Being pregnant, giving birth, caring for a newborn, and raising a child are all God-given tasks that are privileges, but in some cases, the stress they create is unbearable. Psychologists say that at least half of women are likely to get “the blues” or depressed in the weeks following childbirth, even in best-case scenarios.

Many of the mothers in our Child Survival Program cope with depression. They are neglected, abandoned and isolated.

In addition, they lack the knowledge and confidence to overcome the challenges in their lives. They may be single moms or they may be moms that were married as children. Either way, they are at a disadvantage, with little to no control over their own lives.

However, psychologists also say that one of the best solutions to fighting postpartum depression is the company of other people, especially the company of other women who have the same experiences.

The best resource that people have is each other. This seems like common sense and easy to make happen, but oftentimes it is not. Women in poverty live isolated lives. Often, they require permission to leave their homes. They cannot easily associate with other people.

Our Child Survival Program helps women because it offers them group-learning activities, opportunities for service to each other, and a community of faith.

Staff members break the barrier of isolation by conducting regular home visits and teaching mothers critical child survival lessons one-on-one. These interventions raise the self-esteem, confidence, and knowledge of the mothers.

As a result, women who initially did not want their pregnancies come to accept and cherish the lives growing in them. Women with complicated pregnancies and difficult births and postpartum depression now have support through each other. Mothers and babies are better off.

There truly is power in numbers, and our Child Survival Program facilitates the support that mothers provide to each other.

“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up.” –Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a.

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Have you ever wondered what your sponsored child’s world looks like? What kind of environment your child lives in?

Have you thought about where your child plays or eats or learns?

Today, by way of our online community, OurCompassion, you can know.

The latest feature gives you a direct look at your child’s center. You can view pictures, read a letter from the church pastor and use Google maps to see where the center is located.

You can also share what you know about the community by adding your photos and videos, writing a journal or posting to the wall.

Not every center has pictures yet, but we are working to get them all updated. You can help us, and your fellow sponsors, by uploading your pictures and videos.

Simply create a gallery from your center’s page, or if creating a gallery from your personal profile, just tag the album with the center’s number (e.g., the first five characters of your child’s number – KE-717).

These pages are also the place to lift up the center’s staff and children in prayer.

You’ll get updated prayer requests, as well as updates, news, stories and crisis updates for your child’s country.

The pages are also a place to learn about upcoming sponsor tours.

Don’t forget to share your pictures and thoughts afterward.

“My favorite part [of the new pages] is the photos of children playing and making silly faces!” — Stephanie Green

“I love being able to message those who sponsor in the same center, and I love the ability to zoom in on the satellite [maps].” — Michelle Wright

“The pastor letters are definitely my favorite part!” — Joe Henegan

To protect the children and staff, we limit the content we share about centers located in politically and spiritually sensitive areas.

We’ve also created guest and sponsor views so that only sponsors with children in a center can view the pastor letters or interact with the maps. This was done with the safety of the children in mind.

So whether you have already visited your child, are signed up for the next sponsor tour, or don’t see yourself taking a trip anytime soon, the child center pages can bring you one step closer to your sponsored child.

Come take a look at what OurCompassion has for you.

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Yesterday, I made it into Batey Aleman, during a complete rainout. Tropical Depression Bonnie paid a visit and the rains haven’t ceased.

Right before going to the batey, I stopped at the Compassion Dominican Republic office and saw the 87 boxes of Rawlings and Nike equipment lining n entire wall three feet deep. I also learned quite a bit about Albert Pujols involvement in all the details of this league, including the discussions he had with Nike and Rawlings about what the team would look like.

I slept a little on the hour and a half ride to the batey after cracking jokes and wearing myself out. When I finally arrived at the muddy batey, I was greeted by a gorgeous but locked up baseball field. It’s fenced in so the animals won’t graze in the outfield.

Though the field looked professionally done, it wasn’t. It was cleaned up by members of the community who so desire to bring joy to the entire community. Can a baseball field do that? No. But people joined together to create something hopeful for the future of children who don’t believe they have a future, can bring more joy than any one of us can understand. It is about community, about fellowship, about faith and about others.

I walked down the street lined with animals, shanties, and children into the child development center where I began discussing how to create the teams and the goals of the league. Imagine my surprise when my sponsored child, Adrian, walked into the door and apprehensively walked to me to give me a hug. He then leaned against my legs for a time until I hoisted him on my lap and he cuddled up into me and fell asleep – oh, after some Smarties and lollipops!

