Undercover With Compassion
I have been feeling challenged lately to get closer to the heart of Compassion, where we interact with sponsors, churches and children. I recently read a quote from a top executive of a large retail chain (I can’t remember which one — maybe Best Buy). He said, “I have never wasted a day visiting a…
A frequently asked question about child sponsorship is this: How does it make a difference? People want to know that their concern, their money and their intentions are safe in our hands. This video from El Salvador highlights one of thousands of similar stories that attest to the crucial difference your sponsorship can make in…
Celebrating Christmas in El Salvador
To celebrate Christmas in El Salvador means to mix a variety of traditional Christian beliefs and adopted Western customs.
Christmas for El Salvadorans still carries a strong meaning that brings families together. Despite the gangs on the streets and the red, green and white flooding the environment, Salvadoran people try honor the true meaning of Christmas –…
We Teach Children How to Dream
The youths in our student centers face many challenges. Because of cultural paradigms, poor academic preparation by the national school system (especially in rural areas), and financial barriers, one of the greatest challenges for youths is learning how to dream.
The Heart and Soul of Guatemala (in Pictures)
Pictures courtesy of Keely Scott. Visit compassionbloggers.com to experience all of the highlights of the Guatemala blog trip through the words, pictures and videos of the team.
From Cristo Rey de Gloria Student Center (GU-970) in Guatemala. Shaun Groves takes you on a two-minute tour of the child development center and shows you what it looks and sounds like when the children are there.
A Cup of Gratitude
The woman gleefully handed me a cup. It was filled with a warm drink made of corn and cinnamon. Our staff guide looked at me and said, “She wants to offer you and the group this drink. Please take it, so you are not rude, but don’t drink it for it might make you sick.”
Members of the Virtual Child Sponsorship Letter Writing Night group in OurCompassion have committed to write letters to their children on the second Friday of each month. The group provides letter-writing ideas and/or craft projects to use as a theme when writing.
Our Sixth Blog Trip Begins Sept. 8
The Compassion Bloggers are traveling to Guatemala on their latest trip to see our ministry in action.
Made for Each Other
Each of your sponsored children is uniquely yours. You may not know the reason exactly, but that child was chosen by you for a reason. And you were chose for for that child.
I’m not sure that I should be admitting that given that I work for Compassion, but there it is. At 31, I’m part of a generation of Canadians for whom letter writing is virtually a foreign concept.
Facebook? No problem. Twitter? Easy. E-mail? Sure. But to sit down and write a letter? That’s different.
Baking Without a KitchenAid in Sight
The girls teaching me to bake were part of a baking class at the Compassion student center I was visiting in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. As part of the class, they make snacks for the nearly 400 students at the center. They also make baked goods they can sell in the community. With that money, they have…
A Pear and Prayer
There is nothing in the world like visiting a Compassion-assisted child’s home. Absolutely nothing. Nothing can prepare you for the sights, the sounds, the smells. Most of all, nothing can prepare you for the beating your heart is about to take. It’s like you got in a fight with the Holy Spirit. And every time,…
Providing an Inheritance to Children in Poverty
Mariana’s mother gathers the family around her at night to read a portion of the Bible and to pray together. She knows this is the best inheritance she could leave her children.
Just before passing away Vilma’s mother asked Vilma for two things, to look after her sisters and to do something good with her life. So when the news came to Vilma, a graduate of our sponsorship program, that the Compassion Honduras country office was looking for a Partnership Facilitator for the western region, she was…
Questions about letter writing are the most common ones I hear in the contact center. Many sponsors call or write us because they are frustrated with the quality of the letters they receive from their sponsored children.
A few days ago, I spoke with Judy because she was upset that her sponsored child, Carlos, doesn’t…
The Next World Cup All Star?
The eyes of hundreds of thousands of people are glued to the field. A commentator narrates the last seconds of the game: “… and there comes Landaverde with a pass from Valdez… Landaverde surpasses the defense quite easily; he aims at the goal… shoots… AND SCORES!!!” El Salvador wins. The people in the stadium shout…
WANTED: the Freedom to be a Kid
According to the United Nation’s International Labor Organization, “Child labor is every work activity that children and adolescents do before turning 18 years old, that affects their physical, social, intellectual, psychological and moral development.” And poverty is a key contributor to the prevalence of child labor.
Sergio is confident enough to race and he knows he is a good runner. He has received many medals and recognition, but he knows how to keep both feet on the ground. He does not boast about himself. He knows that strength, wisdom and speed, in his case, are all gifts from God.
Overcoming Gender Inequality in Guatemala
Born and raised in Ixtahuacán, Huehuetenango, a town very close to the Guatemala-Mexico border, Silvia’s childhood was very hard.
Beautiful green mountains, fresh air and a quiet small town were the landscapes that surrounded Silvia throughout her childhood and adolescence. But Silvia had to make her best efforts to break many barriers that tried to stop…
Children in México’s most impoverished places do not normally get the joy of celebrating a birthday. In Centro de Desarrollo Integral Cordoba Child Development Center, as in many other student centers supported by Compassion, children are recognized and celebrated with singing and cake, making a difference in their self-esteem and value.
At the development centers,…
Easter in El Salvador
Easter Week in El Salvador is celebrated differently than the way it is celebrated in the United States. In the United States, Easter includes the Easter Bunny and egg hunts. In El Salvador as well as many other Central American countries, it is celebrated with much a different atmosphere.
Easter feels like summer. The sun shines…
The Piñata Maker
The community of Montelimar is south of San Salvador, near a town named Olocuilta. The road near Montelimar, which leads to the airport, takes you past a scene that appears desolate. Even though the community has brick houses, electricity and potable water, the desolation of the surroundings and the distance from every other community make…
Chico Accepts Christ
This week, I witnessed one of the most precious moments I’ve experienced since working at Compassion. I’m traveling as a writer with about 25 sponsors on a Sponsor Tour in Guatemala. On Monday, a few of us visited Chico’s home.
Chico is an adorable 9 -year-old sponsored child. He and eight other family members live…
Four years ago, the Alfa y Omega Student Center opened its doors to the children of the community in San Benito, Nicaragua. And the work that initially looked hard is now obtaining great results.
Little more than a year ago, the idea of putting together sports teams at the center flourished. Three teams were formed: baseball,…
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