Transportation and New Baby Brothers

It's been a pretty quiet week around here for me, on the sponsorship front, but yesterday, I did receive two letters, from Maria and Alexander. 

I'll share Maria's first. It was a very short letter, but she wrote in BIG handwriting on the paper. I think she was trying to make it seem like she was filling up the whole page. Maria has written me long letters in the past, but she also seems like the type of girl that likes to be in the center of activity. From what I've heard, my Compassion projects sit the children down to write letters and when the letters are complete, they get to go play/join a group activity. I can see Maria scratching out a few sentences and then running off to play. 

Maria is 10 years old and lives in Brazil. She wrote this letter on September 29th, 2014. It certainly took a long time to get to me! 

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Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

How are you? My family and I are okay. Thank you for the letter that you gave me and I'm happy receiving and reading your letters. At the project I have many friends and here we take a lot of buses to get to another place, or by car and motorcycle. I enjoyed knowing the kids that you take care of. 

Hugs from your sponsored child, 

Maria Eduarda

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Next, a letter from Alexander. I was so excited in this letter to hear that Alexander has a new baby brother, who was born in June. Alexander is 13 years old and his brother are 12, so there was definitely a long wait before this 3rd baby. 

Alexander is from Honduras and he wrote this letter on December 20th, 2014. 

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Hello Dear Sponsor Kayla,

I hope you are in good health. It always makes me happy to write to you. My siblings from oldest to youngest are: Cesar, 12 and Walter Julian, who's 6 months old. I spend most of the time with my brothers and grandmother. My family lives in the urban area. My mom prepares the food. What I like to do with my family is go play. I like to help my family by cleaning my room. Thank you for the Christmas gift they are going to give me in the CDC. I ask you to pay for me so God keeps me this Christmas. How do you celebrate Christmas? Let me tell you I did well in school. I say goodbye with kisses and hugs. 

Carlos Alexander

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Word from Elias

I received a letter from Elias, in Ethiopia yesterday. I've been writing to Elias for nearly 2 years now and I've only received a handful of letters from him. Sadly, that's typical of children from Ethiopia. Every letter I receive from Elias is essentially the same, he talks about the same topics. Even though I don't get much from him, I have to keep reminding myself that the important thing is that I am writing to him, encouraging him, loving on him, and sharing hope with him. That's the point of the correspondence department. Still, I hope that someday, Elias and and I have a breakthrough of personality.

Elias is 16 years old. This letter is dated November 12th, 2014.

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Dear Kayla, 

How are you my dear guardian? My family and I are doing very well. Praise God, I am attending both my academic class and Sunday school bible studies. Please send more letters and photos to me. I love and respect you. See you in my next letter. Bye bye! 

Elias

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A New Photo for Eric

Next to letters from our kids, I think the happiest moment for a sponsor is seeing a new photo of our kids. I got a new photo our my boy Eric. I have been writing to him for over 3 years now. I just love seeing my kids grow and mature.

Three More for the Record Books

I was happy to find three letters in the mailbox today, including a very first letter from Ernest. I'll share that one first. He wrote on the template for My Dental Check Up.

Ernest is 8 years old and lives in Ghana. He wrote this letter on October 10th, 2014.

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My Dental Check Up

1. My last dental check up was in: March

2. For my dental check up, I went to: The Project

3. I got to my dental check up by: Walking

4. The following people went to my dental check up with me: Volunteer & Project Worker

5. At my dental check up I learned that I have to: Eat clean and warm food 

Thank you for: Words of encouragement, pictures, stickers, and sponsorship. 

Child's prayer request: Ernest says pray for him to be strong and healthy always. 

He says he is doing well. He say he lives in a small farming community and people rear animals like goats, hens, and others have dogs in their houses. He says they have mangoes, bananas, oranges, watermelons, pears, etc. he says he will tell you about his family in next letter. 

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Next up, a lovely letter from Khushi. Out of all of my girls, she's definitely one of the most chatty. She always has a lot to say and I love hearing everything. She's such a sweet girl. 

Khushi is 10 years old and lives in India. Her letter is dated October 17th, 2014. 

