I’ve taken many calls from sponsors about their children’s pictures. “Why is my child wearing such nice clothing?” “Why is my child not smiling?” “My child’s newest picture doesn’t look like my child. Why?”
Picture this: You’re in El Salvador in the middle of summer visiting a newly opened child development center. There is a long line of mothers, fathers and children waiting to be registered for our sponsorship program.
You complete the enrollment paperwork for 4-year old Susie and ask her to go have her picture taken. Because she has never seen a camera before, she gets very nervous and a little scared when standing in front of the photographer. Her picture comes out with her looking unhappy.
Next, you meet Carlos, who is 8. When you send him to have his photo taken, he is so hot and tired that he doesn’t smile for the picture.
Then, at the end of the day you notice Maria standing at the end of the line with her parents. Her outfit looks very familiar. You realize that you have seen that outfit on many little girls. When Maria finally gets to the front of the line, you ask her about her beautiful dress. She says that she borrowed it from a friend so she could look pretty in her picture.
There are so many circumstances when picture-taking day comes around … and we are, after all, working with children who get tired, cry and have limited energy.
Fast-forward two years. It’s time for that same development center to update the pictures of the children enrolled in the program. With nearly 200 kids and just as many photos to take, things get a little out of hand for you.
You’re taking Alex’s picture and in the rush of the afternoon accidentally transpose his child number on your notes. The child number next to Alex’s picture is actually Hector’s number (you are human, after all).
Here in Colorado, we receive all the photo updates, upload “Hector’s” new photo to his file, print a copy, and mail it to Hector’s sponsor.
After about two weeks, Hector’s sponsor calls — the new picture looks nothing her child. She’s right, and after I review the pictures in Hector’s file, I agree and contact the country office to fix the issue.
Some of our mistakes have created really funny pictures, and we laugh at them, but most are handled without error.
I know it can be disappointing to receive a photo without a smile anywhere to be seen, but please remember that even though you can’t see it, it’s there. Here’s the proof. And no matter what the picture looks like, it’s the child in that picture that matters most.
Great post!! Thank you for sharing the behind the scenes look at the children’s Compassion photos. As a photographer, I completely understand how it can be a little chaotic. I wish I could be there to help!
As an advocate, I have a child information pack in my hands right now of a little boy with the BIGGEST grin *ever*… considering what picture day is like, it makes me appreciate his smile even more.
If anyone would like to sponsor this little boy from Honduras, with the smile that lights up the world, please let me know!
I have a little boy named Leonard from Uganda. I sponsored him because in his picture, he looked like he was mad at the world. Like all of this bad stuff was happening in his life and he had no control over it. Turned out to be true. His dad had long ago abandoned them and his mother had left him and his two siblings with an aunt and left for greener pastures. I sent a backpack full of stuff to him when my son-in-law made a recent visit and was blessed to have gotten a picture of him with all it. And I discovered he has a beautiful smile. Compassion just updated his photo as well, which tells me he must have been in the Compassion project for two years now. And it has become obvious that after spending time there, he finally has peace and hope in his world. Thank you, Compassion, for letting me be part of Leonard’s life and thank you for loving him.
I love the sheep (?) in the background of that photo. Too funny. Great post!!!
Because taking pictures can be so hectic for the staff, they do not take into consideration the background. This is how the picture of the little boy (above) was created.
Some of my favorite child updates are ones that give me a peak into the child’s community. I feel like I can learn so much about them by those random sheep.
I don’t think that is a sheep. I think it is a dog and I thought it was wonderful to know I am not the only photographer (not professional) that forgets about whats in the background.
I thought it was a dog going to the bathroom…. (Don’t feel bad, that even happened in a James Bond movie by accident “Thunderball” if you want to see it…. in the carnaval) But it is interesting to me, because in Bolivia, dogs aren’t allowed to be in the background.
In every picture,
there’s a poem;
In every poem,
a picture.
Chinese Proverb.
A photograph is a secret about a secret.
The more it tells you the less you know.
Diane Arbus
I have not just looked at but inspected this photograph hundreds of times. One copy hangs on my refrigerator another hangs in my office. A small one is kept in my wallet, and this photo is, of course, my Windows wallpaper.
Since I have not received a letter, everything I know about this girl is contained in that photograph.
