers and/or friends.
I don’t see it saying that we shouldn’t put the child’s name on the check, but I actually don’t think I did~I put the child’s number on the check, because that’s all there’s room for. I don’t see what the reason would be, though, for not putting the child’s name on the check~if theere were room~because the check would never get further than the compassion office, would it?
Just wondering. I certainly don’t want to do anything I’m not supposed to do.
@kristinn – I have older kids too and struggle with what to insert as well. I have found origami books that I copy pages from then include origami paper too. Amazon has origami books in spanish too!
@Vicki Small – Vicki is correct. This is from the gift giving FAQ on compassion.com.
@Jan Woodford – Somewhere, back in the archives of this blog, I believe someone from inside the GMC said sponsors should *never* put their child’s name/number on the check. Put a sticky note on it, or enclose a separate note saying you it’s for. I do believe you can put your sponsor number on the check.
@trish8399 – Your child won’t see the check. Compassion cashes it and sends the money to our country office. The country office works with the church partner to get the gift to the child.
I did not know that we could send $ (check) to our sponsored child through the mail.
I thought we were not supposed to list our address.
Our checks have our address on them????
@Sara Benson – My “son,” Suresh, from India, has always written personal letters. But they’ve gotten increasingly interesting / personal the older he has gotten. I know that they make a difference. He told me that he gets more letters than any of the other children in his center. That shocked and saddened me b/c my letter-writing tends to happen in spurts. Sometimes he may only get 3 or 4 a year!
Since I recently got married and moved, and do not have a job, I have been more intentional about writing him. I have sent many photos over the years. He loved hearing about my nephew being born. I send him pics of the scenery where I live, and tell him about the weather. It doesn’t get so cold in southern India!
We recently had the worst ice storm in Kentucky’s history, so I will be sending him pictures of the aftermath. I told him about my husband running his first marathon. And have sent newspaper articles / pics of the recent presidential inauguration here in the US. Anything and everything can be interesting and teach him about me / us / our life here in the USA.
You make the check out to Compassion International, and I always put the child’s number on the check and my sponsor number as well, and write what it’s for ( Birthday, family, etc) in the notation area.@Michele –
@Bev –
Bev,
According to http://www.usps.gov, you’d need to put at least 2 forever stamps on it for 1oz. Size limits for just one stamp are
“No more than 6-1/8 inches high by 11-1/2 inches long by 1/4 inch thick”
Anything bigger than that but smaller than 12x15x3/4 in. is $.88 for the first ounce and $.17 for each additional ounce. 🙂
If you need more info than that, check out the Post Office’s website. It’s pretty informative! 🙂
When we send money thru our letters who do we make the check out to? Im assuming Compassion intl but im not shure. Can anybody clarify this for me?
@Tamm –
You can send a monetary gift to a correspondence child. You cannot do so on the website, you need to call Compassion and they can help you with that over the phone, 🙂
@Bev –
OK, putting my postmaster hat on here.
Forever stamps only work for the 1 oz letter rate. Whenever the rate changes, the Forever Stamp magically changes to be worth the new rate. However, it does not cover additional weight, or additional size.
An 8.5 x 11 item is considered a large envelope. The other poster was correct, if you go to usps.com you can calculate postage based on weight and size.
Here is a tip for anyone who sponsors multiple children.
I like to put all of my letters for each correspondence “cycle” in a Flat Rate Priority envelope. I have found that I can fit 25 letters, and sometimes 25 larger than letter size if I fit them in just so. The Flat Rate Envelope is only 4.95 so you have to have 12 items before you save $$ on a regular one oz letter. But, if you are placing additional items in an envelope which increases the thickness there is generally a surcharge, so you would be looking at a lot less than 12 before saving $$.
AND if you print out your postage online like I do, it is only $4.80 for the Flat Rate and Delivery Confirmation is free. Again, only helps if you are mailing multiple items at a time, and/or if they are overweight or oversize. Hope this helps a little.
I’m jumping into this conversation late, but thought I would add some of the things I have enclosed that have been especially fun. For girls that like to play with dolls I have made paper dolls to send. I send them with clothes already glued on, so they can’t change clothes, but they also seem to be less frustrating for little hands to play with. One letter I received back had a drawing that seemed familiar. I realized she had copied the face of the paperdoll I sent. Go to http://www.makingfriends.com for free printouts of dolls and clothes that can be cut out and mailed. Labor intensive, but fun.
I also enjoyed sending little homemade photo albums as described on the compassion website. That was a lot of fun, I used scrapbook paper to make it more fun.
I always enclose colorful bandaids, stickers, pictures, always a little something extra with a letter that is mailed. Holographic stickers from the dollar store caused quite a response! Inexpensive and different. They come in long strips, and I generally open the packages and cut them in half. I may split the strips between kids or put both halves in one letter, either way cutting them in half keeps the size mailable.
Since I have multiple children I alternate between sending a letter with the same updates to ALL children (that way I know what I have said to each of them) I write the basic letter up on my computer, add pictures illustrating the things I am talking about, and then add each child’s name and number as I print out. I also respond to each child’s individual letter in a handwritten letter. I try to do responses as I receive a letter so I don’t get behind. the “group” letters I try to do at least once a month. Sometimes I get behind on that so I email. I do try to be aware that since I have 3 children in one project, I am careful to make each of those 3 letters different so that they don’t feel as though they are getting a form letter.
I have had my daughter make Origami creations to send also.
There are so many good ideas on this blog! thanks everyone for the inspiration.
when letters or packages get to colorado, they are all opened and read,,,they may break the seal if you pack socks,,they just have to be sure you didn’t put the wrong thing in the package,,@Carrie Haddican –
@Chris Giovagnoni – Chris, thanks so much for doing that. I got into the page right away.
I was able to get on the Tips page just now. I want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU to whoever got the information on to a page to clarify what we can and can’t send.
Also, I too looked for socks small enough to fit into the dimensions required for our 6 year old girl; I couldn’t find any. Are we allowed to vacumn pack socks etc maybe? We could then put a note explaining to our child that when it gets to them they just need to cut open the package? What do you think?
@Vicki Small – Are you still having the problem? The link is working when I try it.
Brianne is the hero. She gotter done.
@Chris Giovagnoni – Chris, I just tried it and got a Page Not Found. But you’re a hero; I know you’ve been trying to get that page updated for a while!
The Tips for Mailing Small Gifts page on compassion.com has been updated.
Actually, that happened to my daughter. Her letters to a correspondence child were returned to her, and when she called the Compassion office to find out why, she was told that the child’s sponsor had started writing to the child.
As for the socks, someone earlier had said that they sent socks to a boy, so I thought that would be an ideal thing to send to my 20 year old correspondent child in Ethiopia. I bought the thinest socks I could find, but there was no way to fit them in an envelope so that they would be less than one fourth inch wide. Then I was going to send one at a time~that still didn’t work. I think the person that did that must have had a younger boy than mine. It might work for a little boy. I’m getting ready to send my girls plastic buttons, taped to paper in a face shape, like a pair of eyes,a nose, a line of them shaped like a mouth. If they are anything like me, I never have enough buttons when I need them.
@Barbara M. – Did you see the Write to a Child blog post? It’s about becoming a child correspondent.
Sara, that’s a great idea! Pity I didn’t think of it, back then!
@Bev – Bev, you can go online to the USPS and click on a button to calculate postage. You’re given icons depicting different sizes and shapes of envelopes; you put in the weight (which means you need a postal scale) and you learn how much it will take. I’ve no idea how the Forever stamp factors in.
Just wondering about a sponsor deciding to restart correspondence after the child has been given to a child correspondence person. My understanding is that once that happened the financial sponsor no longer had the option of contact. There seems to be some confusion on how this works. Can a finacial sponsor just come and go in the child’s life and are then we not allowed to write anymore? AND if the original sponsor wants them back but then again does not write……..what then? Wouldn’t the child be quite confused? ALSO has anyone tried sending light, thin socks and have they gone through?@Judith Tremblay –
I found some thin, colorful plastic combs at Cash King. They come in an assorted package, and I have put the child’s name and number on each one with indelible ink, then put it in the manilla envelope that I keep keep for each of my children. There were a bunch left over, so I have given them to my daughter, who sponsors and corresponds with lots of children.
Just to save me a trip to the post office, can an 9×12 manilla envelope be sent for the same “forever stamp” postage as a business size envelope? (Assuming the weight is OK)
@Tamm – Congratulation on getting a correspondence child! It is an awesome experience to partner with another sponsor and encourage a child. SO to answer your questions…
~Yes, you can send monetary gifts to your corr. kids for birthdays, family gifts, or any other reason; just like you would send to your sponsored kids. There is a chance that the sponsor will also send a gift but that chance is slim.
~ There is no limit for how many times you write to your child. Having said that, the letters for each country are sent from the compassion office to the country offices *Once a week*. So if you decide to write more than once a week, letters may clump up and be delivered to your child in multiples.
~ As far as the books, I assume that it would be fine. The books will NOT be translated with the letter, but as long as it had lots of pictures I am sure that the kids would enjoy it. Maybe in your letter you could write a summary of the story so that it would be translated and the kids could read the letter, and then look at the pictures in the book.
@Tamm – Tamm, monetary gifts to our sponsored/correspondent kids are the norm. Anything else would have to conform to the limitations on mailing.
A small book in English might be perfectly okay, in some of the countries; e.g., India. When my sponsored girls were younger, I found thin books with many photos of butterflies or animals and sent those. They did contain text in English about the fauna, and I have no idea whether anyone translated those for the girls.
@Rebecca – The phone representatives are not the ones who check all of the letter contents. They are trained to find answers to many different questions and therefore they may not all have the updated info especially since it is not on the website.
There is a department that processes the letters and they will be the ones that are trained with the newest information. I don’t think that you have to worry about appropriate items being taken out.
From what I have heard, if you send something in a letter that is NOT able to be mailed to your child, you will receive a letter/call informing you of that fact.
For kids who are older and artistic, I wonder if anybody has tried sending an origami figure and instructions for how to make it, along with some colored sheets of paper.
I found some really cute small gift bags at Target in their bargain bins at the front of the store. There are also handmade cards to go with them. They come two in a package for $1. Then they have medium gift bags too for $1. They’re really cute. I’m sending one to my older girl in Ecuador tomorrow. I told her that I knew it was small but as it was her favorite color (pink), I thought maybe she could keep like hair ribbons or something else that’s small in it. I hope she likes it!
I didn’t get any of the cards because they were all specific like birthday, Father’s day, graduation, etc. but some of the bags were more generic so I got a few more to send to some of my other kids too. 🙂
@Loren – Loren, what a GREAT idea! I love to color and have *TONS* of coloring books and stuff so I’m always sending sheets to my kids, but what a great idea to send them one that *I* colored. 🙂
I love this post and discussion. I’ve gotten so many new great ideas from it!
I have a few questions maybe one (or more) or you can help me out with. I just received a correspondence child. A beautiful little boy in East Inda. Does anyone know if I can send him a monitary birthday gift, or send a family gift?
Also, I went to the dollar store today and went a little nuts! I found some great bible story books for kids that are small enough to fit the size requirement. What I’m not sure of though, is that they are English. Would it be appropriate to send these to my sponsored and correspondence children? Also, is there a limited amount that we can write to them? I would like to write every week or so, but I don’t know if that’s ok or not.
I’m getting a little frustrated. I contacted Compassion to ask about a certain item that I want to send and they respond with their guidelines on permissible items. However, alot of the items they list as you can’t send are on the okay to send list that was updated. Why do the employees working there not all have the same information? I fear I may send something okay to send, but it goes to a person with old guidelines.
@sandy and jeff – Hi Sandy, yes, Joy speaks and writes in Waray-waray. (I matched up the language from her letters with the info I found online and through the library.) She also learns English and Tagalog in school. She frequently writes English phrases, and her Bible verses that she writes are usually written in english. So sometimes I will put materials in the letters in English.
Actually, for the first few years, Joy’s mother wrote all the letters to me for her daughter. That was so amazing! I felt like I could really get to know the family, and the mom was always so thankful and detailed in her letters. I still addressed my letters to Joy, but would write something like, “please tell your mother hello and thank you for helping you with your letters!”
I’m new at this, but we had many foreign students visiting us through an exchange program. All the ones from So. America called me Mrs. Beverly, so I’ve started signing my letters to our girl in India and boy in Brasil as Mrs. Beverly.
I have always signed my letters Aunty Jan, or sometimes Love in Jesus’ Name, Aunty Jan. I have always done this because I was told that in most of these countries it’s considered rude for a child to call an adult by her first name withour preficing it with Aunt. That Aunt and Uncle are a term of respect, not just that of a relative. But I notice that none of my children call me Aunty! They almost always address me as Jan Woodford, or, in one case, after a gift, the girl called us Mother and Father. I write to children from India, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Should I stop signing Aunty, do you think?
Jan
I sponsor an 8 yr old girl and what i did today was I colored a page out of a bible coloring book of Noah’s ark and talked about the story and included a bible verse. Then i also sent a copy of the same coloring page for her to color. She always colors pictures for me so i thought it would be nice for her to have a picture that i colored for her.
sorry for hogging space here haha
i work midnight and aren’t on alot, so i get it out all at once,,,haha
one last thing…..i have a boy with an aug birthday…i got a small gift bag that said happy b day…then in the party isle, i got a pin the tail on the donkey, printed b day balloons, activity sheets for guests and happy b day banner,,,they all fit in the bag while still folded, then i slipped it in a 9×12 manilla env…i just stuck a tiny note in that said ” this is what american kids use for their b day…so enjoy” i also sent him some puzzle and coloring books in other envelopes as his actual gifts.
i had 4 big envelopes to mail to compassion the other day,(one for each child) it would have cost me 8.50 seperately,,,so the lady told me that since all went to the same place, i could use a cardboard env that they had, which was free, and for 4.95, you can stuff it with as much as you can, just so the flap goes down,,,,,,,,since i mail kids stuff each saturday, this is cheaper on book days,,,since so many of you have alot of kids, hope it helps sandy
@Caitlin i didn’t mean to ask them what they want, coz you are right that it is uncomfortable or inappropriete………i really meant,,”tell me what you like or like to do”, cause why send puzzle books if they don’t like to do puzzles…i’ve never sent crossword or suduko because i don’t know if they would like that…for instance, i send alot of scrapbook materiel to the girls,,,first i asked do you like to do it, when i got a yes,but i don’t have materiels, i said what else do you like,,so one girl said flowers esp. roses, so i send her those things,,,,,my boy likes basketball and cars and drawing,,,,so he gets word find books about nascar, and basketball, bible, etc………
@Andrea – read what i wrote on #339..
other things for the older boys, if they have common names, i got wallet cards at bible store, also ones that tell the meaning of their name,,,some stores let you type a different name and can find the meaning..
get the tiny photo album and put your family photos in it……and or, take one piece of paper,(leave it plain or make it a scrapbook page), put a photo of one of your family members at the top, then write a summery of that person’s life (b-day, full name , relationship to you, schooling -college and subject, where they work, town and state they live in, if they have a family etc)..start with yourself, then spouse, then each child and even your pets, etc,,,, and just do one person per letter, that can drag out for along time, and maybe with the first one, send one of those pocket folders so the child will have a scrapbook of your family, that will be like a puzzle………… i even send the girls, plain folders and then i send scrapbooking materiels and she can decorate the outside herself..at a scrapbook store or craft store, you can buy pages with male things on them, but sometimes cost upt to 1.50 a page…hope these keep you busy for awhile, haha sandy
@Andrea – go to dollar stores, goodwill stores, walmart, and look in book sections and school supplies…i send starwars, spiderman and car and sports activity books..word puzzles books, 2 pocket school folders can be found in male designs or colors..when you hold it upright,(fold on the left), you need to fold the right edge about half and inch, but it works perfect the way it is made..i also put the white lined school notebook paper in it…..send tablets….all can be used for school, or for fun……at the same stores, plus bible book stores, you can find lots of small religious books,,,,i sent one today on “how to study the bible”, was .99 at the bible store, i even had the lady measure it,,exactly 1/4 inch,,,,at the goodwill store one day, i pd. a dollar for a huge bag of different size and colored envelopes…..i have shoe boxes for each of my kids…when i get a deal like these, i buy one for each kid, put in env. and even take to the p.o. and have the stamps put on.. and they go in each shoe box..some times i have many things in each box….then every sat. i take one per kid,,put a small note in each and drop in the mail….it could even be as simple as i sent once, plastic calender cards that were free at hallmark……..sandy
Thank you, Caitlin, and I agree. I think we can ask questions that will give us the information, without tying the questions or answers to our sending gifts. “What are your favorite animals?” “Do you like butterflies?” I’m sure more creative minds can come up with better questions.
Be careful about asking children what they want from you, because it will likely put them in a very awkward social position. They probably aren’t supposed to request things of adults, especially benefactors. It might seem to them too disrespectful for them to do to you. I would love to ask that of my older kids, I’ve sent her several packs of stickers, and she dutifully thanks me for everything individually, so I have to take a hint and see which items she is “more” thankful for, and use that as my directive. (for example, she thanked me for the alphabet stickers, and then went on to comment on them as well)
@Sandy and jeff – I like your idea about asking them what they like. Then you can send them more of the things they like! What kinds of things have the older boys liked? I’m having trouble thinking of ideas for my 13 year old correspondent child.
i chose one of my girls because she lives in the same town of my friends, and i’ve been there,,,this gives us things incommon to talk about………….i told her my friends names and the streets they live on.. ………..and i have told them my town and state and even sent marked maps…and it all went thru, coz she commented on it….
one of my girls is in iloilo, philippines, i was there staying with friends 4 years ago…i chose her because she lives in that town, because i can tell her where i was and we have things to discuss, i also told her the name of my friends and the street they live on. compassion didn’t delete any of it, i know, because she wrote and commented about it.
in my first letter to all my kids, i told them the town and state i’m from, and also that of my adult children, and i sent laminated maps and marked the area,,,compassion didn’t delete any of it,,,,i guess they just don’t want the actual street address or a phone number or email address..which i understand.
at christmas,, one of my girls told me what she bought for herself, then she used the x tra money to buy a gift for another needy child! i was so proud of her i teared up… and for that i’ll just send her more $ or little gifts,,,
about whether your teen will like what you send?? i send things, then i say in the note, that if they like it,(ex. a word puzzle book) please tell me and i’ll send more, but if not interested then i tell them to give it to a sibling or a child that doesn’t get letters. i flat out just say,,,tell me what you like,,,puzzles, animals, cars etc..so i will have a better idea as to what to send…i tell them i won’t be upset, i want to send what will make them happy….but i also do send extra of somethings at times and tell them to share with others..
i have even asked all my kids if others in their project get no letters or gifts,,so i will send them something…..you can never go wrong doing for others, even if its not your child
@Carmen – does joy speak waray waray? my daughter, kimber, has a 5 yr old girl above cebu, and the family speaks cebuano, but kimber has found that the letters are in tagalog..she bought a tagalog book, and it all matches up….
english is the #1 language and #2 is tagalog,,,almost a philippino’s speak both, and both are taught in schools, but because of all the differnet regions, they will speak a diff. one in the home.
both of my teen girls speak hiligaynon in the home,,,but one writes in tagalog, the other in english and no translation is needed…
@Sara Benson –
as for the older boys: i have bought- 2 pocket school folders. i do have to fold each outer side about 1/2 inch, but it works perfect because the pockets don’t go to the edge…(then they fit in the larger brown manilla envelope, which i buy in a pack of 6/$1. at the cheaper stores)…can be bought anywhere school supplies are, i paid 50-75 cents at walmart ..so many colors and designs…then i buy the paper to fit in it,,at walmart it was .50 for about 200 sheets. i just put alittle at a time, then they can use it for school or whatever.
and i hit a gold mine at the goodwill stores…i have 2 stores nearby, and they have book sections, today i bought alot of older “guideposts” magazines and paperback books , one was even ” chicken soup for the soul”. they also had lots of scrapbooking stickers that were brandnew, for only .25 each.
you can get pretty flat photo albums at the walmart photo counter for about $1.
for a good help in translating your child letter to your language. please not this site. if you need any further healp u can write me at gmail.com
for a good help in translating your child letter to your language. please not this site. http://translate.google.co.in/#
if you need any further healp u can write me on my blog.
http://pastorprakash.blogspot.com/
If you have any problem to sending any thing. and you wish to give the same to the child. why dont you send the amount as gifts. they you ask the project to provide the same thing to the child. the project workers will get the same thing from the market and will give to your child. even anything. for the confirmation you can ask a photgraphs of the presnetation of the gifts.