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My dear friend Kayla, 

How are you? I am doing well here. Everyone at my home is doing well. I have received so many letters from you. It is so nice to hear and learn lots of things about you. I really enjoyed your letters and beautiful pictures. Thank you so much. I am happy that you also like to hear what I write in letters to you. I do believe that God is good and he has a great plan for me. I am happy that in the project I can learn to grow in trust and faith in God these days. I am writing my half yearly exams. I am also enjoying the activities at the project. In some days, we will have a sports meet. I am excited about it. Weather is becoming cold and if it rains we will have snowfall again. I like winter. This year we are growing a garden, but this time we don't have much vegetables. I am happy that these days my father is with us at home. He will go back to his job after two weeks. My older sister Priyanka now got a five month old daughter. I love her so much. My mother was sick and was taken to a good hospital for treatment and had to be out of home for many days. I missed my mother so much, but I thank God that now she is much better and is back home. I also go for tutoring for math and English in evening time. I thank you very much for your support and prayers. I love you so much. You are a big encouragement and big blessing for me. I wish we could meet someday. 

With Love and Prayers,

Khushi

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Lastly, I got a letter from my little brother, Kalpesh. Ever since I first started writing to him, he's called me his big sister. I must admit, I love having a little brother. I always wanted one. 

Kalpesh is 12 years old and lives in India. He wrote this letter on October 6th, 2014. 

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Hello dear sister! 

How are you doing? How is your job going on? Say hello to all of your family members and your students for me. I am very glad to get your letters with beautiful stickers and pictures of your uncle, aunt, and your cousins. I'm very glad to hear about your trip to Indiana, where you visited different shops and you spent time with your uncle's family. Thanks a lot for praying for my studies and my health. Also thank you so much about comments on the henna design. (He drew me a picture of a henna design) That henna design is worn on special occasions like marriage and festivals and other programs. Very soon, our first term exams are going to start so I am working hard. After exams we will have an inter-project sports competition and the end of this month, so we are practicing the games. After that, I have decided to visit my mom and siblings. I also like ice cream. Whenever I went to a trip outside for program with other project children and staff, our sir bought us some. Our teachers are very good and they care for us always. One again, thanks a lot for the letters. May God keep you safe. 

In Christ, Your Brother,

Kalpesh

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My Three New Kiddos

I only requested three new kiddos a few days ago. This is the fastest that I've ever been assigned children. Just amazing!

I couldn't fit them nicely into one collage, so I made two. :)

Emanise is 15 years old and lives in Haiti. 

Rujikorn is 10 years old and lives in Thailand. She is a Karen child. I've heard many things about the Karen people and I'm interested in learning more about them. 

Jhonrex is 14 years old (his photo is just about 2 years old, I should be getting a new one any day now) and he lives in the Philippines. 

Yay! New kiddos to get to know! 

Letters from the Week

I've been getting letters this week, but I've been too lazy to type them up. You know how it is, right? Haha.

I'm not much into small talk tonight, so here are the four letters I've received:

First up, a letter from Sagitaria. Her letters are typically short, but very sweet.

Sagitaria is 11 years old and lives in Indonesia. She wrote this letter on November 16th, 2014.

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Dearest Kayla, 

Shalom, mami. How are you there? My family and I are fine in Indonesia. I am fine here. My schooling is going well and I am studying like my friends do. My favorite lesson is religion because I think religion is very important and useful for my life. Mami, I pray to Lord Jesus so that we are blessed with good health and long life. I am so happy to reply to the letter from you, mami. Lord bless us all. 

Shalom,

Sagitaria

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Next, a letter from Florenc. It has been quite a while since I last heard from this guy. This year, he started 10th grade, which is the first year of high school in Albania. I think it's been keeping him pretty busy. A bit of explanation, on his progress report for 2014, there was a section for him to compare himself to an animal. He chose a butterfly. I wrote him a letter asking why. He answered in this letter. 

Florenc is 15 years old. This letter is not dated. 

