A few weeks ago Ray and I decided to sponsor a child through World Vision. This has been something that has been on my mind for several years and I finally decided to just do it. I have several reasons for wanting to do this, most of which are very personal so I will not provide the details here.
The whole process was very easy. I just went to the World Vision website and selected the child that I wanted. I guess I have to correct myself here. The whole process from a technical point of view was very easy, however it was very hard to select the child that I wanted. There are just so many children that need help. It may be easier to fill out the form where you just select "send the me child that has been waiting the longest".
Last week I received my package in the mail, which included the picture of our child, Anitha. She is a cute little 8 year old from India. I know she lives near Bangalore but I'm not sure if she lives in the city or in a village outside the city. She lives with both of her parents who work but they do not make enough money to get by. Currently that is all the information that I have. I am really looking forward to learning more about her!
Today I wrote her a letter. This is what I wrote:
Dear Anitha,
I am so happy to be writing this letter and I'm glad that I will have the chance to get to know you. My name is Shannon and I live with my husband Ray and our two dogs, Tanner and Watson.
As you may already know, we live in Canada. Our town is called Oakville and is not very far from Toronto, the largest city in the country.
Ray and I both really enjoy learning about computers. Do you go to school? What do you like to learn about?
Ray and I also like to spend a lot of time with our dogs. We go on long walks in the park and Tanner is learning to compete in agility. Agility is a sport where dogs race through obstacle courses. It is a lot of fun for both us and the dogs. Do you like to play any sports or games?
So tell me a little about yourself. Where do you live? Who do you live with?
We are thinking of you!
Love, Shannon and Ray.
I wrote the letter on a nice card that I found at home and will be sending along pictures of Ray and I, as well as pictures of Tanner and Watson. I send the letters to World Vision who will then translate the letter and send the translation as well as the original on to Anitha. I think it will take a couple of weeks to reach her.
I really like the work that World Vision does because they help the communities to be self-sufficient.
Hopefully I will hear back from Anitha and I will post about it here.