A good site for your help in to understand different languages the language. I hope it will help all or you. if you need any further help. let me know. please write to me [email protected]
thank you
In His ministry ministry
Thans, Sara! And Caitlin, whose ideas are a great help!
@Andrea – Here is a post by Caitlin that has a ton of ideas for older boys.
I just got a 13 year old boy for a correspondence child, and I am so excited! I was wondering if anyone else has boys around this age and what do they send them? I thought about sending a paper airplane, but I don’t have any other ideas.
@sandy and jeff – Hi Sandy, sorry I haven’t checked this in a while. The website is http://www.bansa.org/ and if you click on “dictionaries” it will show you a list of around 20 different languages of the Philippines. I would type in certain words Joy had written in her letter, and it would give me the English translation. The dictionaries are not exhaustive by any means, but I was able to find most of the words I was looking for in the Waray/English dictionary. When I didn’t find a certain word she had written in the Waray dictionary I usually found that it was a Tagalog word.
I wanted to go on the trip this June also–but as I am currently a poor college student, this is not possible right now! I would love to visit her someday though…
Thank you for the information all of you! I think I will try the seed necklace. It is not very expensive or anything and I can easily make or buy another one. Thank you all for the neat ideas!
p.s. I’ve also been known to explain to “my boy” that I know sometimes I send girly things, and it is not because I think he’s girly, but because I’m a girl, and I really liked them, so I couldn’t resist sending them. 😀 I hope I don’t offend his “man-pride”
I understand! I grew up in a house full of boys, and now work with a bunch of Jr. Highers (as mentioned previously), those adolescent boys, they can be toughies! I had a hard time starting out with my 5 yo boy, though…Teenagers, preteens, I can do those, the babies? Well, let’s just say, I do my best. I find that when I get stuck for one of my kids, I go to my church and conveniently locate myself in/near the Sunday school room of children of my compassion kid’s age and just observe, listen to what they talk about, watch what they enjoy most, and take note of what they’re playing. That’s where I get my best ideas.
@Caitlin – Thanks for the great ideas. I just got assigned a 20 year old correspondence child! I just sent him a letter online but plan to send lots of pictures and postcards in the future.
@Caitlin – Thanks so much. Those are great ideas!! I was just a little lost on what to do for a boy that age (my sponsor kids are all under the age of 10). I already mailed him a letter and I decorated it with stickers…I told him I knew he was probably too old for that, but I thought it was pretty.
@Dyan – Try paper airplanes, rubber bands (yes, just rubber bands, I work in a Junior high group, and those things cause no end of entertainment to those boys), foam airplanes (The flat ones who can win at chuckie cheese, with the plastic tips on the nose), sketch paper, water color paper, “how to draw dragons/cartoons/animals/whatever” books (They’re about the size of a coloring book), 3-D puzzles (The cheap ones that come flat and you put them together to make a dinosaur skeleton or something), book marks(mature ones), note pads, memo pads, scratch pads, scratch art paper, grown-up coloring books (Marty Noble and Ruth Heller both do some great intricate coloring books, and there are also optical illusion coloring books), stained glass window coloring books, rulers, world map(You can get a laminated binder sized one at a school supply store, exactly right measurements, one side’s the world, the others is the USA), I’m sending a 63 piece puzzle to one of my kids, 9 pieces at a time (we’ll see if it works), and as always, pictures of your life, your family, your pets, and postcards of places are always loved by all ages. Beyond that, once you figure out something he likes, things’ll get easier. It seems daunting at first, but before you know it, you will have bought too much and will be pacing yourself so you don’t send too much at a time.
i called about the corres. boys i got on mon..one has been in the program for 3 years, he is 9 now. he has had 2 sponsors. the first one,(3years ago)sent him one email and thats it….the other just started with him in feb 09, and hasn’t sent a letter, but the boy’s birthday was may 14, the sponsor must have sent him a b-day gift of 25.oo, by phone and the operator asked about a correspondent coz they said they won’t be writing..
my other boy has only been in the program since oct. and has had a sponsor for 4 months, but doesn’t want to write,,,,thats ok,,,its their loss and my gain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey all I need a little help here. I just got my correspondence child. He is 13 years old from East India. I have never had a problem coming up with what to send to my other kids when I sent letters, but I’m at a loss here. I don’t think stickers will do for a boy that age. What else could I possibly send?
@Andrea -I have made some seeded bracelets to send to our little girl in India. It has been a couple of months and I haven’t heard back that I couldn’t. The only thing I made sure of was that I didn’t put a metal clasp on them. I left the string loose so she could tie them around her wrist.
I just adopted 2 children, one from India and one from Brasil and I have been reading through all of these excellent suggestions for gifts to include.
I would add mini books from Qoop (http://www.qoop.com), which are 20 pages, bound, for $3.95 each (plus postage). They fit easily within the guidelines and the quality is excellent. We foster dogs for the SPCA and I am thinking of putting together books about our dogs for both children. (Books don’t include text, just photos)
@Andrea – Andrea, have you seen Judith’s comment (#301) in which she gave the updated guidelines for what we can send? If not, look that over and see if your necklace qualifies; frankly, I’m skeptical, and I would send it only if I were willing to lose it. Sadly, there’s a group of sponsors in Honduras as we speak; I know several people who would have been happy to take that for you!
Thank you, Vicki and Kristen. The copying and pasting it is a good idea to check the Spanish. I hadn’t thought of that!
I have another question. I have this cute seed bead flower necklace that I wanted to send to my little girl in Honduras. I was wondering, has anyone tried sending little things like that? It is very thin and not big, but I wasn’t sure if they would take it out at Compassion or customs in Honduras. Any suggestions? Thanks!
@Sara Benson – Mine would be going to Ethiopia, Do you know of any problems there?
@Caitlin – Thanks, I’ll check there.
I think writing the child’s name in glitter pens or colorful markers is another way to brighten up the letter and make it look more fun. Glitter glue, sparkle pens and sparkly stickers would be good ideas for little girls.
@Brittany –
Hey I have an idea on Myspace they have picture print out boxes.. you choose the pictures from your albums and place them in the diagram then printout and cut and fold them into a picture cube! its simple and its a project for the kids to be proud of! for they asemble it and its a gift from you! ^_^
I amd trying this in my next letter just thought I’d share the Idea 😀
@Jeanette – Walmart has really pretty bandanas in bright, girly colors, and some have flower prints instead of paisley.
@Jeanette – Be a little careful when sending bandanas to your kids, especially in South America. In some areas bandanas are used by gangs and could cause trouble for the kids. If you do send to these countries I would suggest sending a pattern other than the traditional bandana.
(I have been on missions trips where we were not allowed to wear bandanas because of this reason)
I am glad to get the info on the new guidelines. I thing a colorful bandana would be a great thing to send to my girls.
@Andrea – I have used that website as well. My Spanish is good enough that I can read what it spits out and decide if it’s what I want to say, I just can’t think of the words on my own! It seems pretty accurate but you have to be very careful about what you say because it doesn’t know our “lingo”. For example, I wanted to write “Once upon a time” and I realized that when it translated it did it literally and those words may not be a familiar start to a story in Spanish like it is in English so I changed it. There were other times where if I forgot a comma it completely changed the meaning of the translated sentence. I agree with Vicki that it will be close enough and your sponsored child will appreciate your effort and will likely think your errors are cute! Here’s a thought…when it translates a sentence for you into Spanish, copy and paste it and have it translate it back from Spanish to English and see what it gives you. I have done this in the past. You may find the meaning a little different. Just a thought.
Andrea, I don’t know Spanish well enough even to attempt what you’ve asked. I will simply offer the likelihood that the accuracy would depend a great deal on dialect. I’m betting it will be good enough for the translators to know what you’re saying and, if necessary, they will rewrite what may not be clear to your child.
I just made a birthday card yesterday written in complete Spanish! I do not know Spanish at all since I have not learned it in school yet, but I found a website, http://www.spanishdict.com/translation, which will translate any sentence you type into Spanish from English, or vice versa. Could anyone who knows Spanish verify the accuracy of this website? I used it on my birthday card, but I wanted to make sure that it was accurate Spanish. Thanks!
I just found this great site called blurb.com where you can take your own pictures and words and turn them into a book. The prices are fairly cheap and the books look store bought when finished. That may be a possibility for some of you that only sponsor one child like I do. I’m sure they would love having a bound book of pictures you have taken.
I try to take my cue from the letters the child sends. If they send bright newsy letters I feel free to chat back and let them know how we’re doing and what we’re doing. If they send very simple letters I try to keep mine the same.
I mention the Lord in each letter and encourage the child to pray.
I send stickers to young children. Older kids get a photo each year but I admit I have not had a good idea about an insert so just send the letter.
Thank you Vicki, we are excited! It will be fun to watch this little girl grow up since she is so close in age to our son….just 4 1/2 months apart. I’ll check out your blog.
Oops–Judith gave the guidelines, above. (Good idea, Judith!)
@Ann – Hello, Ann, and welcome to the Compassion family! I so appreciate your heart for this little girl!
If you will click on my name, that will take you to my blog; from there you can e-mail me and ask for “The List.” I will send you a list of things you can send through the mail to your child. The most recent guidelines are included.
I’m not sure that’s what you meant by “little treats,” but if you mean just little extras to go with your letters, this list will get you off to a good start.
Blessings to you!
Hi to everyone,
I am a brand new sponsor. My husband and I have thought about doing this for a while and we chose a little girl in the Phillipines who was close in age to our son.
I am a preschool teacher and love to gift my little students, so I was hoping to send little treats to my new little friend. Thank you for all of these exciting ideas. I have some stickers ready to go, and will love to include a little treat for her when I write. Thanks a lot!!
@Kristen – Others have called and been told that fabric is allowed. And like you said, some peopel have gotten socks and other fabric things through.
I wonder if some of the reps have not gotten the new restriction information.
Here is the additional information about what can be sent.
*4/4/08 New Gifts: Sponsors can now send plastic, craft foam and small pieces of cloth along with all paper items to their kids. We still have the 8-1/2” x 11-1/4” size restriction. However, they can now use a quart-sized zip lock baggie, the flat kind without the slider. Some new items that can be sent: a small flat plastic ruler, 2-3 deflated balloons [NOT recommended for children under six—including younger siblings of registered/sponsored children], a handkerchief, a cloth bookmark, and a flat ribbon that will fit in an envelope or baggie. We still can NOT send any metal including jewelry, ornaments, magnets; perishable items (gum, candy & flower seeds), and larger items (soccer balls, clothes).
—
Since we can send handkerchiefs, I think socks also work (esp since people have sent them and the children have written back saying that they received them). The reference to clothes must mean larger items that would fall beyond the size limits (shirts, pants, etc).
I think maybe it depends on the country, and also, how well you package things. I’ve sent ribbons many times, and they’ve always gone through. I sent socks once, and they seem to have made it through as well. I’ve heard of others successfully sending scrunchies, and I’ve successfully send a headband. And the new regulations say that fabric can be sent, but it still has to be inconspicuous. I dunno, I’m not an “official” person, just thought I’d put my experience in.
@Rebecca – Isn’t that interesting because people have mentioned sending hair ribbons and socks. I just bought some socks to send to my girls! Can anyone clarify this rule?
I contacted Compassion to ask what non paper items we could send and they said fabric items would be returned or donated to a local charity if their not of value. Also anything made of magnet or metal. They didn’t say anything about foam or plastic though.
I am a grandmother and always get sweet letters with beautiful drawings from my child. I have sponsored her for a number of years and she is now twelve. Two years ago, I fell in my kitchen and broke my hip. I was very touched when I received a letter from my child that she and her family were praying for my recovery. I was very touched that a family in Tanzania who I had never met were praying for my recovery. I send her coloring pages, stickers, bookmarks, pictures from Christmas cards, pictures of my grandchildren, postcards, etc.
@sandy and jeff – photo…off to the side next to the comment? there was a post a couple of weeks ago that told us how to do that…
@Dyan – Dyan, IMO, the sponsor who asks Compassion to find a correspondent for their sponsored child show more caring (oops – that’s a judgment!) than those who simply don’t write. Many of the funding partners who request that someone else do the writing and relationship building are individuals with a lot more money than time, so they sponsor many children for others to write to. Other such sponsors are corporations that pay for many sponsorships, but they obviously aren’t going to be writing, so they give Compassion permission to find correspondents. Thank God for those who have the money to support many children in the program! And thank you, Dyan, for being willing to stand in the gap between a sponsor and child! God bless you!
@Tamm – A correspondence child is one where the financial sponsor doesn’t write–for one of a variety of reasons. Could be sponsored by a company with no resources for letter-writing, or could be an elderly sponsor who cannot see well enough to write anymore. Or, it could simply be the sponsor, though capable, just doesn’t write. But they’re taking care of the financial aspect of sponsorship.
I’m not sure what the length of time is that must elapse before a child is eligible for a correspondent…my guess is a couple of years. So, with the sponsor’s permission, Compassion will assign a correspondent–a person who writes letters to the child, and to whom the child will now write. Often the child will think of the correspondent as their sponsor. For younger children, it’s probably easier to explain it like that, rather than trying to explain it more thoroughly.
Hope that helps!
@Caitlin – I just found out that I will be the fourth sponsor that one of my childrens has had in the past 4 1/2 years! That is unbelieveable to me. I’ve only “had” her for a short time and have not yet received a letter from her (although I’ve sent her 3 already 🙂 ). I can only imagine how it must feel to try to get close to a virtual stranger, half way across the world only to have them disappear in a year or less.
For me, this is a committment to God and to this child. As long as I’m kicking, I will sponsor this girl until she graduates from Compassion…in approximately 11 years.
I have just sponsored my first child, Gorreth in Uganda. She is 8 years old and her profile said she hasn’t started school yet. I was wondering what kinds of things to send to her and write about. I just spent that past hour reading all of these posts. Great ideas!! I’m going to send her coloring pages and Bible stories that I do for my Sunday School class.
I read a lot of you talking about correspondence children as well as your sponsored children? What is a correspondence child?
@Judith Tremblay – good idea….how did you get your photo on here..
I just called Compassion for a correspondence child. I’m so glad you guys mentioned that here. I love to write to my sponsored children..I write weekly. It’s so sad to think that some sponsors think their obligation ends with a check. Just knowing that I will be blessed by another child is wonderful.
@Judith Tremblay – I’ve labeled them individually at times, and at other times, I just send them in the ziplock (It depends on the size of my envelope that day) both work. I imagine the staff appreciate the baggies more than the loose bandaids, but I can’t really speak for them. It’s much less painstaking for me to use a baggy though.
@sandy and jeff – Thanks, Sandy, for making the call. That’s all good information!
@Judith Tremblay – I send my bandaids individually~3 or 4 in an envelope, loose~and write the child’s number on the back of each one.
@sandy and jeff – Great idea! You might consider punching a couple of holes in each sheet and sending some ribbon or something for the child to tie them together. Kindof like the other idea I saw earlier, about the ABC flipbook.
Hey, to all you who’ve sent bandaids, how have you packed them? I hate to send them loose… but then, if everything is transferred to another envelope specific to the child, I suppose it doesn’t matter too much. But should I label each individual bandaid, or put them in a ziploc with one label…?
someone had written about , running out of thing to talk about or send,,,i just thought of this,,, i’m going to just use one sheet of paper, put a photo of one of my family members on it and the dog..and just write about them…like a scrapbook page, then next time do another page..that could last along time if using aunts, grandparents etc,,,gives them a picture our their whole sponsor family..
@Vicki Sma
ll –
i called the office about size..
one fourth inches thickness of the contents..and whether one or many items, can only be that thick of contents per envelope.
also no matter what the size, it must fit in an eight and a half by eleven inch envelope. she said they open all mail, read and inspect it. then put it in one of their envelopes. readdress it to the child and send it to the country..she said in colo…they have a box for each country and as the mail is redone, then put in its country box…and once a week it is mailed out…each country has its different ship date..she said she couldn’t tell me the dates for each country, but just that that is how the process works.. and they only have certain sizes of envelopes. and another reason for the restrictions, is that the countries scan the boxes before opening, if the scanner goes off…they have to take that box and go thru it, making all that mail be very late at its destination.
quite a big undertaking for them and very expensive for the mailing…….i can’t believe all this is done on just our 32.oo a month…..so much goes into compassion from end to end. only God can make this work
Thank you for the advice about what the children should call us. Culturally it is hard for me to tell them what to call us. So you think it is ok to have the children call us Aunt / Uncle even though we are not really related? This will not offend the parents or caretakers if they do not have parents. What do the parents think of us if we ask them to call us Aunt / Uncle or mother of father?
Hey Dwight! I’ve hung around Vietnamese for around ten years and have worked with many. I know a couple familes that have told their small children to call me “Aunt”Heather even though we aren’t related. I know this is quite common in Asia and usually is to teach the child respect for older people.It doesn’t seem to offend them at all. I wouldn’t ask a child to call me Mother. If they wanted to call me Aunt that is okay.I mean..if my dear 6 year old child in Ethiiopia wants to call me Mother that is okay! 🙂
Hi Susan!
