Most Recent Blog Posts

• You Can't Write This Stuff You Can't Write This Stuff

  • From: CI_SarahT
  • Description:

    This is Joshua from Legaspi, Philippines. He sure had some great things to say about being sponsored through Children International. So without further ado, take it away Joshua...

    “What I love most in the sponsorship [program] is that I receive regular gifts and I get to visit a doctor for a free check up. I feel happy when I’m healthy. My favorite gift is clothing.”

    “When I first visited the community center, I just looked at so many things posted on the bulletin board including pictures of children who enjoy being sponsored. I’m so happy being one.”

    And a special message to his sponsor: “I love the gifts that I received from you and I feel very special as a sponsored child. I’m doing well in school because of you. I wish you all the best.”

    Photo and reporting assistance by Anthony Lorcha.

  • Blog post
  • 4 days ago
  • Views: 56

• Humble Handouts for Haiti Humble Handouts for Haiti

  • From: CI_Staff
  • Description:

    By Patricia Calderón in Barranquilla, Colombia and Damon Guinn in Kansas City.

    Yusiva Acosta was profoundly moved as she watched images of earthquake victims in Haiti on TV. Bodies were being pulled from the rubble, children were being rushed to makeshift hospitals and people everywhere were pleading for water and food.

    The 13-year-old sponsored youth knew she had to help. It didn’t matter that she lived in a poor community in Barranquilla, Colombia – she wanted to do whatever she could to lend a hand. “The news caught my heart, seeing the people in Haiti who need our help,” Yusiva said. “Because today they are the ones who are affected, but tomorrow it could be us.”

    Yusiva’s family couldn’t afford to part with any of their $170 monthly income, so she decided to go door to door in her community and ask her neighbors for food donations. “What surprises me the most about my community is that, despite the fact that we are from the poorest neighborhoods in Barranquilla, everyone has helped,” Yusiva remarked, “and they’ve added their own little grain of sand to this activity...”

    What’s not a surprise is Yusiva’s initiative to help others. She’s benefited from leadership training through our Youth as Agents of Change program and is an active and very popular member of the local Youth Council.

    Yusiva plans to deliver the food items to the local Red Cross office, which is receiving donations for later shipment. “I am very satisfied with what I’ve collected, [and] with the people who helped me,” she exclaimed. “Every day I see them I thank them for having trusted in me and for having contributed....”

  • Blog post
  • 6 days ago
  • Views: 55

• The Three Rs The Three Rs

  • From: CI_Staff
  • Description:

    By Scott Cotter
    
    A quick note from Kenya…
    
    About two hours outside of Nairobi there is a school that sits atop a small rise in the hard African pan. The only way to get there is a dirt road that beats vehicle and rider into a gauzy daze.
    
    The school draws Masai children from up to five miles away. It is said Kenyans make such good runners because they have to cross long distances to reach schools and often run the entire way. They leave early in the morning all by themselves and cross the distance as fast as possible to not draw the attention of animals that call this sun-baked land home.
    
    We have a book distribution program in Kenya that reaches dozens of schools all over the country, many of them like the one described above. Those books, in some unlikely places, are teaching children the three Rs and much more.
    
    When we met the children and their families of this school, the hospitality was amazing. They thanked us by singing us some traditional songs and reciting poetry. Have a look. (To see the video, click on this post.)

     

  • Video blog post
  • 1 week ago
  • Views: 121

• Playing with Poverty Playing with Poverty

  • From: CI_Staff
  • Description:

    By Scott Cotter

     

    It’s the one place they seem just like other kids. And it seems so, well, simple.

    Put up a swing set, a slide, a teeter totter and a jungle gym and you have instant happy. Laughter fills the air and kids get to be something they should be…kids.

     

    

     

    In Chibolya, it’s easy to see how much use the equipment gets. Weld on top of weld holds the parts together so the children can keep playing. And they do. Day after day, they’re forgetting the circumstances outside the walls while shouts of joy fill the air. Heck, even rain won’t run them off. In Kanyama, drops fell like rocks, pounding the community and everything in it. But many of the kids ignored the weather and kept right on having a good time.  

    Our community centers here are a refuge. I suppose they are everywhere. Especially when kids have no place to play.

