The power of a letter…

by sara

While I was spending the day with my sponsored children David and Kevin, I also took the time to get to know the project workers that interact with the boys on a regular basis. When I talked with David’s tutor she told me that, among other things, she helps the children to write letters. Letter writing has always been one of my favorite parts of being a sponsor, and so I asked her about the process and about the children’s reactions to the letter writing process.

“The kids are always thrilled to receive letters from their sponsors and to know more about them and their families”.

She said that she loves to help the kids write letters and for the most part, the kids are also excited to write letters to their sponsors.

With kids who are old enough to write, but not quite competent with composition, she helps them to organize their thoughts. When she helps my David write a letter to me she said that he dictates his thoughts and she writes them on the whiteboard. Then he sits down and carefully copies those sentences. Apparently he always has more to tell me than will fit on a page.

But she also told me that not all of the kids look forward to the letter writing days.

One girl in the project has had a sponsor over five years, ever since she was registered in the project. However, in all that time she has not received a single letter or photo. All she knows of her sponsor is her name.

For the children letters represent relationship, they see their sponsors as valued family members and want to get to know them better. For this little girl, the lack of letters and relationship with her sponsor has effected her self-esteem. She asks her tutors…

Why don’t my sponsors write to me? Why don’t they care about me? Am I not pretty enough? Do I not write nice enough letters? Why do other kids have sponsors who write to them, but not me?

The tutor has had to reassure her that her sponsor does care and does love her. She comforts her and encourages her to keep praying that her sponsor will write.

I am sure that her sponsor has no idea how much of an impact her words of encouragement would mean to her child. A simple note describing the sponsor’s family, and telling the child that she is loved and prayed for would make a world of difference to this little girl.

If you sponsor a child, will you sit down and write them a letter today?

If you have not written to your child yet, would you take a few minutes, right now, to be the answers to their prayers? Or if you have written, take the time to write a quick note to tell your child how much you care for them and are praying for them.

In addition to financial sponsorship, the few minutes you carve out of your day to write a letter will tell a little one that they matter and are special to someone. 

 

For those who sponsor through Compassion, a new email system has been created that allows you to chose from a number of colorful stationary templates, and gives you the option to upload photos to send with your letter. You can find the email option on your account at www.compassion.com