Hannifah has suffered much. Born in Uganda with HIV/AIDS, she lost her mother when she was only a month old. She was a very sickly child, always being taken to hospital. Her father considered her a burden.

Hannifah’s father remarried, and when Hannifah and his new wife had one too many misunderstandings, Hannifah was thrown out of the house at only 17. With nowhere to go, she lived in abandoned, unfinished buildings.

Along the way, she met Mike and started living with him. Within a few months, she was pregnant.

During her early pregnancy, Hannifah’s sickness increased. Mike was terrified thinking that she was going to die, so he threw her out of his house.

Seeking help from the church where she used to attend prayer meeting, Hannifah talked to the pastor, who let her sleep at the church while providing her with food for several months.

Together with the church counselor, who was very close to Hannifah, they approached the local council of defense to seek help. The council talked to Mike, who agreed to take Hannifah back. Mike, however, did not have much to offer her. She had many needs because of her illness and he earned very little to support her.

The church counselor connected her with our Child Survival Program at the Full Gospel Church Masaka where she received treatment and transport to the hospital. Whenever she went to the hospital, she stayed at least two weeks.

Hannifah gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Deborah. Her family could only afford one or two meals a day, yet her condition required that she have proper nutrition so we provided her with food, care and support. Without our program, she could not have survived.

By the time Hannifah’s baby was 3 years old, Hannifah was pregnant again. When a child turns three in the Child Survival Program, he or she graduates from the program. However, Hannifah was still in dire need. She had no food and was sick.

Compounding Hannifah’s problems was the fact her husband would often beat her. The two had many conflicts and there was no peace at home. Because they had not paid rent, they were forced to leave their home. When Mike took everything and abandoned Hannifah, she ran to us for help.

Staff members decided to register Hannifah in our program a second time. It is not common to register a mother more than once, because there are many vulnerable children and mothers in the community. However, without the Child Survival Program’s help, Hannifah and her unborn child would not have survived.

We requested Highly Vulnerable Children funds to help support Hannifah, and our staff rented a house for her for one year, gave her food on a monthly basis, bought her bedding, and provided for other basic needs.

Seven months into her pregnancy, her condition worsened and she was rushed to the hospital. She could not move and was not expected to live. She delivered her baby prematurely, a girl named Joy who weighed only 1 kilogram (approximately 2 pounds). Hannifah spent a month in the hospital with the baby, under treatment and observation.

We took care of her medical bills, something she could not have managed. The Child Survival Program also provided milk for Joy, because the doctor advised Hannifah not to breastfeed due to her HIV status. She was also given food on a monthly basis, some baby bottles and clothing.

We visited her every week to ensure she was well.

When Hannifah regained energy, she started a small business washing clothes. For two basins of laundry, she earned an average of 2,500 Ugandan shillings (less than $1 US). However, she did not have energy to wash clothes every day.

Eventually the rent the Child Survival Program had paid for her expired, and she had to fend for herself. Using the money from her small business, Hannifah started paying her rent. Unfortunately, she fell sick once again and was admitted to the hospital for an entire month. By the time she came back, her landlords had thrown her out of the house.

Our staff asked Mike to intervene, and he let her stay in one of the rooms of his late grandfather’s house, which is where Hannifah still lives today. The children have since grown and Joy is very healthy.

Hannifah is a happier woman.

“I gave birth to Joy when I was going to die. I was very sick and she was born with a fever. She also used to breathe badly and the doctor said she had pneumonia.

Every week, the staff visited me and gave me food. They cared so much until Joy grew. I didn’t know she would survive. Without the Child Survival Program, I think we would have died.”

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Roberto was born with Down’s syndrome. He currently attends the El Triángulo Foundation Monday through Friday where he is learning different skills in order to prepare for a job placement. The Ecuadorian Law of Disabilities provides people with disabilities help to access a job.

In order to improve his social skills, Roberto participates in theater workshops. He also enjoys baking, an activity in which he has shown talent and which could someday become his future profession.

When he was 6 years old, Roberto became involved in our program where he was welcomed, taken care of and respected. Although her little one was safe at the child development center, Roberto’s mother, Victoria thought she should be closer to take care of him, so she volunteered with the local Compassion program.