I think I’m just going to find a way to talk about the computer/technology aspect. I’ll have to leave out the best parts of his job, but that’s probably plenty for now. 🙂
My father is a 40-year law enforcement veteran, so I can understand your situation. Can you find a way to say that your husband is a person in the community who protects people and helps them when they need help? Let me think on that.
Amy
@Susan –
@Amy K. –
Amy-
How did you decide to handle the husband’s occupation question? I am awaiting packets on 2 children, in Peru and Indonesia, and my husband is police office. I too, had been wondering if this would cause discomfort for anyone. (other than me, LOL)
@sandy and jeff – I sponsored Lilin in haiti when she was 10, so I knew that unless for some extreme reason they had broken the rule and allowed her to join after 9, that she had another sponsor. I was curious about it, so I called just a few days ago. I am her 4th sponsor! (first for one year, second for three years, third for two years). I am with you, I felt so bad for her losing sponsors like that.
But I have to wonder if her sponsors were very good about writing, because she is the most eager letter writer! I had been bracing myself for boring letters, since I read on this blog that often times people get fill in the blank letters, and I thought if she’s had other sponsors, she may be afraid to open up again. But no. She’s only allowed to write me once ever 3 months or so, but when she does she writes long ones, answering every question, asking at least 3 questions, gives me at least one Bible verse, tells me her grades and when she has exams coming up, tells me what she needs prayers for, and tells me about what she’s learned at “Kleb” (Bible club). This last one I got was three pages, both sides! At first I thought she was a good letter writer because her last sponsor must have been excellent, but now I wonder if maybe it is because she has been waiting so long to get letters. Either way, I am glad to have her.
I just wish I could figure out a way to let her know that so long as there is a way (and there should be, because I’ve calculated how much money it will take to get her through to the end of the program), I intend to keep her the remaining 9 years. That I’m not going anywhere. I imagine that she does wonder when I’ll disappear too.
@Joyce – Wow, that is wonderful. God bless your efforts with your child. I will check out that site, thank you for the information hope to use it as well with our sponsored children.
@Sarah H. – Hi Sarah, We have been sponsoring 3 children ages 5,9,10 in three different countries for almost a year now. We also have been writing letters once a month. We too have sent band-aids, also sent photographs of secenery of where we live, and of us and family members. The dollar store has lots of great stickers that you may send. Coloring book pages are good to send too. One of the children is in Mexico and she said how much she likes basketball, but did not have a ball so we asked compassion to get her one, we have not heard back yet on that but I hope our little extra money got her that ball. That would be fun. I always wonder if our letters are boring or if they are making a connection with the child, I try to send a scripture verse with in the letter also and one of the children always responds to it and says she “by-hearted it” I think that is memorized it. Hope this helps.
Actually, I believe the dimensions refer to the whole package, but I could be wrong. Maybe one of the staff can clarify that for us all.
What i mean is. if u tell your child that who you are by gender, then they can call you according to their culture. if you dont want to hear’aunty or uncle” you can advise them to call by your name.
But if the child dont know his/her sponsor is a female or a male. then what they call you. only the name.
@Dwight – is Mabuhay , tagalog, i think my friend taught me that?
i’m also puzzled about all the questions as to what the child calls us…what is wrong with just using our name???
but actually, when i went to the philippines, as we entered the first home, thru the gate, i heard a tot yelling, “tita sandy, tita sandy, she’s here..haha….i asked my friend what thats all about, she said it means aunt or mam, she said its the same as using mr. or mrs. in the usa. just respect for an adult………and tito, means uncle or mr. every home i went into, even on different islands, the same happened with children, before they even saw me, they were so excited for visitors.
do you want to sell your tagalog tapes? sandy
rebecca,,,,everything you just mentioned is ok,as long as what is inside the envelope doesn’t measure more than 1/4 inch…….
i just called the office today to ask about plastic..i did send a 4inch plastic stencil once and she got it, but today i was wondering about tiny photo frames, address books, photo albums and craft kits…
i found a box of all these things at the goodwill store today, all new. it looked like maybe a bible school left overs….
anyway the REAL problem is that when the mail gets to the other country…the postal workers will take out what they want and send the letter!!!!! it has really happened to me, because i send so much mail to the philippines over the last 7 years…and alot of stuff has been removed and i don’t just mean compassion mail..i was mailing to a fiance and friends..the comp. office will tell you the same thing is possible.. sandy
i called the office today to see if they had any correspondence kids for me yet after seeing here that folks are getting them now…and i asked alot of questions about my girls..found out that i am the 3rd sponsor for one girl , just in the last 8 years and the 4th for the other girl in 9 years…wow…
i feel so bad for them forming a relationship with someone for so long then having to start all over…that may be why some people are getting letters that are so impersonal and all our questions not answered..
i think it would be so heartbreaking for that to happen to a child..
does anyone out there know this about their child? just makes me strive more to reassure them that i will be there but they may be withdrawn because of the past dissappointments..sandy
@Kristen – Kristen, I worried about these things, too, but it hasn’t been a problem. For instance, my little correspondent boy in Tanzania wrote and thanked us for the gift last year, and sent a picture of him wearing the new clothes he got with it. ( he looked so cute). The thing is, I hadn’t sent it that time, so it must have been his sponsor. I do send him gifts, and family gifts, but I know this wasn’t one of them. On several occasions Compassion representatives have told me that, as far as the child is concerned, I am his sponsor! If this seems deceptive to you, it does to me, too. But, I think it would be too hard to explain to the child. So I just told him how smart he looked in his new cloths. That is the only time that has happened. If you call the Compassion office, they will tell you if the child has received recent presents from his sponsor. I have done this several time with my correspondent children, because I want to be sure that they get something tangible for their birthdays. It means so much to the children, both financially, and as a token of love.
@Rebecca – Rebecca, click on my name; that will take you to my blog, and from there you can e-mail me. I will reply with a list of things you can send, and the 2008 update in guidelines. Not everything that’s flat can go.
Does everything you send have to be paper? What if i can find items that are still flat and thin? Would those be okay if they were made from plastic, fabric, foam, or felt? I’m running out of “paper” stuff to send.
@LeeAnn – LeeAnn, thank you so much for this information! My husband, especially, loves to color as a means of relaxing, when he’s been working hard. Of course, I realize we’re talking about things to send to our sponsored children, and I will make use of some of these for ours.
COLORING BOOKS for OLDER kids:
There are two artists that I know of who make intricate coloring books for older children and adults. One is Marty Noble & the other is Ruth Heller. Marty has one that is of The Nativity. Some are just elaborate designs, while others are animals, ocean life, insects, etc. Older kids LOVE them! Even adults. You can get them at Barnes & Noble but the best place is Amazon, their selection is huge. These books cost about $6 each.
On a different note, I have some Disney Princess paper dolls that I would like to send to a little girl in Ethiopia but I know very little about their culture. These dolls are in some sort of slip and they have dresses to put on but some are low cut or strapless and Jasmine (from Aladdin) has a lot of bare midriff outfits. Are these appropriate to send? Anyone have experience with Ethiopian norms?
@Judith Tremblay – I too worried that he would be confused or frustrated by the switch. He is 9 so hopefully old enough to understand. The Compassion rep told me that the sponsor always has the option of deciding to start writing. I experienced something similar with a gift sent by the sponsor to one of my correspondent children. Compassion told me they would never turn down a gift from a sponsor. I appreciate wanting to get the money to the child regardless of where it came from but I also worried that this might be confusing for the child. I also plan on sending birthday and Christmas/family gifts to my correspondence children and wonder about the limits they put on how much you can send. If both the sponsor and I are sending money might the child/family go over the limit? The rep I spoke to didn’t seem to worried about it.
@Kristen – I’m a bit surprised that they’d give the privilege of writing back to a sponsor. Whenever I had talked to Compassion reps about the correspondence program, I asked what would happen if the sponsor decided to start writing again–I was given the impression they didn’t have that option; that Compassion got permission to assign a correspondent for the child and that was it.
Weird.
Glad that the sponsor is getting on the ball in writing, but potentially confusing for the child…
The girl we sponsored in India always called me Aunty Joyce. I know that is common in many Asian cultures. But can anyone tell me what would be customary in Haiti or Colombia? Our sponsored children there always write our full first and last names in their salutations. I would like to suggest something less formal to them, and I want to it to be culturally appropriate.
@Caitlin – I thought that, too – maybe the sponsor was inspired by these blogs and realized how important letter writing is. Whatever the reason I’m glad they have stepped up and I’m glad it wasn’t a child that I had established a relationship with! I do have a bookmark with his name on it that I made and haven’t sent yet. I think I’ll send it off to Colorado Springs and see if they’ll send it on to him with a farewell letter.
@Kristen – Sad to lose a correspondence, but how awesome for the child! Maybe his sponsor’s been reading the blog. I hope the sponsor keeps it up!
I’m surprised you hadn’t been notified, but you probably have a letter coming, soon. That’ll teach you to go into your account! :o)
Pastor prakash
Thank you for the advice about what the children should call us. Culturally it is hard for me to tell them what to call us. So you think it is ok to have the children call us Aunt / Uncle even though we are not really related? This will not offend the parents or caretakers if they do not have parents. What do the parents think of us if we ask them to call us Aunt / Uncle or mother of father?
I just had something very interesting happen! I have 1 sponsored child and 2 correspondence children. I just logged onto my account and noticed one of my correspondence children was gone! I called Compassion in a panic and was told that his sponsor had decided that they would like to start writing to him! I just started the correspondence in late March and have sent 4 or 5 letters to him but haven’t heard from him yet. I am happy to hear that his sponsor has been moved to write to him. I feared that they had stopped their sponsorship. I am sad to lose the little boy but hadn’t heard from him yet and hadn’t formed a huge attachment. I am now in the market for a new correspondence child! Oh the waiting…
@pastorprakash – Thank you for your comment. I had noticed that my sponsored child in Indonesia had called me “papa” even though I am female. My cousin was in the country about 4 months after I had sponsored him, and I found out that by that point he hadn’t gotten my first letter yet, or the profile/picture I had sent of myself. I’ll see if they recognize that I’m female from her visit and delivery of a photo album…if they automatically switch titles for me. If their next letter still calls me papa, I might suggest a new term.
in many places name is confused. the children don’t understand that the sponsor is male or female. It is also help them to understand you gender.
most of the children don’t know .what to call their sponsors. So when ever you write letters to you child . please tell them what should they call you. Aunt / uncle/ or name brother/ sister/etc
sandy and jeff
After my first visit to the Philippines I purchased Rosetta stone. When I went back I found it really did not help. They speak better English then I can speak Tagalog. But if your child is from Cebu they will not speak tagalong as a first language. I have sponsored 3 kids and they speak 3 different languages, plus Tagalog and English.
I found the best thing was to learn a greeting or Two, unless you have Filipino friends at your church you can practice with. I have Filipino friends at church but it takes a lot of work to practice.
Maligayang pagbati galirig sa Chicago (greetings from Chicago…)
Maayong pagbati gikan sa Chicago (greetings from Chicago…)
Magandang araw sayo, have a good day
Mabuhay – greetings
One thing to remember is that the Philippines have many different languages so your child may not speak the same language as my sponsored children. One of the older children I sponsor is teaching me some of her language…maybe ask them to teach you something and use it in future letters.
Older Children read and write English and it’s a great help to them that we write in English. Our letters help them with grammar. The educated top class speaks English almost as a first language. The church we visited in Manila has services in perfect English. That church reaches out to the educated class.
@sandy and jeff – Thanks for checking into this, Sandy and Jeff.
musical cards are allowed to be sent…and also the cards that you can record your own message, the latter costs about $25. but how awsome for us to be able to talk to the child, for them to here our voice,,i even thought about sending them a blank one, have them record a message and send it back
@Carmen – my daughter kimber has a 5 year old that is in cebu city, closer to your girl…my two are on the other side. they are 15 and 18..
.i got some tapes of tagalog from the library and kept them for over a month and didn’t learn a thing…haha….they talk too fast..and letters are pronounce so different that ours.. and they say we don’t speak english, but , american slang, because they are taught “real english” in school..ex, o is pronounced e.
when i can afford it, i’m going to get the “rosetta stone” tapes, but its over $250…what website did you find the language on?
let me know if you ever plan to go to the philippines…i wanted to this june but its over $5,000.oo. when i went myself, it was only $1,000.oo ticket and $300.oo spending $….
@Jan Woodford – jan……….i called compassion and asked how this works….she said that some things are removed in colorado, if inappropriate or size is wrong, or metal…if it is mentioned in the letter, the person who opens the mail,,will use a black marker and mark it out, then in the country when the teacher is translating the letter, the blacked out parts are just left out, so the child will never know if you sent something that was removed, whether by compassion or by being stolen in the other country p.o.
these kids are so greatful to get the slightest gift, that don’t worry, they will thank you for what they get, and you’ll know.. if something is removed by compassion, in colorado, they will send you a letter immediately telling you why and that they donated it to charity.
i sent hair clips on a cardboard once, thinking it was almost flat, and i got the letter from them, i had also sent a letter telling the girl i was sending it and she never mentioned it to me.
@Dyan – Dyan, thanks for the instructions on making friendship bracelets. I didn’t know how, either, and I’m going to try it.
@Caitlin – Caitlin, that is such a great idea for the younger children! My youngest ones are 6 but that’s still such a great idea. I think I will have to borrow that idea and send more cards and pictures. 🙂
This thread is *SO* helpful for getting new ideas. 🙂 My children range from 6 to 13 so there’s a wide range of comprehension levels there. It’s always helpful to find ways to distinguish stuff for the little ones!
@Jan Woodford – I wonder about the same thing. Also, I don’t like the idea of my kids finding out that they almost had something they would’ve enjoyed, but it didn’t make it. It’s just a bummer. I don’t know if my strategy works, but until I find out otherwise this is what I do with items I’m not sure will make it. I don’t mention the item in the main letter. If I want to comment on what I sent, like “These are things i played with as a kid” or something, I send that comment on a separate sheet of paper, along with a note to the staff at the top of it saying that if the items do not make it through, please pull this note out.
@pastorprakash – I’m not sure, maybe I misunderstood your question. The children, for now, cannot contact you by e-mail, but they can write you by paper letters.
@sandy and jeff – I am wondering if the child will tell me if I mention something I am sending them in the mail, and it doesn’t arrive? I love the idea of sending socks, handkerchiefs, ribbons in the mail, and I mention that I’m sending them. But will the child feel uncomfortable about telling me that there was nothing in the envelope?
Hi, still rather new here. But I hope you all keep going with the ideas. I can’t wait to use them! I’m expecting my packet to arrive within the week. But I was so excited about writing my child, I already wrote an email. And I’ve printed off every single suggestion in this post, lol! This was a great idea!
It means that no sponsored children will never allow to contact sponsors?
i found a foam photo album at walmart in a box, it was boxed for a child’s craft..inside it had the album cover that shut with velcro and 4 sheets of foam that had some shapes cut into it so the kid can punch them out. it also had some stick on beads and glitter glue..i just too the latter two out and added photos of my family and it fit in a 5 by 7 manilla envelope..the kit was on clearance for 4.oo……….if i can’t find more, i’ll just cut some out of a sheet of foam myself, also sold in walmart crafts. sandy
i read this and asked compassion, the lady said to send a quilt square or two but also send the cutout of backing at the same time, it will be like a puzzle waiting for the next letter to add to it……as for the needle, she said most of these people have to sew their own clothes anyway and they will probably have a needle….she also said that the reason they say paper items only is that at the post office in the other country, if they like what they see, they will steal it from the letter, items like this and socks……….and i know for sure this is true in the philippines,,,in manilla,,they help themselves to the mail and tape it back up and send it,,,my fiance and friends are there and thats what happens alot…sandy
I just remembered another idea for a card. I bought one that plays music. It was an easter card and it played somewhere over the rainbow. I think she will really like that.
@Amy K. -Buy embroidery thread, sometimes called embroidery floss, at a craft or sewing store. Embroidery floss is thicker than normal sewing thread, and comes in many colors. You must have more than one color to create a striped effect. The more colors you choose, the wider the bracelet will be.
Take the first color and wrap it around your wrist 2 times,or from your elbow to your finger tips(More accurate!). The length you now have is the correct fit for your wrist, but if you use more string than this it makes it easier to keep going at the end of the bracelet.
Cut a piece this length from each of the other colors.
Tie a knot at the top.
the far left string and make a forward knot.# Pull the first string through the “opening” in the four and then pull it up and tighten to make a knot. Repeat this step again on the same string.
Pull the first string over to the right and repeat the steps above, but using the next string in each case.
Work this way for all the strings to complete the first row of all the same color horizontally.
Start the next row using the string to the far left (green).
Repeat all the steps until you have the row finished.
Keep going until the bracelet is long enough to fit around your wrist comfortably. To make sure it fits well, try it on your wrist, there should be enough extra room that you can fit about 2 fingers in next to your wrist, since the bracelet can shrink in water and become too tight (although it will stretch back out when dry).
Tie the loose ends of your fitted bracelet with a square knot, just like how you started the bracelet.
Tie the bracelet onto your wrist (or your friend’s) at the right length with a knot, like the first part of tying a shoelace, but do it twice – this is a square knot. It helps if you can get someone to help you here, but it can be done alone.
Trim any loose ends. You can also add charms or beads to the ends for decoration, simply slip them on the floss and tie a knot beneath them.
Kimberly, that sounds SO pretty. I’m sure she’ll adore it.
I just love all these ideas!
I made a cross out of cardboard, painted it pink with purple Asters and my child’s name “Aster” on the front. On the back I wrote a short “I love you” message. It turned out really cute. I hope she likes it.
@pastorprakash – No, they don’t have access to email, it goes to the countries head off ic and goes as a letter from there.
Nope, no e-mail replies yet. Currently, the e-mails you write don’t reach the child as e-mails, but typed letters.
@pastorprakash – No, your letters from your child will come to you just as they have, before.
can i write an email to my child and get back replay through e mail from the project. bcz i dont want get replay late
I found it! Emebet’s picture. It was in a very sad letter telling me that her mother has passed away. Naturally I didn’t tell her about Mother’s Day. I’ll have to wait for Father’s Day. She is my 12 year old, but I know she would still love something with her photo on it.
Jeanette, you can always get more copies of your sponsored child’s photo from Compassion. Just call 1-800-336-7676 and give them your child’s name and number, and tell them how many you would like.
@Caitlin – I forgot, I lost my most recent photo of her. I need to find it.
@Caitlin – Thank you, that is very helpful. I don’t have a problem with finding things to send, but I don’t do that as often as I would like, so I try to email her every few weeks. But those are some great ideas for what to write about.
