Share In Their Future

Photo Essay: Our Peruvian Children (Part 1)

 

 

 

 

Note from a Project Volunteer

We require our project volunteers to send us regular updates and evaluations, and they often include friendly notes with their reports.  We recently received this message from a volunteer in the Philippines:

“With the help from friends at CI we can do a lot for our children. I am happy to note that the center is really the "center" of the lives of more than 30 families (we have 60 children on our CI program).  So, that totals to about a 100-150 people.  We gather every Sunday morning, and the young people sing and play their music, they also learn to use the computer with the help of the older kids who have had training in computers.  The mothers have English classes and we all have food together many times, especially during birthday celebrations.  The center has become the hub, sort of.  We are so happy to have our very own place, a decent place, a beautiful place, and the people have a sense of ownership, so they keep the place clean and pretty all the time.  The children are there constantly!!  We have plants and ornamentals in pots, even as small place as it is, we can make it very pretty!”

Polly Joson

Director and Co-Founder
Fortune Center
Marikina City, Philippines

Featured Project: Mount Rogers Combined School in Whitetop, Virginia, USA

Located in southwest Virginia’s Grayson County, the Mount Rogers Combined School is nestled in the foothills of Virginia’s two highest mountains – Mount Rogers and Mount Whitetop, both of which are well over 5000 feet high. This area is known for its natural beauty, but much of its population suffers economically due to geographic isolation and dwindling employment opportunities.  Agriculture once thrived in this region, but today farming is done on a small scale. Some families have turned to the increasingly popular and profitable business of raising Christmas trees.

 

The original Mount Rogers School was built in 1932 and was expanded over the years.  Attendance has gradually declined since 1979, so the elementary, middle, and high schools have been combined into one institution that serves kindergarten through twelfth grade.  The entire school now has just ninety students, and it employs only a few teachers, each of whom must teach several grades and multiple classes. In a region where poverty has become widespread, the Mount Rogers Combined School provides the children of Grayson County with a comprehensive education and a compassionate teaching staff.  

 

The school is home to a unique program called the Albert Hash Memorial Band, which is named in honor of its founder, a noted local fiddler and fiddle maker.  Mr. Hash founded the program in 1982, and today it is led by Emily Spencer, a banjoist.  Most of the school's children play at least one instrument (banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and bass are the most popular), and in grades eight through twelve they receive academic credit for their participation in the band.  The band has performed throughout the United States, and it has received attention from a variety of arts and culture organizations, including the Virginia Department for the Humanities.  The Mount Rogers Combined School is believed to be the only public school in the nation that houses a band specializing in old-time music. 

 

The original school building is still in use; it is now part of the larger school complex:

 

The school has a small library that contains three computers.  Many of the students at Mount Rogers have never left southwest Virginia, so they greatly enjoy the internet, which provides them with a window to the wider world:

St. John's Community Center School Now Complete

For the past several months, Children, Incorporated has supported the construction of a new school facility at the St. John's Community Center in Pumwani, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya.  The school is now complete, and Luis Bourdet, Director of the Foreign Division, attended its opening ceremony in April.  The new building contains nine classrooms as well as space for labs, offices, workshops, and a library.  It will serve children attending grades one through eight, and it will qualify them to receive the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.

Children, Incorporated funded approximately half of this project, and our participation was made possible by a generous grant from philanthropist Barry Greenstein.  We are extremely grateful to Mr. Greenstein for facilitating this project, and we extend our best wishes to the children of St. John's. 

The new school is housed in a large, modern building:















Foreign Division Director Luis Bourdet attended the school's opening ceremony:

Sponsors Donate Hearing Aid to Lebanese Student

All of CI's children are impoverished, and many struggle with additional burdens like health problems, disabilities, family turbulence, and violence within their communities.  It is these children who often benefit the most from the support and stability that sponsorship provides. 

Rafiq is an 18-year-old student in Lebanon.  His neighborhood is frequently rocked by armed conflicts and riots, and his school is sometimes closed for safety reasons.  Rafiq is extremely hard-of-hearing, and his disability has slowed his academic progress.  For two years, he has attended a school that enrolls only  students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and he is doing well--but because he did not receive adequate instruction in his early life, he is four grades behind the other students in his age group. 

Rafiq's future is brightening, however, thanks to his own strong work ethic and the unfailing support of his teachers.  His CI sponsors, Brian Hyde and Joe Fiorello, have also played a very important role in his life.  Since they began sponsoring Rafiq in 2006, they have helped to pay his school fees, and they have provided him with additional funds for clothing and other necessities. 

Most recently, Brian and Joe paid for a high-quality digital hearing aid for Rafiq, which will help him in school and greatly improve his chance of finding good employment after he graduates.  Brian and Joe arranged for Rafiq to receive the hearing aid at a special birthday celebration [pictured at left], and he thanked them with this letter:

 
"I was happy that I will participate in an art exhibition, I have prepared my drawing but n ow I don’t know if  we will do that or no.  I am sending you a copy of my drawing [pictured at right] and I hope you will like it. Thank you very much for your generous gift, I have got new fully digital hearing aid it was a wonderful surprise for me to have a new hearing aid as a birthday gift. I had a nice party on my birthday the lions club came to our school they brought cake and we have celebrated my birthday and another students birthdays also."

8-Year-Old Dinosaur Expert Gives Tours at Museum

Young Oscar of Sucre, Bolivia wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up, and he's already well on his way to achieving that goal.  At just eight years old, he is an expert on dinosaurs, and he has been hired by Sucre's Cretaceous Park to lead tours on Saturdays and Sundays.  For five hours on each weekend day, Oscar guides groups of visitors through the park and shows off its extensive collection of dinosaur footprints and full-scale models. 

Oscar has become something of a local celebrity.  He has been featured in several Bolivian newspapers and websites, and he is one of the most popular guides at the park.  Visitors are always charmed by the clever boy who is eager to tell them all about the lives of prehistoric creatures. 

When asked about his favorite part of working at the Cretaceous Park, Oscar responded, "I like how the children listen to me and ask me questions like I'm an adult.  They're my inspiration.  And that makes me want to go on learning more."   And his favorite dinosaur?  "The T-Rex!"

Oscar has been sponsored through Children, Incorporated since 2006.  His sponsor's support pays for a portion of his school fees, which helps to ensure that Oscar can continue to progress toward his chosen career. 

Oscar stands next to one of his favorite dinosaur models:

A newspaper in Sucre published an article about Oscar:

Photo Essay: Our Richmond Children

New Furniture for Children Affected by the 2004 Tsunami

The area surrounding the Dadella Children's Center in Sri Lanka was badly affected by the 2004 tsunami. Last year, Children, Incorporated completed construction on ten new houses for Dadella families. We recently received funds to buy each Dadella child a bed, a mattress, and a pillow.  Every Dadella family also received a plastic table and four chairs.

In response to this donation, one of the Dadella volunteers wrote:

"We extend our sincere gratitude and thanks for the helping hand given to the families by providing needed household goods. All the families greatly appreciate the gifts. There were three families who had never used such goods in their lifetime as they use ordinary mats for sleeping purposes. Those children were surprised to sleep on foam mattresses. We were also so pleased to be able to provide the children and their families with a plastic table and four plastic chairs. The family members, especially the children, were very happy as the majority of them use the tables and chairs for homework and to store their school supplies. The kids use those given items with great joy. Most of the families were short of household goods, as their belongings were taken away by the tidal waves during the Tsunami. Those families extend their gratitude. We observe the development in these families; slowly and gradually their lives have been tremendously improved."

Above: A girl who attends the Dadella Children's Center sets up her new bed.