10 Questions With Jeimy Reyes
1. How long have you been in your current position with Compassion Honduras, and what is your job?
Seventeen months. I am an auditor.
2. What are the main responsibilities of being an auditor?
Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the partner church as well as the challenges it faces.
We look for strengths so that these can be used as a support for other churches. We look for weaknesses and challenges so we can suggest solutions and give the appropriate follow-up in order to correct and solve problems in the churches.
In other words, we hope to provide necessary and timely support to the church.
Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the partner church as well as the challenges it faces. 3. What does an average day look like for you? (more…)
Human Trafficking in Thailand
A middle-aged woman was riding her motorbike roaming the streets of Nongki village. Everything about her appearance looked ordinary and did not illicit any suspicions. She looked around. Suddenly, her eyes fixed on one small house near a barren farmland.
The woman drove to the house and greeted the young girl who was sitting at the front of the house alone. She asked the young girl questions that are typically asked among the people in this area.
“Do you want a new cell phone?” “Do you want to live in a bigger and nicer house?”
The young girl was surprised by the lady’s questions and remained silent.
“If you are interested in these things, I can give them all to you. All you have to do is come work with me. You will earn a lot of money so that you can have pretty clothes to wear and you will have a nice car to drive. It is a very easy job. C’mon. Trust me and come with me.”
“No, thank you,” replied the young girl, Supattra, a 14-year-old Compassion-assisted child. This situation is repeated over and over. (more…)
A Shining Future for Rosa
It is 6 a.m. in Honduras and Rosa’s mother has already left to work at a local restaurant. Rosa wakes up and starts her chores around the house.
Rosa’s daily workday begins with making the first round of tortillas to sell, followed by tending to her personal hygiene, the house cleaning, preparing the meals, doing her school work, and finally, getting ready for university.
Adding to her workload is caring for her 2-year-old nephew, Yerson, who is a very active boy. Rosa is in charge of him while her older brother, Yerson’s father, goes to work during the morning. She has to feed Yerson, bath him and dress him, among other responsibilities.
It is a tight daily schedule, Monday through Friday.
As the time passes, Rosa starts to prepare lunch and gets ready to go to the university. Right before leaving for the education center, she goes over her school work and organizes her assignments.
Multiple activities have not impeded Rosa’s determination to do well in her classes. She is committed to honor the generous support of her sponsor, as well as being a voice for other young people in her center who dream of being part of the Leadership Development Program* (LDP).
Finally, Yerson’s father returns home for lunch, and Rosa is free to go. Rosa attends the university five hours daily, Monday through Friday. Her university is the largest education center in the country with approximately 50,000 students.
This bright young girl lives with her mother, who works from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to support her small family. This provides the necessary income to cover their monthly expenses.
The absence of Rosa’s father has been difficult for her and still brings tears. Like any child, she dreamed of having a normal and happy family but, unfortunately, the separation of her parents has left much sadness in Rosa’s heart. Her father has never been around and was never interested in being part of his daughter’s life.
For more than a decade, Rosa has been registered in a child development center in the neighborhood of Flor del Campo in the capital city. It’s a big neighborhood that has been affected by the presence of gangs in some areas.
Walking very late at night it is not safe for residents; however, local authorities have taken control of the zone and the situation has improved.
Ever since Rosa was a child, the child development center represented a strong figure in her life. There she made her first steps as a newborn Christian girl. Rosa opened her heart to Jesus, and received peace and comfort which helped her feel secure and loved. (more…)
A New Day for Kamrul
Kamrul starts his day very early in the morning. He leaves his bed just after sunrise and washes his face from the nearest pond. After having a little cold rice from the previous night, he leaves for work.
These days, Kamrul feels very relaxed. He doesn’t have to pay rent to the cycle van owner daily. He has his own van now. It is the most useful gift for his family.
Kamrul has been blessed by your generosity. His new cycle van ensures a decent life for his family. Kamrul considers himself a fortunate father of a Compassion-assisted child. His 8-year-old daughter, Mukta, is the channel of blessings in his family.