@Jeanette – When you first get a pack in the male, it comes with a letter with a close up picture of them. I scanned that letter, then cropped out the letter so it was just the picture and saved the picture to my computer. It’s not as complicated as it sounds. Afterward, I used the picture and some construction paper, put it in a frame, explained mother’s day in a letter, and told my kid to finish decorating the frame and give it to her mom. Just and idea
As for the corresponding with younger kids, I was baffled at first with my 5 yo, so I went to church and spent some research time in Childrens Church with the five year olds there…what I came to realize, is that no 5 yo is going to find interest in a written letter for long. I found some interesting cards at Michaels that when folded look like a farm animal’s face, and they’re kinda small, which is about the attention span of a 5 year old. I write him really short letters like, “I’m praying for you today. My favorite color is purple, what’s yours?” and “I was looking at the clouds today and saw one that looked like a tree, isn’t it interesting how clouds can do that?” SHort exchanges that I send often, so he knows I am thinking of him, but I’m not going to bore him, and the little cards are interesting to look at. Beyond that, I learned in children’s church the value of pictures! It seems immature, but…so are five year olds. I break out my construction paper and markers and draw him a picture from time to time, and use that as conversation, too, “I drew this picture of a bird…now, birds don’t have stars on their feathers usually, but I think it would be pretty if they did…if you could design an animal what would it look like?” Another time, I traced my hand and then decorated the hand with doodles, the accompanying letter explained that while my hand doesn’t really have spirals and polka dots on it, I do have finger prints, and so does he. And into a short explanation about how God makes us all unique because he loves us enough to make us different.
I think that drawings, postcards and photos might be more inclusive to the younger kids, because they have something that they can see without having it being read to them, and then you can include some short letter that can be read to them, so a relationship is being developed also.
Also, maybe try telling tell her about how you day goes (In the morning I wash my face and brush my teeth, and then I water the garden…), or your favorite places to walk the dog… I hope something here is inspiring. Like I said, I’ve also been punting, but these descriptives and photos are what I’ve been leaning on recently.
@Jeanette –
Jeanette:
I used a color printer to print off the small (roughly 2″ x 3″) photo that we get under “Child Information.” I put that and the child’s name on the cover.
Then I googled up pictures of activities that each child likes and wrote a very simple story (1 sentence per page plus picture). I hope they like them!
@Jeanette – Jeanette, maybe you could tell your 4 1/2 year old little stories about your childhood:visiting your grandparents, pets you had, etc.
@Jeanette – Jeanette, I requested my children quite while ago, and I’ve bugged them a little since then. It seems like I’ve been waiting forever, though.
@Jeanette – I mean print their photo.
@Terese – How did you manage to copy their photo? they won’t let you copy and paste it so it is either tiny or if I tr to enlarge it it is way out of focus.
@Jan Woodford -When did you request them? I still haven’t gotten mine.
It is very hard for me to think of things to say to my 4 1/2 year old. I have a gandson that age and there comprehension is pretty limited. She is new, so I have gone through my family members and my pets. I even told her about Mother’s Day and said maybe she could do something special for her mamma.
Got any suggestions? I’m not looking for things to put in the letters, that is easy.
This is so exciting! I have just added two new Correspondence children. One is in ID243, which is a match with Lisa R’s. The first match I’ve found! The other one is in EI416, which is near Carol’s EI415 on the map. Both of my new children are girls. ID 243 is 10 years old, and EI416 is 12. The Indonesia girl will have a birthday in June, so I’ve sent off a quick birthday card and present, although it probably won’t get to her in time. I also see that each child is near another child that I sponsor or correspond with, although not in the same projects. Lisa R., and Carol, I’ve put my email address on the spread sheet, and i’d love to hear about your children.
Jan Woodford
Hi Sandy,
Joy is from Payao, which is on the western coast of Samar, south of Calbayog City. Her father is a fisherman. She is a very sweet girl; the only girl in her family and calls me her “sister.” 🙂 I hope that I can visit her someday. I think that is wonderful that you are learning Tagalog. There are a lot of resources out there for that; unfortunately not as many for the less common languages!
thanks for the response, and I would enjoy hearing about your two sponsored girls as well.–Carmen
Thanks for all the great ideas for gift enclosures! I have written many of them down.
I just made simple construction paper and ribbon “books” for each of our kids. We put their photo (color-printed off the internet) on the cover and wrote simple stories inside based on what we knew about each child.
I will check back for more ideas!
Terese
@Trish8399 –
That’s a great idea! I went to 2 different stores the other day and didn’t find any paper dolls. So printing off my own might be a great solution.
@Sara Benson –
It does get complicated, doesn’t it? 🙂 It’s been awhile, but I think I went with the Spanish word first. For instance: “C is for Caballo” and then I also printed “horse” on the page.
I left out the few that are not in our alphabet.
@Carrie Haddican – it is best to put things that can seperate, in a ziploc baggie and you can just put a sticker on it or a small paper inside with her name and #
@Carmen – carmen,,,what town and what center is Joy from…..
i have a girl in iloilo city and bacolod city….i chose them because i had been there a few years ago visiting my fiance and his family….my kids and i are working on tagalog because there are over 80 different languages there,,,my friends all speak visyan and tagalog…and my 2 sponsored girls both speak hilyganon and tagalog…….since you are so interested in Joy’s life, i’d love to keep in touch with you. sandy
in the walmart crafts, i found a small box that was a photo album making kit..it was a small foam cover, had about 8 plastic sheets for the photos and 6 sheets of foam cut outs,,,,,i took it out of the box and it mashed flat enough to fit in the envelope..was on the clearance rack for $4….it did have two metal rivets to bind,,,,so i took them out and replaced with ribbon…
a folder that kids use in school , with 2 pockets in it to carry papers. it was about 2 inches too big for the manilla envelope, but it worked great to fold the two edges,,i had plenty of room in the pockets to put pretty computer paper and some scrapbook cutouts in it…these folders come in such pretty designs and so cheap.
@Veronika C – The fact that Compassion does such a good job with oversight and making sure the projects are not mismanaged is why I have been using them for over 20 years.
I agree with Veronika, but will add that, if that very difficult decision to shut down a project is made, Compassion allows for a final letter. At least, I presume that’s possible, when a project is being shut down; I know it is, when I child leaves the program.
Wess Stafford told us at a conference, not many years ago, that there was a time, before he was named the president, when the entire operation had to be closed in one country. Money sent to that country–and from the country office to the projects–had not been handled with integrity. Compassion had tried to work with them, but in the end, integrity demanded that the work be shut down in that country. It was later re-opened with different folks running it.
@Christi – Christi, I know this is off the thread topic, but I just wanted to comment: Your daughter needs to consider that closing a program for mismanagement is probably a good thing. I know even Compassion has had to do this a time or 2, and it’s done with much deliberation and many attempts to make things right, first. YES, it is very difficult on all sides involved, but they wouldn’t want to support a program that is mismanaged, either. It’s questionable, after all, how much benefit the children will be receiving. Above all, remember, God sees it all and is still in charge.
@Jan Woodford and @Judith Tremblay – Thank you for your comments. It is encouraging to hear that children are getting technology education in at least some of the cases (if not possibly all the Compassion countries). I was pretty sure he would know what a computer is, but I indeed was thinking that being so specific as to say something like ‘network administrator’ would mean nothing at all at that age (I even find that many adults I know don’t understand what I do until I give them a long explanation). It sounds like I’d be right to not be so specific. “Computer Work” seems to be a winner here to me. Thanks!
I sponsor little Joy (9) in a rural, coastal part of the Philippines. She often draws pictures and writes out the English words for me and writes Bible verses in English. She studies English and Tagalog in school, but also speaks a regional language. I have studied linguistics and languages a bit, and I wanted to learn more about Joy’s native language. I had to do some digging, but I eventually found an online dictionary with her (somewhat obscure) regional language, Waray-waray. I also found that my university library has exactly two books dealing with the language! After studying her letters and these resources, I figured out how to write a few phrases, like “We are friends” and “I love you” and she was so surprised and overwhelmed that I had written something in her family’s own language (not the national language). I have asked her to please teach me some other words in her language. I hope that this makes her feel like the local culture of her faimly and friends is important to me. She is always thanking me for teaching her things, so I want her to know that I value the chance to learn from her as well. 🙂
@Carrie Haddican –
I send simple socks within the letter that I send.
They are not heavy knit socks.
One more thing…
I make labels on the computer that have my Yuditza’s name on them with a flower or smiley faces, etc. She loves them also. They are a personalized gift!
Hi,
I have a question about the socks you send. Do you separate them and smash them in between something to keep them within the dimension requirements? I would think they would be too thick to send, especially with ribbons and if you keep them together. I look forward to hearing how you send them.
Thank you in advance for your help.
I have sent socks to my girl in Peru many times and they have never been returned.
She has written thank yous for them – so I know she received them.
@Curtis – Curtis, That’s a good question, but I’d guess that your child might know what computers are. I know that my girls in India are taking classes in computer, and I believe that my girl in Indonesia is, too. Maybe you could just say that you work with computers.
@Curtis – Why don’t you just put “computers” or “computer work”? I’ve seen more often in profiles that students are receiving technology education, so it’s possible she knows what a computer is. And she’s 6, as you say…that’s about as far as she’ll understand. 🙂 Good question, though!
Odd question from a first-time sponsor:
The introductory stationary form has a line for occupation. I am a computer network/server administrator. This just seems to be an overly complicated concept for a 6-year-old in Uganda. Any ideas on a simplified thing to put for occupation?
Caitlin, would you please keep us posted on what does or doesn’t happen with the socks? I’d love to send some as well if it works!!!
And Dyan or other creative types: does anyone have a tutorial to remind me how to make the string friendship bracelets? My junior high memories aren’t strong enough to pull that up… LOL.
These are all great ideas. I have made the handmade friendship bracelets out of the floss string to send and also ones that were beaded..with the beaded bracelets I didn’t put a clasp on it..I left it so it could be tied. I’ve also sent puppets, coloring books, an all plastic pencil holder. Keep the ideas coming guys.
@Trish8399 – I’m so glad you’ve already experimented sending socks! I am in the process of sending a few socks myself, and I was really crossing my fingers that they wouldn’t come back. I noticed in a majority of the pictures of girls from Haiti, the girls wear bobby socks with lace on them, so when they were selling those socks during Easter, I took a risk on sending them!
I looked on Amazon and found some paper dolls that are in African coustumes. I also found an ABC workbook in Ahmaric which is too big to send, but I can send a few pages at a time. I also found a small book for younger children in Ahmaric. Ther wasn’t really anything appropriate for older children.
i have sent small plastic stencils, and no rejection. in fact my girl was very happy when thanking me so i know she got it.
also, i have found 5×7 stationary and matching envelopes in a bag at the dollar store…i told her she didn’t have to write to me on it, just to do what she wants with it.
we exchange recipies.
i sent $ for her to buy a camera to send me photos, since they don’t have camera’s usually.
we can also send foam cut outs or sheets of foam, that they can cut out..look at walmart crafts.
i try to send a letter with at least stickers every sat…on payday, i go to the 4 store and buy what i can afford,,i keep it in a box and have so much fun, sending it it only takes a stamp to colorado for us…..and the happiness the child gets is so wonderful…
i even got the activity papers from burger king and sent alot of them and told her to share with the other kids
I have sent colorful socks to my Yuditza in Peru and have never had them sent back to me. In fact, I did get a note from her tutor – because Yuditza is only 5 – that she loved them!
I also went on the internet and searched for free printable paper dolls and ran them off on card stock paper. Yuditza colored them and plays with them all the time.
One other thing that she loves is balloons!!! Happy Birthday or any other decorative ones that she can blow up – latex ones..not the mylar.
@Rhonda – I sponsor in Ecuador too. If you want to email me([email protected]) I would love to chat about our kids.
Sara
@Linda T. – I really like your idea of the A,B,C books. Did you decide to follow the Spanish alphabet, or the English?
I think I will start this for my Hispanic kids. Especially the younger ones.
@Jan Woodford – I tried sticks of gum once and got it sent back so that was probably the problem.
@Anna – I know that coloring and paint books are on the list of items we can send that is on the Compassion web site, so they must have crayons or pencils and watercolor paints, too.
THANK YOU! We’ve sponsored a little girl in Ecuador for a year and a half. This Sunday we picked up two more kids, a girl (aged 12) in Indonesia and a boy (aged 10) in Bolivia. My husband and I were just talking about the letters we’ve received from our girl in Ecuador and how “form letter” they are. Only one has been colored on, and we responded how much we liked the picture, but it hasn’t happened again. Reading all these posts has given me great ideas for things to send (I primarily email my letters – that needs to change!) and has given me ideas for our new kids.
THANK YOU!
Thanks for the information on the coloring pencils, everybody! I’m going ahead and sending some coloring pages to my 4-year-old in Kenya. 🙂
Paper dolls are a great idea, and some craft stores sell sheets of those old-fashioned Victorian style paperdolls. They’re usually a bit more pricey, but the quality is great! I bought a set of Victorian bunny dolls for my other sponsor child, and I hope she loves them as much as I do – I almost feel like playing with them myself! 😀
Does anybody still do x-stitch? Back when I first started sponsoring, I made a bookmark, doing counted x-stitch on paper made for that…. sounds like you could do it on cloth now. I x-stitched a heart and “God Loves Maria” in Spanish.
@Amy K. – What is his particular job (MOS)? Can you word it in such a way that it’s softer? Like weatherman, or engineer…something it might translate to in the civilian world.
@Anouschka –
I email and write letters to my 5 year old child in Peru. Her tutor usually sends a letter that she colors. I can’t wait until the day she can write to me on her own.
I find it hard to know what to say to her at times because I don’t want her to feel bad. We have so much to do and have so many material things in the USA and I do not want to make her feel bad.
I wish that we could send more than just a very small item to our children.
I sent her paper dolls and clothes, and also found some small books in a book outlet store in Spanish. Bible Color pages and hair ribbons, balloons, kids-themed band aids and blank cards for her to draw on and give to friends are great.
I want to send her more pictures, but find it hard when we have something nice in the background or are wearing something nice.
This blog site is wonderful. Let’s keep it going so we give each other new ideas.
Here’s a situation I’d like to receive some insight on. I just received the intro packet and am stymied about what to say regarding my husband’s occupation. He is a military officer, but that may have some disturbing connotations in other countries. (Our child is in Tanzania.)
Any thoughts on how to explain “occupation” in an appropriately sensitive and non-threatening way?
We have been sponsoring since our daughter was 13 (she just turned 28). Our first girl in Ecuador was the same age as my daughter, 13, she dropped out of the program at age 15. We got another girl, age 9 and sponsored her until she dropped out at age 16. We are now on our third Ecuadorian girl. She was 5 when we started with her, I think, and now she is 10. I do still think of the 2 girls that came before her, and pray for them. It’s hard to lose them and not hear from them again. But God’s supply of love is unlimited!
The best thing I have sent is a scrapbooked alphabet book. I made and sent few pages at a time, the pages were 4 x 6, with holes punched in them. I sent ribbon to tie them together. For each letter, I attached a picture or sticker and printed the word in Spanish and in English. (I just typed “Spanish translation” on my search engine and you can find all sorts of free translation sites.) On the “D” page, I copied her Compassion photo and stuck it on and wrote D is for Daniela. I have also sent her a partially scrapbooked card along with stickers and ribbons so she could finish it herself.
I am so excited to read all these fresh new ideas. After so many years of sponsoring, I have gotten into a rut. Why didn’t I ever think of paper dolls?!!?
Hi! Really nice to read this!
I have also a couple of ideas:
1. Blanco notebooks, just with a wish or encouragement on the first page. They can use it for school or to drawn.
2. Little paperbags in a nice color.
3. My husband and I collected soccer stickers, after two months we got all the stickers of the album. We told our sponsorchild that we collected it specially for him and we send the whole book to him. He likes socces a lot, so we hope he is very happy 🙂
4. Pictures!
Several of my children draw me color pictures. Some are drawn with felt tip pens, some with color pencils. So, they have those things. I don’t know about scissors, and when i send them something that needs to be cut out ( like a paper doll) I cut them out for them, just to be sure.
@Anna – Amy, you would not be able to send any of those items. They are among the kinds of things we take when we visit our kids, as the centers may not have enough of them. But no, you can’t mail them. Sorry!
Here’s my input, for what it’s worth:
Chances are they have some supplies at many projects. In promotional/informational videos (such as for Compassion Sunday), I’ve seen clips of children coloring.
Also, when sponsor tours arrive in a country, one of the things on the packing list is supplies for the projects (particularly art supplies). Now, I haven’t been on a sponsor tour, but I’ve been reading up on them, since I’m planning/saving up for a trip in 2010.
So, it’s likely they have access to colors/colored pencils, and possibly the rest also–depends on their initial supply and how quickly they use them! 🙂
One thing I’ve been wondering: does every Compassion child have access to coloring pencils? I have some coloring pages to send, but I’m not sure my kids have pencils. Could I send them some, or are they too thick? Although I suppose there are coloring pencils at the Compassion center. The same question goes for scissors and glue, are they available to the kids? I’ve seen e.g. some cute animal mask kits, and I’d love to send some to my kids, but they require some or all of the abovementioned items.
If anyone knows about this, I’d be very thankful for the information. 🙂
Great. I sent hair ribbons to haiti and haven’t had it rejected yet.
Caitlin, I didn’t take offence at all. What you said made sense. And, it may not have been the balloons. The letter that I got didn’t specify what the objection was, just that gifts other than paper wouldn’t be allowed because of the high customs. When i think about it, I believe that I was also sending sticks of gum, and of course, that would be considered perishable, so maybe that was the problem.
I’m going to try sending hair ribbons to my girls. I’ve wanted to before, but didn’t think that they would be allowed.
@Jan Woodford – Hey, just to clarify, because of the censor delay on these boards, I never saw your post! Please don’t take it as me scolding you, I was just sharing my new found info in response to Amy’s post (which was the only one I could see at the time) and anyone interested.
As far as why the balloons didn’t go through, I have no clue, except maybe Vicki’s reason…and I was thinking this over later, maybe it varies from country to country as far as what can and can’t get through?
I can’t speak to any customs-related issue with balloons, but we have been cautioned about those. Even if your sponsored child is old enough to keep from swallowing them, they may fall into the hands of a younger sibling, or other young child, who could end up choking on them.
Well, maybe I misunderstood what they were objecting to! I’d sent a bunch of different things. I just assumed that it was the balloons that they objected to, since they kept the envelope from laying completely flat. They didn’t say what the objection was.
The rules on the website are somewhat outdated. Confusing, I know! I am also semi-new to this, so I finally called compassion for some straightening out. Pretty much, so long as it is NOT metal and not perishable (like gum or seeds), and fits with in the 11″x8.5″x1/4″ size limits, you’re fine. If for some reason, something is a problem, they’ll let you know! I’ve sent rulers, ribbons, a 4″ wing span kite (pressed down flat), and other such items…so far none have come back, and they’ve been gone an awful long time (over 3 months on some). Some people have checked and been told they can send fabric and scarves, again, as long as it fits the dimensions.
@Caitlin –
I, too, wonder if some of these ideas would be allowed. When i tried to send balloons to my Compassion kids I received a letter from Compassion telling me that it wasn’t allowed because Customs made it too expensive. Since then i’ve stuck to paper book marks, paper dolls, stickers, picture post cards, shaped memo pads, and photos of family members and our dogs.
