Cultural Glimpse

Today we received a welcome packet from Children International introducing us to the child we will be sponsoring. His name is Jose, he’s from Guatemala and he’s 8 years old.

It all started three weeks ago. I was trying to take a short nap when the doorbell rang. My kids, who thought it was their neighborhood friends, opened the door. Hearing the voices of adults, I threw my nap out the window and came to see who was at the door.

Oh no, I thought, seeing a nice looking young man and woman, all smiles, polite, and trying to sell me something. They were from Children International, and they hooked me quickly by talking about children in need. My son didn’t help. He was flirting with the beautiful young woman. The handsome young man was telling me how his wife was having a baby soon. It was going to be a girl. To make a long story short, I ended up giving in.

Twenty-five dollars a month to make a difference in a life of a child who lives in a poverty-stricken country is a good thing – to the child and to us. Once in a while, we need to step outside of our comfort zone, to look not at our goals but at those who are trying to achieve our goals. To them, we have everything.

Jose’s birthday is November 3rd. I told my daughter we will send him a birthday card.

“Can we take him out too?” she asked.

“Well, no. He lives in a different country.”

“Oh man! Can we visit him one day?”

I thought of the one room house that housed 5 people and had 3 beds. “Maybe,” I said.

“He is poor, mamma?” she asked, looking at the picture of the average Guatemalan home.

“Not really. Like you he has parents and siblings and he goes to school. He likes to draw and write and so he’s very rich in his own way.”

“How are we going to help him if he doesn’t live here?”

“We are going to help each other through gifts. We send him money and in return, he makes us realize how grateful we should be for what we have.”