Victor's First Child - Carlos
I started sponsoring back in 1991 when my grandfather passed away and left me a fairly decent inheritance that I was not at all expecting. I had wanted to do something to honor him and I hit upon the idea of sponsoring a child - an idea that I got from my mother. She was the head of our church's Sunday School and one of the things our collection went for was the sponsorship of a child in Lebanon.
I picked up Carlos in 2006. I wanted to sponsor a very young child as the ones I'd had before, I'd started at around age 10 or so. He was four at the time and when I saw his picture on the CI website, I got this feeling (which I tend to think is from God) that he was the one I should choose. I have picked kids from Honduras because it's a stable country and close enough to think that I might one day visit, though at that point, it would have been problematic. I was married at the time and my ex was unaware that I was a CI sponsor - she was VERY strange about money and I simply found it easier not to say anything than have an argument about how I chose to spend my funds. For years, other than my secretary who gave me my mail, I chose to keep it to myself.
Carlos lives in a town called Saint Rita - about a forty-five minute drive from San Pedro Sula. He's nearly eight; his birthday is the end of this month. He hasn't learned to write yet; his teenage sister has written all of his letters for him so far. Of course, he always draws a nice picture to go with them. He has two adult siblings, a teenage sister and two other brothers - one twelve and one six (though that one is not listed on the family record). His 12yo brother is sponsored - I don't think the 6yo is and I am currently looking at sponsoring him myself. Carlos is being raised by his mother with lots of help from the older siblings. Their house is concrete walls with a tin roof that seems very watertight, and they do have electricity and a TV set in the house. They have been able to make some improvements with special gifts I have sent down - laying a concrete floor and buying a new front door among them - and Carlos was able to get his own bed and an electric fan as well. He has a dog named Blackie (who looks quite well cared for) and his favorite subject is math. His favorite futbol team is Olympia - the most successful team (and, not uncoincidentally, the most popular) in Honduras.
Age: 7
Gender: M
Date of Birth: 4/28/2001
Height: 4 Feet 2 Inches Weight: 60 Pounds
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
2. Health problems, if any:
None 3. Attends School: Yes
4. Favorite School Subjects: Mathematics
Favorite Pastimes or Sports: Playing with toys and cars, Playing soccer
Chores at Home: Running errands, Sweeping
Talents or Hobbies: Dancing, Singing
Languages Spoken: Spanish
INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CHILD'S FAMILY:
5. Approximate monthly income for the family (in U.S. Dollars): $147.00
6. Name of Father: Mariano Age: 64 Occupation: (If not present, why?) Abandoned family
7. Name of Mother: Maria Age: 48 Occupation: Homemaker (If not present, why?)
8. Brothers and Sisters:
Name Cinthia Age 23 Gender F
Name Jose Alexi Age 11 Gender M
Name Mitza Josselin Age 15 Gender F
Name Selvin Age 18 Gender M
9. Child now living with: Mother
INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CHILD'S HOME:
10. Description of Home: One Bedroom, Living Room, Kitchen
Cooking Facilities: Earthen stove
Sleeping Accommodations: Folding beds
Home Construction: Walls Concrete block Roof Corrugated metal Floor Concrete
11. Facilities and Services: Water Source/Storage: Running water in home Electricity: Available
Sanitary Facility: Toilet
4 comments:
>I will have to think about a way to fix this problem next time. I have some ideas along those lines.<
I sponsor a child on Honduras, Carolyn, and I would love to hear about those ideas. The possibility of visiting her is always there for a future time that I hope it would be sooner rather than later.
How awesome is that? What great visit.
Hey, Efrain! Here are my ideas (but I don't know if they would work for you):
First, now that I know where my sponsored kids actually live - about an hour outside San Pedro Sula - on my next trip, I will look for somewhere to stay in that area. I know that I would not be able to visit my boys' homes without a formal chaperon, and I would never attempt to do that, but I would like to have daily access to their project's community center. I don't think that CI would mind me coming there more than once, as the center is staffed full-time, with people constantly going in and out.
With easy access to the CI center, I could:
1. Buy "boring" things for my families and drop them off where it would not be as hard to pick up/have them delivered to the homes. (more on this below)
2. If I were to visit the center on multiple days, it would be easier to arrange meetings with friends' sponsored kids to deliver packages/take photos. Possibly, I could even hitch rides to neighboring centers, if necessary.
3. I might be able to see my boys on more than just one day, if they were to come to the center after school. I might be allowed to visit them there, if they have a means of transporting themselves (I failed to ask the boys how much time they actually spend at the CI center).
What I mean by "boring stuff", is buying things the family needs, like food, dishes, and fans, etc. Taking the kids to the mall was really great, and obviously lots of fun for them – but it was a lousy place to actually shop!
For example, we wanted to buy our boys the jerseys and caps of their favorite soccer team. We had a "source" for these items at the market in San Pedro Sula, but we didn't know which of the many local teams our boys supported. When we were able to ask them, I checked the price of a jersey for the Marathon team at a mall store. It cost 870 lempiras! I was wearing the same jersey, same material/manufacturer, but I had paid only 130 lempiras for it!
The mall is a place to have fun with the kids, but not to make serious, purchases. When we send "special gift" money, CI does not take the families out shopping at the mall! The staff knows the best, most economical places to buy food and household goods, I'm sure, but who wants to go to a boring grocery store on their ONE day to spend with their sponsor kids?
Victor and I knew that the mothers most wanted food for their families, but we did not have the time/inclination to go and buy it from wherever CI gets those huge-ass bags of rice. The easy solution would have been to hand the mothers or the representatives some money so they could buy the stuff later – but that can't be done. Direct donations must go through the proper channels, so we had to send the grocery money through the website once we got home.
So …
Next time, I will find out if I can do the mundane shopping either on my own or with an available staff member as a guide/negotiator, and simply deliver the items to the local center. (My preference would be grocery shopping on my own, because the CI staff might frown on me including "treats" along with the usual cornflakes and cooking oil!). Also, if I got my kids sizes, I could find a better place to buy them clothes … they are boys, so I doubt they care about picking their own outfits, but if they do, maybe I could negotiate for one "fun" excursion + another for clothes shopping?
The problems, though, with hoping for extra visits and shopping are:
1. CI staff are busy and they don't have time to be taking sponsors on elaborate outings every day – a simple trip to the home with a load of groceries is more feasible (and I might even be allowed to ride along!)
2. Since the staff are only available during regular "business hours", the kids have to miss school every time they are taken out on visits, shopping trips, etc. (my next trip to Honduras will probably be planned during school holiday season).
Efrain, from the backdrop of your child's picture, I can tell she's uses the same center as one of my children, Carlos. That's in the town of Saint Rita, located at Latitude 15 12' N and Longitude 87 53' W. You can see the town if you punch those numbers into Google Earth.
I think next time I visit, I will do as I did this time - bring clothes and toys from the US (guessing at sizes, but mine are boys and just went a bit big to be safe) and rather than take the kids shopping, will instead take them to an amusement park. There are several water parks nearby - not surprising considering it's a hot country - and let the kids have as much fun as they can. I'd love to be able to take them to a football game, but those are going to be on nights or weekends when CI staff is not available. I might be able to pay someone overtime to swing it, but that's an ambitious idea which I'll save for the future.
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