@Bob –
These are great ideas… but are they allowed? I’m new (again) to this and would love to send such clever ideas of little gifts, but I thought they had to be paper. Are you certain these items have gotten through?
Thanks for the brilliant ideas!!
very good points! I also tracked down some of those foam airplanes I used to play with as a kid.
So….I was thinking back to some of the simple things that entertained my brothers all throughout the ages, and the one consistent thing I came up with was rubberbands. Call me Crazy, but I find myself seriously tempted to send some. Has anybody tried rubber bands? Any feedback?
About boys….
I’m no expert, yet I do “teach” school-aged children and it just so happens that the majority of them (11 out of 15) are boys!
The young gentlemen really enjoy things that MOVE! Paper airplanes might be nice – or those paper “helicopters” that spiral down to the ground. Stickers of things that move might work, too. Also… something I am hesitant to introduce to my “class” are those hopping paper frogs.
@Barbara M. – Barbara, I quit teaching in 2001 in order to work with my husband in our small business. You’re right: I do not read other people’s writing and mentally correct their mistakes! Thank you for making me point, tho’! :o)
@Vicki Small –
Hi, Could you send me a copy of the revised attachments list?([email protected])
Thanks
@Carrie Haddican –
Good point. If you ever have a question about a specific item, you can call Compassion and check (800-336-7676).
I have not personally called and asked about all of the items that we have been talking about but I do know that the wording from the website is a little old.
Vicky said..
For example I had asked before if I could send ribbion to some of my girls and the Compassion rep said no, only paper items. BUt when I called a few months ago the rep said that it would be fine if I wrapped it around a card and it still was flat enough.
The basic guidelines are:
> no biger than 8.5 by 11
> no thicker than 1/4 of an inch
> no metal
If something is not acceptable and has to be taken out, Compassion will let you know.
Oh you know, lol, lockers, trashcans, running, trying not to get beat up by the rest of the students! Developing all the skills scrawny little nerds must in order to live until graduation.
@Caitlin – :o) So where were you when I was teaching?!
@Vicki Small – (small voice)I liked English composition.
@Tina Adams –
Tina, I like your ideas on things to send. Today a Raccoon ran across the road in front of me. When I went home I googled Raccoons and printed up pictures of raccoons to send to each child. I wrote a little basic information about the habits of Raccoons ( gathered from Google). It was something new to write about.
@Vicki Small –
Vicki, you’ve made some good points. I think that it would be good for us to remember that these children may be poorly nourished and that could affect their letter writing.
Thank you for all of the ideas! We just started sponsoring a child this month so I am excited to get started with the communications. I am confused though because I thought we could only send written things or photos because Compassion’s site says: Delivery and customs systems prohibit us from delivering packages to your sponsored child. Items that are not flat, not made of paper, or are larger than 8″ x 11″ and 1/8″ thick can be delayed in customs for weeks. Further, the risk of theft or loss of a package en route is high, and the duty charged by foreign governments often exceeds the value of the package.
So, because it says items not made of paper can be a problem I am surprised to hear we can send scrunchies or some of the other items mentioned. I can see where stickers and cards are ok but are you sure that these other things actually make it to the child or are they taken out at the Compassion International office? Have you confirmed the are ok? I am so glad to finally be a part of sponsoring a child. I look forward to the experience; we feel blessed to be a part of it all. Thanks for clearing up my confusion.
@Vicki Small – Vicki, I always enjoy your comments. I wonder what it is about Ethiopia? That is the country where most of my “form letters” are written. My other children seem to “take off” on their own and leave the form behind. What a treat when that happens. Plus Vicki, ever since you mentioned that you taught English composition I find myself always worrying now that I will form my sentences incorrectly. Silly me, because I know you are not reading all of our comments and then mentally correcting our errors. Please keep sharing your thoughts!
I know what a let-down some kids’ letters can be, especially when we’ve poured our hearts into writing our own letters to them.
But for a few years, I taught English Composition courses (stop groaning!), and I can tell you that not everyone is comfortable with sitting down and writing even a letter, no matter how much they may love the intended recipient. Of my four sponsored girls, the one I have met three times sends the least substantive letters. She is now 10 years old. Maybe her letters will change, in time, maybe not.
Our newest sponsored child has sent two form letters, so far, from Ethiopia. He is 9 years old, but not doing well in school. He not only waited a long time for a sponsor, but may well have been so malnourished, when he was younger, that his brain didn’t develop as it should have. I’m praying he’ll be able to catch up.
I’m still fairly new to receiving letters, having only received two from a sponsored child, written by his parents, both expressing their gratitude at their child being sponsored, and one from a correspondence child which was like an introductory letter–telling me about her siblings, favorite activities, etc. I don’t know if this last one would fall into the category of a “form letter”–I’ll wait and see how her future letters are.
But something I was reminded of, regarding letter writing in general–for many of these kids, writing letters is not something commonly done in their culture/community, so it may be a bit awkward for them. I would hope that the 20 year old would have had time to develop letter-writing skills during his time in the program, but I suppose it’s an individual thing, how easily they take to it. And our letters and our prayers are key, I believe, to letting the kids know how important they are to us and to God. I intend to keep writing over the years, no matter how infrequently I receive letters, and I hope to not get too discouraged if the letters never get much beyond form letters–with God’s help!
@Jan Woodford – “Fill in the blank” letters…….Thank you Jan for your comment. I think the thing that I struggle the most with is I want very much to be of help in some way to these children and when I receive a “fill in the blank” letter I almost feel like I am a bother to them. I at times wonder if they don’t feel somewhat annoyed that now they have to respond. I know that many children appreciate the letters but some…..I don’t know. Like you, I will just keep writing and praying for them.
Thank you Dionne for your comment about your contact with your sponsored children after they have left the program. I would be interested in hearing from others about this subject. KEES, you have many children. Have you kept in contact with any of them if they have left the program?
@Barbara M. –
I recently got a “fill in the blank” letter from a new correspondent child in Ethiopia. He is 20, and due to graduate from the system next year, so i’d hoped to develope a relationship with him quickly, hoping to make a difference in that short time. Yes, i was disappointed in the fill in the blank letter, but I’m loading him with letters from my end, and pictures, picture postcards,stickers that might appeal to boys,sports related picture items. He’s heavily into soccer. He’s a challenge, that’s for sure, but I’m going to do all that I can in the short amount of time I will have with him. Sometimes letter writing to young people like this is a one sided conversation. The more I pray for him, the closer I feel to him, even though he doesn’t respond.
If you haven’t gone to the Share Compassion portion of the website, yet, I encourage you to do so. All of you can see many more children sponsored through a Compassion Sunday. The details are at compassion.com.
Lots of sposnsors read from their child’s letters aloud in church to encourage others to sponsor children. If you have children, you can also have them read the child’s letter aloud (age dependent).
Isaiah 58: Speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves!
@Barbara M. –
We have sponsored children for many years, and we have not kept in touch with any of them after they left the program. We do, however, continue to pray for them. Several of them are most likely parents themselves now–at least that’s how I imagine them. I still left them up in prayer from time to time.
Also, I found a flat binder pouch at Target. I think it fits the dimensions and it might be useful to the kids, since they can put their things in there: pens, crayons, paper, etc.
Since almost everyone is sending coloring pages, I was thinking about making a little “coloring book” of some of Jesus’ miracles with a brief explanation of the miracles on the back of the pages. They can enjoy coloring while learning about Jesus.
@Judith Tremblay – Wow that would have been awesome to get together. Unfortunately, I have a previous engagement that day. I did see one more sponsor who is from Baton Rouge…maybe she can help you with a map. Baton Rouge is a really pretty city you will enjoy it.
@Dyan Johnson – That’s so neat, Dyan! It’d be neat to be able to get together sometime. I’ll be in Baton Rouge at the River Center on the evening of April 17th, btw. (but I don’t know my way around well enough to decide to meet anywhere else, unless I can get a detailed map/directions! ha!)
The list of allowable items was expanded, last year, and the 1/8″ thickness was also increased to 1/4″. I have a list with the rules we got as of last June (’08) in a .pdf file; I’m happy to send it on request. A click on my name takes you to my blog, whence you can e-mail me.
I’m from Rayne, Louisiana. About 40 mins from Baton Rouge and a few hours from New Orleans.
Generally, the rule of thumb is if it’s flat, less than 1/8″ thick, and can fit in an 8.5×11″ envelope is what I’ve been telling people at concerts, etc. What I’ve just re-discovered is that the official word is gifts must be paper-based.
https://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/connecting/tips-for-mailing-small-gifts.htm
Can someone please clarify for me exactly white sized envelope I can send to my sponsored child (Rwanda and Peru). I have previously been told nothing larger than what would fit in a stardard size envelope (9.5″ x 4″), however, I’ve seen posts where people are sending 8.5″ x 11″ calendars. I’ve also seen posts of people sending light weight scarfs…how is this being done and what are you packing these items in?? Can someone please clarify the mail restrictions for me? Much appreciate!
@Dyan –
I’m from the New Orleans area. Where are you located?
Hi everyone … I found these 2 ideas from a download I got from the Compassion Site. It’s part of many materials to promote Compassion Sunday. This particular download was “Family Sponsorship Ideas.”
I thought it was good enough to share with everyone looking for letter writing ideas.
Hope you enjoy!
Tina Adams
****
Teach your child through your letters.
Your sponsored child and your own children can learn vital lessons together if you use your letters to teach your sponsored child about a variety of subjects. Short lessons on geography, animals, health, nutrition, history or places can open up a whole new world that your child may not be exposed to otherwise. Include coloring pages when possible to help reinforce the lessons you are sharing.
Provide fun and educational inserts in letters.
Brainstorm with your own children about ideas to make each letter special. For example, include stickers of insects with a short description of the insects’ names and where they can be found. Include postcards of famous landmarks in the United States and briefly describe their history. Provide a paper doll and include a different outfit in each letter — this is especially fun if you can find a paper doll that comes with costumes from various cultures. You can then provide facts about that culture in the letter.
****
@Dyan –
Hi Dyan,
I am from Louisiana! Near Baton Rouge. You should check out the “Where do you sponsor a child” blog, too. I found a fellow Louisianaian there, too.
Tina
So anyone from Louisiana? I’d love to connect with others from here for ideas and things.
Wendy, thanks for all that information! I can imagine the lack of translation services could be a stumbler.
@Dwight –
I asked what could be done about losing your sponsor child once they leave the program and got this response back from Michele at Sponsor Donor Relations at Compassion via email:
“We do offer a program where you can continue to write to your child,
provided he or she stays in the Compassion area. Once your child has
formally left the program, upon request we can send you our Continuing
Correspondence form. You would fill out the information and return it to
us. We would then forward it to your child, and it would be up to your
child to respond. The form takes Compassion out of the correspondence
loop and releases us from liability. Your letters to and from your child
would not go through Compassion any more. No translation services would
be provided.”
So perhaps you should ask for this Continuing Correspondence Form? I’m assuming you’d be able to actually give your sponsor child your address by way of this form so they have the option of writing you after they leave the program.
Thanks everyone – I got some new ideas from you!
One thing that is perfect to send: those tiny cards at the
Christian store that are priced at 15 or 20 cents each. They are on a turn rack, and can fit into a small, clear stand or a keyring. They are very colorful
and have one sentence on them.
A great way to send lots of
encouragement and there are many styles to choose from! I
buy 5 of each at a time for our
five sponsored children.
Wow, Thanks everyone for all your ideas.I will be coming back to read again and again.
My daughter and I are planning a Saturday once a month when we can get together with other sponsors for an afternoon of making cards,sharing ideas and writing letters together. We also thought we could make a scrapbook page to send (an idea we got from here) of our family, our town and state.
Another idea was we could make a calendar page of something about that month and put a pocket in it with little notes of encouragement or scripture (a another idea from here). They can open it on a certain day though the month. We also want to encourage sharing ideas and praying together for the sponsored children. We really hope this group will help and encourage sponsors that are not writing their child.
Thanks again for all the ideas that I can share. Keep them coming.
I sponser a boy in Mexico. I also have found a hand puppet that he can make. It’s flat and has the bag and all the parts to make these little puppets. It doesn’t require scissors or glue. Also, I found modeling clay and I took my rolling pin and rolled it flat to fit the dimensions. I’m not sure if this one made it or not…let’s keep our fingers crossed!! I have also sent bandaids, cards, alphabet flash cards, stickers…any new ideas would be great.
@Caitlin – No, I don’t, Caitlin. If I hear of any trips coming up to those places, I’d be glad to let you know. Or you could go to Compassion’s website, click on Sponsors and Donors, and then on Visit Your Child (left sidebar), look for group tours on the schedule.
I do understand the drive to send things to our kids!
@Vicki Small – know anyone going to East India or Haiti who wouldn’t mind carrying something? If you do, may I fill your email?
How about the idea of sending a boat? Boys under 10 would probably love them.
Y’all remember the folded boats that doubled as pirate hats we made as kids?
Probably best to make them out of wax-coated paper (I wish wax paper came in fun colors). I first thought of butcher paper (since I work at a school), but it’s not all that waterproof.
I was told that my boy likes to try to catch small fish by hand in the local river, so I think I’ll send him a boat and see how he likes it.
Christi, if you’ll e-mail me, I’ll respond with an idea or two about finding people who are going to your sponsored child’s country.
@Vicki Small – Vicki, that’s a great idea – I’ll just wait until I hear from Dayana or Rosa, and if they are interested. We’re not hooked up with a local group, so I don’t know about anyone locally going.
Someday……in God’s time!
@Joyce – that is a beautiful idea……and beautiful writing.
I will get this in the mail for my two guys! Thank you!
One the sewing kits, from what I’ve read, so long as it fits the dimensions, everything is okay EXCEPT the metal items(so, no to the needles and pins). I recently read the you are allowed to send ribbons, fabric and light scarves (once again, only if you can make them fit the dimensions), and also understand that what ever you send might get rejected because of shape/weight (from what I’ve read, they call you and let you know about it)
On the languages: my little boy speaks the Indian language, Santhali…and I’ve yet to find ANYTHING in that language… not even a Bible, or tourism phrases! So if anyone out there has such a coveted resource, I’d love to know.
Google may offer the widest range of data, however, I would recommend trying…
Goodsearch.com
By using this search engine, a portion of each search goes back to Compassion as a donation.
When you see the question…
WHO DO YOU GOODSEARCH FOR?
Type in…
Compassion International (Colorado Springs, CO)
{you can type in compassion international and it will bring up three choices, you just need to choose the one where you would like your donation to go to.}
Then…
Search now and money will go to your designated cause.
Christi,
I just found a pdf with the Easter story, including artwork, in Amharic. It would be great to print out, especially with a color printer. Check out this link: http://www.selamta.net/Amharic%20Literature/Eastern.pdf. Amharic (the Ethiopian language) is not on Biblegateway.com. But if you google “Amharic Bible” you will find some great links.
Joyce
Christi – here’s another voice chiming in on sending things….
I was able, recently, to send a whole bunch of sewing stuff to my 15-year-old girl in Rwanda, through friends who went to visit. However, I dared to send those things only because she had told me she was learning the skill of tailoring (sewing), and that she liked it.
Why not ask your girl (if she’s old enough) what skill(s) she is learning at the student center, and what she likes? Is she learning tailoring, or does she want to be a hairdresser, or some other trade?
Just some suggestions….
@Joyce – Joyce..I really LOVE your ideas..concerning sending “Praiseworthy Articles” to your child about his/her country!!! What a great assignment!! Keep the ideas coming!! Bless You!
@MollyB –
Molly, I have just signed up to sponsor a 15 yr. old from India..Sankari who lives south of Madurai and speaks Tamil (hope this language is on Biblegateway)! She also loves art and is very domesticated. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I will send her stickers (as I’m 61 and love them) stamps, papers and pray about whatever God would want her to have! I haven’t gotten my package yet so I am reading everyone’s comments and ideas. What a wonderful way to reach & touch others through His Love & in His Name!!! Its so exciting!
@Sara Benson –
Sara…I love the idea of asking kids questions!!! It makes letter writing so personal..and it sure is one way to get to know them intimately!! I will also go to Biblegateway! I am sponsoring a young lady (15) from India. So it will be a little challenging for me. Thanx for all your ideas!!!
@Alyce Heidt – I can’t find where you heard about the Compassion Artist Network – and I would love that information, too!
And Joyce – I would like the info on finding blessings in their native language….I don’t have problems with the spanish – but ET – there I have some problems.
Thanks
Mary – that is such a neat idea!
For spring, I think I’ll do something like that with a flower.
We play at photography – and my husband took an awesome photo of a goldfinch, pulling tufts off or a teasel plant. our children LOVED it!
I’m going to buy the little photo albums this weekend – again – Thanks Ramona.
Should I call the 800 number to see about a sewing kit being available to a girl? I don’t want to send the quilt blocks unless they can get a sewing kit.
With my new 15 yo girl….Rosa, I want to help her in anyway possible to learn skills as well.
@Ramona S –
Ramona…thanx for the suggestion!
@Sarah H. – Sarah…you might want to enclose some chewing gum…they are flat and not bulky…and the kids would love them!!
@Joyce –
You sound so Creative & Passionae about what you’re doing. I would love to learn how to do that. WHERE do you FIND “Blessings” in the language of your childs native tongue??? Please pass along this to my email…I would appreciate it!!! Thanx!!
@In Him
What is “Compassion Artist Network?” I don’t know about that yet! It sounds like something I might be interested in. Also, as far as Holidays…especially Valentine’s Day…it can be ANY DAY (to share the love of God)!! I think regardles…kids love to get cute cards!!
@Susan Paine –
What a wonderful idea to send extra cards for your kid to give!! There is no greater feeler than to have a generous heart and feel gratitude!!
Good for you and thanks for the suggestion!!!
I didn’t cut the snow flake out! didn’t occur to me!. Similarly, though, I explained snow, and then explained the scientific cause of snow, along with pictures of us in the snow. I have one of those weird brains that enjoys uselss little scientific facts…hopefully my kids do too, because, like I said, cutting a cool snowflake out, never occurred to me!
I made a 6 sided paper snowflake to accompany a photo of us in the snow and explained what snow is like and how the snowflakes fall from the sky. Our sponsored child lives where it doesn’t snow.
Thanks Ramona….I love Target’s $1 section….now I’ll look for new things with a different perspective!
I found the photo album at Target. Look in the $1 section, it’s the only place that offers it in that thin size.
Ramona, did you say where you found the thin photo book? I’d like to find one.
I saw a small scrap book a few years ago….but that would require glue and stuff.
Let us know where you found it! Thanks!