Then, after quite a debate about how the teams should be divided, especially given the immense talent of many of these children, we sat down for an amazing lunch cooked by the center staff. The flavors of the Dominican are outstanding.

After lunch we visited the income generation program implemented by a group called NEST, with the help of the Pujols Family Foundation. We watched women truly engaged in the art of sewing, with a woman who said that life is great because she is learning to sew now!

Next door is a beauty salon where the women are learning beauty techniques that will hopefully bring some income into their families as well. I am praying that this batey is about to undergo a supernatural transformation.

I left the batey wondering when the rain will stop and if it does, when the heat will start. Regardless of the conditions, my team is prepared to give the boys of this batey a reason for hope and a belief that they have a bright future ahead of them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The communities start with a group of squatters who settle in open spaces near the main cities. The people from these places often work in the cities, so they depend economically and commercially on urban regions. The communities struggle to get good services and communications; they have little infrastructure.

Productive activities in these areas include commerce, labor and domestic employment, brick layers, blacksmithing, selling in the small markets or small corner stores, factory workers, and industry laborers .

The families are normally paid by day, and so they live on a very small budget, unable to plan much into the future. Children often receive their clothes from older brothers or cousins; mothers fix and reuse the clothes to make them last for the next generation. New clothes are bought from the market and from relatives as well. Clothes and gifts the children receive from the child development centers are highly valued.

Many children come from Roman Catholic backgrounds since the country’s population is 88 percent Roman Catholic, according to the last census from INEGI (National Institute for Statistics and Geography).

Educational services in these areas are underdeveloped. Many schools are still under construction or have provisional classrooms that parents helped build and remodel with their few resources. The average education level is six years of elementary school.

The diet of families in suburban areas mostly depends on their income. Most families prepare rice and beans, noodle soup, chilaquiles and other tortilla-based dishes.

Examples of child development centers found in areas like this include:

ME-709, 730, 731, 733, 735, 737, 738, 744, 750, 751, 764, 774, 775, 777 – 784, 786, 787, 790, 791, 792, 801, 802, 807, 811, 814, 815, 816, 819, 824, 826, 829, 831, 837, 840, 852, 857 – 862, 870, 881, 882, 885 – 889, 891, 895, 896, 900, 901, 910, 915 – 918, 921, 923, 924, 927, 928, 937, 941, 942, 944, 947 and 948.

Sopa de Pasta Recipe

In Mexico, it is very common to find small bags of pasta in different shapes like tiny stars. Families cook this often to feed the children. Some cook it with chicken to make it a full meal. Many times they add a few chicken bones for flavor.

To prepare a similar dish, break regular noodles into short pieces.

Heat oil in a large pot, and fry noodles until lightly browned.

In a blender, add a few tomatoes, onion and garlic, and puree until smooth.

Pour the tomato mixture into the pot with the noodles and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add water or chicken stock and cook covered until the noodles are tender, 5 to 10 minutes.

Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and stir.

Serve in a bowl while still hot.

Chilaquiles Recipe

You can make either green or red chilaquiles, depending on the tomatoes used. Green tomatoes are very popular in some places, but red tomatoes are good, too. In some restaurants, chilaquiles are also served with chicken breast strips, but in the Compassion communities they are normally served as they come out of the pan.

Place tomatoes in a saucepan and cover with water.

Add one jalapeno, or even half if preferred, and salt, onion and garlic.

Cook for 5 minutes until tomatoes have changed color and are cooked through. Blend until completely done. Add salt to taste and finish cooking.

Deep-fry corn tortillas cut into smaller strips until golden brown. When they are crisp, remove and place them on sheets of paper towels to remove excess oil. Add the fried tortillas to the salsa.

Serve chilaquiles with either sour cream, fresh cheese or onion.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Drugs, gangs and a high rate of violence are terrible problems in these communities. Single mothers are also common, and children spend many afternoons wandering the streets.

Not many families own property. Rented homes are the common denominator here. Many times three or more related families crowd into small, rented homes.

Homes built and owned by families house a long line of working-class grandparents, parents and children who all have contributed with their labor to be able to share a small room. Homes are usually built, with small rooms, around a common patio, and have common facilities or restrooms. Families are very close, and the grandparents hold a high rank in the family hierarchy.

