Suman CP letter - 1

While I was sad that one of my kids had left the program, I was a happy to see another letter from CI. My spirits were lifted a little thanks to that sweet letter from Suman. This is supposed to be the CP letter I guess. Surprisingly, this letter was again written by Suman. I believe the SNG letter was written by him because of the number of items and the uses they were supposed to write. He is still just a kid. Anyways, it was a letter from him. One more thing about this letter was his handwriting. I must say it has improved tremedously (or he should have written it pretty slowly). It was really crystal clear. For some reason, the translation was not printed this time. It was hand written by someone. Luckily I was able to make out the hand writing. So this is what the letter said

"Dear Sponsor,
How are you and your family? I was very happy to receive your letter. I thank you for it. We are all fine. I study in grade 2. I like to go school. I have many friends there. I play with them during lunch break. Please let me know in which city of India you lived?

I would also like to know how you like the country you live in now. I was glad to know that you liked my photo. I thank you for your support. Please keep well.
With love,
Suman"
Reading the letter once again makes me realize this must be the reply to the first letter I sent, even before receiving the welcome letter... This time he had drawn a house and a flower pot in the back of the letter. Anyways, it is great to see a CI mail in the mail box always. I know from whom my next mail will be... Waiting for it. Should get it by next week...
Cheers

A happy day!

Just wanted to share a simple yet joyful incident that happened a coupla days back. I joined CI because of one of the volunteers near my office told me about it. I was pretty skeptical about it and yet I thought I will give this organisation a shot. And I have not looked back since. It has been an amazing 4 months so far and I am looking forward to only the good things. Surprisingly, I found the same guy near my office after 4 months. He greeted me as another potential CI sponsor and chat with me. I immediately told him I know him. He thought hard for a few seconds and asked sorry that he couldn't remember me. I understand that he meets so many people in a day that it will be tough for him to remember whom he signed. I informed him that I am already with CI and it was due to him I was able to sponsor. I thanked him and he suddenly stopped me and said he remembered me. I thought he was just being courteous and nice and he in fact showed me the spot where he signed me for CI. He had been out to different places and was back again for CI only that week. I was amazed. It is just a small thing. But then it felt very good. Of course I can remember him coz I don't see too many such people. But the fact that he remembers whom he signed for CI 4 months back was a feel good factor. I mean, he knows his work. He remembers the faces, and it is such dedicated people too (apart from the kids), which make me happy to be a part of the CI program. Just wanted to share it :)

Sad News!

A bad day for me. It ends even before it really started. Today to my dismay, I found out that Sunandita whom I have been sponsoring for less than 3 months had to quit the program. She had to quit because of change in location. If you move out of the sponsorship area, CI won't be able to provide benefits anymore. This would mean opting out of the sponsorship program. CI selected her for me after I gave very specific requirements. I wanted to sponsor an elder child who was going to school. She was 17 and the eldest among my other kids. I very recently sent a SNG for her and also got a reply. Definitely it should have been too recent. I know this has happened to others and have read about it. It is not new or unexpected. It does happen at times. Still, only four months into my sponsorship experience and even lesser with this kid, it kinda makes you feel sad when you think about it. I sponsored her so that she can go ahead and finish her studies. Kinda feel bad that it didn't happen. CI has of course suggested a replacement. She is also a 17yr old. It is my choice to take or not. Still, I am thinking, coz, for one, she doesn't seem to be going to school. Two, I am also thinking about a group sponsorship with my best friends. Three, I might just wanna hold back so that I can sponsor another kid whom I select just out of impulse. 4 months into sponsorship and I have already been tempted 6 times. Keeping my fingers crossed. Where ever Sunandita is, I hope she is happy and gets what she wants. And I am hoping this will be the last time a kid goes out of sponsorship before 19 in my group.
~ChEeRs