An d thanks for your ideas
If anyone is interested, I found this disney website, that has some pretty nice ideas that we can send to our children. I really like the bookmarks and the photo frames.http://www.printstation.disney.co.uk/
I called compassion today and asked whether it’s permissible to send a thin scarf in the letter. They said it’s okay to try. If they think it does not fit the regular dimensions of the letter or anything of that nature, they will return it. I think it’s worth a try…
@Ramona S –
Let us know what they say! I would love to send a scarf to some of my kids. I know by sending money I could request a scarf be bought, but I also like the thought of picking it out for her.
@Heather –
Thank you! I will give them a call.
@Ramona S –
Hey Ramona!! 🙂 Congrats on sponsoring a child! I think the photo album idea is a great one especially if you are planning to send alot of pictures. I doubt the child has anything to store them in. Pictures aren’t common in many areas of the world. I hadn’t thought of that idea!
Oh-I think a very thin scarf would be okay to send. I haven’t seen anything forbidding it in the rules but maybe an employee at the 1 800 number could give you the exact details.
Caitlin,
Those are some wonderful ideas. In fact, everyone’s post has added to my enthusiasm to write letters. I have just received my sponsoring packet 2 days ago, and I have already written and sent a letter along with some stickers. I also found a very thin photo album (fits in an envelope). I am thinking about putting some pictures in there and leaving the rest the child to complete. I don’t know how common photo albums are in Tanzania, but I am hoping that it will come in handy. What do you guys think? Also, since some of you have suggested material, is it appropriate to send something like a very thin scarf that basically fits the standard dimensions?
Caitlin, thanks for sharing your story, and your wonderful ideas!
Congratulations Karen – and you know that God will provide. He never sends us in a direction that His grace can not keep us…and He never sends up on a mission that His providence cannot provide.
I still have not gotten Rosa on my Compassion list….if she doesn’t show up today, I’ll call in. I have her first letter all ready!
Glad to help, I’ve enjoyed gleening ideas from the rest of these posts as well!
If you paid for your sponsorship online with a credit card, you should have an online account set up already.
P.S. on the letter writing, I just got back from the store, just looking for ribbons and foam airplanes, but I tripped across some foam 3-D animal puzzles at Michael’s (2 animals for a $!) thickness exactly 1/8″, and also, miniature kites(dollar tree)! Wing span of 4″, no sticks or assembly, flattens out nicely. Not nearly as impressive as a full sized kite, but it really did glide (Yeah, I tested it…back to that 10 yo heart thing!). I’m excited. Magarette’s getting one that looks like a butterfly, Alok gets one painted like a plane. Also, I found some pocket combs that fit the limit, and some plastic barettes (no metal all…the ones I never could get to stay in my hair, but other girls did), and some headbands. This new lift of restrictions is doing wonders for my imagination! just thought I’d pass my sudden realizations on.
Karen, I just wanted to say how thrilled I was this morning when I got online and saw you decided to sponsor!!! 🙂 You will be SO WONDERFUL for that child. Now I’m excited to find out if you get a girl or boy and what country he or she is in. I hope you’ll come back and share that with us. You all are in my thoughts and prayers!
What makes us sponsor at a certain time and how we are lead to that one particular child — it’s one of those wonderful mysteries of God. 🙂
Wow Caitlin, you have some great ideas!! I can’t wait to see what my kids say about all the new things I will be sending them!
I love to hear that there are so many people not only writing to their kids but going above and beyond.
Karen, if you call the 800#, they can help you set up your online account. There, you’ll be able to look at all the information that’ll be in your child’s profile (and a bit more!), as well as write letters that will be emailed directly to your child’s country to be translated. It’s a bit quicker than being routed through Colorado, but you won’t be able to send the little gifts we’ve mentioned in all the above comments.
Thank you. I am terribly fond of my Granny. She stopped writing me letters last summer though, because she went to be with Jesus. But I still have stacks of her letters.
As far as the finding out, when I signed up for my random child (Alok), it only took a day for them to load his picture and the majority of his info on my online compassion account. (It took a week and a half for the paper info to show up). Have you tried clicking the “My Account” button on the the toolbar(after you log in), if it’s already loaded up it’ll show you your child’s name and # in the lower middle of the page, and then you just have to click Child info on the side bar and it should bring everything up.
I hope for your sake, it is already there. I nearly died in anticipation in the one day’s worth of waiting for Alok’s picture!
Karen,
You can check your account on the Compassion Website, that will be updated before you receive the child’s packet.
Caitlin,
How lucky you are to have had such a loving Granny. I cried as I read your post, remembering my own grannies. How lucky and loved your “children” are to have you, and how lucky we older moms are to have your fresh and youthful approach. Your ideas are great. I can’t wait to find out if I have a boy or a girl. My love for this child is so real it’s overwhelming. I always wanted lots of children, and I have two, a daughter 18, and a son, 16. They are anxious to know their new brother or sister. I was in a craft store yesterday and wanted to buy everything!! My heart is sooo big, but my wallet, not so much. I’m sure you all know how that goes.
Does anyone know if I can find out sooner about by child? Fifteen days is such a long time – and to think I waited 9 months – twice!
Irlen’s, or Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS). The light filter in my eyes don’t work, so certain lights that most people filter out, I don’t, and it causes details like letters and lines to look like they’re moving, floating, vibrating, and doubled. It also affects depth perception(I have always had a strong tendency to misjudge stairs…and have fallen “up” several stairways by stepping too short and missing the stair!). Lol, until I was 20(I was diagnosed my junior year in college…some help that was), everybody just thought I was clumsy, and I didn’t know that not everyone had to stare at the paper until the double became single. After that discovery though, things began to come to logical explanations!
@Caitlin –
Thanks for the post Caitlin … I like the idea of hair ribbons. I too am a kid at heart … I’m 36 and still love coloring. But that is the artist in me.
The disorder you mentioned, is it dysgraphia? My nephew has it.
I must admit that as a female, I find it much easier sponsoring a girl than a boy. I sponsored 10 (nearly 11) yo Magarette in Haiti first, and sending gifts has been incredibly easy. I found a paper doll book (I sent her a doll and a few sets of clothing, and every once in a while I send some more clothing articles, to keep it fresh, Barbie makes an impressive book, 3 dolls and over 100 outfits!), stickers out the wazoo, I also found a 8×11 rainbow writing pad, I mostly write my letters on that, but also include some blank rainbow paper for her own use, when I run out of this pad, I’ll be getting the cloud paper next, I also enjoy finding decorated cards w/ blank insides, for notes. I had to search around a bit but I finally found a coloring book that is not terribly babyish, it is full of detailed flowers, animals, birds, and insects, it’s so impressive I have to stop myself from coloring them (I’m 23 in years, probably 10 at heart). Now that I know that fabric will get through, I’m heading off to get some pretty ribbon from a craft store to send several short lengths of it, taped to paper, for her hair ( I notice in her picture she uses quite a few hair ribbons)!
For older older, they may appreciate a few sheets of quality sketch paper. If they’re learning to read music, why not send them a few of your favorite songs w/ the musical notes between the words?
As for boys, I just put in for a random longest waiting child and got 5 yo Alok from India. I was stumped, in person, I get along with boys so much easier than in letters. So, I’m off to find some “manly” coloring pages, and some cricket player cards, but also am planning to send him paper airplane instructions when he gets a little older (and some decent “flying” paper), they make activity books that have all the folding lines and instructions printed on brilliantly colored paper w/ stickers to decorate. also looking for those stock card punch out animals that come in pieces and you punch out and put the slits together to make a 2-d scene (they were so much easier to find when I was a kid…chuck-e-cheese here I come!). Well, I think I’ve made this letter too long already, but one more note:
When I was young (5-13) I struggled with an undiagnosed visual disorder close to dyslexia which affected mostly my math, reading, and hand writing. I remember passionately hating writing letters because no matter how hard I tried to make my writing pretty, or not to mix up the letters, it never matched up to what I or my teachers thought it should be, and I was ashamed of how my “stupidity” slipped out every time I picked up a pencil. I imagine that many of these children, just getting the privilege to go to school now often feel the same frustration, not being accustomed to writing letters, and maybe still being new the idea of writing at all, so when I do not get a letter from one of my kids for a long time, I easily find myself remembering how I loved to receive letters from my Granny, but would cringe at the thought of embarrassing myself with a reply. But my Granny, she kept writing, reply or not, and looking back, I find the love overwhelming, and I know I felt it then. Just know, your writing blesses your child, no matter what reason they haven’t written. Even today, my handwriting isn’t terribly pretty, but because of my Granny, I can structure a decent letter, and am not afraid to overcome that ugly handwriting with words that I hope are more powerful than their lack of physical charm. Because of that, I make great effort to tell my kids how beautiful their handwriting is, and as my Granny often did, how much I can see an improvement from the last time, so they must be working hard. (I even told Magarette once that her handwriting had outdone the translator’s, I hope I didn’t hurt his feelings!)
Again, sorry for the length.
-Caitlin
Congrats, Tina, on your new daughter. I was going to post last night and tell you all to congratulate me, I’m expecting! (To see the picture of the child I’m sponsoring!) After much crying and praying, and praying and crying, and doing it all over again, I know this is what God wants. I had come close to sponsoring a child last year through another organization, but put it off. Maybe in some strange way it was best. (At least for this child) I just couldn’t decide on which, so I’m putting my trust in God to choose one for me. But still so many of those faces haunt me. I’d like to sponsor more, but can you believe it – my husband lost his job today. My first thought was to call the 800# and explain, but surely God will supply $32 a month…And after all, I did put my trust in Him. This year has been so much about obedience. I’ve always had trust issues, so that’s why I can’t back out on this poor child. God would never back out on me. Please pray for us, my new, dear friends.
P.S. I love the idea about the quilt squares. If I get a daughter, I will send her some, and I will learn to quilt, and we’ll each have a “unity” quilt.
I do think that a nine year old could handle a simple quilt block or sewing project. I started learning when I was about that age.
I was thinking about the needles and other things that would be nice to have. Maybe you could send a child gift and ask specifically that they buy a nice sewing kit for your child. That way you could send the fabric and patters/ideas and the kids would have everything else that they need.
As for backing either it can be bought with the special gift, or sheets can be used. But maybe a smaller project would be better.
Btw. I just called Compassion and the rep said that fabric should be fine as long as it fits within the regular guidelines.
@Christi –
Yes, Christi, I fit all the info on one label. I can stick it on everything. Now I have zero excuses for sending letters or little gifts in the mail. I want to send her many letters, so I’ve been thinking of ways to streamline.
I haven’t even gotten my packet yet. I just signed up this Wed on 3/11.
🙂
I’m wondering about the needle, too. I wonder if we sent a monetary gift we could specify that it be spent on local sewing supplies and such. I remember seeing something on Compassion’s send a gift section about “check here if you have a special comment about this gift.” Guess I’ll try to find out more.
Tina, I’m so glad you shared that…..I do that too!
I use the smaller ones – 80 per sheet, and make half for the Compassion Kids and Half for me – though on the 30 you could put their name and number and your sponsor number on one!
And – if you want any little quilting squares….my email is christartist@gmail….I’ll share.
I know these children have learned many things at an early age….and I was sewing and quilting at 10. I like the idea of a bean bag or something….that would all fit into a ziplock bag….my concern would be how to get them a needle.
Oh one more thing … this is for everyone.
I read on the Compassion site about having to label everything with my number and the child’s number, etc.
I made labels this morning, the ones that are 30 on a page. So, I’ll be able to stick them on everything I send
Just wanted to share that idea.
Be blessed!
Christi,
Clodia is 10.
I’m not a quilter … I didn’t even think about the backing. (I thought you just sewed squares together.) LOL.
But maybe some other real quilters may have some ideas.
I’m not sure if a 9-year old could quilt, but don’t you think this would be a great starting point. They could make bean bags out of the squares, doll clothes.
Looking forward to hearing more fabric ideas!!
Tina
Husbands – my husband was definitely on board from the beginning – but didn’t do much.
I have him sign the letters – encouraging him that he brings in the money that enables us to sponsor.
This last time, he decided to send a special note to the two teen boys – the scripture “how can a young man cleans his way…” Psalm 119:9. This is the FIRST of his own ideas!
And – that got him looking at all the children again….
Also, I wrote about my daughter and son-in-laws problem with another program. He was so hurt by losing the girl, he does not want to be emotionally tied again. Maybe the guys are more sensitive than we think.
Tina – you will be sooooo blessed, I think even more so that Clodia! At least I think I am more blessed with my Compassion Kids than they are!
How old is Clodia?
Tina – I REALLY like your idea of the quilting squares! I have tons of Quilt-a-Month blocks from when I was teaching my daughters to sew. I’m going to get them ready for MY new 15 yo daughter!
Do you think a 9 year old could handle a quilt block? I know Jo-Anns often marks down the previous year’s blocks….
Another question to anyone – if I do send quilt blocks – how could I send the backing?
Oh – another thing, at a Dollar Store I found the little art things that are black over come color background with the animals outlined. I’m going to send these in my next packet!
You all are a blessing to my compassion kids and me!
Thanks!
Karen, I agree with Vicki about the “husbands”. Mine has also stood in the background and watched me do “my thing” with the children. However, as time passes, and God works, he now seems pleased to see my efforts. Please be encouraged and allow at least one of these children into your life. It will bless you and “perhaps” your husband at some later time. And how about that? Vicki’s husband now has his very own child from Ethiopia!!
Thank you all for your warm welcome and prayers.
I was thinking of ideas for the older girls. What about some pieces of fabric … maybe quilting squares. I was looking up what you can buy with different types of donations and in Haiti it said used sewing machine. So it lead me to believe that maybe some of the woman are seamstresses. Now I know not all of our children/families will have one, but do you think they would have needles and thread? (Actually, we could send thread wound on paper…not sure about the needles, however.)
Maybe the girls could learn a craft along the way. Sewing a quilt if they got enough squares.
Remember I’m a newbie … so what you think??
Congratulations Tina! I am praying that God will develop an awesome relationship between the two of you.
Tina, I just wanted to say WELCOME & God bless to both you and Clodia. (What a pretty name that is!)
Thanks to everyone for your great ideas. I just sponsored Clodia from Haiti yesterday and I’m so excited. When I think of her I just want to cry. I can not wait to add a little joy into her life. Keep all the great ideas coming … since I’m new at all this.
Karen, your comments touched me, too. And I think anyone who stays up until 4:30 a.m. to read these posts and comments is responding to Christ’s call to feed his sheep and to care for those in need.
If your husband is not on board, then I second the suggestion that you call the number you were given and ask to be put on the list of correspondent sponsors. Writing to the children, encouraging and loving them, praying for them, that’s where the real ministry takes place in sponsorship. There is the risk that the funding sponsor will terminate the sponsorship for whatever reason, but you will be given the option of taking over, if you can. Your husband might be more amenable to the idea, by then.
Besides…I’ve sponsored for over 6 years. In that time, my husband considered it my “thing,” which he supported, but wasn’t interested in doing, himself. In December, he began sponsoring a 9-year-old boy in Ethiopia. :o) God has ways, you know….
Karen, I was so touched by your comments and I hope you decide to sponsor a child — you really seem to have a sponsor’s heart. And Joyce is so right — any child you choose is a child who needs your love, prayers and encouragement. You can’t go wrong.
And I pray that your husband is moved by the experience. Who knows how it will change his life. 🙂
Christi, YAY!!! for sponsoring a teenage girl. You’re awesome. 🙂
I did sponsor a teenage girl – fell in love with her online….the web info about her.
This is contagious!
Karen – I just got through talking to my daughter, who sponsored a child through another program, and they were cut off when the project went under for mismanagement – and they were not allowed to write a final letter. It broke their heart, and now, they do not want to sponsor again.
I have been combing through these posts, and encouraging her that Compassion is NOT like that.
I am so embarrassed that I have not taken the importance of the two teenage orphan boys we sponsor seriously. In reading the blogs, I realize that not only have they lost their parents, they probably lost their sponsors…for whatever reason, and we are a new ray of hope for them. They are both in Ethiopia….and I am more committed to write them, ask them questions and pray for them to be healed spiritually. Now I understand why they are a bit aloof!
Any child the Lord leads you to sponsor will be touched forever. I wish I could sponsor them all – but I realize, I have to be personal with each child, and I cannot be personal to millions! 😉
Thanks for the ideas for teenage girls, I’m going to talk to an Avon lady and see if she can give me samples…..and maybe I’ll sponsor a teen girl!
Karen, you have a very tender heart. I pray that your husband will soon be “on board” and I know that the Lord will lead you as you grapple with how to serve the least of these while also honoring your husband.
A good suggestion was made on this blog somewhere about being a correspondent to a child whose sponsor does not write, if you are not able to sponsor a child yourself. Many people write to more children than they sponsor. You can find out how to do this by calling Compassion at 1-800-336-7676 (press 0 to skip the recording and talk to a representative). There is a brochure entitled “Letters, Gifts and Your Sponsored Child” that answers all the questions most people wonder about. It includes suggestions for paper gifts as well as limitations on size. Packages cannot be sent, due to foreign customs systems and the high risk of theft. The telephone representative can tell you whether fragrance samples are allowable.
If or when you decide to be a sponsor, you can’t go wrong in choosing any child that you see on the web site. All of them have been identified by the church or other Compassion partner in their own communities as being in need. If you want to narrow down the field, select the link “Search for a Child to Sponsor” and select “yes” for “Longest Waiting”. These are children who were judged needy enough to enter the program, who have been participating while waiting for more than six months for a sponsor. Sadly, many of them have been waiting a year or more. If the choices still overwhelm you, you can always select the link “Let Compassion Select a Child for You”. You will receive a packet in the mail which you can then accept or decline.
Again, I really appreciate your heart. Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed to inaction because of the scope of the need. Think of the guy on the beach tossing starfish back into the water. When asked why he bothered, since he couldn’t save them all, he said that’s true, but it matters to each one he does save!
To all you sponsor moms and dads: I was up until 4:30am reading your blogs. This was after several hours viewing the heart breaking photos of the children. My feelings were somewhere between parent and grandparent, with an overwhelming desire to make things “right”. I am seriously considering sponsoring a child or two. I’d love to sponsor more, but I’d have to win the lottery, and since I don’t play, well…After reading your feelings I can sense your excitement and your confusion. It’s given me a reality test on what to expect. These aren’t puppies being rescued from the pound who will lick our faces every night when we come home. These are real live people, 3 dimensional, most of who have been through things we can’t imagine. And even if we’ve experienced a fraction of what they have, this hope that you’re giving them is intangable, faraway, unimaginable. How hard is that for a child of any age to grasp. I do believe those though, who say keep writing, keep giving. I think we’re their designated cheerleaders. We can’t make it “right”. Only God can. But we can be a window or a door, or a stumbling block. It’s like the little boy with the loaves and the fish; he wasn’t responsible for feeding the 5000, only for giving his lunch to Jesus. He obeyed. Did he do it willingly and joyfully? Did he expect anything in return? I don’t know. The point is, he gave what he had. Sorry, I’m rambling – I’m just trying to sort it out. I feel a little overwhelmed, what age to sponsor, a boy or a girl, etc. My husband isn’t exactly on board. Our priorities aren’t exactly in the same order, if you know what I mean.
