Little Mariam was still sleeping, although the roosters had already crowed several times. Laid on her mat, she was huddled under her covers; it had rained the previous day, and the weather was a bit cold in the first hours of the morning.
Though she was registered in grade two, Mariam was lounging on her mat even after 7 a.m., because she was already on holiday. Moreover, even if she was not on holiday, she could have slept until sunrise because it was Thursday morning and she would not have had a course.
During the rainy season, Mariam, like her brothers and sisters, does not have the privilege to see her father because he moves to a village located a few kilometers away from the city to cultivate there in order to nourish the family.
The mother who stays alone with the five children sells fritters to provide for the needs of the family to the best of her ability.
Abruptly, Mariam who had been sleeping quietly jumps up and rushes outside, as if something important has just occurred.
In the courtyard, Mariam’s sisters, Assanata and Zourata, are preparing to leave. They both have weekly appointments that they would not miss for anything in the world. They are registered at the Assemblies of God Central Church of Koudougou Child Development Center.
Every Thursday, Assanata and Zourata leave the house around 7:30 a.m. and come back only after 2 p.m., humming songs that are completely unknown to the other members of their Moslem family.
Mariam always awaits their return so she can taste the food that her sisters bring home, and she does not fail to learn the songs that they sing as they return.
Any letter that Assanata and Zourata receives is an occasion of rejoicing for Mariam too, who is always given part of the gifts that are sent by the sponsor of her twin sisters.
When her sisters go to the child development center Mariam stays at home with her mother and her little brother Madi. She gives a hand to her mother by bringing the millet, which is used to make fritters sold by her mother, to the mill to be made into flour.
Once back from the mill, Mariam sweeps the house, the kitchen and makes the washing up while having her eyes riveted on the way – waiting for her sisters to come home.
Sitting under the only tree of the household, Mariam is lost in dreams deeply moved by the situation of poverty in which she lives with all her family.
She imagines herself in possession of four hundred thousand CFA Francs. Then she sees herself in a large shop of the capital city where she buys clothes, shoes and above all food provisions for her family.
She also sees herself building a new house for her family to replace the small one that was built with earth in which she and all her family live cramped.
“I would certainly not fail to put in electricity,” she says to herself.
Moreover, in Burkina Faso solidarity is still an enduring value, she would find it good to give part of her “fortune” to the needy people who would come her way.
Mariam also wants to be registered at the child development center because she says to herself, “If I were sponsored, all my dreams would be carried out.”
It sometimes happens that she sits down and wonders why she isn’t registered.
Mariam’s mother does not raise questions any more, she is filled with joy to have two of her children registered to a child development center and to have a sponsor who writes and sends presents. Without this sponsorship, her children would not be able to go to school and big health issues could also arise.
Far from sowing discord and competition between the sponsored children and those who are not sponsored, as one might expect to see, this sponsorship on the contrary reinforces the African values of solidarity and sharing between Assanata, Zourata and Mariam.
At Christmas, one does not know who of the three girls is sponsored and who is not. Thanks to their spirit of sharing that, with time was sharpened by the biblical lessons received at the child development center, Assanata and Zourata joyfully share part of their biscuits and lollipops with their beloved sister Mariam and their brother.
Mariam is certainly happy to have her twin sisters registered at the child development center, and her desire to find herself there is undoubtedly related to the difference that the sponsorship made in the lives of her sisters and all the family.
Thanks
Alyson, Sara and Heather,
Please be patient with me regarding your request. It could take several months before I have an answer for you.
I’m taking your kind-hearted and generous request to help Mariam’s family and making it, along with what was already done for Kamrul, a point of discussion to create a policy for how this type of request can be handled cost effectively and efficiently, if it happens in the future.
What we did with Kamrul and what we’d do with this request is very inefficient and costly, from a time and effort perspective, as well as the financial perspective (i.e., the cost associated with that time and effort).
Additionally, I want to get an answer on how this type of request fits in with our philosophy that each sponsor has a one-to-one relationship with his or her sponsored child.
