Brenda gets to go to the zoo!!

Chrystal wrote:

"I sent my CI child to a trip at the zoo. She had a blast.

Brenda says

Thank God, I am well and happy because I had the chance to accomplish a nice and beautiful trip with my family. I spent a great day in the zoo and I saw several animals. Thank you very much for your support, we spent great moments as a family. We also ate delicious food. This experience will be unforgettable for me and my family. My family and I are so grateful.I feel like a happy and lucky girl for being your sponsored child. I want you to know that I love you very much and I keep you in my prayers. I wish you several blessings. May God keep you in his loving care. "

A Real Tear-Jerker

Barbara wrote:

"To those CUS sponsors who may be feeling very disappointed at not hearing anything from their newly sponsored children I want to advise you not to give up on them as things work very, very slowly in and from Uganda.

You may recall the sad story about my own sponsored child Jonathan O. who I began sponsoring last April. I did not hear anything for months and was beginning to despair of ever hearing anything about or from him. Then, I had the awful news that he had been taken out of school and was being starved and kept in chains in his own feces by his disturbed aunt. Fortunately, Hellen, the CUS director managed to persuade her to let Jonathan return to school where she fed him a special diet to build up his strength. More bad news followed when it was learned that the same abusive aunt was using him as child labour by forcing him to carry enormously heavy loads of cans of water for almost a kilometre every day.

In order to bring a little hope into his, so far, sad life I sent some funds to provide him with a cake and soccer ball for his birthday which was on 21st December. I hoped that there was enough there to also pay an adult to carry the water for him for at least a while.

As mentioned above it takes a long time to hear any news from Uganda but eventually I received the enclosed photos. These showed an obviously over-whelmed Jonathan with his cake and the disposable cake plates, serviettes and balloons which I had provided.

Then, just today, I finally received a drawing of a sun, tree, animal, car and a figure with arms outstretched. But the tear jerker part was finally receiving the hand drawing which Jonathan had been colouring in a previous photo. And, when I turned over the page there was a beaded THANK YOU MUM worked on it. Knowing that his own mother was deceased it was so touching to know that he now thought of me as his new mother. How touching is that?? In the same package I also received a similar beaded Merry Xmas card from Alice who was last heard of back in northern Uganda.

Two other examples from Katelyn was the trembling thanks of Macky's child for his new set of clothes and two other children breaking down in tears when they did badly in their school work fearing that their sponsors wouldn't want to sponsor them anymore. So, please don't give up on your newly sponsored children because it obviously means so much to them to have a sponsor."

Cheers

Barbara

Zambia Summer Reading Package

So many things to say, and so little time... Let me see what all I can fit into these few minutes regarding the summer reading packages.

1. The deadline to order items for Zambia is 1/8/2010

2. The deadline to order items for the DR is 1/22/2010

3. There are many new additions to the web store, but you may have to hunt a little. I will explain why in a minute. The above picture is a tic-tac-toe game I added that you can find listed under "games!" in the webstore

4. After 1/8/2010, I will be removing the East Africa specific book "Thunder Cave". Since the rest of the countries would not be interested in it.

5. Here is the deal with the web store- I had to upgrade the web-site (and pay money to do so) in order to add the items I did. I am paying $100 a year for this site. However, it only allows me to have 30 items in the store. If I want to add more, I have to pay $250 a year!!! Of course, there is a big difference between $100 and $250. At this time, I am sticking with the 30 items at $100.

This being said, each item that you see on the page can have 3 other items listed with it, so technically, I can list 90 items. In order to do that, I have to have a general title such as the one I made for "games!" Then, under "games!" you will find 3 items related to that subject. I will be doing that with most of the listings, so you will just have to look at the general subject title to find what you are looking for. For example, under "candy", you will find all of the candy that can be bought for the price listed.

In order to choose the specific item you want, you just make your choice with the drop down box. Am I making any sense? Please let me know if I need to clarify.

I am adding new items all of the time, so keep checking out the web-site to see what I have one there. I do not keep a lot of items on hand because that requires me to come up with a lot of money out of pocket without knowing what will sell.