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Dear Kayla, 

I was happy receiving your letter. When I opened it and read it, I was very happy. I showed it to my father and my mother. They read it and they were happy about you and for the fact that you are getting on well. You asked me about my health. I am very well. I am in the 10th grade. During summer holidays, we were in Vlore beach for a day visit. I had a good time there with my friends. During the trip, we stopped at a zoo and saw different animals. 

I chose the butterfly because I wish I could fly over there to your place and make you a surprise for summer vacations. 

I finished the 9th grade and I am now in the high school. I am getting on well. I am closing this letter with much love. I hope this letter finds you well. I am waiting for your next letter. 

With Respect, 

Florenc

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Now, a letter from Nikko. It's always such a pleasure to hear from Nikko. You can really feel his personality through his writing. 

Nikko is 16 years old and lives in the Philippines. He wrote this letter on October 23rd, 2014. 

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Dear Ms. Kayla, 

Good day! Thank you so much for sending me letters. I'm fine with my family here, thanks to God. How about you? I hope you're doing good too. I hope you're in good health condition. 

I'm happy to hear about the tooth fairy story. It is my first time to hear that story and I never know that children there in the U.S were happy every time the lose their teeth. It's not like here in the Philippines because children are afraid to lose their teeth. They will be bullied by other kids and they're afraid of the dentist because of the injections. Here also in Philippines we celebrated Friendship Day. We celebrate Mother's and Father's Day. We also celebrate Independence Day and lots of other celebrations. 

Yes, it is true there are other children in our project who have never received a letter from their sponsor, that is why I am very thankful every time I receive letters. I'm very much lucky and blessed. 

I hope you had a great day there and enjoy God's blessings. Thank you also for all your prayers. You may continue to pray for me and I for you. God bless. 1 John 4:19 "We love because he first loved us." 

Nikko

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Last up, a letter from Wendjy. He really has become one of my best writers. He's such a great young man. 

Wendjy is 20 years old and lives in Haiti. His letter is dated November 15th, 2014. 

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Dear Kayla, 

It is a real pleasure to get in touch with you. How are your activities going? Your health? I hope everything goes well for you and your family. I was glad to get your last interesting letters. You asked me how was the official test. I passed it, thanks to God, because he is he who gives understanding, memory, and other things. I hope that I will always succeed, thanks to God, in whatever I do. I thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for my family and me because we really want God to keeps us under his wings. I will keep praying for you too. I hope to hear from you once again and to get a reply from you. I wish God to always protect you and bless you. 

Wendjy

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More Information About My Newest Kiddos

I briefly shared about my new kiddos a couple of weeks ago, but now that I received my packets for them from Compassion, I want to share a little more about their families and lives. This is probably for my own record, than for anybody's else's, but maybe you'll still find it interesting.

I will also be sharing some of the things that are offered at the projects these children attend. All Compassion projects provide healthy food, health screening, tutoring, games, bible lessons, health and hygiene training, etc, that basics. I will share some of the interesting things these projects offer. The things that are outside the ordinary.

This handsome young man is Abbas. He is 18 years old. He lives with his parents, who both work as farmers. They only earn about $10 a month. He has 2 siblings. He is a pretty busy guy at home. His chores include caring for animals, farming, cleaning, carrying water, and washing clothes. For fun, Abbas likes to play soccer, walking, reading, art, and listening to music. He's in high school and has average performance. 

Abbas lives in Luwero, Uganda. The common spoken language is English. Abbas' project provide community service opportunities, counseling, writing classes, and skills training. 

This beautiful girl is Swapna. She is 18 years old. She lives with her parents and is the only child in the home. She either has no siblings or her siblings are all older and out of the house. Her father works as a driver and probably earns about $40 a month. Swapna helps at home by washing clothes, sewing, cleaning, and helping in the kitchen. For fun, she enjoys singing, art, story telling, swimming, and riding a bike. She is in high school and has average performance. 

Swapna lives in Kokata, India. The common spoken languages are Hindi, Bengali, and English. On top of the basics, Swapna's project also provides special celebrations and literacy training for parents. 

Little Miss Serious here is Faith. She is 9 years old. She lives with her mother and has 5 siblings! Her mother works as a farmer and earns a very meager $2 a month. Faith works at home running errands and helping in the kitchen. Faith likes playing group games and jumping rope. She is in primary school and has average performance. 

