HOLD A HAND

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.