Every morning, Kamrul drives to the nearest village market for passengers or a load to carry. If he is fortunate enough, he can get more than two passengers at a time and heavy stuff to carry. He earns 100-120 taka (U.S.$1.45-$1.74) per day by driving his cycle van.
“One hundred taka ($1.45) per day for me is the same as 100,000 taka ($1,450) for the rich people living in the big cities. This 100 taka allows me to buy food for my children and keep my family.”
In the rainy and cold season he earns less than that, but the money is still adequate to buy food for his children. It wouldn’t be possible if he didn’t have his own cycle van.
Previously, he had to pay around 100-120 taka as rent for a cycle van. He had very little left for his family. To pay the owner on a regular basis was a Herculean task for Kamrul. It took eight out of his 11 hours of working to earn the money for the owner.
Now Kamrul believes that his bad days are over and he can do something more for his children and family.
Kamrul’s working hours are now more flexible. To work eight hours throughout the day is enough for him to take care of his family.
Whenever he is on the road driving his cycle van, he keeps the faces of his children in his mind rather than the worry of paying the owner of the cycle van. You made this possible for him. (more…)
A Young Activist
The problems of the Filipino youth are real – delinquency, early pregnancy, drug addiction, prostitution and gangs. In the crammed squatter community of Escopa in metropolitan Manila, these social ills are a way of life.
Kenh is one of the young people living in Escopa, and today he has a chance to help solve these problems. Kehn, 16, was recently elected as one of his neighborhood’s youth officers, and already he has initiated the distribution of free bags, pencils and papers to little children, using local government funds.
“I believe that education is the key to helping the youth and straightening their lives,” he says. “If only they will stay in school, then they will be drawn away from youthful evils.”
Kenh’s involvement with the local Youth Council is political in nature, but poverty is not just political rhetoric for Kenh. It is reality. (more…)
Child Sponsorship Releases Generations From Poverty
People often ask me what my favorite part of my job is. For me, the answer is easy: the people I get to meet and know around the world. There are people working for Compassion with such heart and passion and such incredible stories of their own. Henry Guarin is one of those people.
Henry’s fun and funny, he sings in a rock band, he has a passion for his job. And he used to be a sponsored child.
Here’s a little more about Henry, in his own words.
It’s 7:15 a.m. in Bogotá, Colombia, it’s cold, as usual, and I am waiting for the school bus to pick up Juan Felipe, my 5-year-old son.
As we stand at the door of the apartment building we live in we are talking about his favorite TV shows, dinner, games with his friends at school, and other things, just like every day.
The school bus finally arrives, so I give him a big hug and a big kiss and I tell him,
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him; and he delivers them.”
I come back to my apartment and Xiomara, my wife, is finishing feeding our little son Lucas. He is only 5 months old and he is happily kicking in his cradle, and he smiles at me as he sees me coming in.
Xiomara and I sit and start talking about how different things were for us when we were children. (more…)
A Young Missionary
Patricia lives in one of the crowded slum communities of Santa Mesa, Manila and that is known as breeding ground for thieves, criminals and prostitutes.
The winding path to her home is so narrow that only one person at a time can pass through. Children play and run along the narrow maze of alleyways, throwing rocks at houses, cursing at people and threatening other children. They are noisy, dirty and disrespectful.
Patricia had enough of them and one day decided to do something about it. She decided to teach them the Bible so that they can change their ways. She gathered these rowdy children aged 5 to 10 years old so that she can teach them about Jesus.
Patricia is only 12 years old.
“I teach them about Jesus … so that they can become better children. At first, it was just a teacher-student game but soon I realized that I could actually teach these children for real.”
For two years now, she has taught the children every Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., with an average of 11 students at a time. (more…)
10 Questions With Lilliam Sánchez
Lilliam Sánchez has been married to her husband, Francisco, for six years, and they are pregnant with their first child. She is the youngest of three sisters and one brother.
Lilliam was born in Ciudad Sandino, and she and her family have lived there for many years.
Lilliam is an active member of Betania Baptist Church. She has been at that church for nine years, serving as Sunday school teacher and church secretary. She’s worked for Compassion since 2003 and has been a Partnership Facilitator (PF) since October 2007.