The other children embraced him without hesitation, but it was evident that Roberto required skilled assistance. Alba, the child development center director at the time, recommended that Roberto’s family take him to the El Triángulo Foundation.

Victoria refused to do so because she thought it was risky for a child with disabilities to go to an unknown place without his mother’s support. Then a tragic event occurred that changed the life of Roberto and his family. Victoria died due to kidney failure and Roberto, his sister, Karen, and his father, Ramón, were devastated.

Karen recalls with tears in her eyes,

“I got too depressed and I ignored everything. After two or three weeks of this sad event, Roberto began to ask for his mother and burst into tears. He cried every night calling out for his mother, and my dad and I had to comfort him.”

The entire family had to reorganize themselves. Ramón asked permission to work at home and assist his two children. But in the course of time, he realized that the task of caring for a young man with disabilities was complicated, so he asked for our help.

“I was forced to seek a place that could help Roberto and the El Triángulo Foundation, suggested by Compassion, was the best place. I believe this was the right decision for my son.”

Ramón made all the required arrangements so that Roberto could attend El Triángulo. We supported him the first year with the total payment of the tuition. The following school year, Ramón was able to bear part of the expenses and we supported him with the rest.

Roberto continues attending the child development center on Fridays and gets medical checkups, food and the glasses he needs.

His adjustment to attending the Foundation has been hard though. Johana, one of his teachers tells us,

“At the beginning he was a very negative person and did not want to be part of the group. He ignored instructions; his attention was scattered. His adjustment was hard and communication was his biggest problem.”

El Triángulo has helped Roberto a lot, and currently he shows good potential to develop emotionally, socially and at work. Johana continues,

“He is now adjusted and stable; he cooperates and participates in activities. He has improved a lot. If I place him in a certain work area, he cooperates. Maybe he doesn’t do it perfectly, but he does it. His emotional skills have also improved. I hope he keeps moving forward, I have high expectations for him.”

With respect to his verbal communication, which is Roberto’s main problem, Johana is convinced that the young man can learn to interact by other means: cards, gestures or images. These tools will enable him to achieve more effective communication with people around him.

Ramón feels happy about the visible progress his son has made and is grateful for the special opportunity with the El Triángulo Foundation. He is confident because he knows that his son now has more possibilities to develop and move forward in life than he has ever had before.

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The value of family in the life of a child is priceless. And because of the lies of poverty, the value of family in a child’s life often suffers.

Some of our best blog posts have tackled this topic through the years. From reasons why sponsorship benefits a family living in the developing world, to an entire family embracing their sponsored child, the value of family is a theme you will often see woven into the stories we share.

We took the liberty of choosing some of our best family-related blog posts for you. As you read them, please think about this question and share your thoughts in the comments:

“What about family is most valuable to you?”

Lifting the Burden of the Family By One

Our child development activities in developing countries are facilitated by the local church. We don’t work through missionaries, and every child is guaranteed to be taught the Gospel. Whether children accept the Gospel is up to them. We work with the poorest of the poor to change the community inside out…starting with the kids and moving into the family.

Cherish Family

We cannot do global child development and neglect our own families. God would not be honored if we poured ourselves into the world’s children and neglected our own.

“If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?” – 1 Timothy 3:5, NIV

How Deep Does Compassion Run in Your Family?

We had grown up with Nuy, reading her letters around the dinner table and praying for her.

I didn’t know what to expect when we met her, knowing she had grown up in poverty. And when I saw her, right in front of me — beautiful, intelligent, nicely dressed — I wondered if she’d really needed us.

Then I realized, it worked. It really worked. She’s no longer in poverty.

Yes, she has chosen to stay with her mother in simple surroundings, caring for two small nephews, but she has a good job, is supporting her family, and is out of poverty. Wow! Compassion works.

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Our ministry is Christ-centered, child-focused and church-based. But what does this really mean and how are we set apart, or different, from other child development organizations?

We use the “three C’s” to answer this question, but what one word do you think best describes us?

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What is beautiful? How is beauty defined? God has made everything beautiful. And this is beauty as defined by God.

Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. – 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NLT)

You are more beautiful than you know. And you are so much more than beautiful.

God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27

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Happy Mother’s Day to all of the beautiful moms around the world!

