Hello LiftOne!

This would be my very first post to my blog in this amazing social network that helps the helpers. First of all, I just want to say that this website looks very nice and is easy to use. I haven't play around too much on the site, but I what I can say so far is that this social network has so much potential and can reach more people than expected.

I have a big respect for everything that has to do with websites (social networks, onlline search engines, blogs, tweets, etc); the reason is that it has bring so many benefits to "connect" people. Of course there is a downside of these technologies, such as identity theft, lack of information security and privacy issues to name a few, but there will always be pro's and con's to everything. WE have the choice to use these technologies for good and WE have the choice to enjoy all of its benefits.

I wanted to point out my interest and respect for these technologies because that is how I found "Children International". I googled "sponsor child" and it came up a webpage called "children.org" (clever isn't it? =). I started by looking around the stories shared on the site, the definition and motto of the company, as well as the stories from sponsors and their kids.

I said "ok, it seems that this company has a very good intention, but I need to see other reviews of the company". That's what I did, I googled "children international reviews" and I found MANY good reviews and only a few bad ones. So that gave a little bit more confidence of the accountability of the website and the whole company.

So I registered and start looking around for a needy kid. I am from Mexico, but I didn't want to sponsor a mexican kid because I think I can help my community in other ways, maybe joining a volunteer team or a disaster recovery association to help others here in Mexico. So I looked for kids born in India and I found this kid called Pradip, I don't know the real reason I picked him, his photograph and story moved me and I didn't think twice and click "sponsor this kid". I put my credit card information, billing information and something about me. A few minutes later I received an email saying that my sponsorship to a kid in India has begun!!! I was so happy to read that.

A few weeks later, I received on my mailbox a photo of my kid and a report of the contitions he is living in, it shocked me, mud floor, no electricity, family income of about $30 dollars a MONTH!! I would have never considered meeting a family living in those conditions, but when I read that my kid will be provided with food, clothes and medical treatment he needs filled my heart with joy!

I started writing letters to my kid, always telling him to thank all the help he is getting by HELPING others less fortunate than him. We'll always be with at least 1 other person more fortunate than us, but we'll always be with at least 2 other persons less fortunate, and our opportunity is to help them.

It has been almost a year since my first donation. I feel the same way I felt when I first joined. I feel that there are so much Hope in the world and every drop of help counts. I hope to sponsor another kid in the near future and maybe someday visit my kids to their homes! That would be soooo much fun! looking forward to it.

I will finish this post by writing a quote from a movie (I can't remember the name).

"Do for others more than you do for yourself"

Take care and thanks for reading this.