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Saturday, January 12, 2013

Gift Letter from Kalpesh

Back in August, I saved up some money to send Kalpesh a family gift of $50. I'm always amazed with how far money can go in some of the countries that Compassion works in, especially India, which is where Kalpesh is from. Here's the letter he wrote about his gift:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 
 
Dear Kayla,
 
I bought a steel rack, two aluminum tins, a pressure cooker, four steel plates, and two blankets with family gift which you sent for me. Received all these in the month of November 2012. I like it very much because it is very useful for us. Thank you so much for the gift and your love for us. May God bless you and help you in your job and every work.
 
With Lots of Love,
Kalpesh
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________________
 
 
Short and sweet letter. I am so happy that he was able to get all of these things! I think the pressure cooker might be my favorite thing that he bought. His family will be able to cook things better and more efficiently. I'm not so sure what a steel rack is or what it will be used for, but I intend on asking him about it. He's usually a great question answerer, so I'm sure I will find out what a steel rack is. It'll be several months down the road, of course, by the time he gets the letter and writes back, but I'm eager to know what everything is used for.
 
Oh, my sweet boy. 

12 comments:

  1. I love when the kids write about all their gifts!!! That's so neat that he was able to get so much stuff!!! And I'm sure you'll get a longer letter down the road :)

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    1. He really was able to get a lot for that money. I just keep thinking that if I wanted to buy even just a pressure cooker here, I would spent at least $60 for it.

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  2. That's awesome! What are the amounts you can give as gifts? And what happens with it? Do they always tell you what they did with it? I'd like to do it once I've saved a bit of money, not sure how it'd work with me being in the UK, hopefully I'll be able to though!

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    1. You can give any amount of money that you would like to. The only thing is that you can't send more than $100 a year for a child gift and not more than $1000 a year for a family gift. I always send a small amount of money $10-$25 for a birthday gift and if I know that a family could use an extra gift, I try to send at least $50.

      People in the UK can gives extra money gifts too.

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    2. Plus, if you send more than $60 you get a picture of what they bought!

      All of these amounts are in USD, so I'm not sure how much things will cost in the UK.

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  3. I just converted it & $60 is only about £37. I'll definitely be doing that soon :) do you get a picture regardless of whether it's family or child gift? Which one do you find has the most benefits?

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    1. Well, it really depends what you are trying to accomplish. A family gift buys things that the family needs the most (food, cooking supplies, home repairs, water cans, etc). A child gift buys things that the child needs the most (new shoes, clothing, hygeine products, etc.)

      Everyone I know sends birthday money to the children and then get frustrated that "frivolous things" were purchased (cake, soda, candy, a new toy). I love when the kids buy these things with their birthday money! Birthdays are supposed to be a time for fun and junk food. Being able to buy things like this probably makes them feel like real kids.

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  4. I actually remember seeing a post on OC complaining about that & I couldn't help but think to myself "what's wrong with that?" I guess I can understand where people are coming from, but you're right. Birthdays are their special day, their lives shouldn't be centered around poverty.

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    1. I want to clarify that when I said "everyone I know" I meant that everyone I know sends birthday money. I didn't mean to that everyone I know complains how the money is spent. There are only a few people that do that.

      Birthday gifts, for me, are generally smaller, about $10-$15 depending on the country. For example, $10 in countries like India and places in Africa, the money goes further. For my girl in Honduras, I'm going to send my girl in Honduras $20, because things are more expensive there. I can't wait to hear what my April birthday kids buy with their money!

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  5. On the Canadian website it actually says that birthday money is used to purchase "A gift that provides your sponsored child with a special age-appropriate present " whereas the child gift is said to be "A gift used to meet specific needs that will be identified by your sponsored child’s family and project staff. " I really think a birthday gift should be a fun extra... and it's not always possible and sometimes they do buy things like rice with birthday money... but if my child can get a toy or cake with it... I love that too :)

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    1. I'm glad that it says that. On the U.S website it doesn't say anything like that about what the gifts mean.

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  6. Yay for letters! It is great that he was able to get so much :)

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