Letter from MIC Sponsored Family

This family is an extremely large one. The lady in the blue shirt is the head of the household which totals over 25 people (in a one room home)! As you can see, the children are in desperate need of clothing, but even more importantly- FOOD! The children usually have to sneak out of the house early in the morning to dig through the garbage for discarded food. Sara decided to sponsor this family. She provided $30 of the shipping fee for their items to be shipped to sell. She send regular letters of encouragement, and is helping to sell some of the items. The sponsor's main job is to help the family help themselves. (On a side note, this family has some children who would like to be a part of CUS> If you would like to sponsor a CUS child from this family, please contact Kate.)

Here are portions of Grace's letter to Sara (not written by Grace, but using her spoken word):

Dear sponsor and friend,

I am Grace and now making 60 years in June this year. It is a great pleasure to write to you. Hellen is my friend and director of the school. I thank you for accepting to connect us with a way to sell the beads. Everything has gotten so out of hand here.

I lost my first husband in 1979. I had 4 children with him. After a short sickness with yellow fever, he died. Since then, I have gotten married to 6 other men whom I thought would support me and help me raise up the children. Instead, I ended up having altogether 20 children. 6 have since passed away, but I still have 14 who are alive. Each of my husbands were either drunkards, adulterous, or arrogant. 4 have died. 2 are still alive, but they left be some 10 years back. I have never been to school, and I struggled and raised up my children who, also, never went to school. Now altogether, I have 25 grandchildren. My 7 daughters, also, never settled in their marriages; plus, I lost 3 sons to AIDS and all of their children are with me.

We live in a small single room home that was once rented for us by a church. Now, I am the one paying the rent. My major problem is that I do not have an income. I hope that you can help us sell the beads because this way we will be able to buy our own land, build a home, and feed the children. It pains my heart to see my grandchildren starving with hunger.

I am forever grateful for your help in this business. May God bless you,

Grace