CHILDREACH/PLAN is a global, non-profit, child-centered development organization helping needy children and their families in developing countries since 1937. The vision is of a world in which all children realize their full potential in societies that respect people's rights and dignity.

Putting up this web page now is my personal tribute to the late, great Katharine Hepburn who first turned me on to Childreach. About 10 years ago, on a TV advertisement, she heartily endorsed becoming a Childreach "foster parent." I signed up right away.

"One of our world's eternal truths is that when you help people to help themselves, it's not long before they don't need your help at all."

Jeysy from Peru

INTRODUCTION

Let me introduce you to 5 great kids who, by a fortunate streak of good fortune, became my foster children at various times over the last 10 years. Starting with the most recent child first, here we go ...

MEET JEYSY

Jeysy and mom


Jeysy and mom at Sanitation Class

JEYSY, 9 years old, with the big smile, is from the poorest
section of Peru, up in the north west corner. She writes to me herself in Spanish and draws lovely pictures on the margins (I send her lots of paints and colored pencils). I practice my meager Spanish when I write to her and the family seems to appreciate the effort. By the way, there is always an attached English translation of your child's letter.

In her last letter Jeysy told about how her father abandoned them 2 years ago after he found another partner and how her family suffered terribly when her parent's marriage broke up. You can imagine how good I felt when she continued the letter, "... but now that you kindly give us your help, support and love, we feel happy and confident. You are a good friend. You are just like family."

MEET TAHIREEN

Tahireen from Pakistan

Tahireen, mom and sister

TAHIREEN is a lovely 5 year old girl from Pakistan. When I signed up, I asked Childreach, "Give me the child anywhere in the world who most needs help now." Enter Tahireen!

You receive a photograph of your child when you initially sign up. I cringed when I first saw Tahireen; her pretty face marred by yucky-looking sores. I inquired
as to what might be the cause, only to learn it was a common infection in her area. Fortunately, it cleared up soon.

Since she is too young to write, her father, Zahoor Hussain is eager to correspond on her behalf. Amazingly, Tahireen recently acquired a baby sister called Noureen. The family, and me too, are excited about how close our names are. Synchonicity abounds!

Jeysy and Tahireen are my two current foster kids. Previously to them I sponsored Rafatou, Lucy and Baby Bousy. Let me introduce them now.

MEET RAFATOU

Rafatou from Togo

Rafatou, mom and brother

RAFATOU lived in Togo, a very poor area in West Africa. Our connection began in her early teens when I signed up as her foster mom and we continued a warm relationship for the next few years. The whole family gets involved when you sponsor a child and they love it when you mention each family member by name every time you write. Quite often the father is absent from home -- disappeared somewhere!

Recently, Rafatou left home to seek employment in Nigeria and is now cared for by her foster father. Normally, when your child reaches 18, 'graduation' from Childreach takes place and the sponsorship ends. Sometimes, however, you can find ways to continue writing to each other if you both desire it.

MEET LUCY

Lucy from Kenya

Lucy and mom

LUCY from Kenya, Africa, was the child that so has far remained with me the longest -- about six years. She was Catholic and actually wrote to me in English so we got to know each other quite well and became friends. When Lucy turned 18, she graduated from Childreach and planned to become either a nurse or a teacher. I have no doubt that she is doing fine as I sensed in her a strong desire to help others.

MEET BABY BOUSY

Baby Bousy from Egypt

Baby Bousy and mom

BABY BOUSY from the slums of Cairo, Egypt became my very first foster child and also the youngest, at 2 years old ... a chubby-faced little darlin' at that!

Various members of her family would write to me on her behalf, and as with all the other families, were most appreciative of the improvements that Childreach/Plan brought to their community.

This included better sanitation (beats having to pee and poop in the fields!), health clinics, education and much more. Yet, equally important, and perhaps in some ways more important, was the personal connection through letters and little gifts from their sponsors. Needless to say, the sponsor, in this case me, shared in the spirit of connecting in friendship with the unlikeliest people in the unlikeliest places. This is GOOD.

After a few years, the family living situation improved, largely due to the help received from Plan, whereupon the father found a higher paying job which necessitated a family move out of the Childreach area. Bousy was a Sweetie and by now must be in her early teens.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPONSOR A CHILD?

If you decide to sign up, here's what you can expect. You get to choose what age, sex and part of the world you'd like your child to be from. You pay $24 a month. (which goes a whole lot further in third world countries). Childreach/Plan is a wonderful organization and the staff bends over backwards to give you lots of information about your child and what you can expect your donations to accomplish ... which is a whole lot!

Then there is the personal part where you write letters to you child and send little presents. Now, realize it often takes 3 or 4 months for mail to reach your child. Mail is SLOW and sometimes the last leg of the journey is on some dirt road by donkey or foot.

Surprise! One fine day your first letter arrives from your sponsored child and, if you're like me, you'll rip open the envelope with fervor, delight in this connection with a real little person from so far away and so different from ourselves. Sometimes, the child will draw you a picture (a treasure!)

There is no doubt that the little presents, photos, cards and letters that you send are precious to the child and their family, often being displayed in some place of honor in their humble abode.

So, imagine how heart-warming it can be to sponsor a youngster through Childreach and to witness the progress of 'your child.'

Some sponsors even travel far and wide to actually visit 'their kid' in South America, Africa or wherever. Their deeply felt and often amazing experiences are written up in the Childreach Newsletters which comes out every few months and on Childreach's excellent web site.

ABOUT SCHMIDT

Please treat yourself, if you haven't already, to the movie, ABOUT SCHMIDT, with Jack Nickolson. An actual child, Abdalla, from Childreach, pivotal to the whole movie, had a profound effect on the film's production crew, so much so, that they got together to create a lifetime Endowed Sponsorship for Abdalla. In the movie, this child is called Ndugu.

When I first saw this movie I almost fell off my seat in delighted surprise at the realization of the huge part that Childreach played in this story ... not to mention my life!

REMEMBER, YOU CAN CHANGE A CHILD'S LIFE,
MAYBE EVEN YOUR OWN.

To Contact Childreach

Web Site
http://www.childreach.org

Email
donorrelations@childreach.org

Phone
Donor Relations Executives
1-800-556-7918

Write
Childreach
155 Plan Way
Warwick, Rhode Island, 02886

Drawing, "La Yunza," by Jeysy with a little help from her mom.

Drawing of Bird by Tahireen, age 4.

NELSON MANDELA as quoted in Childreach Newsletter, July, 2003
"Today there are more than 13 million AIDS orphans in the world. Through its child-centered approach, Plan is making a real difference to many of these orphans. They are providing them with food and paying for education. They are also helping communities rebuild so that children do have a future. Plan is supporting the children. I wholeheartedly support Plan's work. I encourage you too."