In many cases the common room serves as the kitchen with a big table, and other rooms are designated for each son and his family. Men usually stay home and bring their new families to live with the parents, and females normally leave their homes to live with their husbands and their husbands’ families.

Parents usually have two to four children. Many times women are abandoned and either raise their children by themselves or continue building their family with a new husband.

Depending on the location of these urban communities, dress and attire vary just a little, but clothing is mostly informal, and there is a huge market of used clothes sold at very cheap prices at the street markets.

The communities are normally built around a big Roman Catholic church and a local market that supplies all the goods and supplies for families. It’s an open market, with fruits and vegetables, grains, meat and many small stands that sell everything the community could ever need.

Most families base their nutrition on grains like beans, rice or lentils, soup and sometimes eggs or chicken.

Transportation is usually provided by either buses or smaller vans modified to carry up to 15 people, and they are usually very crowded, especially in the mornings when adults and youths go to work in the cities nearby or to pursue higher education.

Examples of child development centers found in areas like this include:

ME-703, 708, 711, 741, 770, 785, 788, 789, 825, 839, 880, 912, 919, 922, 934, 935 and 936.

Lentils Recipe

Place rinsed and inspected lentils in a large pot with chicken broth and let it boil.

Once boiling, add onion, garlic and cilantro, to taste.

Reduce heat to medium until lentils are soft, about 12-15 minutes,  depending on type of lentil used.

If necessary, add more water or chicken broth to attain the consistency you prefer.

Salt to taste.

Serve hot with garnish of chopped cilantro, onion and small tomato cubes.

In the southern part of Mexico lentils are first boiled with salt, and then after frying tomato cubes, onion and garlic, they are added into the pot. In this case, they are also served with slices of banana.

Mexican Rice Recipe

For one cup of rice, heat the oil in a medium saucepan and fry the rice, stirring, until it starts to brown.

Add the garlic when the rice is nearly browned.

Add the water, then the mix of tomato, onion, salt and garlic. Mix well. Cover partially and turn the heat down to medium low.

Cook the rice for 20 to 30 minutes, but check after 20 minutes to see if it is ready. You do not need to stir the rice or lift the lid while it cooks. It is ready when the rice is fluffy and all the water is gone. If it is still sauce-like rather than dry, cook a few minutes more.

Adjust the spices to taste, and serve hot as a side dish.

Grandmothers say to usually use about twice the amount of water to rice. So in this case, one cup of rice cooks well with two cups of water.

In some places they eat rice topped with a fried egg, with bananas or avocado.

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The idea for the center began in 1989 through the initiative of Gezahegne and other church leaders who discussed various options to evangelize in the community. After these many discussions, Gezahegne says, “We agreed that Compassion would be the best method.”

At the time, Compassion required only three people to start a child development center – an accountant, a social worker, and a director. Gezahegne’s accounting experience prompted the church elders to invite him to that position.

After Gezahegne’s initial work as the center accountant, he was approached again by the church elders to become the center director.

As Gezahegne reflects on the impact of his program, he says,

“When I was a child, my friends and I had no direction or guidance growing up. Here at Compassion we fight to protect the children from negative influences, and we give them support to continue their education.”

This academic support for the children comes in the form of tutorial classes and money for school fees and materials, including clothing. However, the program also provides for their physical and spiritual needs as well; Compassion gives grains and other food stuffs, hygienic materials, and provides summer and Vacation Bible School and Bible studies for the children.

The child development center is located in one of the poorest communities in Addis Ababa, near the city dump where many beggars reside, pilfering through the garbage to get food.

As a result, the center organizes monthly family meetings where they distribute food and other materials as well as conduct Bible studies and educate families on how to care for themselves, their children, and how to effectively use their resources. Gezahegne says,

“We not only change the lives of the child, but also we change the lives of the family. We educate them [Compassion-assisted families] about not going to the dump and not begging; we support them and encourage them to work hard.”

Even though Gezahegne’s job as director keeps him busy with many administrative tasks, he still makes sure he has time with the children.

“Because I live in this community, children and their families come to my house if they need assistance.”

In addition to home visits by the children, Gezahegne and his staff also make a point of visiting the children’s homes to observe their home life.

“We not only take care of them here at the student center, but we go to their houses and ask their families ‘Where do they sleep? What do they eat? How is the communication between parents and child?’”

Much of Gezahegne’s work is that of a social worker, in counseling and giving advice to the children. Some of these children’s problems occur in the form of abuse; Gezahegne is called to minister to these special needs of the children.

