After finally having success at printing out our cards, we then had to make them (cut and glue onto card stock paper). This took many evenings and many mugs of boxed South African wine, as well as afternoons of the girls trying to “help” and Alena (a volunteer from Germany) lending a hand as well. Once we had the cards made and ready for the kids to decorate, the real lesson was learned.
The worst part about doing the Christmas cards was having to deal with the kids who didn’t have sponsors and knew it. One of the girls we have become extremely close with called me out on my error, and I felt terrible. I had been at her house collecting girls off our giant list, and without thinking – I asked her if she wanted to come do her Christmas card. In a very ashamed manner, she whispered to me she didn’t have a sponsor. I felt terrible, and tried to recover by asking her if she’d make a special one for me. Thankfully she agreed, and the other girls who didn’t have sponsors didn’t say anything when we asked them to make cards.
The great part about the sponsorship process at Light in Africa, is that Mama Lynn just pools the sponsorship money together. She would never tell a child they can’t eat, or go to the doctor because someone hasn’t chosen to sponsor them. The real benefit for the individual sponsored child is the relationship that is formed through letters. The below part of this post is a plea for sponsorships…
It costs LIA $15,000 a month to run this organization, which is actually very little compared to all it does. It feeds, clothes, pays for school (many of the kids go to private school because the public school teacher beat them), medical bills (keep in mind the large number of her kids who have the “virus” or other special needs), pays the staff, runs a 5 day a week food kitchen in Mirerani (serves average of 400 kids daily), runs a home for seniors, and regularly picks up medical bills, and other costs of people in both the Boma and Mirerani community.
Abby and I are each going to sponsor 2.5 kids (we are going to share sponsorship of the un-sponsored girl I talked about before), and trust me – it has been hard deciding who. Rather than choosing the kids who are most memorable (most of them already had sponsors), we have decided to chose from the kids who don’t have sponsors and have touched us (let’s be honest – EVERY ONE somehow has).
If you are interested in sponsoring, we’d love to help with suggestions on who you could request. Each one of these children are remarkable, and I’d love to be able to share with you their magic – for lack of a better word. Visit the LIA website for more information.
P.S. Light in Africa USA is in the process of becoming official for those interested in the tax break
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