Share In Their Future

Read Across America Day

On Monday, March 3, many of our United States schools celebrated Read Across America Day, an annual event commemorating the life and works of Dr. Seuss.  At one Appalachian elementary school, teenage volunteers dressed as Dr. Seuss characters read classics like The Cat in the Hat to students enrolled in kindergarten and Head Start.  Older children took turns reading to one another.  Through a partnership with The Pajama Program, we provided the children with new pajamas and copies of Dr. Seuss books. 

A volunteer from the local high school reads to children in the Head Start program:

Some of the volunteers in costume:

In the older grades, the children took turns reading to one another:

Kite Festival at Summer Hill

Summer Hill Elementary in Richmond recently treated twenty of its top students to an afternoon of kite-flying--and Children, Incorporated provided the kites!  For two hours, students, teachers, parents, and volunteers convened on the Summer Hill lawn to fly kites and play games.  It was a lovely afternoon.

We are very grateful to Richmond's CBS Channel 6 for the donation that made the Kite Festival possible. 

A Sponsor's Inspirational Letter

Dian Griesel has been a devoted and generous sponsor for many years.  When she heard that one of her sponsored children was struggling in school, she sent him this wonderful letter:

"Dear Cameron,

I heard from Mrs. Miles that you are smart, good in math, and crazy about tinkering on cars. She told me that you would make a great auto mechanic. She also told me you’ve been struggling a bit with reading.

I want to share a story with you.

 My younger brother, Greg, is an auto mechanic. He learned his skills at a local vocational school starting in the 11^th grade. Then he went on to intern at a local garage. Next, he spent a few years in the Army, where he learned to work on tanks and other large land vehicles. He is also qualified to work on high-voltage equipment. He recently went back for more training after several years in the workforce to get a good understanding of how complicated electrical systems work. Now, he has a great job as a mechanic, works with lots of other fun mechanics, owns a home, and has a lovely wife and two daughters.

 Today, for fun, he is rebuilding from scratch a 1988 Ford Mustang with a 500+ horse power engine! The car is beautiful. I saw it over the holidays. What I could not believe was that he pulled out, separated, and polished every single piece of the engine—“for better speed!” he smiled.

School was not an easy ride for my brother. He had tutors and got tested for hearing issues. He got all kinds of testing, in fact. Ultimately, the tests indicated that he was dyslexic. When he looks at letters, they appear mixed up and out of order. So, school wasn’t fun for him. In fact, it was a major struggle.

Reading was never easy for Greg. But he stuck it out. If he hadn’t, he would likely be nowhere today. And he’ll tell you that himself, if you ever want to speak to him.

When he wanted to quit school—and there were many, many times when he wanted to—he visualized the kind of car he wanted to soup up and transform into a killer hot rod. At the time, it was a Nova. He persevered and managed to buy a Nova for cheap and had it painted at the local auto body shop for free in exchange for helping to detail cars. He built the engine himself. He ended up driving his Nova in the time trial races at Riverhead Raceway for kicks. And it was something that he did 100% ALL BY HIMSELF.

He was proud of his accomplishment, and we were all proud of him. We all knew it was never easy for him to get through school like it is for some of us. But he pulled through, kept his vision, and now he’s taken apart and rebuilt several cars that he uses for racing.

Don’t quit on your talent and dreams, Cameron. Believe me: you have a skill that will be extremely valuable if you choose to enhance it and build upon it by staying in school and learning a trade. The bottom line is this: when my car won’t start and I have to go to a meeting, the most valuable person in the world is the one who can fix my car!

I support you 100%. Finish school and get accepted to that vocational training program offered when you are a senior in high school. Learn to be a good mechanic. Stick it out and make your grandmother, teachers, and everyone else around you extra proud. Most of all, you will make yourself proud for working hard when quitting seemed like the easier option.

Stay in touch with me.

Lots of love,

Dian"

Sending Food to Your Sponsored Child

If you sponsor a child in the United States, you are very welcome to send presents to him or her.  However, please do not send food without first speaking to Children, Incorporated about your gift. 

Because of concerns about safety and nutrition, many schools will not permit their pupils to have food that arrives in care packages.  Also, there have recently been several incidents in which sponsors sent perishable food that turned rotten before reaching its destination.  In such cases, our volunteers have no choice but to throw the food away.  If you would like to provide food to an indigent child, we encourage you to donate to our "Food for a Weekend" program. 

As always, we deeply appreciate everything that you do for our children.  They benefit greatly from the support you provide, and we are very grateful for your generous assistance.  If you have questions about our policies on care packages and other special gifts, please contact Chuck Smith, Sponsor Relations Coordinator, at (800) 538-5381 or csmith@children-inc.org. 

Update: Bolivian Crisis

Marcela Molina, coordinator of our Bolivian projects, recently sent us the following update on Santa Ana de Yacuma:

“I have just called Sister Ana (project volunteer at Lourdes school) and she assured me that the Children, Incorporated children are doing well.  It has rained for the past 3 days, but there is no further flooding.  The ground is saturated everywhere you go.  Sister Ana, in order to get around and check on our families, travels by canoe. 

She said that most of the village families are living under tents and they are expected to remain there until June, more or less.  I informed her that Children, Incorporated is about to send funds to help the families with their most urgent needs. I asked her to take photographs of the flooding and of the makeshift tent communities.  She said  that she would, but that it might take sometime as she prefers to wait until some of the water recedes.  The important thing is that the children are safe.  Some of the classes are being held under tents.  The teachers do not want the children to go too long without schooling. 

The truth is that the situation in Bolivia worsens with each passing day.  Inflation has grown considerably, and it’s difficult for people to afford to buy anything.  The value of the dollar decreases every week and workers' salaries continue to decrease.  Last night, here in La Paz, there were some violent encounters between two groups of protesters.  I had to stay at work until after 10PM because the demonstrations were across the street from where I live.  We all pray that our country's situation will improve one of these days." 

Reservation Dormitories

Many of the Native American children on our program live in dormitories during the school year.  These facilities are built in close proximity to reservation schools, and they house children who are homeless or who live too far from school to commute every day.  The typical dormitory staff includes an administrator, a custodian, a nurse, and a counselor.  The dormitory system is particularly common on reservations in South Dakota and Utah.

Bunk beds in a Utah dormitory:



Exterior of the dormitory:

A Visit to the Tecpan Primary School

Frank and Rosario of New Mexico recently visited the children they sponsor at the Tecpan Primary School in Guatemala.  Upon returning, they shared with us these beautiful photographs from their trip: