With the journey beginning the week before to immerse myself in New York and visit friends in New Jersey, the stats from my trip are staggering: 15 days, 15 flights, 10 airports, 69 hours in the air, 2 missed international flights & 13 hours of delays, 5 countries, thousands of $$$.
What would possess any sane, right-minded person to put themselves through this? One word: Compassion (both the quality and the organisation).
My involvement with the incredible holistic child-development organisation Compassion International started in 2006. And I am an unashamed Advocate/Supporter/Cheerleader and Warrior for the work that they do. After being immersed first-hand in the work that Compassion does to help change the world...one child at a time, I know it is too simplistic to simply label it a sponsorship organisation, because they do so much more than that.
Through sponsorship with Compassion, I currently provide for seven children and their families: Daila (Colombia), Sehila (Bolivia), Rosa (El Salvador), Kennedy (Kenya), Tegawende (Burkina Faso), Jean (Burkina Faso) and Jacqueline (Ecuador).
So, my mission on this trip of a lifetime was to travel to Bolivia, Colombia and El Salvador to visit my girls Sehila, Daila and Rosa. After all, sponsors are in relationship their their sponsored children and we all know that our most meaningful relationships are with those we interact with face-to-face. I wanted the girls and their families to know that I really care about them, God cares about them, and I wasn't just some 'face on a piece of paper', as it is so easy to think of the kids we sponsor.
The Journey
Being a primary school teacher, I had originally planned to go during December and January, and spend a bit longer in each country, maybe helping in an orphanage or something similar. However when I enquired about this, I was told the Compassion projects close for a couple of weeks over Christmas and New Year, so this would have defeated my whole purpose in going, which was a bit of a 'fact-finding mission', to be able to share first-hand with others back in Australia the impact Compassion is having in some of the worlds poorest countries.
Instead, I opted for the September school holidays because, among other reasons, once God placed the desire in my heart to go, I don’t think I could have waited until December!
The time for the journey finally arrived, and after spending a week in New York, and visiting friends in New Jersey I headed for Bolivia. After a six hour flight from Miami through Monday night, I arrived at the hotel at 7.00am on Tuesday morning, which gave me two hours before I would meet Sehila at the hotel.
Bolivia
I met my translator at
After
talking to the Project Director, I learned that the Compassion project has been
operating for 2 years, has 210 children attending, and at the moment has 2
toilets in the whole place. That is their biggest need at this stage. I met all
the staff (1 male), a couple of whom could speak English, and had a bit of a
tour of the project. There are several classrooms, a common room where they
eat, and a church up the top.
The
children come to the project at about 1.00 after school finishes at 12.30. They
are in an area where most if not all the children go to school, so that is
good. The children are divided up into age levels where they do classes,
homework, learn about spiritual things, play games, and also get a meal when
they first come.
I
was informed that I was the second sponsor visit to the project. They made me a
cake, which was really nice. After spending a bit of time at the project, we
left to walk to Sehila’s house, which wasn’t too far away. This gave me a
chance to observe the local neighbourhood. Lots of mangy stray dogs, lots of
rubbish on the streets. The “roads” (if you could call them that) were
incredibly under-made, pot-holey and rough as guts. Some of the local roads are
undergoing redevelopment at the moment so there were piles of rocks and stones
in the middle of the road, presumably waiting for a bulldozer to come and
smooth them out.
Sehila’s
house consisted of a small concrete yard, protected by a fence, which is great,
because the street outside is not one that is conducive to children playing on
it. They have an outdoor enclosed toilet and shower (like an outhouse), and
three rooms – kitchen, dining room/lounge, and one bedroom for the family,
which was very neat and well lit – One double bed for the parents, and one for
the girls. The kitchen has a stove, an oven and a sink with running water. They
have a TV and a couple of couches. Sehila has a fair soft toy collection,
including a Kermit the frog!!
Once
it stopped raining, we got a cab back to the project, where by this time the
rest of the children had arrived, and were eating their lunch. All eyes turned
toward me as I entered the room…silence…then I shouted one of the few Spanish
words I knew – HOLA!! And gave a big wave. The children responded and quite a
few of them rushed toward me and squashed me in a big hug. Unfortunately due to
my limited Spanish all I could say was “Com estas?” and that was as far as the
interaction went really.
Some
of the older kids came over and started talking to me (via my interpreter of
course), asking me lots of questions about “my country” and I asked them lots
of questions about “their country”. We learned a lot and had a good chat. After
lunch they went and lined up, and I got to introduce myself and teach them
about a few Australian animals. I got them jumping like a kangaroo, snoring and
climbing like a koala, and running like an emu.