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When Silveria left her hometown in the Peruvian Andes, she and four of her children climbed into a truck and took the long trip toward Lima. Her husband had abandoned them three years prior.

“I went to Lima with the purpose to change my life forever. I used to say to my children, new city, new life.”

Two of her oldest children were already in Lima working and attending school.

After her husband left, life turned into a routine for the family and each day Silveria’s mother, who lived nearby in the village, went to the fields with her four grandchildren.

The family would return around noon to have lunch and enjoy fellowship with Silveria, helping her do the household chores. But one day a man from the town, who knew that Silveria was alone doing her chores, snuck into the house and raped her.

When Silveria and her mother told Silveria’s brothers about this incident, they immediately went to the police station to file a claim. But, the rapist had fled the area.

Some weeks later Silveria discovered that she was pregnant. She felt humiliated and knew that she was going to be segregated by the townspeople. Her oldest brother invited his sister and her four children to come to his home in Lima as soon as possible where he would help her settle in a place near him.

When Silveria and her children arrived in Lima City, she registered at a temporary government program as a bricklayer. Despite being pregnant, she got the job because of her positive attitude. Then she looked for a place to live.

“I was told that the squatter community was being enhanced, so I requested a space to settle there.”

Several weeks later she was given a space to build a home. She worked hard for four months, until she reached the eighth month of her pregnancy and was asked to quit.

“With the money I earned, my brother and oldest son helped me buy some plywood to build a house.”

A neighbor then told her to go to Mount Sinai Church to register with our ministry’s Child Survival Program.

“I was told about the Child Survival Program and all the benefits for the baby and me. The first thing I was taught at the program was that I should have pre-natal check-ups.”

The new baby was born healthy and Silveria tells us, proudly looking at her chubby infant,

“Since I had been working hard as bricklayer, the delivery was faster than my previous deliveries. Shortly before the time I had to deliver, my mother joined us, which was a joy for the family.”

Her brothers decided to send for their mother by bus since she missed her daughter and cried each time she remembered her grandchildren, to whom she is very attached.

One morning, when the baby was around 3 months old, someone else knocked on the door. Silveria felt absolutely stunned, not knowing what to say or to do, because standing on the porch was her husband, who had come to rejoin the family.

“My siblings told my husband of all the things that happened to our family, and he came to us with a repentant heart.”

He apologized to Silveria’s brothers and then came to Lima to gather the family and to apologize to them also.

Now the family is living together and Silveria’s husband is working as a contract laborer at the Lima’s main fruit market, unloading fruit boxes from the trucks. Silveria’s husband enjoys playing with the baby each day after work.

“I notice that my husband has changed, and now he more positive. He even wants to register Manuel as his own son.”

Silveria is happy to have all her family living together again as before, although she would rather live in her hometown.

“I really don’t like Lima. I miss my hometown, its green valley, a spacious house and a nearby river.”

But on the other hand she recognizes that in life nothing is as perfect as we want; we have to lose something to gain another thing.

“Here my children study and work, while in the country there are no opportunities to do either.”

Today, Silveria and her family have gained not only work opportunities and study facilities for the children, but they are living a better quality life thanks to the many donors who have a sensitive heart for the poor through the Child Survival Program.

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Click on the infographic to view a larger image

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Jenny lives in the small town of Pusir, located in northern Ecuador. Pusir is just a few hours from the border of Colombia and is a somewhat forgotten, poverty-stricken desert area that lacks basic services.

This Afro-Ecuadorian descendent, a tall and smiling woman, was only 9 years old when disease took her mother from her. Her mother’s death marked Jenny’s life forever.

She recalls that her family’s financial situation was depressing. When her mother was sick, Jenny decided to drop out of school and work to make money so her mother could be treated by a physician. But her plans failed, as she was exploited while she worked. Before she was able to raise the money needed, her mother died.

When Jenny became an adolescent, she faced early motherhood, conceiving her first child before she was 15. She conceived nine children in all, five of whom did not survive.

Inexperienced as a mother, without a steady job — and emotionally and financially unstable — Jenny sought refuge in alcohol.

“I drank about every day to be happy. And when I wasn’t drinking, I was a bitter person.”