First off there are her eyes and smile. I’m pretty sure she can turn a frog into a prince just by looking at it.
Next, and probably most relevant to this topic,, bright red, yellow and blue shirt. Looks VERY new. Close inspection shows a Compassion project name and number that differs from the info I received.
Blue jeans with some decorative patches have a look that seems just a bit juvenile for a 15 year old.
Her shoes are open toed sandals that seem a bit too mature for a 15 year old.
Her left arm is straight down with her hand ever so slightly cupped the way you might hold your hand before saluting.
Her right arm is also straight down but her hand is more relaxed with her thumb touching one of the patches on her jeans.
The inside of her elbows are facing slightly to front suggesting that someone has told her to “stand up straight”, pulling her shoulders back.
The background doesn’t say much, just a slight indication of what could be either houses or just shadows.
And every single day I look at this picture of a girl I know almost nothing about and just wonder.
To a Childless Woman
by Siegfried Sassoon
You think I cannot understand. Ah, but I do…
I have been wrung with anger and compassion for you.
I wonder if you’d loathe my pity, if you knew.
But you shall know. I’ve carried in my heart too long
This secret burden. Has not silence wrought your wrong—
Brought you to dumb and wintry middle-age, with grey
Unfruitful withering?—Ah, the pitiless things I say…
What do you ask your God for, at the end of day,
Kneeling beside your bed with bowed and hopeless head?
What mercy can He give you?—Dreams of the unborn
Children that haunt your soul like loving words unsaid—
Dreams, as a song half-heard through sleep in early morn?
I see you in the chapel, where you bend before
The enhaloed calm of everlasting Motherhood
That wounds your life; I see you humbled to adore
The painted miracle you’ve never understood.
Tender, and bitter-sweet, and shy, I’ve watched you holding
Another’s child. O childless woman, was it then
That, with an instant’s cry, your heart, made young again,
Was crucified for ever—those poor arms enfolding
The life, the consummation that had been denied you?
I too have longed for children. Ah, but you must not weep.
Something I have to whisper as I kneel beside you…
And you must pray for me before you fall asleep.
Thanks for this article. I chose my sponsored child Luka from India because he really looked like he needed me. He was so thin and standing barefoot on a dirt floor. To be honest I was very distressed when I got the updated picture of him. He looks even worse than he did in the first picture. He still looks so thin, he was so sad looking, and just seemed to have gone downhill since the first picture. I write to him often and get frequent letters from him that are upbeat. But every time I look at the new picture it breaks my heart. I will continue to write to him and pray for him. Thanks for this article. I know it is alot of work to get pictures of all of the kids. May God bless you in all you do.
Thank you for this blog. I’ve chosen some of my children simply because of the look on their faces. My sweet Ana looks so sad and serious in her first picture and she looked like she needed a big. The same with Odhiambo. The lack of smiles on the children’s faces have never bothered me and I respect Compassion all the more for working to preserve the dignity of our children and not showing them in rags and torn clothes.
Love the pooping sheep!
Updated pictures show me that my child is still alive and preparing to make a difference in the world.
We had the privilege of meeting our sponsored little boy, Carlos, last week while we were in Peru doing some Mission work with our church. For the last 3 years, Carlos’ picture has been on our refrigerator. A sweet smile is upon his face and I’ve often wondered what’s behind that smile. I could only imagine until now. Meeting Carlos and his mother was such a delight and honor. His love for his mother and her love for her son is powerful & strong! Though they live in poverty in a poor remote area in Peru their hearts are Rich with LOVE! The Love in his heart is expressed through the sweetest most tender smile on his face:) Such a Beautiful Gift! Thank you “Compassion” for your Love & Compassion for these children!
Great post. It’s good to remember that it’s not about us, it’s about the children. Have to remind myself of that every so often.
This is very accurate. I was at a student center a few weeks ago and I saw 30 new children get registered. They would come into the office one after the other with their mother or father and then they would be asked a lot of questions for the profile and they would talk. After all of this, it was picture taking time. They had all received their new number and we all went outside of the center to the other side of the street and the children would be photographed. It would take about 5 minutes or so per child. They would take several pictures. Since most of them were small, the parent would also help out a lot. It was very nice. I can’t wait to see the profiles and know that I was there for it. I of course took a bunch of other photos too of the children being photographed.