Thanks.
Chris,
I can definitely understand the importance of using Compassion’s time and financial resources wisely. I am just kicking around a few ideas here. What if Compassion had a “Spotlight of the Week” – or “Spotlight of the Month?” It could be either a child (medical need?), family, or small community need. It could even be in the area of the global financial crisis, disaster relief, child survival program, or some other fascet of Compassion. For example, one week you could highlight the (global food crisis) need of a community in Uganda to have goats or seeds for crops (or both). After the donations have been given you could easily follow up with a story in the blog to share the results of the giving.
If you rotated the ministries spotlighted you would be giving a “face” and a “name” to the various ministries of Compassion.
This is just a thought. I know we all enjoyed the Kamrul story so much and would love to have more opportnities like it to help. Well, sorry about the long post. Thanks for all you are doing each day to help “the least of these.” God Bless You!
Chris,
Sorry, but I had just one more thought to add to the “Spotlight of the Week” idea. You could add a disclaimer that said “If we receive more money than is needed for this project the overflow will be transferred to the (global food crisis) project to help other families such as these.” – or whichever project the spotlight is highlighting. That way you won’t have to worry about what to do with any extra funds. Just a thougtht! (smile)
Chris -
Ever since I put the idea out to help Mariam by sending her a gift, I have also been pondering how this affects the one-to-one relationship between a child and a sponsor. I know from expierience that this is such a special relationship to have. I would in no way want to affect this.
I do have an idea that hopefully would not interupt this relationship, but could still show siblings thay are not forgotten:
What if Compassion could set up a fund in the Contributions page on the Compassion website for siblings of sponsored children (maybe called the Siblings Gift Fund or something)? It would be similar to the Christmas Gift Fund where all the donations are pooled together and spread out evenly among all children. People could donate to this fund just like a normal contribution. Then, along with their contribution thank you letter from Compassion in the mail, a simple card could be included. This card can be filled out by the donor and returned to Compassion to be attached to one of the Sibling Gifts. The card could be very generic, just a colorful card with a small writing space for a sentence or two so the writer could just say something like “God loves you and cares for you”. Compassion could even find volunteers to fill out multiple cards that will end up being attached to the gifts. This way, each sibling’s gift would be personal, yet it wouldn’t have to be extremely difficult for Compassion because any card can be attached to any gift.
Then, once per year, every un-registered sibling under 18 years old would receive a gift from their siblings’s child development project. Compassion could pick a specific day each year that every project would set aside for this. It could be a special day with a Bible lesson, crafts, games, and a snack that the un-registered siblings would get to participate in at the project. At the end of the day each sibling would receive a gift (examples: clothing, crayons and paper, shoes), along with the special card mentioned above. The children could be told that a loving sponsor, just like their sibling’s sponsor, was thinking of them when they donated this gift. They would be able to understand that they are loved and cared for even though they can’t have a sponsor of their own.
Sorry, this was so incredibly looooooong. I hope it wasn’t too confusing!
Thanks for reading it.
Alyson, I love your idea. I don’t know what it would take from Compassion’s end to make it work, but if they did, I would definitely contribute! I have two sponsored kids who both have 3 siblings, and I’d love to make sure they are able to get something–maybe at Christmas–even when I’m not financially able to send in a family gift that year.
Alyson,
I like your idea a lot. I will definitely add it to the discussion agenda when talking about our gift policy.
Thank you
Thank you for reading and considering my idea!
Chris,
or some extra proding. Needs are alot harder to ignore and seem more human than just a fund when you can read from the blog what is going on. It personally doesn’t affect me either way but I know for some people it does. 
I agree with what the other girls are saying. Alyson’s ideas and the Spotlight of the Week idea are really awesome ideas! I don’t think any of us would want to adversely affect the one on one relationship with the childs sponsor and family. The only thing I was thinking of was the situations in which the sponsored childs sponsor can’t or won’t help out with major needs-like a roof or something like Kamruls work,or anything else that would come up. I know Compassion has a Where Needed Most fund but if there was some program or something on this blog featuring a tremendously needy family or major issue/need that needed help with I know there would be a tremendous response. Sometimes people just need a little visual help
Sorry bout harrassing you so much Chris
Amanda,
Your idea is a great one. I made a note of it for my meeting next week.