A sweet welcome letter from Yulissa

After a long wait I got the welcome letter and also a CP letter from Yulissa. Actaully, they kinda both have the same coontent as partly it is my mistake. I sent a mail from the CI website. I was just testing it and hence didn't write anything much. But I am totally taken by her welcome letter. Did I tell you she is the most adorable of my kids? Of course Nicolle can give her some competition :). Being my first selected kid, she will always be special to me. So here is the sweetest welcome letter that she sent me :)

The translation -
Hello sponsor,

I am in 3rd grade of elementary school. I like reading, drawing and doing math exercises. and I participate in the Church's choir. I like water animals (especially dolphins - from CP letter). I lke studying very much. When I grow up I would like to become a chef. My favorite color is pink. I would like to learn more about other planets. I am tall; I have brown eyes and I am white. I have brown hair. I like pretending I am a clown and making my cousins and siblings laugh. I have 2 grandfathers and 2 grandmothers. The weather is very hot here but it is nice. There is a park near one of my grandmother's home and sometimes we go play there for a while.

Now I say goodbye; I will write yoou again soon.

Yulissa

Thank you for everything.

I totally loved the letter. One thing is for sure. Her handwriting is definitely better than mine :). In the CP letter it was pretty much the same thing. And she had mentioned that her dad was sick but he was getting better. There were two things in both the letters that really captivated me. One is her drawing and the other is her varied range of interests. She likes to draw and make things with clay and also she likes to play the beautician... On both the letters her drawing was so cute. Take a look for yourself :)

This was in the CW letter. She had drawn a picture of an astronaut. I really liked it because in the same letter she had mentioned that she wanted to be an astronaut and also how interested she was in knowing more about the planets.

This was in her CP letter. A simple yet colorful and happy drawing. The moment I saw this, I couldn't help but smile. This brought so much happiness to me... I also felt that her letter was very open. She told me about herself and her interests. This gives me very less questions to ask, but a great deal of topics to discuss. And oh, one more interest which the young lady has (not mentioned in the letter) is soccer. And I love soccer :)

The welcome letter and CP letter for Yulissa was actually delayed. I know how much I had the bugged the CI representatives asking about the status. Of course they were more than helpful to track it for me. Let me tell you this. It was worth all the wait for the happiness it brought. I am so glad I found CI and also that I found 5 kids who could give me so much inner peace.
~ChEeRs

Suman SNG Reply

Suman is my first kid and I sent him a SNG as soon as I learnt about the SNG. All I had to do was call CI and they processed it while I was on call... I must say that this was my first SNG. Let me tell you how the SNG works. You can call up CI and ask them for a SNG report and then based on the report you can decide how much you would wanna give. But this would also mean a trip to the family from the CI (which has its own cost) and 6 weeks to get the report back to you. Otherwise, you can just donate the amount to CI directly and tell them to check out the needs of the family. This is faster because they have the money to spend while inquiring the needs. There is no lag in time. You have an option to tell the CI representative what to get, or you can let the family decide what they would wanna do with the money. Any amount above 100$ would get you a reply with photos. Also donations above 100$ would mean it is dispatched immediately and it reaches the family in 2 weeks. I donated more than 100$ and let the family decide what they wanted to do with it.

I got some super cool super smiling photos of him with the SNG report... I loved all the photos. He has such a genuine smile... :). The SNG amount was not that high. But it was another example of how much deep a dollar reaches in India :). The following items were bought as part of the SNG - Rice, Pulses, flour, cooking oil, Sugar, Detergent powder, Biscuits, Health Drink, Tea, Book of rhymes, Coloring book, Bed covers, pillow covers and pillows. And his wide smile reminds me so much of one my own photo when I was a kid showing all my teeth smiling wide :)

I believe that would be his mom and his beautiful sister. I had already inquired and was told that she is also sponsored. One queer thing about the report was the response. While the first CW letter was written by Suman, this was written by his dad. The reason given was that he was not old enough to write. I really wonder how he wrote his first letter and cant write the second one. Of course some forum members have explained that the first letter might have been bad or he might have struggled. So they might have asked his dad to write it. The message was there. I don't care who writes the letter (maybe I do :P ) as long as the kid is happy. Here is what was given in the letter...

