One door closes, another door opens.

I said this when I began sponsoring Bianca. Now I say it as I say good-bye to her. Her family has moved and CI is unable to locate them. I hope wherever they are, they're doing well and their move will afford them better opportunities. I'll miss her.

I do have some letters from her to share:






However, I do have two new girls to introduce to everyone!

Grace Sabrina was sent to me as Bianca's "replacement" child. I was undecided as to whether or not I would sponsor her, when someone else saw her picture, fell in love and made the decision for me! She'll remain on my account for simplicity's sake but will be sponsored and written to by her real sponsor, Jenna.



Don't you love that sweater?!

Grace is seven and lives in Ecuador, like Bianca, though in a different area. She lives with her older sister Nayeli and their father, who works as a messenger. Their mother is not present. If I'm financially able I'm hoping to contact CI about sponsoring her sister the next time I'm looking to sponsor another child. It must be hard raising two little girls on your own!


And because I couldn't resist adding another kid to my account, meet Nayeli Francisca:



Nayeli is nine and lives in Chile. I was planning on adding another Ecuadoran child (possibly Grace's sister), but when I saw this face on the site I couldn't resist. Look at that smile! Nayeli lives with her two brothers, six-year-old Francisco and twenty-one-year-old Luis, and their parents.

Nayeli's photos from 2009 and 2010:

One door closes, another door opens.

Harison has left the program (not sure why; hopefully it's for good reasons), so instead of doing the logical thing and taking it as a sign to stop sponsoring so many kids, meet Bianca Domenica:



Actually, I wasn't looking for another kid, but when I signed in to the CI site to check my account, she was the kid on the "children looking for a sponsor" rotation. I've wanted to sponsor a kid in Ecuador, and I couldn't say no to that face. Sigh. I'm such a sucker.

Older photo:



She lives with her parents and an older brother. Her father is employed as a watchman. Their home has electricity but no running water (they do, however, have a bathroom).

My last "new kids."

I've said it before, but this time I mean it. This is my last intro post for a LONG TIME.

I've wanted a kid in Chile for a long time, and was hoping to find a kid in a single parent household.

Despite not having any freakin' money to speak of, meet Lisette Andrea. As with most of my kids, besides the "single mom" aspect, I think her name is beautiful.



Lisette's parents are separated and she lives with her mom and older brother. Her mother is a homemaker, so I guess the father still supports his children, which is great if that's the case; sadly such a rarity today! Their house sounds bigger than most of my sponsored kids', with three bedrooms, a dining room and a kitchen - how great that the kids get to have their own bedrooms!

There are pics of Lisette dating back a couple of years; not sure if she was previously sponsored or if she's been waiting this long.

2009:


2008:




And yes, the header says new kids. One more, also in Chile. This one one of those cases of seeing a picture, and the kid being impossibly cute and my being unable to say no. Her name is also lovely. Meet Viviana Alexa:



Seriously, look at her. Couldn't you just eat her up?!

She has five siblings and is the baby of the group. Her equally cute sister Valentina is also on the CI site looking for a sponsor...in case anyone out there is looking for another kid ;) Her mother is employed, her father is not. Luckily two of her brothers are 18 and 21 so perhaps they're able to help support the family.

Viviana has a photo from 2009 on the site as well:

The latest addition to the family.

Meet Harison. He's eighteen and needed a sponsor to be able to remain at the orphanage and continue his studies. He apparently has been waiting for quite some time and wouldn't be able to stay past December - they just don't have enough money to keep all the unsponsored kids on indefinitely. Well, what can you do when you hear something like that? Especially when the kid lists studying as his favorite hobby! I have his fees paid for the next six months...if anyone out there is interested in taking on his sponsorship full-time, let me know. I'll see it through, of course, if no one else is interested in adding another sponsorship at this time.

IHF is a great organization, but they're small and underfunded. Just to make that clear. I hate to think of someone getting the wrong idea because the unsponsored kids can't stay indefinitely. They do the best they can to be able to support all the kids, but there are many unsponsored kids in Kenya and the outside help they need just isn't there.

Meet my kids: Arupe

I hadn't been planning on sponsoring another child, but when I saw this kid on the IHF website, there's absolutely no way I could say no! Arupe is ten years old and lives in Kenya. His parents are alive, but unable to care for him. Arupe's education sponsorship is taken care of by me, but he is in need of an "orphan" sponsorship as well if anyone is interested.