I apologize for not replying sooner. I thought I had, but I see I had only responded to Alyson’s idea.
Chris,
Thanks for your reply…and thank you for all you are doing for “the least of these.” God Bless You.
Amanda and Alyson,
Your ideas were well received, and we’re on to the next level of meetings to talk about them.
I’ll keep you posted as I know more.
Chris -
Thanks for keeping us updated!
God bless.
Thanks for the information. God bless!
Thanks for listening to our ideas and keeping us updated!
@Vicki Small –
Do the letters get sent out once a month? or once a week?
I thought that I remembered that groups of letters were sent out once a week (either Wed. or Thu.) to their respective countries. Does anyone know for sure?
@Shelly Quigg – The idea of leaving something in your will to insure that these children will be taken care of is a fantastic idea! This was a old comment – but I really liked that.
As for the siblings, I try to mention them in my letters to our sponsored children…and I liked the idea of sending extras….I will do that in my letters today.
I’m sorry I hadn’t checked on here sooner!
As I have been listening to the global food crisis, I can not stop hearing that voice that is asking; How many children could we save with a 750 billion dollar stimulus pakage. Or, Why do we keep getting all these hand out to improe our way of life?
It is always abouot the American way of life, I pray we can soon look at the global.
God bless all the little “Miriams”
Has anyone else noticed that some letters take super long to go to and from your sponsor child and you? I received a letter about a month ago from my little girl in Ecuador that was written in October! It took four months to get to me. I was wondering if this is normal for some countries. I have only been sponsoring for about 18 months, so I am still kind of new at this.
Yes, some of the letters can take a while. A letter from Peru took about 2 months to get here, but one from Indonesia took about 3 months–it wasn’t dated, so I’m not sure exactly. It was written at some time before Christmas, and I received it about a week ago.
Now, I’m not sure how long it takes for letters to arrive in either of these countries (I’ve only been writing to Peru since December). I began sponsoring my boy in Indonesia at the beginning of September, and when my cousin–who worked in Indonesia–visited him in early January, she said he hadn’t received any of my letters yet, four months after I sent my first letter.
I am still new to this also, so I’m still trying to figure it out too–but this is what I’ve figured out so far. Hope it helps!
@Judith Tremblay – Judith: thanks for your comment… it helps a lot! Its nice to know that I am not the only one who has had to wait for long periods of time between letters.
Yes, it can take a while for the letters to get there and back and forth. I think sometimes what happens is the LIFO affect. Last in First Out. Think about it this way. When you go on a flight and you bring your suitcase to be checked in. Your suitcase gets put in the plane in the back. The last person putting in their suitcase is put on the front, because the other suitcases are in the back of the plane. When the plane lands, they unpack it in the reverse order of how they came in. Otherwise they would have to first dig to the back of the plane and take the suitcases out that way. I think that is what sometimes happens with a stack of letters too. I don’t know. Just my theory.
One time, I wrote Eliana one of my sponsored children a letter. I told her that I was eating peanuts, while I was writing the letter. Half a year later, I got a letter back, asking me how the peanuts were!
Kees
Kees brings up an excellent point I think the quickest I ever got a letter was around 1-2 months from when it was written and longest was almost 7 months exactly!!! My advice is if you really want your questions answered write about 1,000 of them and go and visit and ask maybe about 200-300 of the most important ones!!! Even if you are Methuselah and live to be 969 years or so I think visiting you would get more questions answered than Methuselah writing letters!!! Also when you visit many of your questions melt away b/c you want to spend the short time you have interacting etc. But my sponsored child along with many others took a nap in the middle of lunch!!!
Can we send stamps to our sponsered child?
I am thinking if they had stamps maybe we would get a letter from them more often.
