HOLD A HAND

I honestly in shock and horror that it has been over 12 months since I last posted here.   This last year I think I have been in limbo??.  My letters to my children have been few and far between, I have forgotten birthdays, and Christmas was a wipe out with no cards being sent.    Personally it has been a busy year with a new granddaughter in the house, a move of house for the daughter and kids and a lot of house moves for me as I began housesitting and moving between them and my daughter and mothers house.

There have been a lot of losses and a few gains amongst my girls that I sponsor.   In Kenya (KKIN) I lost 2 girls due to the fighting, Eddah and Veronicah.  Eddah moved and I have had a letter from her mother telling me of the move and the new school and asking me to keep in touch (which I have yet to do).  Veronicah I presume went back to her village and has not returned to the school.  I am now sponsoring Dorisila and Lilian still.

Maduka my first girl with OSI has decided to go live back with her mother and family, her sister had already gone and Maduka was feeling lonely at the Orphanage, her mother is now in a better situation to take care of her.  This saddens me as I had become very attached to Maduka and had met her on my previous visit and was looking forward to meeting her again this trip.  On the other hand I am happy for her to be re-joining her family.

A lot is going on with OSI at Wattegama and I am still awaiting the outcome of it all, Nilanthi at the moment is no longer at the Orphanage and not sure if she will be returning.  I will still continue to sponsor her and help her through her schooling whatever the outcome.

HSVC vietnam remains the same and I will be visiting these children this year, much excitement on my behalf and I guess on theirs.'

IHF I am currently sponsoring 4 children here for their schooling and will be visiting the one that lives in Thailand on my trip over, the others live in Bali so maybe I will get to visit them next year.

Himalayan Learning remains the same, I still have 2 girls, I have only written the one letter to them and received one in return but I have updated photos on the website.

Sharma Kids in India I sponsor a young girl with Cerabal Palsy and recently received a photo of her with all her new school supplies purchased with my sponsorship money.   I don't correspond with this girl either.

My Tibetan children in India remain the same, I have regular contact and recently received birthday cards for my grandchildren from them as well as Christmas cards...how bad do I feel not sending either this year.    I will be visiting them on my trip so will make up for it by taking them shopping and out to a meal.

mmm... I hope I haven't forgotten anyone!

My New Years resolution is to write to all my girls and boy on a regular basis, remember birthdays and keep this website updated.   Lets hope I can 

Well as you can tell Blogs aren't my forte'.  I will try and update all my girls.

OSI

I have emails from Sri Lanka, both Maduka and Nilanthi and also received a heap of photos of them through the term.  Both girls have now finished their exams and are headed home for the school holidays.

HSCV

I have received a couple of beautiful letters from my girls.  Poor little Ngoc has been in hospital with a hernia operation.  While Que tells me how unwell her mother is and how it is a struggle but that my sponsorship is helping them out.  Que writes 3 page letters and her letter writing leaves mine for dead, she is very descriptive and opens her little heart up to me.  I am so pleased to be sponosring these two little girls there are such a delight and need helping so very much.  This year for the first time HSCV has added TET packages that we can purchase for the girls.  TET is their new year and their main celebration period, I think like our birthday and Christmas all rolled into one.

1. Lucky Money ($4 usd)
2. School bag
3. Poltery (duck, chicken or hen)
4. Pair of Chung cakes

Chung Cakes are very popular esp at TET time.

Both girls have told me how much their new bikes I purchased has helped them and Que thanks me for the blanket I sent her some time ago.

I made some cradle purses, a purse that opens up and folds back to make a dolls cradle, with dolls and sent to both of them as a special gift as well as a teddy for Ngocs little sister.

HIMALAYAN LEARNING

Oliver has been over and visited the children in Nepal and I now have new photos of both of them holding a letter I sent them on my website, I will add them here at a later date.  I have received little in the way of letters from either girl but then I have only written them one so far and they are in a fairly remote area.  Happy to say both girls passed their exams for 2007.