What was really nice was the next day in the center. There they were, all attending the classes and getting the meals. They were a Compassion child. The mothers would be so thankful. I hope I can find sponsors for a lot of the children in that center. One of them really grabbed my heart. Her father had just died and she was very lonely. When I saw her in the church service that following Sunday, I gave her a small doll and she was so thankful. She gave me a big hug. I told her that she was important and that I will try to find her a sponsor, if I can. She was very thankful.
Very funny, it reminds me of a lot of pictures I have taken
The dog in the background cracks me up!
I shared it with my daughter’s boyfriend who is a non-believer that had just made the comment, “Oh, maybe the kids are real!”, after seeing the picture of our sweet little guy.
It definitely worked a little something in his heart!
It is truly amazing how God works! My husband is a believer but does not attend church but when we got our first letter he had tears flowing! God bless you and your son!
The first of my sponsored kids was chosen, just because of the sad face. On compasssion Sunday at the Church I attend, we as a family decided to help a child. Maybe it was the frustration of the day but little Feiger had a look like she never smiled. We hoped we could make a difference. A little over a year later we recieved our second photo, and there in the same little plastic white chair was a smiling little girl. The photo was somewhat worn so I think, that just maybe it was passed around to others that may have just thought, gee, look she is so happy. Thank you to the photographers and to Compassion for reaching out to the children.
We sponsored our first two kids yesterday at church. While neither one are smiling, their eyes called out to my hubby and I. The girl is 1 month younger then our daughter and the boy 7 months older then our son. The girl immediately called me with her eyes. There’s something there. Be sure to look past the smile and see what else may be there. The boy called out to my hubby with his eyes as well. It’s AMAZING that our wonderful God used the same features of two different kids to speak to my husband and I. We can’t wait to get our first letters!!!
that is a dog !!! LOL
The photo of my beautiful girl, Nertia, shows a strong young lady who is very serious about her purpose in life. I see no-nonsense, strength, beauty, and Jesus in her, whether she smiles in her photo or not.
But thank you for enlightening me on what goes on before, during, and after their photos.
Thank you so much for this post because we have often commented about our child Eva’s frown in most pictures. We didn’t realize everything that is involved. I recently wrote a letter to her mentioning that we love receiving her letters and pictures and understand that she may be nervous or afraid of having her picture take not knowing us and why all of this is happening; she was 6 when we first started sponsoring her. She was in the category “more than 6 months” which is one of the reasons we chose her. She had almost a scowl in her picture and we assumed this may have been one of the reasons she had not yet been sponsored but we understood and discussed the emotions you mention above may be behind her “hesitation”. That is why we sent the recent letter, so that she would hopefully feel more comfortable hearing that we understand what she may be feeling when taking the pictures. Thanks for the confirmation.
Thank you so much for writing this. I have always wondered about most of the kids not smiling, now I totally “get” it. A BIG thank you to Compassion for all of the blog posts – we don’t want to be ignorant any more.
I am just excited to get pictures! I don’t look at what they are wearing I look at the wonderful face! It tells such a story and I cant wait to write and say hello, I got your picture and it is wonderful! I want to know that my child is healthy and happy. I can usually see it in her eyes! Sometimes folks forget that these are precious children who sometimes dont know what a camera is. We are all human and sometimes mistakes are made. I would probably want to know who this child was and does he have a sponser!:=)
I laughed when I saw the pooping animal in the background. It could easily be edited out if someone wanted a “less distracting” background. ….but personally, I like it. This is the life of our sponsored children. I love getting photos of the children!
What a timely blog! We just got our sponsor child’s most recent photo in the mail yesterday and the picture is clearly not Erick! Our kids are concerned so I was planning on calling today to sort it out. We are so grateful to have a picture of him to hang proudly in our home to remember him in prayer and to remember all the less fortunate in the world. Our 8 year old son carries the smaller photos sent in his wallet and won’t hesitate to share who he is with others! Looking forward to seeing the newest photo of our sponsored child when it arrives next!
The picture we got of Joyce, our sponsor child in Uganda, was the proverbial “stand at attention and don’t smile” picture. I have to say it made me wonder if she was unhappy, scared, etc. I hoped it was just the hesitancy at having her picture taken. My concerns were all put to rest last fall when we traveled to Uganda and met her – what a fun, laughing, smiling little girl! Don’t worry about serious pictures….there’s usually a great personality that will eventually come through as you correspond, or if possible, when you visit!
