YOU Responded!

In February I posted the blog, “Follow up with Valesca and Katarin,” which detailed how my two favorite girls serving as maids in their aunt’s house instead of attending school. Three days later the emails began to pour in with offers to help. YOU responded in your graciousness and generosity and reached across country lines to help three little girls who had no one else.

Now Katarin, Valesca, and their little sister, Angelica, are sponsored and attending a Christian school in Catacamas. They still live with their aunt but are studying during the day instead of doing dishes. This school is a private school for rich kids, yet these former garbage workers are getting a chance to attend and put the beautiful potential of their minds to use. Especially exciting is the personal interest the principal has taken in the three.

Now Katarin, Valesca and Angelica once again have a positive mentor in their lives, a Christian woman who will love them unconditionally and stand up for them against any forces which might try to pull them down.

Thank you for getting involved. Thank you for praying for them. Thank you for making yourself and your resources available to these beloved by God.

Follow Up with Valesca and Katarin

Several weeks ago Pastor Jeony, Rey and I had the opportunity to visit our former students Katarin and Walesca Mondragon in their new home in Catacamas (a small city four hours from Tegucigalpa). Last June AFE helped these two second graders escape forced labor in the garbage dump and move in with an aunt who would care for them in another city (see: “Valesca and Katarin Find New Home”).

Our aim was to check on them, to see how they liked their new living situation, and review their progress at their new school.

When we arrived at their small, well-kept home in the suburb, I had high hopes. The large living room was cared for lovingly, painted in warm colors, and decorated with framed family pictures and pretty tiles. This family was certainly in a better economic situation than the aunt with whom they had lived formally.

When we met Katain and Valesca’s new caregiver (another aunt), she seemed a responsible, middle-class woman. But something was not right.

The aunt called Katarin and Valesca to come out and my suspicions were confirmed.
Three inhibited girls slowly emerged from the door, heads downcast but shy eyes glancing up. I was shocked that a third Katarin and Valesca existed; Angelica was their younger sister, although we had never heard about her when Katain and Valesca attended AFE. Yet, what shocked me the most was the change in the demeanor of my two favorite girls.

I remembered when they used to visit me during recess and huddle around my computer as I worked. They twirled as they chattered, would sass Rey as needed, and their eyes danced too. But something was different now. They seemed bound by invisible chains and reminded me off an abused dog who cowered under his master’s hand.

Their aunt explained to us how difficult it was to care for them (while the girls listened on), but that they would never go back to the garbage dump; it is just not right for a child to be there. She told us how she fed them well and took good care of them (they did seem to be well-nourished). But then we asked Katarin and Valesca what they did on an average day.

“Wake up, clean our room, eat breakfast, tidy the house, sweep and mop the floor, dust the curtains and furniture, tidy the patio, make lunch, do the dishes…” The list of housekeeping went on and on.

Why were they not in school?!

The aunt explained that there just wasn’t enough money to put them in school. Their father sent 100 Lempiras ($5) a month back from the States to support them, which did not even cover their food. It was good that their aunt was providing for them from her own means, but was she also providing love and care? The children knew they were a burden, it was obvious on their faces, and they were working as servants in the home to lessen their load.

Our hearts wept for these girls. But we knew that their heavenly father’s heart hurt even more. We went to work, searching for God’s plan to rectify this situation.

Pastor Jeony thought quickly. It happened that one of his mentors pastored a church in the suburb. And this church also hosted a dynamic Christian school, except only upper-middle class children could afford tuition.

Pastor Jeony met with the pastor of the Catacamas church and shared Valesca, Katarin (and now Angelica)’s story. His heart immediately went out to them. Although enrollment in this private Christian school was competitive, the pastor pledged to find a place for the three girls.
This situation is better than we could have hoped. There is currently no way for us to place the three girls in another home because the aunt has full guardianship and let us know in no uncertain terms that she did not intend to give them up. But what if we could enlist these children in a local AFE, where they would find loving care-givers who would speak God’s truth into their lives? Would their eyes begin to dance once again?

For each girl to attend the school it costs $50 a month. Will you consider sponsoring them?

If you would like to help sponsor Valesca, Katarin, or Angelica to attend a Christian school in Catacams, please contact reyangeldiaz@gmail.com

Does Sponsorship REALLY Make a Difference?

Many nonprofit organizations offer child sponsorship. It is a great way to personalize the connection between the donor and the recipient. However, the marketing of sponsorship programs can be somewhat misleading. In an article about Child Sponsorship, The Better Business Bureau notes that most sponsorship programs do not give their donations entirely to the child.

“In most cases, sponsor contributions are pooled with other donations and are used to support projects designed to benefit the local community where the child lives as opposed to being conveyed exclusively to the child” (http://www.bbb.org/us/Charity-Child-Sponsorship/).

For one thing, typically the administration cost for sponsorship needs to be taken out. Some of the larger organizations also have costs from their domestic offices, their field office, and then the salary of the workers hired to write the child´s letters (because most children in sponsorship programs are illiterate), then the salary of translates to put the child´s letter into English so that it can be easily read by his sponsor in the United States. For a large organization, a sponsorship program can be a very expensive undertaking because all of the staff needed.

Efficient organizations typically require about 17% of your $36 monthly donation to cover the overhead costs of running a sponsorship program. That means that about $400 of the $434 dollars you donated that year will go toward programs in the community of your child. Yet the question remains: is the child´s life really being impacted by your sponsorship donation? Do the years of sponsorship give the child a chance at a different life, and the opportunity to experience the abundant life Jesus promised was available to all?

AFE, on the other hand, does not take out any overhead costs from sponsorship donations. $30 of your $30 donation pays for programs that directly benefit your child. These programs include a full lunch and breakfast provided throughout the week, Christian mentorship and formation, family help and intervention, shoes, clothing and holiday celebrations, and extracurricular activities and transportation.

Another difference between AFE and some of the larger sponsorship organizations is that because we are small, we know your child personally, and we can guarantee that your donation is making a difference in his or her life.

Maira, one of the first children rescued from the dump, comments that she found God at AFE. In a country in which most do not graduate the sixth grade, she makes straight A´s in the tenth grade, and dreams about becoming a doctor, to make a difference in her country. Maira´s life has been changed by the programs that your sponsorship donation supports. Will you help partner with us to change more lives as well?

Find out More about Child Sponsorship