One of the things I was wondering about gifts, though, is this: Must gifts only be something that will fit in an envelope, or may we send packages?
I thought of something for older girls, although I don’t know what you all will think, I’m new at this, remember. What about the fragrance sample cards found in magazines? Do they still do that? Or samples of hand cream, bath gel, etc.
That’s all the flat stuff I can think of for now, but maybe it will spark something in someone else. I can’t wait to hear
Just a quick p.s. to say that I am LOVING everyone’s ideas!!! Thank you a million times over. Not only has this reinvigorated my correspondence, but I’m forwarding this thread on to some new sponsors I know. What a treasure trove of ideas to have straight out of the starting gate. 🙂 Think of how many smiles these ideas will ultimately put on children’s faces. What a blessing!
Talk about padding my presence….lol!
We have a Lifeway store here….and a strong Spanish presence, even though we live in Ohio!
I’m also using Bablefish.com to do some minor translating…I don’t know how reliable it is, but I know enough Spanish to be able to get a feel.
Thanks again!
Christi–try a Christian bookstore, if you have on in the area. Down here in the New Orleans area we have Family Christian Stores and Lifeway. Depending on where you live, they may have Spanish-language books (probably mainly in the states where there’s a market for it, like near Mexico, south Florida, large cities, etc.)
If there isn’t a section in your local bookstore, you may have to order online. I do that when I have to, but I love being able to flip through several options and choosing the one I like best! 🙂
This was posted above.
You can also probably search the web and find something that you can get printed. If you get a verse from this website then you could print it on business cards and send it to your kids so that they can memorize them.
I really like that idea. some of my favorite letters are the forms where the kids fill in their favorite thinkgs and information about where they live (Kenya does this). I think I will send all my kids a letter today asking a bunch of questions.
And I agree that finding things for the older ones is challenging but fun.
Oops (not trying to pad my presence, here!)–I meant to say, your local Christian bookstore; don’t know about the big-box places, but they might have something, too.
Christi, maybe depending on where you live, your local bookstore might have Spanish-language Bibles and other materials.
BTW – Oriental Trading has some neat little things, some Biblically based….for very little. http://www.orientaltrading.com
I really like your ideas!
Now, I have from Peru and one from Columbia – where should I go to buy Spanish Bible stuff?
I’m going to pull out my old art supply catalogs….you have great ideas!
Ours are both orphans….so I try to include their siblings as well.
I concur with sponsoring these older ones…you have the opportunity to shape these older ones with the Love of Christ before they go out into the world.
I’m sending them both more questions this time!!!
I’ve sponsored a little girl (almost 5) in the Dominican Republic for a year now, and have sent her basics like stickers, photos and post cards. I just signed up to sponsor a 16-yr-old girl in India, and so have been brainstorming on things to send an older girl.
As a former art teacher, I remembered scratch art paper, which has a rainbow or glitter layer covered in a black coating you scrape off with a stick to make the picture. They make stickers out of the material too, and I sent some to my little girl yesterday. There is also that blue “sun print” paper that you put in water and leave in the sun with small items on it and it makes a simple ‘photographic’ image of whatever you put on it. I’m going to send that to the older girl. What about fun band-aids? They make them with holographic patterns and so forth. Or pretty origami paper and simple instructions (if you’re artistic you could draw your own so they didn’t need words that would have to be translated). Or, watercolor coloring pages – the kind where the paint is on the paper and you just rub water on it? You can also buy flat paper “weaving sheets” that are just shapes with slits cut in them that you weave paper strips through to get a woven pattern. I recommend looking through a good art supply catologue – there’s all kinds of fun (flat!) stuff that is good for little kids, but also fun for older ones! I also plan on sending my older girl postcards of famous works of art, historical costumes, and other things like that – I live in Chicago and the Art Institute’s gift shop is FULL of great stuff. You can also buy art prints that are small enough to send.
Any good educational ideas for the older girl? I can send the my little girl stuff in Spanish, but it’s hard to find things in Hindi!
Molly, I have been a sponsor for years. One of my girl’s is 16 and lives in Hatti.What seems childish to us for that age is not.These children have nothing. So stickers and postcards she really loves. I try to find not such childish stickers. I also send the fronts of Christmas cards,birthday and get well cards. Also pictures from calendars. I found a paper map of the U.S. that was not to large.the girl wanted to know if we get hurricanes here. So I drew on the map where the U.S. gets the most hurricanes,Tornado alley,earthquakes,areas like the desert,where the weather is warm or cold and what areas that get snow.
Christi, I also have a sponsored child in Ethiopia who is 18. The older kids are a little bit more of a challenge because you can’t really send the cutsie little kid stuff. 🙂
I’ve just taken the cue from things he says he’s interested in. Some examples:
* He said he is interested in seeing icebergs someday — so I’ve sent him postcards and bookmarks with icebergs, polar bears & penguins.
* He’s very interested in nature, in general, so I’ve sent pictures of what nature looks like in our neck of the woods, (i.e. Iowa — prairies, deer, etc.)
* My husband writes for a newspaper and he expressed interest in that, so I sent him a copy of the Sports section that my husband works on.
* I sent him pictures of the new president, as Obama has an Africa connection, (relatives in nearby Kenya.)
* I sent him musical greeting cards w/Christian pop songs.
I kind of enjoy the challenge of finding things to send him.
Sometimes I send him a list of questions for him to answer — favorite color, favorite sport, favorite story in the Bible, etc. — and he’ll send his answers and a list of questions back for us. It’s so fun! I do enjoy his more adult perspective on the country he lives in and life in Ethiopia.
I really encourage everyone to consider sponsoring an older child in addition to a younger one!!!! 🙂
@Carolyn F –
We have sponsored two older boys in Ethiopia….I suppose they lost their sponsors, since they are both 18. They are currently in the 10th grade, so I have no idea how long they will be in the program.
They do not write very often…not like some of the little ones we sponsor. But, their first letters after Christmas were MUCH more personal.
I struggle with what to send them. Puzzles and such would be very hard with translation.
I am very interested in ideas for the older children.
Hi Barbra,
The envelope itself can be any size. Only the contents are limited in size.
When the envelope gets to Compassion in Colorado, all of the things you send will be taken out of your envelope and put with other letters to be sent to your child’s country. (your things will still go to your child)
Just make sure that any items you send are 8.5 by 11 or smaller. If you want to send big coloring pages, you can fold them in half before putting them into the envelope.
A question….we are allowed to send envelopes 8.5 by 11 and yet the only mailers I can locate are either 6X9 or 9X12. Are the 9X12 allowable? This size allows much larger pages such as coloring pages, but I wonder if 9X12 will pass through without a problem. Does anyone know?Thanks!
Dwight, Thank you for your response to my question about your visit and how it impacted your relationship with your child. What a blessing for you to be able to do that! I do think that you did become a “father figure” for her. What a blessing for YOU! For JustJill, I know that feeling. I am somewhat new at this but am learning that patience is very important and steadfastness in continuing to show love is very important. There have been times when I would walk down to my mailbox with a letter and feel I might as well leave it in the ditch as I felt it wasn’t having an impact. And then the day of their return letter! Made it all worth while. Please continue to reach out!
I sponsor a 15 year old boy in India and an 8 year old girl in Columbia, I can come up with things to send the girl but am struggling with things to send to the older boy. I know money is a good option but i want to send a little something extra. Any ideas?
Thanks for the ideas. My experience has not been very positive. When I write, I ask questions, but never get answers from my foster child. She lives in India. I send letters with pictures and stickers. I don’t get thanks for what I send. I am wondering if she is getting them. I will pray to the Lord for guidance.
Yes Vicki, they moved to a new project and I could still sponsor them. The mother stayed in the Manila area and the children went to live with the grandmother. And the grandmother placed them/ transferred them into a local compassion project… so I was able to continue with sponsorship.
Side note…the second child I sponsored had a father that left the family when she was 4 but returned when she was 14 years old…. What an answer to prayer and the miraculous saving grace of Christ! Amen
Dwight, when your second child from the same project moved and was transferred, you continued to sponsor the child, didn’t you? My impression has certainly been that the sponsorship will continue, unless the sponsor terminates it.
One of my girls may be transferred to a different project, unless her parents reconcile–which I’m praying that they will do, with the caveat that the father/husband recognizes his need for Jesus Christ, quits his drinking and abusive behaviors and becomes the spiritual head, under Christ. I will continue to sponsor Maria.
Barbara, it changed…
The relationship had 3 stages. Stage one I wrote a reply letter a few times a year…very general information. Stage 2 was after I sent a family $ gift… she was about 13 years old…. The types of letters become more personal and more real. At times the letters sounded positive at times the letters sounded hopeless. She said that she prayed that I would visit them some day. Stage 3 was the visit about 3 years latter. It was “an answer to prayer” she said but I also think it was overwhelming at first for her. Her father was out of her life and she lived with basically all women…her mother grandmother, sister…:). The trip made me realize that she saw me as a father figure…long story… this really changed my attitude. I started taking the letter writing more seriously. The letters I received became much more hopeful about the future. She talked about forgiving her father for abandoning the family. When I visited the family they did not seam very friendly…or thankful about compassion. My writing letters, sending money and visiting was a tangible thing that showed love from a father figure and maybe a parent figure that she desperately needed as a teenager.
She went to college and eventually left the program…I pray she is finishing her studies… she would be in her 4th year of college. I sponsored a new child in the same project but after a few months the father abandoned the family and they relocated back to the country side and transferred to a new project. I am assuming it is common in the Philippines for fathers to abandon families. The other child I sponsor and visited also did not have a father… long story….
Dwight, Thank you for your comments. I agree that the most important thing is building the relationship so that they know someone REALLY cares. I would be interested to hear how it went when you met your children in person. How did it change your relationship with them?
Barbara
I have visited 2 of the 3 children I sponsor. One thing I noticed was that most of the people in the slums had access to a TV… so they know about how others live. And the assumption they have is ALL Americans are very rich. My experience… as they age they start to understand the reality of life and what they don’t have. It is no different from someone living in a housing project in Chicago; they wonder if they can have a better life. For a teen hope is a powerful thing…in any culture. The reason a child can not break the cycle of the housing project in Chicago is a lack of hope for the future. The same thing is true in Manila, Tokyo or any other country. Japan is as rich as the USA but many people commit suicide. When I visited some of the slums we passed out some candy to the younger kids. I will never forget the big smile one of the 5 or 6 year old kids gave us. But I don’t know if candy would have meant the same thing to a teenager. If you really care…and I assume you do, figure out who your child is, write them every month, visit them (big cost but cable TV, eating at McDonalds… is a big cost over time but we do what we value) and tell them that you pray for them and love them. I am a guy not into crafts, stickers… but like most children in poverty in the USA and around the world kids lack good solid father or parent figures. If God has gifted you in crafts do it… but do it in the name of hope and love…older kids need this more then crafts. … Good compassion video on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p198d_Gx0RU&feature=channel_page
I like Dwight’s idea of small monetary donations for the older children. I too wonder if they find my stickers and similar objects too childish. Any other suggestions for the older children? Also, I like to send pictures of family but without even trying to show it, it is obvious that in the pictures we are well dressed just wearing regular clothes and they can at times see our house or vehicle in the picture. I wonder about how this makes them feel. Then I think I shouldn’t send photos. Any suggestions?
I sponsor a girl from Haiti who is eighteen. would sending her her coloring pages and other things mentioned in this post be too childish for her, or would it still be special and fun since it’s not something she has easy access to?
With the older kids I sponsor, as a previous poster mentioned — I still sometimes send stickers. I also send bookmarks and postcards/brochures of places I visit. An idea I have but haven’t tried yet: at Hobby Lobby and some other stores like that, they have pictures/quotes mounted to basically hard cardboard stock. Some of those might be within Compassion’s sending limits and appropriate for older children.
I recently sent my kids some of those plastic glow in the dark stars. I haven’t heard if they made it to them or what they thought of them yet. I included a verse about how God has named all the stars in the heavens and then another verse about His care for us. Hopefully they get them and enjoy something new!
Susan,
Thanks for the valentines cards idea! I just found some really cute Christian valentines at our local Christian book store. I am excited to hear about who they give their valentines to.
Heather
I sponsored 2 older kids… I found they liked money more than any thing. I email my letters and try to send a birthday an extra child gift and a small family gift each year. What do teenagers want in any culture… clothing… in most places 10 USA dollars goes a long way! I find they buy 3 or 4 things… shirts, pants…something that would cost $100 in the USA costs them a few dollars. When I visited them I could see that teenagers understand what they don’t have. In any culture it’s nice to have something new to put on and show the world that someone loves me.
Any ideas on older children?? These ideas are mostly for younger children. I have a 18 year old..Really hard to send things to. I did send a few stickers-all girls love stickers(even me!). The other girl is easy..she’s 6 years old! 🙂
Great GREAT ideas! I have a child I sponsor, and one whom I am a correspondent for. My sponsored child, who is 7, writes regularly. I normally write her twice a month. I do snail mail with something in it every 3rd or 4th letter. I printed about 25 pictures of my family and the scenery near here this fall, and have been sending them in small batches. I’ve also found math workbooks at the dollar store (less translation), and stickers to send.
The correspondent child, who is 18, hadn’t written AT ALL since I started writing her early last July. I was actually starting to worry. I got my first letter from her Saturday. I’ll just keep writing, as this is supposed to be about them and not us LOL. But as the other posters have noted, this has been a tremendous blessing.
Upendo seems most delighted by when I write about church activities. I also keep her updated on what my kids are doing (my one son is 6 mths older), and ask questions about her life. I get hand drawn pictures every time — they are priceless!
Kristen – I like the idea about the bracelet. I am going to make some for my girls.
Barbra- That’s a good question. From what I have heard, when a child graduates from the program the sponsor can request to give their address to the child so that they can communicate directly. This does become harder because of translation, also the child would have to pay postage to get his/her letter to you. But it is still possible. I would suggest that as your child nears the age of completion (different in each country) talk to him/her about keeping in touch once s/he graduates.
Dwight – My thought is Yes. Yes you did make a difference in your child’s life. From what you said all you have to do is look at the letters you got from him. Also the fact that you got to meet him. Yes your prayers and correspondence were worth it. You may not know the full details till you get to heaven but one day you will look back and God will say “See that letter you wrote, see those prayers you said? Each and everyone made a difference.”
Have you ever thought about praying specifically for the program directors for that project that God would give them wisdom and direction, that they would be able to more and more effectively serve the kids whom they have now?
Oooo, I love all these ideas! The valentine one is especially good for this time of year…I’ll need to go find some cards to send…
Another idea for y’all. The boy I sponsor in Nicaragua likes to draw, so I drew out simple, step-by-step instructions on how to draw a truck and a car. (I used a simple drawing book from the library as a pattern — look in the children’s section for easier ones. I’m not much of an artist, but these worked for me.)
Dwight,
I felt the same way when my sponsored child in Peru left the program. I had only sponsored him for a few months and I was sad that I wouldn’t be sponsoring him anymore. I still pray for him each day and hope he is doing well.
These ideas are great, I love sending extra things with the letters that I write, I also send stickers etc, but i also found a few websites that I am able to print bible stories out with pictures, colouring pages of all kinds of things, eg bible picture, teddies, animals, princess. I also send things like bookmarks. Also In the Wesley Owen Bookshop (Im from England and am not sure if they have these shops in the US, but they do have a website which you can buy things from) they sell small childrens books with stories from the bible, which come within the size that we are allowed to send to our sponsored children. When I started sponsoring my three children I made them a photo album of my family, it was about 8 photo’s stuck on card and attached together with each photo stating who was in it, there age and what their hobbies were. I have had letters back from all three of my children saying how much they loved the albums and that they carry them everywhere with them.
hi!
sweet! yeah my boy loves soccer too! I’ll go looking out for some stickers and such. Personally, I’m love traveling and hence travel quite a lot… so i have pics of me in diff parts of the world. I was wondering if it would be ok for me to share that with my little boy.. since it was highlighted that we shouldn’t write about or discuss things that might accentuate our differences in wealth n such. any idea?
i guess i find the world very fascinating and would love to share the photos I take of different parts of the world with him. =)
thanks!!
My experience is… I received a form type of letter from the project director when the child left the program. It was a very cold letter and left me wondering…asking questions. The child I sponsored was very open about all the struggles and I received very personal letter until the child was dropped from the program. The last letter I received arrived at the same time the project director sent the form letter. I chose not to replace the child with new child…it was difficult and frustrating. I had visited the project and knew the situation, how few staff member they had and how young most of the staff members are… as children age out, the program become less effective. When the child turned 18 the Sunday school/ VBS type program was no longer what the child needed. I still sponsor 2 children and wonder how much effort I should put into writing letter… do I really want to build a relationship with the child…it is had when they leave the project. I still pray for the first child I sponsored and wonder if it did any good and if they really benefited from it. I pray when I get to heaven some day I will find out.
Rebecca,
I just started sponsoring a 5 year old boy from Brazil. His bio stated that he likes soccer so I picked up some soccer ball stickers for him along with stickers of the planets. If you have his bio it can give clues to what he enjoys and you could look for stickers, postcards or pictures that relate to his interests. Maybe stickers of popular sports in Haiti, cars, funny faces. Maybe even postcards of your hometown.
Another boy I used to sponsor was 6 at the time I started to sponsor him. Since I live in the Washington, DC area I sent him these postcards of sites in DC. The postcards were like professional photos. I found them in Barnes and Nobles Books. In a letter to me, the correspondence monitor stated he and his friends marveled over the postcards and would like to see the White House.
Ken
Hello!
Its amazing reading all of your fantastic and creative ideas! Very touched by all the passion and love all of you have for these kids living in poverty. =) I just started sponsoring a 5 year old boy from Haiti and want to send him my first letter and some extra stuff in it as well… Most of the suggestions here seem more relevant for girls than for boys…
does anyone have any suggestions to help me? =) thanks!! I’m intending to send a couple of photos n some colouring sheets…
Thanks to all of you who offered the words of encouragement about the “brief letters”. The ideas are all great. I have sent maps of the world to my children so that they can see where they are in reference to where I am. I thought they might find that interesting. Also, I am wondering what becomes of all this contact once a child leaves the program. Does the relationship just end after years of building, leaving us to wonder what ever became of “our children?”
I enjoy being crafty and making things, so I made a picture for my little girl that said “Jesus loves you” in her language (Spanish). I cut each letter out of different colors and textures I found in a magazine.
When I was younger, I used to like making these little friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss, so I made her one of those too.
Thanks for all the great ideas everybody!
About the balloons: We have to be sure there are no small children in the home, as young’uns have been known to chew on uninflated balloons and end up choking on them. I think that’s the warning that I saw sometime last year.