@Pat Sendzik –
1) you’d have to get international stamps from the child’s country to send to them (I doubt Peru’s postal system would honor American stamps, unfortunately)
2) all correspondence has to go through Compassion for a couple of reasons, primarily for everyone’s safety. Also to make sure that letters are translated (I do love that service provided by Compassion!). But as for safety, it protects you from a potentially bad family member, wanting to exploit the relationship and asking for money by saying the child needs to go to the hospital, for example. It also protects the children from people having access to their address, who might potentially want to go over and exploit them personally.
Hi, Pat,
The letters get written in the project. Then they get send to the country office, then they get translated and then they are send to Colorado, where they get logged and send to you. So, sending stamps wouldn’t really help the child in sending you a letter, because the mail has to go through this process. You could maybe send stamps as something for them to collect and learn from different parts of the world.
That might be a good idea.
Kees
Hi Everyone,
I currently sponsor one child and am considering sponsoring another that is older …maybe 16 or 17. I was touched to learn that most kids that age have lost their sponsors for some reason but wondered what kind of impact a new sponsorship has on a child at this later stage. At what age do they typically graduate from the program? What determines when they are elegible to graduate (is it age, knowledge or skills-based)?
Also, I have often wondered what happens to Compassion kids after graduation. I have only ever heard of the LDP program but I understand that represents a small number of all formerly sponsored kids . What becomes of the rest?
Lots of questions…I know – but I’d appreciate any feedback on the subject of older children.
Hi Stephanie,
Those are some good questions. I can tell you from experience that it is a joy to sponsor older children. I started sponsoring a 18 year old girl from the Philippines and she writes the most amazing letters.
The graduation age varies from country to country but is usually between 18 and 22 years old. Some of the kids get vocational training as a part of the program so when they graduate they get a job. Some of the kids go on to be project workers and give back to the community in that way. Others probably get married or keep helping their families. Remember that these kids are going to the project at their local churches. Even when they have graduated from the program they are still a part of that church.
@Stephanie G –
I sponsor a few older children myself. I’ve been blessed to get to know them and met several of them. I think it’s a big encouragement to a child when they loose their sponsor to get another sponsor again.
From what I can tell, many of them continue serving the Lord. There is also an alumni association in many of the countries, so they can get together.
I just “spoke” to Tony Beltranes. He’s an LDP student from the Dominican Republic, who currently is at Moody. He mentioned that not all sponsor children become believers, but many of them do. They get involved with churches and some of them become leaders. I remember being in several projects where I found that the tutors and several staff used to be formerly sponsored children.
But yes, I can recommend sponsoring an older child wholeheartedly. As a matter of fact, I’m looking for a sponsor for a Bolivian girl named Amalia. She is 16 years old and she lives with her mother. I sponsor a child in her project BO-132, but the child I sponsor is my youngest Bolivian child, only 7 years old. She is very mature for her age. She skipped a grade and she sat on my lap, singing the Bolivian National anthem. She also just wrote me asking me to read the Bible with her next time I see her. She doesn’t know that, but Lord willing that should be really soon! Anyways, that’s not to say that if you decide to sponsor Amalia, that she she would sit on your lap, singing the Bolivian National anthem!!! LOL. You can email me, if you’re interested. (keesboer@positive-entertainment.com)
Kees
@Chris Giovagnoni –
What can each of us do to help the millions of Mariam’s out there? Pray. Host a Compassion Sunday. Possibly even apply to be a Compassion Advocate (trained volunteer).
A church in my area met with Compassion’s country office in Uganda. A church that they were working with was interested in joining Compassion Uganda. The country office had to tell them that they were unable to register any new Compassion projects right now because there were too many unsponsored children registered.
It is plain and simple. If we find more sponsors, more churches can reach more children for Jesus. More children will know His joy, peace, and love. More people will be set free to live the abundant life (John 10:10).
Go to compassion.com and look at the share compassion section. Find a way to help Compassion find more sponsors. Then, more children will be helped.