“All the children respect me as a father. When they have particular problems, things they can’t share with others, they come to me – especially the teenagers. Stepfathers, brothers, and even high school teachers abuse these children and they come to us. We listen to them because they need someone to listen to them. In my trainings, I have learned to listen and ask few questions.”

After providing a supportive ear as they confide in Gezahegne, he then talks with their families and friends to come up with a solution together. “I ask the children, ‘What is your suggestion for a solution?.’”

While Gezahegne and other staff members have a significant impact on these children’s lives, Gezahegne also mentions the huge impact of the children’s sponsors. Of these people who touch the lives of children thousands of miles away, Gezahegne says,

“Sponsors do a great job supporting the poorest of children. From their own lives, they share with the children, and with their families.”

As the child development center director, Gezahegne witnesses the huge change in children’s lives when they begin a sponsorship program.

“When children get support, they begin coming to Sunday school and they have good hope. But when the support is stopped, the children become gamblers and beggars; they go back to the dump and stop going to church.”

Most importantly, however, the children relish the letters from their sponsors. The sponsors touch the lives of the children by encouraging them to keep up with their studies and remind them of their goals and promises they’ve made for the future. Gezahegne agrees,

“The words of the sponsors in the letters are words of encouragement for the children – a source of hope.”

As Gezahegne thinks about the center’s future, he dreams of networking with local governments and other organizations to better care for the community’s children.

“We have the opportunity with these children to effectively support and train them to become church leaders to continue the tradition of training more youngsters.”

One way he hopes to achieve that is by creating more awareness of how to better support children by communicating with churches and partnering with the government and Addis Ababa schools to cooperatively work at improving the lives of the city’s children.

But for Gezahegne, Mekanisa Addis Kidan Child Development Center has already achieved success. To date, Gezahegne reports that 109 children have been baptized in the program and these children have since become leaders in various church ministries, members of the choir, and lead Bible studies.

As these children come to know the Lord, Gezahegne says their lives are visibly changed.

“Their behavior changes within their families, the child evangelizes in the family – leads prayers over meals; their communication and interaction with friends and family changes. Even teachers in school notice behavioral changes in children since they’ve learned about Jesus. “The works are small, but the harvest is big. We planted some seeds and when you take care of them, they becomes beautiful flowers.”

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When he moved to the city and became part of the Capitol Development Center, he became the leader of the youth club … and decided he wanted to become the leader of the entire child development center so he could help make an impact on his community.

Milord was so committed that he, once a Compassion-sponsored child himself, achieved this mission when he became the director of the Capitol Development Center. He is honored to minister to 450 children through the child sponsorship program and 90 children and caregivers through the Child Survival Program (CSP). His mission is to bring them spiritual, socio-emotional and economic change.

Milord has now been successfully working as the center director for eight years. He became director just several years after graduating from the program himself, having studied social work and theology at the university.

As director, Milord has many responsibilities. He supervises all center activities, ensuring they are well implemented, and plans programs with the staff. Milord also mentors the teachers, reminding them of their duties to protect children’s rights.

Besides planning and training, he maintains contact with the children and parents to monitor their needs and influence changes in their lives. Through this he assesses what the needs are and creates appropriate programs. In his interactions, he challenges the parents to value children and protect them from abuse.

Milord also encourages children to participate in spiritual activities and helps them to develop leadership skills at an early age. Lastly, stimulating children to maintain good relationships with their sponsors through quality correspondence is also part of his duties.

These are just some of the ways Milord ensures the mission of developing children is happening at his child development center. Milord gains motivation for his mission to change lives through the knowledge that his work is not in vain.

One particular experience helped teach him this. A sponsored child named Idline was severely ill with convulsive attacks. Among Voodoo worshipers in Haiti, convulsive attacks are big signs of Satan’s attack and force parents to offer sacrifices.

As Idline’s parents were not Christians, they took the child to a Voodoo priest in the countryside to be cured. Unfortunately, the child’s situation became worse.

After their vain efforts to save Idline’s life, the mother decided to take the child to a child development center activity called: “Moment of Decision,” a spiritual activity held in all Compassion-assisted centers to challenge the children to experience God.

Bibles are distributed to children, and they spend time together praying, worshiping and sharing testimonies. Many Compassion children have accepted Christ at this activity.

When children are told about Christ, small groups are formed for a moment of decision, a moment of counseling and motivation for children to experience God. After a moment of prayer, Idline recovered her consciousness and the convulsive attack stopped.

