Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Visiting a Sponsor Child - Part Two

Hello again!

Sorry it has taken me so long to update my blog. If you remember a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going to visit my dad's cousin's sponsor child in Visiting a Sponsor Child - Part One. Here is part 2 of that story, detailing how my day went visiting Jackeline.

I met Soledad, the Compassion trips coordinator at my house at 9:30 am sharp (I love it when things start on time!). We took two taxis (for a little over an hour total) to San Juan de Lurigancho, a district in Lima, where Jackeline lives. We had a great trip: she answered all of the questions that I had, gave me information about the family I was about to visit, and chatted about different things in Lima. A great start to the day.

Our first stop was at the local Compassion office. Here we met the Director, Marisol, and the Manager, Ilda, and they explained how the office works and what they do. Here are a few pictures to describe the location.

Kids learn about life skills: physical (to determine when they are sick with diseases such as Tuberculosis or Diarrhea), socio - emocional (to talk things through instead of to fight), spiritual (not to have fear, God is with you), cognitive (I am smart, I can do it). The examples in each category change each day, and they have a discussion with the Compassion staff about it to gain awareness and self-esteem.


This helps children learn about the different diseases and symptoms that they may experience, allowing them to recognize the signs early and ask for help before the situation gets worse.
This is a kids' size toilet at the Compassion project.
The children receive lunch at the Compassion project when they go: a healthy meal that is cooked on-site and includes an appetizer (such as a salad), main course (protein and carbs), a fruit and drink. The meals are served in metal dishes for two purposes: so that if they fall they won't break, but more importantly so that they can be boiled to sterilize them if a child is sick. 
A view of San Juan de Lurigancho from the roof of the Compassion project (down the street on the left side there is a big field that is part of a school - Jackeline and her family live right behind that school).
A view of San Juan de Lurigancho from the roof of the Compassion project, looking straight out.
Soledad, Marisol and Ilda with the gift basket they put together to give to Jackeline and her family. The gift basket was kindly providad by my cousin.
The ladies explained to me that the children usually visit the project three times per week after school. They have lunch, participate in group activities (like the ones described in the pictures above) and then get help with their homework. One day per week, however, the Compassion workers (or tutors) go with the children to their homes to do their homework. This way, Compassion staff can get a feel for the situation at home in case the child is shy or afraid to talk about the situation. They have seen improved results by visiting the child's home periodically, allowing them to have more interactions with the family and provide more support to the children.

Once I was done visiting the project site, we all headed over to meet Jackeline. Here are my first pictures with her and her family (of many, of course!).

Jackeline and her doll.
Jackeline's family: her brother (19), mother, Jackeline, me, and half-sister (21). Her father was away when we visited.
While everyone was a bit shy at first, we soon got to talking about various things. I learned a lot about Jackeline, like how art is her favourite class, purple is her favourite colour, monkeys are her favourite animal, and volleyball is her favourite sport; I shared pictures of my dad's cousin with the family (for them to keep); and I talked to them about Canada, and snow, and what differences exist between Canada and Peru. I am so thankful that I am fluent in Spanish so that I could speak directly to the family as opposed to through a translator, allowing us to connect much more. I had also brought a deck of cards (with Canadian mounties on them) for Jackeline, and Soledad and I taught her to play go fish (which soon became her favourite game).

For lunch, I took everyone out to Norky's, a nearby rotisserie chicken restaurant. We especially picked one that had a games park, similar to the ones we have in Canada. I think it was Jackeline's first time trying one out. She was all smiles, and absolutely loved it.

Having fun playing in the balls. I think this was her favourite part.

All smiles :)
The group eating lunch (from left to right): Soledad, me, Jackeline, Marisol, Ilda, Mery (Jackeline's mom), Jackeline's sister and brother.
 Throughout the entire meal, we kept telling Jackeline to eat and eat and eat, and she did, quite well. She ate almost a 1/4 chicken, 2 hot dogs, some beef, and tried the pork chops and other meats that we ordered. Accompanied, of course, by a side of fries and a salad (lettuce is her favourite food). It was so nice to see her eat to her content, since she is suffering from malnutrition and anemia.

After lunch, we walked over to the nearby McDonald's and everyone got soft serve ice cream. We said goodbye to the two ladies from the local Compassion site, and then took a taxi back to Jackeline's house. Now it was time for her to open the gift basket full of goodies that the Compassion ladies kindly put together for us. Jackeline was so excited to pull everything out (and wanted a picture with every item), but here are my favourites.

Jackeline unwrapping the gift basket.
Never have I seen a child so excited to receive oil and toilet paper. She was absolutely adorable!
This is my favourite picture of her, holding up a 3L bottle of Fanta and  a 1L bottle of drinkable yogurt.
Jackeline and me with the gift basket.
Holding up the cards that I brought her - she kept asking to play Go Fish!
Unfortunately, after all the day's excitement, it was time to say goodbye to Jackeline and her family (but not without taking a few more pictures together).

Jackeline with the Christmas presents that she received from Compassion. Each child gets to go pick out what they would like with their parent(s) and a member of the Compassion staff. She picked out a doll and a scooter with helmet.
Our last picture together, all smiles.
Jackeline and her family outside the family home.
After a wonderfully touching day, it was time for me to head back to San Isidro, the district where I live. Before saying goodbye to Soledad, we went to a grocery store so that I could get some pictures printed and send them to Jackeline with her.


So now you may be wondering ... what are my lasting impressions of the work that Compassion does and the impact that it is having on Jackeline's life? I was thoroughly impressed. Everyone I met was very friendly and helpful, and the Compassion project seemed to be very well-managed: clean, with all of the necessary services for children (toilets, sinks, soap, dining and learning facilities), and with very caring staff. The well-being of the children seems to be put first, to ensure that they are raised in a safe environment, that their medical needs are attended to, and that they build self-esteem and other life skills. Is sponsoring a child the most effective way to do development? Of that, I am not sure. But I would not hesitate to sponsor a child through Compassion if I decide that that is something I want to do in the future.

Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you have enjoyed this two-part series on my experience visiting Jackeline!

Sheila

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