Faith lives in Thika, Kenya. The common spoken languages are Swahili and English. Her projects provides camps and arts and crafts training. 

Sir Serious here is Mulwa. He is 7 years old. He lives with his parents and has 3 siblings. His parents are both farmers and probably earn about $25 a month. Mulwa helps his family by cleaning, carrying water, and running errands. He likes to play group games with his friends, like ball games and hide and seek. He is in primary school and has average performance. 

Mulwa also lives in Thika, Kenya. Languages spoken there are Swahili and English. His project provides education field trips and arts and crafts training. 

Indian Kids Needing Sponsors

It's been quite awhile since I requested child packets from the advocate network at Compassion. I've been able to find several sponsors for children in the past, but more recently, I haven't been able to find as many sponsors. I was feeling a bit discouraged (which I know I shouldn't feel) so I took a break. But a few weeks ago, I saw a few children on the Compassion website from the same project that my Sandesh attends. I found out that they had several children at the project that were waiting for a sponsor, all that had recently lost sponsors. I requested five packets from this project and yesterday, they were waiting for me at home.

There are three handsome boys and two beautiful girls! If you feel led to sponsor any of these children, please email me at Groth.Kayla@mail.ic.edu and I can lead you through the process of sponsorship!

All five of these children attend project IN-866. This project is located in a large slum area in India. Most of the children live in the slums, but some do live outside the slums, in a more shaded area.The city is very dirty, with garbage on the streets, open sewage, and animals roaming freely. Shanties are built along the side of the road, where people either sell items, live, or both. You can see some of the conditions in the background of the photos. Other photos are taken near the treeline.

Name: Aman

Age: 11

Birthday: October 27th, 2003

Family: Father, Mother, 1 sibling

Chores: Carrying Water, Caring for Children, Cleaning

Interests: Playing Ball Games, Reading, Hide and Seek

School Performance: Average 

Name: Suraj

Age: 10

Birthday: August 30th, 2004

Family: Father, Mother, 1 Sibling

Chores: Carrying Water & Buying/Selling in the Market

Interests: Hide and Seek, Running, Playing Group Games

School Performance: Average

Name: Sidhesh

Age: 5

Birthday: August 24th, 2009

Family: Father, Mother, No Siblings

Chores: Washing Clothes & Cleaning

Interests: Art, Riding a Bike, Hide and Seek

School Performance: Average

Name: Radha

Age: 7

Birthday: September 5th, 2007

Family: Father, Mother, 2 Siblings

Chores: Caring for Children & Cleaning

Interests: Singing, Playing House, Running

School Performance: Average

Name: Renuka

Age: 7

Birthday: December 3rd, 2007

Family: Father, Mother, 1 Sibling

Chores: Running Errands & Cleaning

Interests: Playing House

School Performance: Average 

Remember, you would like to sponsor one of these children, please email me at the above email address. I hope to find all of these children a sponsor! I have these packets until February 13th! 

Updates and Letters

First off, I want to update you on the Kenyan correspondent situation. If you missed my last post about them, a company sponsored 1,000 Compassion children from Kenya. They asked that all of these children be paired up with correspondent sponsors. There was a great response from many loving and dedicated sponsors and the list of sponsors was so long! I originally asked for five kids from that list, but there were more than enough sponsors to cover all the kids (Amazing!) and I was only assigned two: Faith and Mulwa. I am excited to get to know these two beautiful kiddos.

Now onto the letters:

I heard from Allison, who, after signing her letter, let me know that she prefers to go by her middle name, Jamileth. That's my 6th child that goes by their middle name! Change noted.

Jamileth is from Ecudor and is 11 years old. The letter isn't dated.

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Dear Sponsor Kayla,

I greet you in the name of Jesus. Answering your question, I am well. How about you? I tell that you I finished school for this year. Do you study in university? I will begin high school this year. (She'll start 6th grade. I'm guessing that's considered secondary school.) It is chilly here now. Yes, we played a soccer match this year and we have gone to the pool. It is nice that you perform these camps. My family and I read the bible together when we have free time. What about you? Thank you for sending me letters and that way I can know more about you. I want to know: What do you like? What do you dislike? I like to talk with you. I love you so much. 