We are so thankful for the photo’s we have that if the children are not smiling, we can deal with that! It is as much a treat for us to receive these precious pictures as it is for the children to recieve items from us! The only thing more precious to us than these photos are the letters we receive!!!! Thank you soooooo much!
Love the details of picture day! When our sponsored children left the program, we asked to sponsor a new child. Because we’re a women’s ministry (proverbs 31 ministries), we asked for a girl.
Well, we got our new packet with a “girl” named Abraham Samuel. “She” sure did look like a “he!” We contacted CI and turns out Abraham is a boy. CI offered to swap him out with a girl, but we loved him so much after seeing his sweet face, we knew he was ours!
Now we sponsor Abraham and a girl… Johanna! Gotta love a happy ending!
Thanks! The description of the conditions for taking pictures was helpful. My sponsored child is beautiful, smile or not.
I find it a bit disturbing to see young girls in the photos wearing dresses that are baring their shoulders. I feel they should be wearing age appropriate clothing.
They may not be wearing their own dress. It could be that an older girl volunteered to let a younger girl borrow her clean dress or shirt, and it just didn’t fit right. Or that the church got a donation of clothing from somewhere and that was what was available. Remember these children are very poor. They wear what they have, and what they have might not be what fits. We buy clothing for kids so that it will fit for a year or so… they may buy clothing that will “fit” for five years. Also, in some countries very young children go naked because it’s easier than having to change diapers. So “age appropriate” has different meanings in different countries.
The dresses fit very well, I just feel the style of the dress is way too mature for them.
If this is something you’re very concerned about, I’d call Compassion and ask about it. If they don’t know they can probably find out for you. I know that much is left up to the local project, and it may simply be that that’s how the child showed up for picture day, and there was no polite way to say, “Your child can’t wear that for her photo. It’s immodest.” Who knows how much the mother or father spent on a nice dress for picture day, and it could be very insulting to them to say, in essence “What you spent a week’s earnings on isn’t good enough.” Your concern is certainly valid, since Compassion is trying to instill godly values in the children, and I think that calling Compassion about this might be helpful.
I’m always excited to get new pictures of my kids! I picked my first girl because she looked so determined. Almost like she had a little attitude!
Hands on hips, staring down the camera. 
I still don’t have a picture where she is smiling, but that’s ok. She’s a very intelligent, lovely young woman who’s now in that awkward middle school stage. 
I want to meet her someday, because then I hope to see her smile.
I appreciate this article.
In looking at my child’s photo, it appears that he is really unhappy, and with each year that passes, I’m assuming the photos are new, now I’m wondering if not, and it’s the same photo.
He definitely looks really unhappy, but as others have said– the letters sound really upbeat, that they are really growing, and learning a lot, etc….
Sometimes I think someone needs to get in there and tickle the child just to get them to loosen it up a bit, and get a smile out of them. Besides– every child needs a good tickle every now and then….
Steve, you can’t really read much into the official child photo. The photos have certain standards, like the child’s eyes need to open, their ears have to be shown, etc…. Then there are probably a bunch of other children around the child while the photo is being taken. They are doing what children do, talking… and having fun and running around and sometimes getting into things, they’re not supposed to be getting into. The photographer is trying to keep all of these children organized, while at the same time maybe having to take 30 photos like that. Then there are parents around too and this is a big day for the child. They want to do their best to follow all of the instructions, because the sponsor is very important to the child.
Watch this little video that I took of Delicia taking photos of Josue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvibzb3-m94
I have seen your video but just had to watch it again. Delicia has so much patience! I love the little dance Josue does when he is done. It’s a miracle the pictures turn out as well as they do with all the chaos!
Thank you. Yes, Delicia is amazing!!! She really loves the children and the sponsors very much!!! She had an amazing life too. Her little sister was a Compassion child, but she never got to be able to be a Compassion child herself, but she was then sort of sponsored by the church, so she still attended the center. She really loves the Lord a lot.
This is another video of another photo being taken in CDI BO561 just a few miles away from CDI BO571. You’ll see the mother giving instruction to the child too. If you search for BO561 or BO571 with the word Compassion in Youtube, you’ll find about 50 videos, that I put there. Some of them have Delicia in it.