“All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men and women to do nothing.” “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Yes, Dionne is correct. My dream is to go to the Compassion.com website and have it say: “Sorry no children available for sponsorship, check back later.”
Kees
@Chris Giovagnoni -I have inquired into sponsoring the sister of one of my children. I am concerned because Emebet says her sister is retarded. In America we have a lot of services for special needs children. Do you have anything like that in your programs?
@Jeanette – What child development center is Emebet a part of? If you give me the first five characters of her child number, I’ll try to get you a comprehensive answer.
@Chris Giovagnoni – ET528
Amanda and Alyson,
Your ideas are still getting attention and being discussed. They’re still alive.
I don’t have anything more to share at this point, but eventually, I’ll have something.
@Jeanette – Thanks. The reason I asked is that the services vary country by country and even child development center by child development center. I’m trying to get an answer that is accurate to your child’s circumstances.
@Chris Giovagnoni – Thank you, but just so you know, I have already sponsored another child and would no longer be able to sponsor Emebet’s sister. But I would still appreciate an answer to my question.
Chris,
Thank you so much for the update! God is good!
Thanks, Chris, for taking the time to keep us updated!!
I sponssored a child in Uganda from about 9 years old until she graduated at about 19. She wanted to be a nurse, but her grades weren’t good enough. She had to miss school often to help at home with her 8 siblings and farming. But she became a preschool teacher. I think she worked at the project but I am not sure.
@alyson – Is there a way to stay in touch with children who have graduated?
@Chris Giovagnoni – Is there a way to keep in touch with children who have graduated, especially if they are working in a project?
Hi Jeanette, to answer your question, yes! There is a way to keep in touch with the child/children who have graduated. You (or whoever the sponsor is) will need to contact our phone center (800-336-7676) and request a waiver form. We will communicate to the specified country office about your desire to continue writing the child (or now, young adult) and the process will begin from here.
You will receive more detailed information about this process once you call and request this information.
Hope this helps!
@Jeanette – I heard back from the Ethiopia country office, and they told me that we have very limited services for special needs children in Ethiopia.
Any services we can provide are mostly for children in centers located in Addis Ababa.
No such services are available in the more remote areas of Ethiopia or specifically where Emebet is.
Because of this, her church isn’t able to fully provide holistic development to her.
you are doing a good job of sponsoring children,like my case i was a college student two year ago and forced to drop my college because of lack of fees,can you be able to sponsor me to continue with my education this may semester?hope to hear from you soon.may God bless you for good work you are doing.
@Chris Giovagnoni – Thank you for looking into this for me. I understand it must be hard to provide these services in remote areas.
@Shelly Quigg –
to Shelly Quigg, what a wonderful idea!! I never thought about adding a provision in my will to lump sum pay for our sponsored children. It won’t replace the letter writing, but it’s nice to know that I will be able to follow through on a committment to not only my own children, but the sponsored ones as well. thank you for the idea.
@Jlynn – I need to start saving…so that I can have something to leave behind in a will!
Perhaps, in addition to the provision to providing for the sponsored children in a lump sum, a direction can be given to Compassion to provide a correspondent. I don’t know whether Compassion would tell the children that the sponsor has died or not…but I hope that situation never (or rarely) comes up!
@Chris Giovagnoni – Alyson, Sara and Heather,
Discussions continue about potential changes to our gift policy; changes that would allow gifts to be made to a child from people other than the sponsor.
They’re positive discussions.
I have so enjoyed catching up on all the news at Compassion. Thank you one and all for the fantastic, christian ideas for our children. Chris, just reading about how you have helped several members here with problems, gives me great joy that “someone” does listen. Thank you! I have never been disappointed with my relationship with Compassion, and now sponsor 8 children in Burkina Faso with them. I still honor a previous committment to another agency to sponsor 2 children in Zambia. How I wish Compassion would go into Zambia again! That is my prayer. God Bless y’all!
@Tanis –
I just received a letter yesterday that also took 4 months from Brazil. My letter to Brazil also took 4 months. I am surprised it takes longer to go to Brazil than letters to Africa. My letters to 3 countries take 45 days to Ghana, about 7 weeks to Tanzania and about 3 months to Kenya. Interesting.