Jamileth

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I also received a letter from Lina. She is from Colombia. I have three children in Colombia and all three of them write such wonderful, loving letters. Lina is very eloquent. I can definitely see why she is performing above average in school. 

Lina is 15 years old. She wrote this letter on October 23rd, 2014. 

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Dear Kayla, 

I say hi to you with a strong hug and my God bless you. I wish you to receive abundant blessings. I want to tell you that I have a lot of friends at the project and they are all very funny, but I have two special ones and their names are Tatiana and Daniela. I have so much fun with them because we are always in very good unity and we also go to church together. My parents are very special because I am able to count on them whenever I need them and they are with me at all times. My favorite activity to do with my friends is talking because I have so much fun talking to them, due to the fact that we have a lot of things in common. We love learning a lot of things at the project, such as skills for life techniques, among other things. I consider Jesus as my best friend because He is with me in good and bad situations in life. He is my faithful friend. For me, friendship is companionship and brotherhood, among other things. I would like to express my gratitude to your for your letters, your presents, and your monthly contribution you send to this project. I would like to dedicate the following bible verse to you: Proverbs 17:17. I say goodbye for now and I wish you to receive abundant blessings. My God bless you. 

Sincerely, 

Lina

P.S Please help me pray that God continue to bless my family. 

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Two More Updated Photos

I am waiting for several photo updates. Each month, a few trickle in, but each month, more of my photos hit the point that they will be updated again. It's a never ending cycle! But, it's definitely a great cycle.

Here are the photos, Emanuel:

And Wendjy: 

Both of these guys just had a birthday in the last week, so they are both a year older than it says in their collage. But, the photo was taken before their birthday. 

What a Day!

Yesterday was a great day! I added four new kids to my family!

Recently, a company sponsored 1,000 children from Kenya, Wow, right?! They asked for all of those children to be assigned to correspondent sponsors. I put myself on the list to write to five of those kids. Today, two of them arrived: Mulwa and Faith. I should be getting the other three next week.

The other two children came from my friend Debbie. She had a few correspondent children, but she was a having a hard time finding time to write to them. She transferred her kids over to a few of the people in our online sponsorship group. I took on two of her kids: Swapna from India and Abbas from Uganda.

I am so excited to get to know these four new kids! I've already written them all a first letter!

2014 Letter Stats

Last year, I posted this: Letters Received in 2013 .

I liked the idea (probably because it was my idea) so much that I decided to repeat it. Without further ado, here is the breakdown of how many letters I received this year.

The ones with the lower amounts of letters are mostly new kids. I've only been writing to these kids for a few months. However, the kids from Ethiopia have all been around for over a year but, unfortunately, the letter writing from there really isn't that great. As far as Florenc goes, I'm not sure what the slowdown is with him. He did just start high school this year, so maybe he's just extra busy.

Once again, Xhuliano was the winner! He wrote me 12 letters!

I received 6 letters each from Sagitaria, Sandesh, Solomon, Jhon, Wendjy, and Fogwin. 

I received five letters each from Kalpesh, Celeste, Sadiya, Kwizera, Khushi, Nikko, Brenda, Derrick, and Alexander. 

Abu, Sagar, and Maria each wrote me four letters. 

Florenc, Enantenesh, Eric, Lina, and Emanuel each wrote me three letters. 

I received two letters each from Daniel, Elias, Allison, Taye, and Caleb. 

Chintada, Nandini, Lazarus, and Melaku all wrote me one letter each.

If you were counting, that's a total of 134 letters. Whoo hoo! Great year! 

Melaku Embarks on the World

Today, January 1st, 2015 is a big day. Today, my young man in Ethiopia turns 22 years old. It is also the day that he graduates from the Compassion program.

I've watched Melaku go from a sad-faced boy,

To a smiley, confident young man with big plans for his future. He has a high self-esteem, he loves his mom and little brother and he enjoys school and has been going to a technical school to learn construction skills. 

I just know that God has big plans for Melaku!