TIBETAN SPONSORSHIP SCHEME

I have had letters from all my girls, some even containing small gifts of a painting on canvas or photos of the Dalai Lama.  The ones in India have written regular and sent photos. They have both said they are waiting for me to visit again and Phurbu has offered for me to stay at their place next time.  They have very little yet still offer to others.   I sent some dolls and teddies etc that I crocheted over to them and Lobsang has already written to say her and Karma received theirs and loved them.

CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL

I have relinquished my girl Janine.  The fees had been increased from $18 a month to $22 as well as gifts for Christmas, Easter, Birthday and special hug day so I was finding it difficult to fund.  I also never felt that special bond with Janine that I did with the others, I found her letters rather impersonal and told me very little about herself or her country.  I felt sure she would find another sponsor fairly quickly.

GALILEE - Kenya

Well I am sad to say as of yesterday I have relinquished 3 girls with this organisation.  Two were group children, Catherine and Jackline (who did extremely well in her exams) that only cost $25 per year but I felt they would benefit by being moved into the $10 a month program which alas I could not afford.  I also say goodbye to Eddah, she is young and cute and I feel she will pick up sponsorship fairly quickly.

I have retained Veronicah who we have moved into Holly House much to her delight.  I am hoping this will help her immensely esp as she only has a couple of years of schooling left and is a bright student.  I have also kept Lilian who is in High School and Dorisila who is in primary.  Veronicha has written to me and told me off for not writting to her enough  LOL

The main reason I relinquished the three was not so much for financial payment of the fees, but I felt they would benefit with sponsors who could do a little more for them and it leaves me less to look after and buy for.  To buy 3 uniforms and school shoes is reasonable  but to have to buy 6 lots was overwhelming.  Hopefully now I can do more for the 3 remaining.

SHARMA

I also have one girl Mayuri with Sharma Kids, she has polio/cerebal palsy.  I have received exam result and medical report on her but their is no letter writing as such as it is too difficult for her to write.   I have sent her a gift package early in the piece.

I am ashamed to say my letter writing has been very dismal, I think I look at how many I have to write and I become overwhelmed with it all and tend not to write any,  or I start to write to some and when I go to do the others the first are out of date and I need to start again.  Hopefully with less children it will become easier.

On the 7th December my daughter gave birth to another beautiful baby girl, Lily Jane.

She is a delight and extremely easy baby but the household is still in a little turmoil.

I think most of you have read my Blog on my trip to Sri Lanka and India to visit Maduka, Nilanthi, Lobsang and Phurbu and the added addition of Karma (Lobsang's brother).  I had a wonderful time and my children were all beautiful and now I want to go back!

Since I have been back there has been quite a lot happening.

HSCV

I received a letter from Que telling me of the dismal state of their bike, which mother rides to market in the morning and then rides home to pick up Que and take her to school on it.  There are stories of chains falling off continually and even the handle bars.  So I have just purchased a new bike for them.  She also tells how hard her mother works and how sad she was recently when her grandfather died and how my letters kept her happy.

I received a photo of Ngoc with her new bike that I had purchased earlier.

HH4H

I have handed my children over to someone else so I no longer sponsor with this group.

Galilee

I have had word that I have lost Scholastica, she went home for the holidays and never returned to school.  I also received letters from Veronicah and felt she was not being treated well where she was staying with her guardian's sons in a one room shack.  It has now been arranged to move her to Holly House which is an orphanage, so although my sponsorship will go up at least she will be well cared for and have 3 meals a day.  She will be very happy as she asked me some time ago if I could move her in there.

I have received more letters from all my Galilee children, all promising to study hard.  Plus more photos of them with gifts I sent.

TSS

I have taken on Karma, Lobsang's brother and just sent him a package.  I also today received a lovely letter from Lobsang, saying she bought blankets for 4 members of her family with the money I left for her.  I also had a New Year card waiting from her on my trip return.

Phurbu wrote me a letter say next time she won't be so shy

I also had a letter from Padma with a photo of Buddah in it.

Himalayan Learning

I have received letters from the first two girls that I wrote to but not yet from the other 3 although I have only just sent them letters.  I am currently tossing up whether to keep all 5 girls or relinquish the last 3.  With the increase in fees it has made it a little hard, although I support the increase as it will give the students so much more.