     

    

     

     

  • Blog post
  • 1 week ago
  • Views: 101

• Welcome! Welcome!

  • From: CI_KellyN
  • Description:

    We hope you like our new home!

    If you are a regular reader of the CI blog, thanks for following us. And if this is your first time to read one of our blogs, we hope it will become a habit! Sarah and I look forward to getting to know you.

    Even though we’ve moved from our old location, our posting schedule will continue uninterrupted. So pull up a chair, have a seat and join the conversation!

  • Blog post
  • 2 weeks ago
  • Views: 90
  • Not yet rated

• Disaster in Haiti Disaster in Haiti

  • From: Children_Intl_Admin
  • Description:

    by Garrett Kenyon

    The world is in shock as alarming images from the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Haiti Tuesday, Jan. 12, at approximately 4:53 p.m. ET flood news channels and the internet. The epicenter of the disaster was 10 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, throwing the city of 3 million into chaos. A series of tremors and aftershocks continued throughout Wednesday that could be felt as far away as eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away.

    Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is ill-equipped to handle a disaster of this scale. A lack of social services and infrastructure is complicating relief efforts, filling hospitals and overwhelming international aid organizations. The U.N. headquarters in Port-au-Prince was destroyed in the initial waves, leaving rescue and peace-keeping efforts paralyzed.

    Up to a third of Haiti's 9 million residents have been affected by this disaster, and tens of thousands are feared dead as efforts continue to free survivors from the rubble and identify the missing.

    The president of Haiti, Rene Preval, and his wife survived the quake, though a number of important government buildings, including the presidential palace and the foreign ministry, have been completely destroyed.

    Sharing the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, the Dominican Republic appears largely unaffected, though residents report feeling the initial tremors and aftershocks. Some fear another flood of refugees from Haiti will further damage the Dominican Republic's already-poor economy; but so far, reports suggest that the border is calm.

    President Barrack Obama has promised immediate relief, saying America "will respond with a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives." Several American aircraft carriers are headed toward the beleaguered nation, including the USS Carl Vinson, which is scheduled to arrive later today with much-needed emergency supplies.

    Several major relief organizations are working to bring relief to the Haitian people. Although Children International does not work in Haiti, donations will be sent, in their entirety, to organizations the agency trusts will use funds wisely and with an eye on medium to long-term renewal in and around Port-au-Prince. For more information, click here.

     

  • Blog post
  • 4 weeks ago
  • Views: 233

• Meet the New LiftOne Meet the New LiftOne

  • From: Children_Intl_Admin
  • Description:

    What is LiftOne?

    Where it All Started

    The LiftOne Project began with a simple idea: what if our dedicated sponsors committed themselves to recruiting one more person to sponsor an impoverished child?
        The impact of thousands of new children being enrolled in the sponsorship program would be huge. Entire communities on the brink could be pulled back from the edge. As new community centers were built, the effects would ripple even further outwards.
        Thus, the original purpose of LiftOne was giving sponsors a tool that would help them recruit one more sponsor to the program. Users were able to build their own webpage on which they wrote about their experiences with sponsorship and posted pictures of their children. Then they sent the link to their friends and family to help inspire them to get involved.
        It was a success. The efforts of those who used the LiftOne Project pulled many families around the world out of the depths of extreme poverty and gave them new hope. In fact, it worked so well we wanted to do more.
    
    The New LiftOne Tool
        
            The LiftOne Project was great, but we wanted to make it better. We sent out an email asking current lifters what they want to see in a new LiftOne. The response was overwhelming. We took these suggestions and got to work. You’re looking at the results right now.
        Not only have all the features and functions of LiftOne changed, the very idea of "the project" has evolved. While we still hope people use this tool to help recruit new sponsors, this new tool is really a gift to Lifters. It is no longer our "Project" to you...this is merely "LiftOne", where you define what this becomes.
        It’s no secret: some of the most passionate, intelligent and active people in the world are sponsors. What would happen if we gave them a place to meet, share their stories and ideas, learn from each other and share their experiences? Nobody knows. But we’re about to find out.
        We hope you use LiftOne to meet likeminded people. That you learn new things, find new passions, and share your experiences with others. You will get out of LiftOne exactly what you put into it. May you enjoy the ride!
    
    -LiftOne Team

  • Blog post
  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 265