As a result, she accepted Christ as her personal Savior by the end of the event. Currently, Idline is in good health and, thanks to that experience, her mother and her twin sister have also accepted Christ as their personal Savior. Milord says,

“That vivid example has motivated me to be more committed to ministry to children. I feel that my effort as a director is not in vain. I am striving for changes in children’s lives within the community.

“I am committed to see that my work bears fruit in the life of the children and parents; this will be my greatest satisfaction. I do not expect anything in return from the children or parents, but the reward is God’s blessings.”

Milord is finding that his mission is more a ministry than just a paying job. His greatest dream is to ensure that all 450 child development center children, plus the 90 CSP children and caregivers, succeed and become real agents of change.

He wants them to grow with love for their community in particular and for the country in general.
Success for Milord is that the children grow with fear for God, dignity, independence and a capacity to have an impact on others.

“My dream is that all these children become self-supported with a skill to use in life, a trade to function with a spirit of service to God and to their community. I dream that these children will improve their life condition at all levels.”

Individual attention is given to each child, helping all know their value. Playing with the children makes them feel important. In Haiti, many parents from the lower class never play with their children, thinking that playing with children provokes disrespect. So playing with the teachers and directors becomes very important for the children to learn they are valued.

Children are sometimes carried in the director’s arms in order for them to feel secure. The director shows concern in the way he feeds them. Building the children’s social skills and self-esteem is a key part of the child development center.

During Christmas season, children are given the opportunity to develop their talents on stage in the presence of their parents or guardians. The children exchange gifts.

And each year in commemoration of International Children’s Day, various activities take place in order to raise awareness of the need for the child development center staff and parents to care for and advocate for children.

Another important part of the children’s development at the program is the letters from sponsors. “It is crucial that the sponsors regularly write to their children and visit them when they can,” says Milord.

Milord confesses that sponsors’ letters can change the life of a child forever.

“A sponsor’s letter makes the child feel that they are not alone. The child feels that they have an obligation to do well in school and to behave at home in order to make their sponsor happy.

“It is certain that the sponsor does not replace the parents; but as any parent, the sponsor plays a great role in the success of a child’s life through letters of encouragement and photos.”

Being a child development director doesn’t come without challenges. The socio-economic situation prevalent in the country is an obstacle to child development. For instance, in a family of 10 children, there is chance for three to be enrolled in the Compassion program.

Milord tells about one child from the child development center who suffered from malnutrition. The center staff made acquisition of nutritional food supplies for that child to last several days as to improve his health condition.

But the director was surprised to see during a home visit that all the food supplies were used in just one day by the whole family.

This situation is very common among families with several children. The living conditions of the families make it difficult to have an impact on the life of one single child from many others.

Another challenge is cultural. Some parents accept poverty as a normal condition of life. Milord says,

“Despite all our efforts to bring in the change, some parents seem to be in their comfort zone; they are, unfortunately, not ready to move out.”

In Haiti, it is very difficult to bring people who are poor back to school to learn a vocation, especially when they already have children. Some of them think that since they have children there is no chance to move forward.

Milord finds it difficult to have the participation of most women in the sewing class, although it is free and would generate a good income for parents in the long run. A vivid example is the non-formal vocational program for parents at the center. Some parents are more interested in receiving gifts and support than to practice activities that generate income.

Despite the challenges, there is also great satisfaction in directing at the development center.

“One of the things that has had an impact on me the most is that 50 percent of the staff are former Compassion students.”

When Milord was first transferred to the child development center, it was very difficult for the church to find human resources in the community to run both the center and the school.

Milord believes that those 450 children from the child development center will continue to learn to have a positive and durable impact on the community, just as he learned himself.

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“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continues to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands and houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.” – Acts 4:32-35 (NIV)

Wait a minute … did I read that right? There were no needy persons among them. How did I miss this before?

Back in July we had a discussion about whether or not we should – or even can – end poverty. It was a good discussion with some very insightful comments.

This verse wasn’t mentioned in that discussion, but as I read the verse I started to ponder something.

If the believers in Acts were able to essentially eradicate poverty among their community, why couldn’t we (the Church) follow their lifestyle and do the same today? What would happen if churches would simply start following the model of the Church in Acts? Could we eliminate poverty?

What do you think? Does this verse change how you think about poverty and the Church’s role in ending it?

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