Kathy
I am wondering about this too. I have become very attached to my sponsored children and can’t even think about sponsorship ending. I am wondering though if the mother makes about $40 per year to support 6 children and they live in a remote area how would they possibly be able to buy stamps and mail a letter? I would be happy to help them financially but still see the cost to mail a letter to be a deterent in keeping in contact with me. Even if I were to send money how would they cash it? Are they able to open a bank account? This is all a few years away but I am wondering.
Kathy
@Brianne Mullins -
@Kathy Olson – That’s a great question. I think there is a way of sending some sort of International postage to them. I remember some actors requiring that if they lived in England and an American was asking for an autographed picture. Or something like that. It’s been a while, since I had to deal with that. Maybe the child will be able to write you through the Internet. Sometimes there are very cheap Internet cafes around. Realize that there is no translation or guidance though in the letter writing. So, you have to be careful. You might not get a letter from the child, but from the alcoholic uncle asking for money. I’ve even heard of the child showing up at the doorsteps of their former sponsor, asking him/her to take them in. I’m still planning on staying in touch with my children, but I could see writing a letter and explaining that I sponsored them so they can continue making a living themselves. I can’t imagine not staying in touch with them though.
Kees
@Kees Boer –
Thanks Kees, I appreciate your insight. I have years to go, by then hopefully it will sort itself out. I have a feeling I won’t be able to let go by then. It’s only been a year for me and I already feel totally attached. I have been reading lots of your posts and appreciate your experience with this. Thank you!
@Kathy Olson -Kathy, I have a child in Rwanda that I wanted to write to (not connected to Compassion.) These children are so poor they have no money for postage stamps. I tried to no avail to buy Rwandan postage here to send to him. I have not found a way to do it so far. The post office will sell you an international postage coupon which you send to the child and they can cash it in for postage. My child never did this as I don’t think he knew how to go about it. Does anyone know how to purchase Rwandan postage here in the U.S? Or, is anyone going to Rwanda that could purchase it there and bring it back? Thank you!
@Kathy Olson – Hi, Kathy, I know how you feel. It would be difficult for me too, especially after I met them.
Kees
@Barbara M. –
Hi Barbara,
What a shame you can’t write to your little man. I am sure they wouldn’t know what to do or how to go about cashing the postage coupon. Is there not a way through the organization to write to him? I hope so, my greatest joy is writing to the kids, I write once a week to all 7 of them. How sad if you are not able to get to know him. I wish you luck.
@Barbara M. –
How do you sponsor the child in Rwanda? Are you saying that the sponsorship organization doesn’t have a system in place for writing to the child and won’t facilitate with it?
Kees
My heart breaks to think that kids aren’t sponsored. That is why I give to the “where most needed” fund instead of sponsoring. I would hate to start to sponsor someone and have to quit. That would be just awful and terribly unfair to the sponsored child. The reason I don’t sponsor is when I was in college, I sponsored a child and then when I was done with college, I was broke and couldn’t sponsor any longer. I have felt bad about that for years.
@Patrick Greene – I understand, as I was in that position too.
Thanks so much for contributing as you are able. You might consider giving to the Unsponsored Children’s Fund on occasion; this is the fund that covers the children from the time they are registered until they receive a sponsor, and in between sponsors as needed. But the Where Most Needed fund is great, too, as it allows Compassion to pull from this fund if there is a need beyond what a designated fund is able to cover.
i want to be part of it
What concerns me about this, is that there are things that I can do which would involve the siblings. For instance, I would like to send a birthday card to each of the siblings in the family, however I have no way of doing this. It would cost nothing to Compassion or the family, and yet this is not encouraged or perhaps not even permitted. Why?
Hi, Carol,
I am sure that you can buy a birthday card for the sibling, send it to child that you sponsor via the regular Compassion child and add a note to your own sponsored children, asking if they wouldn’t mind passing it on to the sibling.
Kees