CI

I have received another couple of letters from Janine and also some photos of her with the gifts I sent over last year.

OSI

I have received emails from both of my girls and a heap of new photos of Maduka since my return.

In 2 weeks I will be visiting my girls in Sri Lanka at both orphanages and going onto India to visit 2 of my Tibetan girls in the refugee camp there.

This is all very exciting, I am not sure who is more excited about it, me or them.  I have two bags packed with toys and gifts for the children, and one small day pack I will be cramming a few items of clothing for myself in.  Lets hope I can buy more clothes to fit over there.

I am travelling with an ex work mate who also sponsors 2 girls in Sri Lanka.  We will be visiting the first orphange in Sri Lanka and spending 5 days in that area, then we head over to India and spend one night in a Palace (now a hotel) in Mysore and the following day go across to the Sera Jey guest house and spend 3 days there with the monks and my girls.

We then travel back to Sri Lanka and spend a further 5 days at and around the 2nd orphanage.

This is the first time either of us have done anything like this so it is rather adventurous and hopefully will be the first of many trips to visit my children.  Big decision is where will I go next, across to Africa or up and do a Philippines/Vietnam/Tibet/Nepal tour.  I eventually hope to do both.

We have also been raising money to help one of the Monks pay an outstanding debt he has for eye operations of $575 AU and so far have raised $240 towards it, so we will be handing this over to him and I am sure I will cry when I do.  What an honour to be able to do something so special for one of these gentle people.

More updates will be made either while over there or on my return.

Cheers

Blogs are not my strong point as some of you may have noticed but I will do a big update on my children and the organisations I sponsor through.

I currently have 24 children with 7 different organisations.

Some of you may remember I started off with one boy from PLAN who was in Zambia.  I made a hard decission to relinquish this sponsorship for several reasons, one being that it was so expensive compared to the others, I didn't find it as personal as the smaller organisations and I had very little contact with the boy.  I decided I would rather sponsor 3 with Tibetan Sponsorship Scheme for the same price of this one.

I also have 2 children a brother and sister with His Hand 4 Haiti whose sponsorship I am going to hand over to another sponsor.  I have not bonded with these children at all and they are very young, 3 and 5, although I have paid for them until the end of this year I feel I cannot give enough of my time writing to them and sending gifts is a little complicated from Australia.  This is rather a religious group and I do not really feel I fit in with it.  The sponsorship is only cheap at $40 per year and I would still recommend it to others but have just found it is not for me. 

I am afraid to say I feel I have spread myself a little thinly taking on so many children and cannot do as much for them as I would like.    As children drop off for one reason or another I will not be replenishing them and would like to stick at about 10 children eventually.

I have one child with Children International and will continue sponsoring her with them but as soon as the sponsorship is finished I will not be sponsoring with them again.  Again being a larger organisation I feel it is not as personal, letters are rather brief and tell me little,  photos and updates are few and far between.  A lot of people love this organisation so don't be put off by my thoughts or experience.

As for all the other organisations, well I love them. 

Galilee is a constant barage or photos, each time I buy or send something to one of my girls I receive a photo, letters are plentiful, we receive about 4 mailings a year but often there will be 2 or 3 letters from each child in it.  Early in the piece I lost 2 of my girls but they were readily replaced with somone else just as in need.  It looks like I may have another one that has gone at the moment I am waiting to hear if she has returned to school.

From Dorisilla I have received 6 letters, Lilian has sent 5 as well as some xmas drawings. Little Eddah has sent 6 brief letters but always with drawings.  Veronicah has sent 8 very long detailed letters as well as christmas drawings while Scholastica, who I fear may have left has sent me 1.  My group girls Jackline and Catherine have sent me 2 and 5 respectivly.   Photos have been numerous and can be viewed in the girls albums.  I have been with Galilee just under a year in this time we have built classrooms, cemented floors, sent kids to choir and the list goes on.  The online store is fantastic we can buy what the children need without the added cost of postage.