If you would like to make a donation to the web-store, that would be wonderful! All you would do is send the items to me & I will post them on the store. Anything that sells from a donation is PURE fundraiser profit! Contact me if you would like to do this.

Now, don't forget- The Zambia deadline is Friday!

Summer Package~ Cartagena, Colombia

These are two of the largest priority boxes available. I had to put them together to make one box.

Part 1 of Henry's package (above) & Diego's package (below)

Part 2 of Henry's package (above) and Ana Cecilia (below)

Omar Yesid's package (above) and Dayana Paola's package (below)

Liset's package (below)

I told you the package to Cartagena is big. I am sure we will have any bigger packages coming up. This one weighed 10 pounds 6 ounces (slightly bigger than my first born baby)!!! We are going to have some really happy kids!!! There are 6 children included in this package.

The package is completely packed up, and is going out on 1/8/10 (so take note of the date). It cost $55 to ship.

Total raised for the fundraisers (excess funds from this package): $3.56!

Three Active Fundraisers

Carla's fundraiser only needs $148 more!!!

Jose Manuel & Yamileisy's fundraiser needs $410.40

Maria & Ullysette's fundraiser only needs $74!!!

Look at how close we are to finishing Robyn's fundraiser!! I know we can finish it off this week- probably even today!! Stephanie's fundraiser only needs a little over $100, too! After one of these fundraisers funds, I will launch the next one. The next one is only for $100, so we are moving right along!!

If you have a fundraiser coming up, please make sure your donations match up with what you need to have donated before your fundraiser begins. I had to stop my inventory of donations because the end of the year got hectic, but I will be back counting again in a few days. I want to make sure that everyone is doing their part to help everyone else. The 3 people with fundraisers coming up soon whose doantions I have not checked yet are:

Tamara

Cherise

Kate

Please double check your donations and make sure that you have already donated your 25%, so that your fundraisers can go off as planned.

Also, I have been adding more items to the web store. I will go more in depth about the web store in my next post. Check out the store and you will see many new things! I am adding more candy & games a little later in the week. Here is the store link

Fundraiser #19 has launched!

Meet Carla! Carla is one of Stephanie's sponsor children in Chile. Stephanie would like to set the family up with an IGP. She has already raised most of the funds on her own. We would like to raise $200 to provide the items for the store.

You all know how I feel about Income Generating Projects, and this one is no different. This could change their lives! This would make purchasing food and other necessities a whole lot easier.
To show Stephanie your support, here is her fundraiser:

http://www.firstgiving.com/happyhogfarm

Thanks in advance!

Summer Reading Packages Update

4- Disney Fairies Candy Books available (above) and 7 Chocolate Covered Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites available (below)

Take note of today's date- 1/5/10- The first package for the summer reading program has shipped! It went to Barranquilla, Colombia. The total cost for the package wound up being a little under $26.

Cartagena will be next. I am waiting to hear back from Eliana who may be able to offer cheaper shipping. The package will go out on time, but depending on what I hear from Eliana, will determine the actual ship date. If you have a child in Cartagena, you can still get in on the package! I have all of the non-book items on hand. If it is a book that you want to send, e-mail me directly, and I can tell you which ones I have on hand. I can't take any new orders for books to Colombia unless they are books that I already have here.

Now, I have just added two new items. They are now on the web store!

First, the Candy Books are Disney Fairies. Inside the book are 5 assorted hard candy rolls (like Life-Savers). A total of 35 candies are inside. I only have 4 of these.

Second, the chocolate covered mint chocolate chip cookie dough balls are yummy!!! There are approximately 35 cookie dough bites in each package. I only have 7 of these.

These items will be mailed when the summer reading packages are mailed to each community center. By the way, only a couple more days to get in your order for Zambia!!

$1 of each sale will go to the current fundraisers- the other $2 will be used for shipping.

Dana contacted me with a good question that I will add to the FAQ for these packages:

She wanted to know if the sponsor will get photos of the child with their items they receive in the Summer Reading Package.