Dear Sponsor,
I hope you are well. We all are fine. My son Suman cannot write so I am writing on his behalf. With your financial help, we have purchased large supplies of rice, pulses, flour, cooking oil, sugar, biscuits, health drink, packs of tea, detergent powder, bed covers, pillow covers, pillows and plastic bucket. My son is very happy to receive a coloring book and a book of rhymes. My family and I are grateful to you for the useful gifts and I thank you for the same. I end with regards to you.
Yours,
Suman's father on Behalf of Suman
And I would still stick to my title for Suman, "The kid with the most amazing smile on the planet"...
~ChEeRs

Sunandita - SNG/ B'day report

I got last week and was a little held up (lazy) and couldn't update earlier. Sunandita was sponsored via phone. While sponsoring her, I also asked the patient representative about her b'day, which she pointed out had just gone by. So I decided it is never too late to send a belated b'day wish... So this was more of a b'day gift than SNG... They bought a steel almirah and a quilt. And the Letter had this

"Dear Sponsor
I start my letter with love. I hope you and your family are well. We are all fine. With the money you have sent me for my birthday we have purchased a quilt and a steel almirah. I am very happy and I thank you for remembering my birthday. the almirah was something that we really needed as we did not have one. Now we can keep our clothes and other important documents in the almirah in a proper manner. This will save them from dust and insects. The quilt will keep us warm in winter. I thanks you for providing me with lovely gifts. I end with regards to you.
Yours
Sunandita"
There were only two photos and both looked the same to me... She had drawn a nice flower at the back of the page which I couldn't take a pic of. Will upload that too soon :) Overall it was a very happy and satisfying day thanks to CI and the USPS. I really like sponsoring these kids. All these letter kinda make my day... And I am loving it :)
~ChEeRs

Welcoming Ailing Nicolle

Here I am yet again adding one more kid to the group. I really thought 2 was best and then came Sunandita. And then came Kulsum, but that was for my friend. And now I have the 5th one. And I think I will stick with these 5 for some time to come. Now lets shift the focus to my beautiful Nicolle. I was browsing thru the CI pages and just looking at the kids. I was in a bad mood, but when I saw this photo I found myself stragely smiling. I clicked on her page and it took less than 10 seconds for me to hit the sponsor button. At that time I did not see the whole details. I just saw she was Honduras (A new place to add) and she lived with her mother. Of course I am guilty of selecting a kid just from her photo, but it did give me a sense of satisfaction :) A look at the sweet smile and you will know why...

So this is Ailing Nicolle. I have not heard of the first name Ailing before... Of course I didn't even think about the name when I clicked on the sponsor button :). She is from Honduras and from the San Pedro Sula project. I had seen that name a few times in the message boards now... She is 8 yrs old. She is 4 ft tall and weighs at about 50 pounds. I am never good at judging what is the right height and weight for a kid. The good thing is that she is still attending school. Her favorite pastimes are playing soccer, playing hide and seek and playing with toys and cars. She seems to be one energetic girl with a wide range of interests. She likes to dance, draw and paint and no so coincidently , her favorite subject is art...

Very similar to Yulissa, her monthly income is better than my other kids at 289$. Of course it is a different country and it might most definitely be less. But she is the best of the lot from the kids I sponsor. She has one brother Erik, aged 4 and she lives with her mother. Her father has apparently abandoned the family (that is what the report says). Her living conditions also are a touch better than my other kids. There are two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. The walls and the floors are concrete and the roof is of corrugated metal. The cook out of a gas stove. The report says they have beds but it does not say on how many. I am hoping she is sleeping her own bed. They have running water in home. The electricity is regulated and they have a septic tank in place. I suppose it is a good thing... I am hoping I can make an impact on one more kid's life by doing what I can.

Peace

~ChEeRs