Carla Yolani Story - My First Sponsor Child
It was 1980 my first job and my first pay packet.
For years I had thought about, planned and looked forward to being able to sponsor a child. I had heard a lot about World Vision and had a childhood interest in South America so with excitement once my pay had been banked I went to find a little girl to sponsor.
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| 1980 Carla age 2 |
So many children, I would have loved to sponsor them all! Then a little face with huge eyes brown stole my heart. She was so tiny and frail but such a dear little girl I knew she was the one.
She was from a remote village north east of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, South America. She was the youngest of several children living with her Mum and Dad who were rural workers.
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| Carla age 4 |
I began to write to her occasionally and enjoyed finding little things I could squeeze into an envelope to send to her. Although she was too small to write and her family didn't write either her project worker Blanca Herrera started writing to me on her behalf. Blanca wrote great letters full of detail about how Carla was getting on and about her community. As time went by she wrote separate letters to me about her life and family too, a friendship formed across the miles and I learned a lot from her.
When World Vision started working with this community Carla and her family were living under a cardboard box and plastic sheeting. With assistance from World Vision they were given a one room house which seems not enough to us but for her family it was a dream come true. At age 7 Carla still hadn't started school and Blanca told me her family didn't value education and wouldn't be sending her at all or if they did she would be much older. My heart sank as I truly believe the best way out of poverty is to have a good education and once finished you have more choices and opportunities. Over the next year I wrote about the things my class was doing here hoping to inspire her and her family to send her to school. Finally at age 8 she went to school although spasmodically I think. During these years two more siblings were born and her Dad often had to leave the family to find work.
When Carla was about 10 her letters suddenly stopped, there was no contact from Carla or Blanca although Carla herself had never sent a letter of her own. After about 6 months I asked World Vision to send out a field question to find out what had happened to Carla and Blanca.
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| Carla age 6 |
The news I got back shocked me and bought the reality of the third world right to my door.
Carla's father had gone to Tegucigalpa a month before Christmas to buy gifts for his family, but had never returned. On Christmas eve he was found dead tossed into a ditch beside the road half way between their village and the capital. He had been robbed of the presents he was carrying for his family and murdered, his family had been robbed of their father and husband. It was the beginning of a sad time for Carla and I don't think she ever really recovered from his death.
The photo here was taken some time after her father dies and as you can see the shy sparkle in her eyes has gone. Ever photo that followed held the same pain and sorrow.
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| Carla age 10 |
Life got slowly more difficult for Carla, her mother took a new partner who was unkind to Carla and had no time for her. Then her mother had 4 more children to her new partner and her older brothers left home to work in the capital. She was often left to care for the younger children.
Her letters got shorter and less detailed, she was so sad, life was tough. Her photos made me want to cry but all I could do for her was pray. When she was 13 her letters stopped again and by this time Blanca was no longer the project worker so the details were unclear. After several months I asked Wold Vision to sent another message to find out how she was.
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| Carla age 13 |
The letter came back within the month, Carla had run away to Tegucigalpa to join her brothers. Her mother didn't know where she was and her brothers hadn't contacted her to say she was with them. World Vision made some enquirers from their Tegucigalpa office but they couldn't find any details of where she was or if she was ok. So sadly I don't know what happened to her and can only hope and pray she was safe and not lured into the night life and drugs as her only way to support herself. All these years later I still think of her and pray for her wondering if she is still alive or if she has her own family now. The photo of her in the orange dress is the last photo I have of her, the one of her in the blue dress in my favorite.
Another Carla came into my life last week!
Last week I was blessed with another Carla to get to know and write to through Compassion Australia. This young lady is 17 and in her final years of school. She is from Bolivia, high in the mountains southwest of El Alto. She has completed her primary schooling and is making steady progress in high school. I look forward to hearing her hopes and dreams and knowing that with Compassion's
help and Gods love she has a very good chance of living her dream and escaping the perils of poverty helping both her family and community.
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| Front of card |
Easter 2015
This year Easter has seemed to come very quickly and despite my good intentions of starting to make things for my children straight after Christmas I can only hope they will make it in time as they were posted at the end of February.
Each year after Easter I make a collection of any paper crafts, cards or paper Easter ideas that go on sale in the stores and put this collection away for the following year.
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| Inside card |
This year I decided to make each child a special Easter card. On the front I cut out an egg shape from black card and pressed this onto adhesive clear book covering contact. Using the black card scraps I placed a cross onto the adhesive. Once this was in place I used tiny bits of tissue paper to fill inside the egg shape. I then cut away the excess adhesive leaving about 1 cm out from the egg. This is how I stuck the egg to the card. I turned the egg over reveling the cross with the tissue paper behind it and stuck it to the center of the card. The card is a colored manila folder cut in half, I find this much cheaper than buying card stock.
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| Photos edited on Pizap |
Using the oval from inside the egg from the front I created a tomb which I cut through the center so that it will open. Inside is written the bible verse " He is not here, he has risen, just as he said" Matthew 28:6. This I printed up on the computer and placed it in an oval shape so it was easy to cut out to fit the tomb shape. I just added some grass with texta around the tomb.
Using "Pizap" I created a photo for each child using their current photos as many of them are new since last year.
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| puzzles and crosswords |
I also added to their packages stickers, coloring pages, mazes and crosswords. For the English speaking children it is easy to find many resources on home schooling sites, book stores and printerest. Calvary.com also prints bible studies in both English and Spanish which are geared to primary school children. The printerest web site has a wealth of ideas and sites to find resources free of charge.
For the older children who don't speak English I sent book marks, complicated mazes and make "word finds" using the goggle translator to convert English words into their language hoping that the single words will make sense when they get them. For the older English speaking children in India, Philippines, Kenya etc I have sent Bible studies and booklets from local Christian book shops.
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| stickers and craft bits |
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| for my English speakers |
With their package I also sent them a letter as follows:
I send you Luke 10:27 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" as that is how He loves us. With Easter approaching, and probably with you by the time this letter reaches you, we are reminded of Gods great love for us, He gave His only son who dies for us to save us from our sins and connect us with God our heavenly father.
The gifts from God are these: freedom, life, hope, new direction, transformation, and intimacy with God. If the cross was the end of the story, we would have no hope. But the cross isn't the end. Jesus didn't escape from death; he conquered it and opened the way to heaven for all who will believe. The truth of this moment, is stunning. It means Jesus really is who he claimed to be, we are really as lost as he said we are, and He really is the only way for us to have intimately and spiritually connect with God again.
The Bible tells us that God will meet all our needs. He feeds the birds of the air and clothes the grass with the splendor of lilies. How much more, then, will He care for us, who are made in His image? Our only concern is to obey the heavenly Father and leave the consequences to Him. We will rejoice at Easter as Jesus rose from the dead opening a new way for us to know and communicate with God. Giving us forgiveness for our sins if we call out to him as the thief on the other cross did. Jesus said God would make a home for us in heaven when our earthly life was over to live with Him for eternity for those that believe.
May you find the renewal of hope, health, love and the spirit of God. Happy Easter to you and your precious family.