I
then spent a bit of time in Sehila’s classroom, seeing the sorts of activities
they did, and how they interacted. Around 2.45 I started feeling pretty tired
(I had been on a plane through the previous night), and so said goodbye.
Colombia
Next stop was to visit Daila and her family in Colombia, who I have been sponsoring for three years. This day was made even more special by the fact it was my birthday! I was picked up from the hotel at 6.30am by the Project director and my translator, a young guy called Michael. Daila lived in a city called Buenaventura, which was about two and a half hours from Cali, so we had a nice long drive ahead of us. This was good as it gave me lots of opportunities to ask questions and find out about Colombia and Compassion's work.
The journey was incredible. I could tell we were pretty high up, partly because the clouds were just above us, and also my ears were popping. The mountains and the scenery were breathtaking, and at the same time, the poverty we passed was indescribable. It is a cliché, but it was “just like on TV.” The people who live in the mountains are either farmers, or make their living with roadside stalls. Houses are clumsily put together with whatever materials people can get their hands on. Horses are commonly used for transport, as they cannot all afford cars. The drive was interesting. Pesky motorbikes, annoying slow trucks, near-collisions every five minutes, and people just overtake whenever they feel like it.
We got pulled over at a checkpoint, and a cop went through every inch of all my luggage, especially the toy koala I had. Naturally, everything was fine, and apparently it was “normal”, but it was still a bit unnerving.
After a two and a half hour drive, at 8.30am we arrived at Buenaventura. The weather was really hot and sticky. We first went to the Project, which currently has 250 children, and met the staff, the Pastor of the church, and Daila’s family – parents and three siblings. Daila’s father is a labourer, and her mother designs things like jewellery and bags. First we had breakfast, and some of the Project kids performed songs and dances that they had practised. At the end of one of the dances, they crowded together, and came up to me to reveal…Daila! I totally didn’t see it coming. I had been told that Daila was quite shy, which was true, but she was also very affectionate and didn’t have any hesitation in coming up and giving me a cuddle.
Next we went and visited Daila’s house, which was only five minutes from the Project. The family lives in a very poor neighbourhood, and the house is basically one room, with a section sealed off for the parents bedroom. Unimaginable for a family of six, but that’s the reality in this area. After a bit of a chat we went and saw Daila’s school, which was two minutes down the road. We met the principal, who is also the pastor's wife. I learned that when they want to start a school they don’t build, they just look for available houses, and turn them into a school.
After this we went back to the project, where the kids sang Happy Birthday to me as I entered, and presented me with a cake. We sat down and ate the cake, then went on a tour of the Project. There wasn’t much to see really, just two rooms and an eating area. I was able to have a look at Daila’s information folder, which was very comprehensive, to see the “behind the scenes” stuff that Compassion does to ensure the well-being of each child.
Then we went and saw the church which is connected to the Project. The church is in the process of building an extra room on the property, to extend the capabilities of the Project.
El Salvador
On Saturday I was picked up by Carlos (translator) and John (driver) at 7.30am, on a warm and sticky day, to head to Chinameca, which was about 2 and a half hours away. Chinameca is out toward the east of ES, where most people are farmers, therefore quite poor, and you could see it as we got further from the city. Got to the Project about 9.30, and was amazed to see about 100-ish children lined up outside with Australian flags! The most humbling thing was that normally there is no Project on Saturdays, because they use the facility for an adult Bible class, but these kids had chosen to come, to see me! If that doesn’t knock your socks off…
The kids then sang some songs, I introduced myself, and met Rosa and her family. We went on a tour of the Project, which is truly an oasis in a neighbourhood which is not really child friendly – same old story, but sad reality for these kids.
A real treat was being able to take the whole family to Pizza Hut in San Miguel. Normally sponsors only take the child and maybe one parent, but paying $55 for 10 people to share this experience was really a small price to pay, so I was happy to do it.
After this we visited the Hernandez family house. Once again, it was basically one room with curtains used as dividers, for six people. This wasn’t necessarily surprising to me, but was still confronting to see the conditions that a family of six was living in. However, they seemed quite content and thankful to God for their blessings.
Took a bit of a tour of the house, saw their dog, cat, birds and chickens. Then it came to say goodbye.
Carlos had some nice words when we chatted at the end, and brought up something I said in a previous conversation, about recognising I’ve been blessed by God, so I want to pass those blessings on. He read 1 Chronicles 29:10-14.
David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
I have been a big believer in Compassion’s ministry from the start, but having seen it firsthand, I have come back from this experience even more enthused and convinced of the worth and integrity in the work that Compassion does to share God’s love with children and their families around the world.