The answer is "Yes!" The box that I am sending has individual packages inside for each child. The individual packages have the child's full name & ID # on the outside. You can, also, include a letter. The only thing the child will know is that you sent them a package. They will not know that it is part of a group package because they will be distributed individually as a regular direct package.

To Help Maria & Ullysette

We are SO close to getting Robyn's fundraiser completed! We only need $145 more!!! Dana has donated an item in order to pull in a $80 donation!! Thank you so much, Dana!!

Now, I have something else to pull in a few more donations. I have this Barbie Kelly doll. She is an angel with brown hair and brown eyes. I have 2 of them! They are available on a first come first served basis. They can be given to any sponsor child that is in the CI program. The doll will be shipped to the child at the time a package is sent to that community center for the summer reading program. To get one for your child, all you have to do is donate $10 to Robyn's fundraiser. The first two people to donate $10 (or one person to donate $20), send me your sponsor child's info, so that I can get the dolls to them (the dolls each include a small comb to comb the doll's hair).

Here is the link for the fundraiser:

http://www.firstgiving.com/betterlatethannever

Meet Katja's 1st CI child!

Some of you may know Katja, and some may not. I met her through our shared sponsorship of CUS children. She ordered some necklaces & bracelets for her CUS children. Then, she has participated in helping with our fundraisers, even though she was not a CI sponsor...

Well, after viewing everyone's great experience with CI, here on this blog, she has decided to sponsor with CI!!! This is her first child with CI (though she sponsors with other organizations as well).

Here is what Katja wrote regarding her new sponsorship:

Ana Gabriela from Guatemala. Her birthday was yesterday and she turned 9 years old.
Ana lives in Rural Guatemala together with her parents and her older siblings, who are 16 and 14 years old. The father is a Daily Worker and earns approximately $65 a month and her mother is a Homemaker.
The family lives in a little house, which has one bedroom and a kitchen where they cook with open fire. The house is made of concrete blocks and has a roof out of corrugated metal and a dirt floor.
Ana Gabriela helps her mother with running errands, washing the dishes and sweeping. She likes playing with dolls, painting, singing and dancing.

I thought about my new sponsorship for some days, because I wasn't sure which country to choose and which child I should pick. But after some days I noticed that every time I passed Ana's photo, I was happy that nobody has already picked her and that I somehow felt as if she would already belong to my family. Her photo was so small and not a portrait so that I could hardly recognize her face, but she caught my eye just from the first time when I passed her photo.
I'm very happy to have her in my family now.

Ana Gabriela will has a fundraiser coming up- slot #39!

Special Donation for Jon in Honduras

A letter to Mack from Jon:

Hello! How are you? I hope you are in good health and may the Lord bless you and all your family and I tell you I am well, and that I am attending school and I am doing well, thank God.

My family and I thank you for the special donation you sent me and we are so happy because we purchased a food basket and a long cushion (mattress). Thank you for everything and may the Lord pay you.

I am greeting your mother and other family. I am playing soccer a lot, and also with the car.*

I say goodbye to you. So long,

Jonathan

*That Mack bought him during their mall visit

Item choices for the package to Zambia

The deadline to order items for your children in Zambia is fast approaching. I am not sure how many of you have checked out the web store yet, so I wanted to post a little of it here.

This is the great thing about doing the packages in a group: it doesn't cost much to send something! You don't believe me, do you? Well, here are some examples:

Sticker Book of over 400 stickers- $3

60 Hair Barrettes: $4

Mini Dominoes Set- $3

Baby Doll- $8

Lollipop- $1

Coloring Book & 24 pack Crayola Crayons- $7

There are, also, all kinds of books to choose from. Here are my recommendations:

For the Prek to 3rd grade group (age 2 to 9), I recommend the Morris the Moose Books, Arthur Books, Laura Numeroff Books, or 5 Little Monkeys Books.

For the 3rd grade to 6th grade group (age 9 to 12), I recommend the Henry Huggins Books, the Ramona Books, or "How to Eat Fried Worms" Book.

