A few words about Compassion

If any of you have visited my blog recently, or follow me on Twitter, you've seen that I've been posting buttons in my sidebar and tweeting a lot about Compassion International's Bloggers in India. They arrived in Kolkata (Calcutta) a few of days ago and will be blogging about their experiences this week as they are meeting with children and their families living in poverty. Some of the children are sponsored through Compassion, and some (many!) are still in need of sponsorship. The goal of the trip is to bring awareness of the need for sponsorship, and to get as many children sponsored as possible. (To learn more about Compassion and what they stand for, click here!)

You can follow these bloggers' posts here. Clicking will take you directly to the page where you can link to and read all of the bloggers' posts and updates. They will be posting daily on their blogs about their experiences. So far they have visited Mother Teresa's tomb and the orphanages where she lived and worked, as well as a few projects. I believe they most recently were at a rural project that helps moms and babies.

You can view pictures of their trip here on Flickr.

To see some of the many children in desperate need of sponsorship, click here.

Sponsoring a child not only provides them with food and schooling, but it gives them hope for a future. Many of these children see no hope in their lives. They only know the poverty they live in and do not even know they can dream to have more in life, to be more. Compassion workers help these children set goals and help them realize they are worthy and loved. Sponsors are so vital to the lives of these kids for so many reasons. But one reason really stuck out above all the others...

For most of these children, their sponsor is the only person who has ever said, "I love you" to them.

Yes, their parents love them, but from what I have learned from reading these blog posts in the past few days, parents in India do not (or rarely) express love to their children. They do love them and do the best they can to provide for them, but children do not hear the words, "I love you" from their parents. (See reference in this post.)

If you are not familiar with Compassion, I encourage you to read some of these blogs this week... The writers are very gifted writers and are not trying to coerce or force anyone into sponsoring a child, but they are allowing us to see a glimpse of what they are experiencing there in India. Each one has told amazing, move-you-to-tears, inspiring stories. Real stories about real children facing real poverty and hopelessness. Showing us a way we can make a real difference.