Drinking brought relief for Jenny, but not for her children, who received her mistreatment when she was drunk. If she was able get a job, she neglected it because of her alcohol habit.

Her children spent their days dirty and poorly dressed.

“If they had eaten lunch, they would not eat dinner. No matter what they did, I used to beat them up. I had to deal mostly with my conscience.”

Jenny lost the respect of her neighbors. She was surrounded by scorn and discrimination. They said she did not deserve to be a mother. But how could Jenny be a better mother when she’d lost hers at such a young age?

Until that time, Jenny had not thought about changing her life, and she had no idea how to do so. Although she was not aware of it, the Child Survival Program (CSP) was what she needed.

One day Jenny was wandering through the streets of Pusir, poorly dressed and slightly drunk, when the Child Survival Program coordinator noticed her, told her about the program and offered to help her.

A little confused, but seeing a glimmer of hope in the distance, Jenny accepted the assistance of the program. At that moment, a new stage in her life jump-started.

“Many things began to change. My kids were not mistreated anymore. I did not yell at them, they did not miss school and I did not drink anymore. I learned to respect myself and to love my children.”

It did not take long for Jenny to realize the danger she had exposed her children to. Axel, her youngest child, had reached a dangerous level of malnutrition and the CSP workers acted immediately to get him the nutrition he needed.

Today, Jenny thoroughly enjoys being a mother.

“I see now that my children are what I love most.”

The advice and confidence that program staffers invested in Jenny motivated her to change. She has left her bad habits in the past to become a real mother to her children.

“My home is happier. My children get up with smiles that they did not have before.”

The Child Survival Program not only caused changes in Jenny’s relationship with her children and her care for them, it also provided this family with a new and safe home. The home they used to live in was a daily threat for Jenny and her little ones.

Indeed, Jenny and her children have experienced great transformation. Now she is settled in her new home, happy and focused on making progress. Jenny has also decided to learn to read and write.

Through the Child Survival Program, she regularly takes part in literacy lessons and can now write her name.

She is a mother who loves her children, takes care of them and respects them. She is responsible with house chores and has disciplined herself to keep a steady job. Currently, she harvests crops such as tomatoes and onions. With this job, she provides for needs of her family.

Jenny is a true example of change in her community. This would not have been possible without the intervention of the Child Survival Program and the extraordinary contributions of donors and sponsors who support this work.

It is impossible to not thank those who make it possible for the Child Survival Program to reach out to remote, forsaken places such as Pusir.

“I got back on my feet again, and I am going to do as much as possible for my children. And, if you ever find another person who lives the way I lived before, please help her the same way you helped me. I thank you very much!”

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I just love Pinterest! I have found so many creative ideas like date night ideas for my husband and me, new recipes to try and an abundance of craft projects.

Speaking of crafts, one of my favorite boards to add “pins” to is my Compassion board.

On this board I have been able to pin many paper craft ideas to make for our sponsored kids.

Pinterest is a wonderful place for us to connect as sponsors and share letter writing ideas. Building on the online letter writing event that Compassion has on the second Friday of every month, we’ve created a new Pinterest board for letter writing and you are welcome to join us as a contributor.

Each month we will select a theme and give you some suggested questions to ask your sponsored child based on the theme. Plus, we’ll offer a link or two for a paper craft that would go well with the theme.

This is a community Pinterest board and we would love for you to pin ideas that go along with each theme. It could be another craft project, a Bible verse or an encouraging quote that would be great to share with your sponsored child.

Since Mother’s Day is just around the corner, that is our theme for the month of May.

How about asking your sponsored child some of these questions:

• What is something your mom always says to you?
• What is your mom’s favorite thing to do?
• What do you and your mom do together?
• What is your mom’s favorite Bible verse?
• What makes you proud of your mom?

Now how about a couple of crafts to go along with these questions?

Send your sponsored child this paper crown to color and give to his or her mom so she can be queen for the day.

What mom wouldn’t love hearing all these things from her child?

Ready to join our new Pinterest Second Friday Letter Writing Club?

In the comments below, please give us the link to your Pinterest profile so we can invite you to start pinning with us on this new board.

We hope you will join us to inspire each other to write to our sponsored children each second Friday of the month!

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