For the 7th grade & up group (age 13 to adult), I recommend the Thunder Cave Book.

So, if you haven't checked out the store yet, go ahead and take a peak. Get your order in this week for your children in Zambia. I am doing Zambia early in the year because shipping takes a while. Hopefully it will arrive by May (or sooner). The last day to order is 1/8/10!

Little Diego turns 7 & gets a bike!

Heather G wrote:
I sent Diego money for his 7th birthday and he got a bicycle and a birthday cake.

Letter from Diego's mother:

Hello dear sponsor,

Dear sponsor, greetings and I hope you are in good health and may God bless you and your dignified family always. Thanks to God your sponsored child and family are doing well. I thank you very much for the gifts that you sent to him, a bicycle and his birthday cake. He is very happy and cheerful as he has always dream to have a bicycle and now his dream has come true. I don't have words to thank you, as he has always asked me for a bike but I didn't have the possibilities to do so, but now he has one.

Thank you from all my heart for being a wonderful sponsor! I say goodbye with a strong hug
Flor

Happy Birthday!

I told you I would tell you about this cute little guy... This is what happened on my end. I looked over at my Merry Christmas message on the Google Group, and saw Lisa's post. She had posted that her mother passed away right before Christmas. I posted that I was sorry to hear of her loss, and if there was anything I could do to let me know.

Then, Lisa e-mailed me directly. She wasn't asking for any help (but any one who knows me knows that I help even when my help isn't requested! LOL!). She told me that she decided to sponsor another child, but she wanted one with the same birthday as her mother. I told her I would keep my eye out for one with the Jan 2nd birthday. That is when she told me that she had already looked through all of the kids' profiles on the web-site, and none of them had that birthday!! That means she looked through close to 1500 profiles!!! Talk about dedication.

Since she had already looked on the web-site, I knew it would be a waste to scroll through the profiles (and VERY dangerous because I would hate to find one that was calling my name! LOL!!!) I e-mailed Greg at CI and told him what was going on. I asked if he knew of any child available with that birth date. Five minutes later, I had this picture in my inbox!!!

I forwarded the info to Lisa. She was so excited! Now she had a child in time to honor her mother on her birthday, and a little something to help in the healing process!

Here is what Lisa said:

On December 22, 2009 I lost my mother unexpectantly.
This was the hardest day, probably of my life, as we were very close.
A couple days later I was thinking about how I would like to do something special in her honor. Since Children International is my newest passion I thought what better way to sponsor another child in her honor.
And if I could find a child that shared her birthday it would be even more special.
With help from Heather and Greg (from CI) I added little Brayan to my family.
He turns three years old today, January 2nd, the same day my mom would have turned 63. Brayan lives in Colombia with his mother, step father, 2 sisters and brother.
I look forward to getting to know this little guy and watching him grow up.
He will always hold a special place in my heart. I know he will have a special angel up in heaven looking down and protecting him.

Direct Package to Katherine in Ecuador

Mack wrote:

Here are the photos/letters we received after sending a package to Katherine in Ecuador. This was not the large box that got held hostage by customs, but a simple flat-rate envelope that I mailed in October for Katherine's 8th birthday. I always enjoy the letters that Katherine's mother writes, because they are so detailed and creative:


Hello Jim Miller!

Katherine is very happy for receiving your gifts. She wore the bracelets and started dancing like Shakira, the singer. She will wear the socks when she goes out to stroll. She will do her homework on the board, and will use the hair accessories to style her hair because she has long hair. She will play with the punch balloon. She will also play in the patio with the paddle ball. She gave the set of pens to her sister. She liked the card and the photos. She will keep them in the wardrobe. Thank you very much for the gifts we received. Katherine is healthy and hopes you and your family are fine.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart for being a wonderful sponsor! I say goodbye with a strong hug – Katherine’s mother.

I need Some Addresses. Who Can Help?

I need the community center addresses for these countries (and any centers they may have):

Chile
Colombia (only need Barranquilla)
Guatemala
Philippines

Also, I had one person express interest in sending a package to Chile. Is anyone else interested?