Slumdog Millionaire and Poverty Tourism
Last weekend I saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Have you heard of it? If you haven’t by now, you surely will soon. Just this week it was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture. (By the way, in case you were wondering, I think it should win Best Picture.)
Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of…
Ask Sathy
Here at Compassion, I get to sit by a really cool guy named Sathy. Sathyaseelan Pannirselvam, that is. (One of my proudest moments was when I found out my last name is longer than his.)
Sathy is a native of Chennai, India, and has worked for Compassion for 10 years. He worked for Compassion India…
Magline’s Bright Future
“Magi, get going else you will be late for your classes,” Magline’s mother calls out from outside the courtyard, where she is washing dishes.
Magline is deeply engrossed reading the sponsor letter she has just received from the student center.
Magline, a bright young girl from Park Circus Child Development Center, is an example of what…
New Year’s Resolutions
I’m not much into New Year’s resolutions. I find it an odd tradition. If you really want to change your life, why wait until January 1 to start? But perhaps it’s a positive thing if it helps us to truly focus on being better human beings — even if our New Year’s resolutions only…
Healing Prayer
Every month we receive prayer requests from our country staff; prayer requests that we publish in our monthly prayer calendar, on compassion.com and as tweets.
Would you mind joining us in healing prayer for these sponsored children:
Komol in Bangladesh, who is suffering from heart disease
Soledad in Bolivia, who is waiting for a kidney transplant
Jacob and…
Sponsor Letter Photos
Right before Thanksgiving, I was rootin’ around in our digital asset management library and saw some child photos I absolutely had to share. Photos of children reading letters from their sponsors.
Biplab has a very charming and loving personality. He is married with a son who is 5 years old. His wife is a teacher. Biplab has a very good sense of humor and knows how to be like a child when relating to children.
Children at the Gazole Child Development Center love him and…
Redemption Needed
Remember when I told you about my new job? I’ve been doing it for several months now and so I feel like I’ve gotten a pretty good grip on things. Well … as good a grip as one can have on a job that depends entirely on world events. And oh my word, the world…
The Dignity of Work
I told you about my new neighbor, the Port-o-Let. One morning, a new big truck came pulling up outside my apartment, and this guy in a yellow vest hopped out.
Armed with a long hose, he proceeded to suck the contents out of the Port-o-Let. Quick as lightning, he hopped back in his truck and…
Getting 10,000 Children Sponsored in 10 Days
Have you noticed the “international” component of who we are? Compassion International.
Part of that internationality is that we work in 24 countries throughout the developing world … uh, 25 countries (you know about Togo, right?)
And the other part of that internationality is that there are 11 countries that form Compassion’s Global Partner Alliance. These…
Iowa, Flooding and the Global Food Crisis
Early in the morning of June 11, after months of heavy precipitation, the Cedar River poured into the streets of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The water quickly swallowed the city.
1,300 city blocks disappeared.
24,000 people were evacuated.
83 of Iowa’s 99 counties were declared disaster areas.
Nearly every river in Iowa flooded that week.
As I watched the…
Arpita’s Miracle
This is a true story about a young girl in one of Compassion’s child development centers in India.
Last summer, heavy rains poured into the village where 12-year-old Arpita lives. The ground, already saturated from previous rains, left nowhere else for the waters to go … so the entire village flooded. Muddy water, one foot…
Throw-Aways
I’ve been putting off writing this post. There are some things that are just easier not to think about.
They’re called “throw-aways,” people whom the world has no use for.
Wess Speaks (Part XI)
If you’re new here, our CEO, Wess Stafford, didn’t write this post, but he did answer the question. We recorded his answer and transcribed it for your reading pleasure.
Read all the posts in the Wess Speaks series.
What are the first names of the children you sponsor, and what countries? Any special stories you like…
Focus on the Forest
I’ve been working at Compassion for eight months, and I dig it. I dig it like Dig ‘Em digs Honey Smacks. There’s good people here, plenty of parking, a fantastic view of Pikes Peak, stellar lunch specials at the New Dehli Café and of course, a job that makes a difference.
Howwwever, I work on…
My Life Of Privilege
I was born into privilege. No, I don’t mean the kind of privilege of living with butlers, maids, fancy cars and mansions. I was born into privilege because my family was able to move to the United States when I was a 5-year-old child, and because of that move I was given the privilege of a life…
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