The Urge to Write

Children International encourages its Sponsors to write to their children, to share life experiences and build a connection from across the globe. However, they also suggest a few limitations: they recommend that letters be no more than one page in length, and they recommend limiting correspondance to once a month. These recommendations help keep their processing and translation costs down, and also prevent the children from being overwhelmed with a bombardment of communication.

For the most part, I am content to operate within these limitations. I understand why they are in place, and in general they still allow me adequate communication with my girls.

Sometimes, though, I just have an itch to write. Various things can trigger it: reading an article about a program that I think one of my girls would enjoy, receiving a letter from one of my girls, a momentous change in my own life ... all of these make me yearn to pick up a pen, even if it's only been a week since I last wrote. I have a horrendous time trying to suppress these urges, and despite my best intentions, in the end I usually cave in and write again.

I'm thinking of starting letter books for each of my girls--fancy notebooks in which I write these sorts of letters, letting them gather in one place for an extended period of time and then forwarding them on as a memento. I'm thinking of doing this in addition to and separate from my monthly mailed letters. This would allow me to write as often as the urge strikes, and would make a unique gift to show my girls how often I think of them. I can paste in photos, too, and family and friends could write short greetings and encouragement as well.

Shopping for and decorating the notebooks will be fun! I'm just wondering now when would be best to start/send the books. Christmas? Each girl's birthday? They would make a special gift for either occasion, I think.

Letters!

Two special letters arrived in two different destinations today. The first was from Cristine, my group-sponsored child. This letter was physically mailed to our group's Lead Sponsor, Holly, who emailed me directly to share the surprise: she had received TWO letters from Cristine, and one of them was addressed specifically to me!

Dear Shannon,

Hello there! I'm very happy to received your letter, photos, and some postcards of your friends. I really love the stickers. Spongebob is one of my favorite cartoon characters. I will put your photo and your dog in my photo album. I will share some of the stickers to my friends and cousins. Wow! Its nice to know that you we will be traveling to your favorite place. I hope you will enjoy your vacation with your family. We are now on rainy season. Many Filipinos affected by the typhoon but thanks God that me and my family are all okay until here.

Thank you for spending your time writing to me as well as to your friend. I really appreciate it. God Bless you and happy trip.

Cristine

What a wonderful letter! I've been scouring the local stores for Spongebob goodies to include when I write to her again, so it's very good to hear that she's still a fan of Mr. Squarepants! And I'm glad that she wrote about the typhoon and assured me that she and her family came through the storm safely!

The postcards she refers to are from my Postcrossing Project, inspired by my fellow Sponsor, David!

When I got home from work, I found today's third letter waiting in my mailbox--a CR letter from Yulliana.

Dear Ms. Dillon,

I want to say hi you my dear Sponsor! We start doing multiplication in our math. My teacher gave us many homework in multiplying numbers. We will be having a long quiz this week. I am preparing for it.

Thank you for all your gifts to me.

Love,
Yulliana

Math--ugh! Haha Hopefully she enjoys the subject more than I did at her age. I'll have to keep an eye out for a multiplication activity book that I can send to her the next time I write!

Spotlight Child of the Week, 9/19/12

I very nearly clicked on "Sponsor Me" when I saw sweet little Roxanne's profile. This angel has no brothers or sisters, and lives with a Guardian in Manila. Drawing is listed is both her talent and one of her hobbies--I would look forward to receiving her letters with the drawings at the bottom! Roxanne will celebrate her seventh birthday in November--it would surely bring that beautiful smile to her face if she received the gift of Sponsorship!



Unsure about Sponsorship? Take a test-ride by teaming up with an experienced Sponsor--me! I would be happy to co-Sponsor with you ... and if you decided after all that Sponsorship just isn't for you, you can rest assured in the knowledge that I will maintain the Sponsorship myself rather than let our angel fall back into the waiting pool. If, on the other hand, you decide you love Sponsoring SO much that you'd like to continue solo, I will be content to step aside and allow you to build that one-to-one relationship!

Annual Photos!

When I logged into my account today, I found new annual photos for two of my girls!

Jasmin is so cute I can barely stand it! She's still five in this year's photo--her sixth birthday is next month. She's not smiling as brightly this year--perhaps the impact the flooding has had on her community is partly to blame for that. I think I'll send an inquiry to CI to find out if the flooding did any damage to her home that I can maybe help repair.

Nay-Nay is eleven years old, but I think she looks so much more grown up than that! This is far and away my favorite photo of her so far. I love that she's letting her hair grow long again. And that look in her eyes--the one that first drew me in--is still there. I am of course excited to meet ALL of my girls when I visit, but in particular I look forward to meeting Nay-Nay.

Spotlight Child of the Week, 9/14/2012

This lovely young lady is Maria Joy. She is an only child, and she lives with her parents in Legaspi (where my Jie is from). Maria has a fondness for drawing and also for reading. The family survives on only $40 per month. Maria's tenth birthday is coming up in November--give her the early birthday gift of Sponsorship so her hope for the future may burn as brightly as the candles on her cake!

Unsure about Sponsorship? Take a test-ride by teaming up with an experienced Sponsor--me! I would be happy to co-Sponsor with you ... and if you decided after all that Sponsorship just isn't for you, you can rest assured in the knowledge that I will maintain the Sponsorship myself rather than let our angel fall back into the waiting pool. If, on the other hand, you decide you love Sponsoring SO much that you'd like to continue solo, I will be content to step aside and allow you to build that one-to-one relationship!

Hazel's Fundraiser Still On-Going!

As many of you already know, the first part of Hazel's fundraiser was completed very fast, thanks largely to an astonishlingly-generous contribution from a fellow Sponsor. The refrigerator has been delivered to her family, and I have received photos and Hazel's thank-you letter.

But there is work yet to be done! If you recall, the refrigerator was only half of the entire Income-Generating Project. Funds also needed to be raised for construction and supplies for her mother's store. This was the online portion of the fundraiser, and it is still on-going. I am raising the funds through FirstGiving--an easy, secure way to collect contributions for charitable causes!

You can view my fundraiser and make a contribution here. Truly, no amount is too small--you can see at the bottom of the page how quickly many small donations have added up to 47% of the goal amount!

I truly appreciate any support--financial, well-wishes, or otherwise--you are able to give! Hazel's family has been through so much this year (losing her father, the devastating floods), and it would be such a blessing to be able to ease their burdens and provide them with the security and peace of mind that the small store will bring to their lives.