The Wayfarer: Ethiopian Adoption Resources

Sponsor a Child

I wanted to share with  you our experience with Compassion International.
When we lived in South America we had the opportunity to attend a church where there is a Compassion center. It was great to visit it and see the work God was doing there. We visited several sites while we lived there. We were so impressed by the work they do that we asked them to give us a child to sponsor. We were able to go to a site and ask about any children attending who were not yet sponsored. At that time we were introduced to Marina. A 5 year old girl who had been attending for a year but needed a sponsor. Your donations to "unsponsored children" go to kids like her. So, we met with her a few times and were able to give her some gifts of clothes and toys and school supplies while we were there. On our last visit before coming back to the US we met her mother as well. Her mother appeared to be drunk and tried to give us her daughter to take with us to the US. Other than it not being ethicical and she not being an orphan available for adoption, we would have done it. But, we were able to sponsor her until she moved out of the reach of a Compassion Center, about 4 years. We continue to pray for her. We then sponosored Daniel, about 2 years, until he moved and now have had sponsorship for Jhamil, about 4 years now. This is a boy who is going to go far if he gets the chance. Smart, kind, and a real go getter. Great letter writer and so very personable. I pray we get to sponsor him for years to come...... and that he gets into the leadership program. If anyone can do it he can. We love to write to him and encourage him to be all he can be. He writes back quickly and responds to our questions. He is a great kid. We sent a little picture book from snapfish to each of our sponsored kids of our family. That was fun and we have had great letter conversation about it. It is fun to find things we have in common too. Like chickens and weather and what they are learning in school and Bible class.

We also sponsor a child in Ethiopia. When we were there to pick up our sons, the girls and I were able to meet Oliade and his family. It was a wonderful experience. Compassion provided a translator and a worker from the Center also accompanied us. We went to the Compassion Center to see where he learns and to meet him. His mother came too and they brought us wonderful drawings and flowers. Then we went to their home. We met all his 7 siblings and father. They served us the most yummy cinnamon tea ever. I bought some to bring home. It is soooooo good. And of course the yummy popcorn that comes with all hot drinks. It is like kettle corn. And bread. That was a sacrifice as bread was hard to find while we were there due to fasting days for the Orthodox church. They had the cutest little kitty. We had to walk a long ways on a rugged road and then a foot path like a hiking trail. They live in a one room home made of concrete blocks and mud stucco. It has a tin roof and a heavy door with bolts. There are no windows and a curtain to divide the room, dirt floors. There is one bed and that doubles as a seating place. They cook over a camp stove. They are fortunate to have a toilet house out back. They saved up and built that house themselves. I am so proud of them. They send the kids to school. I can tell they are educated and devoted. This is a truly great family striving to pull out of poverty for their kids. It is next to impossible in Ethiopia to do so. Education does not guarantee you a way out. What is there to go to? No industry to speak of. Maybe in time..... by the time Oliade finishes school we hope he will be primed to enter a new industry leading work force. He is a super smart kid and excels in school, he is shy, but with accomplishment and love his confidence will grow. He loves science and writes well. We enjoy writing to him to encourage him to do his best and continue in his faith. This is a great family and we hope to be able to sponsor Oliade for a long long time.

So what does your money go toward? Other than a small percentage for office cost, the money is wisely spent in the Compassion Centers. Compassion Centers vary a little bit from region to region, country to country.But this is generally what you would find. A center is located at a partner church and provides before and after school programs to kids who come. Most accepted non sponsored kids as well. If a child is sponsored his siblings can go to the center.  At the center the children receive help with school work, Bible lessons and scripture memory, a hot, nutritious meal, basic hygiene education and medical care. They play sports and do crafts. Each child has a cup and toothbrush and they brush teeth and get a shower at the center.
Our church has now created a partnership with one particular center in Ethiopia. Your church can do this too. Get families to sponsor kids from one certain center and you can take trips over to help out the center and meet the kids!

In case you did not know besides the small amount you send each month you can also send up to $200 a year in a family gift and $200 for the center. $15-25 can be sent for Birthdays and Christmas as well. The Christmas gift is spread so that ALL children get a gift. Your child's gift is from you. We like to send all we can to the kids family because they need it and will use it well. We always get reports on what they buy. Clothes, shoes, food, cloth, school supplies. Only occasionally will they get a toy like a soccer ball. Compassion also has great projects for the community. They have pure water projects, HIV projects and food projects which get food to areas in drought and help malnourished kids. Check out their web site for more things they do to help the community. There is a mother and child program which provides nutrition, hygiene and parenting training for mothers of children under 4. They also receive a hot meal and Bible study and mentoring. Some sites are also able to assist the mother in trade training. At age four the children are eligible for the kids program. You can sponsor a mother child program too. They have a leadership program for older kids where the kid goes to leadership training with Compassion and gets to go to the University for a degree. The sponsorship here is a higher cost, but really, nothing like sending a kid here to school. I hope to sponsor Jhamil and Oliade this far. I love those boys and want so much to see them break the cycle of poverty.

Consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International.