1. What are the main responsibilities of your position?
As a facilitator, I help strengthen the church to reach results in the four areas of our work with children: spiritual, emotional, cognitive and physical.
For example, in the physical area, we want children to choose good health habits and to be healthy, so I try to see if that result is being reached or not, because we don’t want it just to be written in paper.
In the cognitive area, it is not about spending more money on a computer course for the children. It is about the child’s learning and how he or she is using the resources. And so on in each area.
The church partner also gives clear information of how the budget is being used, and facilitators help them in this administrative area.
I want to be clear and let you know that the results aren’t seen from one day to another. It is a process.
I believe my responsibility is to help churches become self-sustaining. I don’t want children to be sponsored the rest of their lives. I want a generation that can support themselves and sponsor other children.
I want churches spiritually and economically strong, to be light in the midst of darkness.
This also is a process. It might not be seen in one, two or five years, but we are putting the foundation down now to make them strong to reach maturity.
2. Describe what an average day is like for you.
I have two facets. One is the work I do at the office and the other, the work I do in the field.
The partnership facilitator’s role has changed and I spend most of the time in the field, supporting directly the partner churches.
Normally, I have one day at the office (Monday) to do the office work, like follow-up funding and reporting. I also coordinate monthly activities and evaluate activities of the previous month in the PF meeting, analyzing achievements and weakness to look for better alternatives.
The other four, five or six days (because sometimes I work Saturday and Sunday, if necessary), I am with the church partner. It is arduous work seeing how the children are doing, how the church is working, and looking for alternatives to do better work. Results aren’t be achieved if I stay at the office.
3. How many churches do you visit a day, and how often do you visit a church? (more…)
Siriporn: A True Christian Warrior
Some people say that being a champion is hard, but that remaining a champion is even harder. A little warrior champion named Siriporn was going to prove this in her second tae kwon do competition.
This match was very different from her last one. Siriporn was burdened by the expectation of others.
She was known as a champion from having won her last tournament. Everyone in the child development center and from her province expected her to return home a champion again with a gold medal hanging from her neck. She felt like she could not return home unless it was as a winner. She wanted to bring glory for her hometown and to her family.
However, no one knew that the champion was not prepared to fight. (more…)
Inside a Healing Waters International Project
Since the Healing Waters International water project opened at the Comunidad Cristiana El Santuario Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church in 2006, church members have had more opportunities to decide on matters that can benefit the ministry and the community of Barrio Mexico in southern coastal town of San Pedro de Macorís in Dominican Republic.
The church’s leadership calls for periodic members’ meetings where all ministry managers update the assembly on their ministry. Since all the ministries overlap in some way, these reports help the church make the best decisions.
The ministries include Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program, the Healing Waters International water project, a school and a community holistic vocational center.
These church meetings have become a forum at which the community, represented by the believers, can discuss the best ways to manage resources.
Milqueya is a mother of eight and grandma of seven. She and her husband still live with 11 children and grandchildren at home. Milqueya and her large family enjoy the benefits of the decisions she’s been helping her church make as a voting member. One important decision was the incorporation of the Healing Waters International water project.
In the past, even the least harmful water source wasn’t safe enough for Milqueya. She bought water from the trucks that drove past her home.
Miqueya paid only RD$20 for a 5-gallon water bottle, avoiding the RD$35 price at local stores. But the truck-bought water was making her and her family sick.
“The water caused us stomach diseases. But after we began to drink the water from the church, we are always healthy and we don’t have any stomach problems.”
After the Healing Waters International project began, the community’s health has improved. (more…)
The Impact of Letter Writing
More than four years have passed since Haminton (age 11) wrote, with the teacher’s help, the first letter to his sponsor. His relationship with his sponsor has grown over the years as both of them share their heart and experiences through their letters.
Easter in Peru
To talk about Easter is to talk about Christianity, and to talk about Easter in Peru is to talk about a variety of traditions in the country. The most common traditions began during the colonial times when the Spaniards brought their culture, and their religion, to Peru.
