A beautiful arbor of bougainvillea shaded the bench we used while interviewing David and Michach. Their mother and younger sister sat on a hand-made mat covering the hard-packed earth and looked on. The boys had been playing somewhere and were covered with dirt and out of breath when they came running to greet us.
The two stood obediently and patiently before Lauren and Martin (the Covenant Junior School headmaster) as they asked health and well-being questions as well as questions about their hopes and dreams. Sponsors often inquire about what gifts the children might like and inevitably this question, when posed to the children, creates the greatest dilemma. A box? A gift?
Favorite foods also causes some pause with rice typically being the most appreciated. Gladly, David and Michach’s sponsor provides for their school tuition and also sent money for mosquito nets and rice for the family. 30 kilos (about 66 pounds) of rice will meet the family’s needs for a short time. We also used some of the rice money to provide them some meat so they would have sauce for the rice. A gift like rice may not seem like much to most American’s but this gift sometimes means the difference between being hungry and being satisfied. Thank you!