A few more ideas . . . I have sent a couple of balloons in a letter. I have heard that some children have a lot of fun with balloons. My church has “children’s bulletins” with Bible pictures and activities that I have sent to my child. I have sent some small paper dolls. I try to find things with my child’s name on them, like these name cards http://www.universaldesignsinc.com/index-3-monarch.html. I also like to look for things at local Christian book stores or cbd.com.
I’m loving all these ideas! I try to send a letter once a month and almost always include stickers or photos. I’ve sent letters through email a few times when I want it to get there extra fast, but I think written letters are more personal so I mainly stick with that.
One thing I have done is made cards for the game Memory. I used some blank business cards and put a sticker on each one and also included some directions. I figured they would enjoy the cards even if they didn’t like the game.
Another time I printed a picture of myself and my niece on a business card. Small and sturdy.
One suggestion that hasn’t yet been mentioned — kids’ siblings. I had always assumed the siblings had their own sponsors and got their own special things but when I learned that typically only one child in a family is sponsored, I began always sending all those little goodies for siblings as well. i.e., instead of one sheet of stickers, I’ll send three, and tell the child in the letter they are for her to share with her brother and sister.
I also like to put together picture-letters in Microsoft Word, it’s quick and easy and since I have 5 sponsored kids, it makes it really easy to write to all of them consistently. I typically put together a “package” once a month for snail mail, with a picture-letter (basically a letter telling about something special — a vacation or a birthday party or more recently playing in the snow with pictures placed throughout it so the child can see the event and not just hear about it) and some little treat like stickers…I can print out the same letter only changing a line or two for each child that way and save a lot of time. When I get a letter from one of my kids, I respond immediately to it via email. I also try to just randomly go online and send a “thinking of you” type email just to remind them that they’re loved and prayed for.
For those who aren’t getting much back from their child, I think frequency of contact and persistence in sending love is the key to eventually breaking down their walls and getting into their hearts (along with constant prayer for that, of course!) I have always sent letters but when I first started sponsoring, I sent maybe 3 or 4 a year. My kids now get SOMEthing from me every couple weeks. It made a big difference in how the kids started responding. I think it made them start to feel like they knew me, and reassured them that I must really care about them to write them so often, and they in turn began to be much more responsive in their letters. That said, there are still big variants, I have two kids the same age and one I’m still getting the form letters with an occasional comment on something I’ve written, and the other is just the most darling little thing you’d ever care to meet and her personality and affection shine through in every word she writes. But I don’t think my letters have less impact on the first child — on the contrary, maybe eventually they’ll have more because that child apparently needs to be loved… So my advice is to just shower love on your kids regardless of what kind of responses you get from them, and pray for their hearts to be opened.
Great encouragement from everyone! I think I’m going to take a picture of my family holding the Compassion photo of him. I would think that would be so cool to get something like that!!!
I like the baseball cards and recipes ideas. I will definitely have to try that.
Steve and Barbara, I used to feel much the same about letters from my sponsored children, especially the first three. But when I was challenged to think about children here–and myself, as a young child–I realized that not all children become expressive in letters for some years. And this former instructor of freshman composition can tell you that an awful lot of adults never do learn to enjoy writing, or to express themselves clearly and well that way!
Of our 5 sponsored kids (not counting our LDP student), one is too new to have written to us, yet. Of the other four, I get letters that vary in their expression and information; sometimes their hearts runneth over, and other times they sound pretty rote. (I wonder if some of my letters sound that way to them!)
Every single thing we send (or take) to our sponsored kids is a treasured item. I heard of a family in the Dominican Republic whose house flooded so often that their most valued items were hung from the crossbeams in the home. Chief among those items was every letter ever received from the sponsor!
If you are ever able to visit any of your sponsored kids, you will probably find that your time with them will change their letters, at least, eventually.
But one of mine still writes very seldom, and very little. I have seen her three times, now, and in person, she is so expressive! But her letters give me a strong impression of her sitting at her desk (or wherever), fidgetting impatiently, and getting the task over with as quickly as possible. And I know she loves me!
I think I’ve learned more about delayed gratification from sponsoring these children than through any other part of my life. It’s worth it.
Lots of great ideas… Here’s a couple more…
1. Scrunchies… if you have young girls, they will love them. Put them in a ziplok sandwich bag and staple them to your letter.
2. Postcards of your town… drop by the local airport if you live in a smaller town, and invest a dollar in short-term parking. You’ll be surprised at all the local trinkets you can find in the gift shop.
3. If you sponsor children from Spanish-speaking countries, you can send 5″x8″ softcover Bible stories… To keep the mailing within the thickness guidelines, mail the book in an 8.5″x11″ envelope, with the book opened at the middle…
4. Stickers, notepads, finger puppets, family photos… head on over to the “dollar store” and wander the aisles in search of treasures.
5. Send them their own photo… let their family have one of the wallet photos you get each year!!! Sign the back with a message of love and hope.
For Steve and Barbara, We have been sponsoring for about 20 years now. Some children just never do open their hearts to you; others begin to share more and more as time goes on. Then there are the few–I estimate it is about one-fourth of our sponsored children–who just pour out their hearts and consider us to be a part of their family. That is a great joy. But for even the reluctant writers, I pray so much that what they gain from the project will bless them all their lives, and that some of the seeds planted in Jesus’ name by the project staff or by our letters will bear spiritual fruit even in their adult lives. Enjoy the journey!
Wow — it’s great to hear all this passion about writing sponsored children! You have no idea how much these letters (and added items) mean to them! When I’ve been to Compassion Projects, many of the children have their sponsor letters and photos in their pockets to show us. Children that are not getting letters often ask us to go find their sponsor when we return to the states, to ask them to write. So — like I said — it’s really, really important to these kids! Keep up the good work, and thanks for all these great suggestions! I have one more — baseball cards go over real big with the boys in the Dominican Republic!
This year I have been trying to write and explain what holiday(s) we are celebrating during that particular month in America…so my Feb. letter talked about Valentine’s Day and I included a Bible verse about love.
I also send LOTS of photos. We live in a very snowy area so in Jan I sent photos of my girls next to a snowman they had made. Then I included a coloring page of a snowman for our sponsored child.
We have also moved quite a bit the past couple years. We just moved again this past summer so I found a great outline of the 50 states…I colored in the one we live in and then marked the other places we have lived. I also marked where our families live. I got great responses from all our sponsored children about this.
I have also started checking out children’s books at the library to read to my own girls…books about a certain country. So this week we have a book about the Philippines and I will write to my girl in the Philippines and tell her a little bit about what I learned about her country. I did this at Christmas…found a book about how Christmas is celebrated around the world. One of my sponsored children has already responded that she was excited I was learning about her country.
Because I correspond with quite a few sponsored children, I basically write a form letter every month…some times through email and sometimes through snail mail. I gather up all the letters I have received and make sure that I answer questions or respond to individual children to make it more personal. But the form letter makes it very possible for me to keep up on a monthly basis with all our children.
I think the number one thing that every sponsored child needs to hear is that we love them and know God is going to do great things with them….that we believe they can be successful in their lives. They need to hear hope and encouragement in every letter.
This is a great conversation…thanks for starting it, because we all have and need new ideas!
Steve, Barbara,
Be patient and keep on writing. We have sponsored 5 kids, and with a couple of them it took a year or more to get meaningful responses. Some do not live in a culture where writing letters is normal, or where they expect adults to express interest in knowing and listening to children. Also, some have lost sponsors and are reluctant to place their trust in a new sponsor right away.
At first, I too would get very discouraged when each letter would say basically the same thing: “I am fine, my family is fine, how is your family, please pray for me, I pray for you.” Especially after putting so much thought into my letters. I prayed hard for God to open their hearts to me. Some are just more open than others. Of the 4 writers (the fifth child is too new to have written us yet), only one answered my repeated requests to know the names of siblings or parents. For their own reasons, there are just some things they choose not to reveal.
Another thing I have learned is that my sponsored children (from Haiti, Colombia, and India) never write anything that is negative or could be construed as a complaint about their circumstances. “Pray for rain, for we need a good harvest” is about as bad as it gets.
Be encouraged; you are making a difference in their lives. Some day you will read “My mother and father thank you for sponsoring me” or “With your Christmas gift, we bought some cement and fixed our house” or “With my birthday gift you sent, I bought candy for my classmates” or something equally precious!
Hi Steve,
That is a good question. First of all the good news is that you are due for another letter soon 🙂
Remember that It takes some kids longer to develop writing skills than others, and most projects are set up where the children only write 3 letters a year. If your child is from a more remote area, it makes sense that you may have only gotten one letter so far.
By what you said You can be sure that you are making a difference in your child’s life. There was a post awhile ago about how many children in Mexico actually get letters from their sponsors, it is an awfully low number. Some kids never get a single letter from their sponsors. Every report I have read about letters emphasizes how much they mean to the children. One of my children wrote that she was so happy when it was “letter day” at her project. Because unlike all of her friends, she always knew that a letter would be waiting for her.
My suggestion is to keep writing and praying for your child. In time s/he will be able to tell you how much of a difference your sponsorship has made.
Oh, and congrats on getting a picture! I am still asking some of my kids to draw one for me.
Steve, I really struggle with that one too. Often the letters I receive are more “fill in the blank” type communications. I do confess to getting a little discouraged with this at times and then wonder if it really DOES matter that I try so hard to make my letters heartfelt and meaningful to them. I always have to go back to the reason I am doing this, that is to give instead of receive. I must confess there are days when I would LOVE to get a heartfelt reply. From reading this blog I know some sponsors do get those kind of letters. Any encouragement for those of us who get “fill in the blank” letters? My children are all much older than 7. Thanks.
I’ve sent emails every 2 or 3 weeks. I should probably send a few regular mails to sent small stickers, pictures and stuff!
I have a question. My child will only be 7 next month, but how can I be encouraged my sponsorship is making a difference? In 8 months, I’ve only received one letter, which included a beautiful colored picture!
thanks for all the suggestions–was just thinking as i was writing the other day that i thought i had written this before 🙂
i photocopied the sponsor letter form onto different colored papers and micaelly has mentioned a few times that she likes how colorful her letters are. i usually always include photos, stickers or little note cards…have found a few bookmarks that we’ve sent. coloring pages…but i’m trying to come up with something now that the girls we sponsor are older. any ideas for teenagers?
one thing that we have done is sent recipes back and forth. it began with her asking what are some of our favorite foods, so i shared and wrote out the recipes on colorful cards. she said that they made a few of them at the project so the kids could learn what people in america eat. she has since sent recipes from clipped out from magazines. i try to find recipes in magazines, online, etc. to clip out and send back (always being sensitive to what may or may not be available to get in their area…)
our compassion girls always draw and color beautiful pictures on the backs of their letters in return–i love them and we’ve kept them all in scrapbooks!
keep on writing everyone!!!!
There are great ideas on here. I started sponsoring a child a few months ago and have sent three letters via email. But I think I’m going to start doing snail mail and implement some of what’s already been shared!
For my younger girls whose info says they like playing with dolls, I’m sending a picture of myself at that age with my doll as well as some stories about the doll. I’ll also ask what her dolls name is.
I also like to include Pencil Fun books, small books that you color with a pencil to reveal the rest of the Bible story. My kids really like those.
I almost always write about the Bible story I told my preschoolers that Sunday.
I also try to ask questions or at lest mention the child’s friends or family by name.
I usually write to my kids through snail mail because I like to include little things (The only time I use email is when it has been a little too long since my last letter and I want the letter to get there quicker)
I like to include, postcards, pictures, stickers, flashcards, and any flat paper thing I can find. I have found some sticker books and coloring books at the dollar store that are skinny enough to send (1/8 in or less). I have also made bookmarks with pressed leaves.
One idea I heard was to find one of those cards that you can record your voice into and then record a message/song for your child. If you do this I would suggest writing the message out as well so that it can be translated.
For one of my girls who was accepted into the LDP, I made a scrapbook out of cardstock (not bound). Each page had a letter from and pictures of my family members who were now helping me to sponsor her. We also put pictures of the area where we live. We got a letter back form her thanking us and telling us how excited she was to get it. She said that the other kids all said that she was so lucky. She told them that she was not lucky, but blessed.
Another Idea if you use snail mail is to go online to https://www.compassion.com/account/FR421_Letterform.pdf and download the compassion form letter. I print out forms on bright colored and patterned papers and then write my letters on those forms. I know that you can also use your own stationary if you include your name and sponsor number as well as your child’s.
For me one of my favorite kinds of letters to receive are ones that tell me all about the child’s family and their activities. So I like to tell my kids about my typical day and my activities. When we went to visit my family out of state, I told my kids all about that vacation and made a scrapbook page out of an 8.5/11 piece of card stock. I included pictures of us and also a small printout of a US map with my state and the state where we went in different colors so that they could see where we went.
I don’t try to make the letters really complicated or long. For starters that makes the job tougher for the translators, and secondly I would rather send short letters more frequently than sending long letters only occasionally. In each letter I like to tell them a little about what is going on with me, ask some questions about their life and remind them that I am praying for them and that I love them.
Great question. My latest part of promoting Compassion in our church has been encouraging sponsors to write more letters. I’ll be watching the responses here for things to suggest.
I was able to give my child something when I visited him that was a really big hit. You could do the same with your letters. I made copies of all of the pictures I had received from him over the years and scrap-booked them next to pictures of myself at the same age. It helped me show and write about the things we have in common. He is 18 now and was amazed to see himself as a youngster. The children love to see pictures of themselves, and I doubt they have many.
I also have my young daughters write a note and draw a picture in the letters.
It is encouraging to read about these ideas. I correspond with several children and often find myself wondering what to say or send that I haven’t done before. Family pictures and stories seem to please the most. I try to let them know that they are truly a part of our family. Sending pages out of a book of their interest works well as the whole book can eventually reach them. I appreciated Joyce’s information about the Bible in other languages. Are they any other sites that have languages translated like this?
Google translate online will translate for you, even the more polite expression/grammar if you capitalize the pronouns. I don’t know if this automatic computer translation is 100 % accurate though, and that could lead to awkwardness.
As a Spanish teacher, I can tell you that Google Translate isn’t 100% accurate, but most of the time it’ll give an idea of what you’re talking about. The translators that Compassion has seem to do a fairly decent job.
Another idea: send newspaper or magazine articles you find which portray your child’s country in a good light. I found a full-page color photo of a Port-au-Prince church packed, standing room only, with joyous worshippers, in a Christian magazine. This was at a time when all the news from Haiti seemed to be about corruption, violence, and hurricane disaster. I sent the photo to my sponsored child and wrote how happy it made me to see that God has many worshippers there, and how He surely hears their prayers. My 16-year-old boy was delighted and wrote back, “I always tell my friends how much you love me.”
I think it is a great morale booster for him to know that his tiny country is noticed by the outside world for something other than poverty and need.
If you know about a successful artist, musician, athlete, or other renowned person from your child’s country, write to him/her about that person’s accomplishments. The only caveat I keep in mind is not to focus on people who have found success or fame by leaving their country. In fact, I pray that my sponsored children will find a successful future where they are. I never mention this, but I pray that no one in their families will take the desperate, dangerous route of trying to emigrate illegally.
I try and write at least twice a month to each of our sponsored children: Joan in Uganda & Musee in Kenya.
I send coloring pages, stickers, & photos: of our family, where we live, animals in our yard, etc. I always ask questions to get their minds thinking…about animals, different seasons where they live, what they’re doing in school, etc.
I look forward to hearing more ideas!
By the way Sarah- I LOVE the bandaid idea!
Go to http://www.biblegateway.com/, which is a searchable online Bible in 50 languages. You can look up a verse and get the translation into your child’s language. Then use your imagination and creative talents. You can design a card or bookmark, etc. If you are a stamper or scrapbooker, the possibilities are endless. I made a scripture memory card with Nahum 1:7 in Haitian Creole (Kreyol) embossed in gold on a piece of colored card stock. For a family gift, I stamped and colored a tropical beach scene, then underneath, wrote my child’s surname and a Kreyol blessing. You can use calligraphy or print the verse from your computer in a special font for added effect.
I am waiting to hear how my boy and his family liked these items. I hope they will be treasured keepsakes.
Wow, Sarah! I like that band aid idea! What a useful little gift! I love gardening, so I took close up photos of some of the flowers in my garden and then glued them on cardstock cards I’d made, with a note inside. Our children seemed to enjoy these.
I just received a letter from my sponsored child, Goodness, who is 6. She said in her letter that she really like the waterproof bandaids that I sent her. I know how you feel because I feel like I am running out of ideas.
I usually enclose something extra whenever I send a “snail-mail” letter. Lately I’ve taken to sending emails through the website, but when my nephew was born I wanted to send a photo, so I switched back to paper letters, at least for the time being. 🙂
I’ve heard about being able to send photographs as an attachment (I think someone mentioned it in a comment like this…) but I’m not sure about the quality of the print when it’s delivered to the children, or the timing–I wanted to make sure that the picture arrives with the letter in which I tell about it.
Something I’ve heard someone else do: enclosing several postcards/sticker sheets/bookmarks/etc and asking the child to share them with children who don’t get letters from their sponsors (or at least those who didn’t get a little “happy” with their letter).
Hi,
We start our letters with a greeting, followed by a numbered list of questions for Ana (in Mexico) to answer. We then do a short 1-2 paragraphs updating her on our life, and these paragraphs include answers to her questions. We then end our letters with a numbered list of prayer requests. Both the questions and prayers lists don’t go beyond 5 each at this point. This method has really helped us to build the strong communication and relationship with Ana.
Ana is also very good about telling us what she is able to do with the money we send, and we appreciate that very much!
We tell her about our career as musicians and how we are part of the Compassion artist network. In our last letter, we told her how our first sponsor at our events wanted to sponsor a child in a Spanish-speaking country, because then her and her child could share that commonality. We’ll see what Ana thinks of that. 🙂
We accepted a challenge from someone to write once a month, and that is our goal for this year.
Question: This may sound like a silly question, but is Valentine’s Day an international holiday?
As we’ve accepted this once-a-month letter writing challenge, we look forward to seeing what everyone else does to keep their communication with the beloved child they sponsor fresh and growing!
I’ve always sent lots of photos to my children and discussed what is going on with them and who is in the photo. The children really seem to enjoy seeing photos of my children grow up through the years, too.
Although I think that just the fact that the children hear from us, no matter what we send, is the most important. I have a little girl in India whose project worker once wrote “Every time she receives your letter she is very happy and excited and sometimes doesn’t do her homework because of the letter.”
I don’t think we can underestimate how much our letters mean to our children.
My daughter and I sent Valentine letters to our children briefly explaining how Valentine’s Day is celebrated in America. We included several children’s Valentine cards for them to give to their friends as a way to share God’s love as well as their own love for their friends.
What a great idea!
I almost always send stickers and pictures with my letters. My child John in Tanzania once decorated his response letter with the stickers I sent him. I was really amazed at his heart!