Last week, so many
things happened, so hopefully I can fill you in on some of the significant
things in the next few blogs.
I have two sponsored children that I sponsor through two
different organizations. I started
sponsoring one back when I was a senior in high school and the other one I
started sponsoring when I moved to Fort
Myers, Florida. Fortunately, my sister and her best friend
have been helping me out by taking them on and sponsoring them this year while
I am away. I enjoy the updates and letters
I get from them stating how things are for them. Usually I get a letter back stating where my
money goes and what it gets for them as well.
It’s always nice to get the letters, but I’ve kind of always wanted to
actually see a child, especially my child, and see what’s actually going on.
When I first heard that we would be going to South Africa,
I got really excited. Even though South Africa is
big, one of my girls is from there, so I was kind of hoping at some point, to
be able to see her. The process to be
able to actually meet one though, is very difficult. Before you arrive in that country, they need
4-6 months to get everything ready for the visit, which for someone with
limited internet access…this can be a challenge and very frustrating. With everything that has been going on in the
past few months in Africa and our schedule
changing, it’s kind of become more of a reality that it’s not going to happen.
So, when we came to Tumpa, and went out for the first time,
I noticed lots of the children wearing fleeces with a World Visions patch. There are signs about World Vision everywhere
and quite a few of our translators also work with World Vision and actually
translate the letters. The little girl I
have and was hoping to see is one that is sponsored through them as well.
Last Tuesday, we were walking up by the school in
Tumpa. It was break time for them and
word got out that the “gringas” (white people) were outside, so all of a sudden
a ton of kids came running out to us.
One of the girls I took to notice.
She had a World Vision fleece on, her hair was pulled back and she had
the cutest smile. She just kept gripping
my arm and pulling on me. I had 4-5
girls hanging out to each arm, but for some reason she stood out. We went over to a corner and sat down while
Pastor Hosea did a little lesson with them.
I was kind of distracted from what was going on because the girls just
kept smelling my arms. At first, I
didn’t understand why, but then it dawned that they were smelling my deodorant
and since I hadn’t taken a shower in a couple of days, I sprayed body spray all
over my arms that morning. We all just
sat there and laughed.
We just kept sitting there and suddenly I looked over and
locked eyes with the little girl and she smiled. It’s kind of hard to explain, but in that
moment, it was kind of like I saw my girl.
I saw how happy she was. I saw
her smile. I knew she was taken care
of. I knew that she was just like all
the other girls in her town and knew that her needs were being taken care
of. I knew that what small thing I was
doing was making a difference in her life.
I didn’t need to see her anymore.
I just needed that little glimpse of what her life was like, and it’s
cool that God showed it to me through some one else’s sponsored child.