Tibetan Sponsorship Scheme is another great organisation and run by a lovely lady in Adelaide, Australia.  Contact with the organisation is very personal as is with the girls I sponsor.  Sponsorship is organised through the monks that put forward family members in need, so I not only have correspondence from my children but also the monks if I desire.   My girls are just delightful and so far I have had 3+ letters from my origional girls in Tibet and India and one from each of the new girls.  A couple have also send me photos of themselves and their families.  The letters are very affectionate, appreciative and informative.  The children find translators to write them but in the children's words and they are sent direct to me.  I have been able to buy for my girls in India through an online Indian store and they are delivered free of charge.  Through this organisation you can sponsor Monks, Nuns, and Children both in India and Tibet.

OSI  I have 2 girls with in Sri Lanka at different orphanages, one is fantastic, contact is by email and great both from the girl and the liason officer who resides at the orphanage, the other is newer to the scheme and work is still being done on upping the contact with the girls.  I have heaps of photos of both girls esp the first one.  This is a little dearer than some of the other orgs $25US a month, but is well worth it for what the girls get.  If it is personal sponsorship with lots of contact and photos this may be the one for you.  I love it!

HSVC in Vietnam is another one I am enjoying sponsoring through, I have 2 girls here and have had 2 letters from each girls along with photos from one.  They write the letters in Vietnamese and then they are translated and typed up in english and both copies are sent to me.  Sponsorship covers schooling and I have added them to the  food program.  These 2 girls are delightful and I hope to have a long sponsorship with them.

Lastly but not leastly is  Himalayan Learning who I now have 5 girls with.  So far I have had no contact but them I have only written to 2 girls and that took me a while to do.  The group although not new is finding it's feet still.  At the present for 7  pound a year they have their schooling covered but the fees will be raised to probably 30 pound a year and this will cover all their school needs as well as other needs as clothing, shoes, hygiene products, meals, food for family etc etc.  Again a small organisation run almost single handedly by one young man but I am very excited to be with them at the moment with this growth about to happen and see these children flourish.

Mixed emotions this week, I have news to say Peninah had run away back to her family village as she was being beaten by her guardian.  Also new to say that 2 of the CU girls I had just taken on had their guardian die of AIDs and went back to their village for the funeral and didn't return.

I have taken Lilian in place of Peninah now, hopefully she will stay with me.

I also received a letter from Padma, my last girl in Tibet, I was so happy to hear from her and to know all my padded envelopes have got through.

I have also signed up with Himalayan Learning to sponsor a girl.

The guy that runs it is in Nepal at the moment, so once he returns I should get the info on my girl.

This one is only 7 pounds a year plus you can purchase items, I have bought her a jumper and jacket.

Also hoping to sponsor another girls through HSVC in Vietnam when they finish their field interviews.

Last week I received a birthday card from Phurbu in India, what a wonderful thoughtful thing to do.  I was wrapped, even though it was a man's card LOL, I figure I have never actually said I was a female and my photo shows my hair cut very shortly (#4) so maybe she thinks I am a man.

I will have to subtly let her know I am a woman now!

Not only did she wish me happy birthday in it but she also thanked me for the barbie doll I sent her.  This was purchased through a guy on eBay India, so I was glad to hear he had actually sent it and she received it.

I have written her another letter and also one to the monk that her mail gets sent to as I am hoping for an adress that I can have goods delivered to via an online shop I have found in India.  They sell beautiful blankets and I am hoping to purchase one and have it delivered for Phurbu to keep the winter cold out.  I have just purchased 7 through the OLS on Galilee for the children in Nairobi.

This week I have sent three parcels, all weighing a kilo and all costing around $20au,  won't be sending such big ones in future. 

The first was to my girl Janpa in Tibet.  It is her birthday coming up shortly so I sent her a fleecy blanket, a skipping rope, stickers and a koala.  It will be interesting to see if it gets through to her as we are not sure if parcels will.

Next I sent a parcel to some of my girls in Galilee, two have birthdays and the other two are just new.

Lastly I sent one to my new group in Uganda, letters to the boys and dresses for the girls, this was more pricely to send airmail so I have sent it via ship instead. Will see how long it takes.

Much excitement today as I received letters from 3 of my girls at Galilee,  Eddah, Dorisila and Catherine.

They are so cute and bought a tear to my eye.