Meet my kids: Jessa

Jessa Nicole is seven years old and lives in the Philippines. She is another child chosen because of sharing her name with a Duggar child. Jessa seems to be a fairly common name in the Philippines, so I chose her based on her middle name (Nicole being Jinger Duggar's middle name.) Funnily enough, her last name is quite similar to "Duggar" and her brothers are named Jake and John. I had been considering another child named Jessa Lory (Lauren being Jessa Duggar's middle name), but someone else sponsored her, making the final decision for me! It seemed like Jessa was on the site for quite some time, but apparently it had only been a few weeks! I've sponsored Jessa since January of 2010.

Meet my kids: Josie

I signed up to sponsor Josie on the day of my father's funeral, which was also the day of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The priest mentioned a parishioner who had recruited several people to sponsor children in Haiti through a small organization (one that in fact may have been His Hands for Haiti - it certainly sounded like it, but I didn't ask).

Funnily, my aunt mentioned that she might sponsor a child in my father's memory. I was a little too amused to inform her that my father thought child sponsorship was a scam designed to prey on liberal guilt. Needless to say he never liked my sponsoring kids as a youngster (or as an adult, but he had less to say about it then!), but I offered to send her some websites if she was really interested. Strangely enough (yeah, I'm a bit cynical) I never did hear from her about that.

All the same, I took it as a sign that I should at least visit the HH4H website and consider sponsoring a child through them. When I saw a girl named Josie, I knew what I had to do. The name is very special to me, as both a good friend and a beloved cousin have adorable daughters with that name. Josie is also the name of the youngest (very premature, fragile, frail, barely clinging to life) Duggar child.

My friends can tell you that I have an odd fascination with the Duggars. Despite my genuine affection for the youngest eighteen children, I strongly disagree with many of the parents' values and lifestyle choices. One of the ones I have the greatest problem with is their refusal to properly educate their children, especially their daughters, who are expected to raise their younger siblings in their mother's stead (Mrs. Duggar cares for the babies for the first six months, then hands them off to a daughter and gets to work on making the next one) and are expected to follow in their mother's footsteps as a wife and mother right out of the gate rather than go to college and/or find a career path. There's nothing I can do for Josie Duggar, or any of the Duggar children, but hopefully I can help this little Josie get an education to help her be anything she chooses to be in the future.

Josie is eight years old. As I mentioned before, she's sponsored through His Hands for Haiti. I have sponsored her since January of 2010.

Meet my kids: Annah

I had been considering sponsoring an Indonesian child through International Humanity Foundation for a while, but when I went to the site, it was this little girl from Kenya who caught my attention. Such a sweet face! Annah is now twelve years old. Her parents are alive, but are alcoholics who cannot afford to care for her, so Annah lives at the IHF orphanage - a much better life than the life of a child laborer, which was how she spent her days before arriving at the center. She is a sweet girl who hopes to become a nurse when she grows up. I have been sponsoring Annah since January of 2009.



Annah's website photo.


Annah, March of 2009


April of 2009


June of 2009


July of 2009


August of 2009


September of 2009


October of 2009


November of 2009


Annah with gifts from a direct package. The people at IHF kindly photographed her receiving it (I didn't request that they do so!)


December of 2009


January of 2010


January of 2010

Meet my kids: Thandiwe

I saw Thandiwe on the Children International website while I was trying to decide whether or not I should sponsor Sophia. You can clearly see why I couldn't say no to this girl, either! Thandiwe is five years old and lives in Zambia with her mother, older brother John and younger sister Bupe. Thandiwe's father is no longer present in her life. I have been sponsoring Thandiwe since January of 2009.


Thandiwe December of 2008. How could I resist?!


January 2010. Such a difference already!

A drawing from Thandiwe:

Meet my kids: Sophia

Sophia Jane was my first sponsored child through Children International. She lives in the Philippines with her mother, father, older brother Kevin and younger sisters Mikaela and Princess Mayumi. Sophia is eight years old. I've sponsored Sophia since January of 2009. She was the featured child on the forchildsponsors yahoo group for quite some time, and something about her stole my heart.


Sophia, April of 2006. How cute was she?!



December of 2006


April of 2007


January of 2008


September of 2008 - the first photo I saw of her, and the one that got me to sponsor her!


September of 2009


December of 2009, wearing a t-shirt I sent her in a direct package.


Drawings from Sophia:

Meet my kids: Wituelle

I don't sponsor Wituelle, but I write to her through Compassion International. Her sponsor, for whatever reason, chooses not to correspond with her, so Compassion was gracious enough to allow me the opportunity to do so.

Wituelle is fifteen years old and lives in Haiti. I have been corresponding with her since April 2002 - she was just seven years old then!



Wituelle in 2002


2003


2005


2007


2009


Drawings from the earlier years: