My official sponsor packet from Save The Children arrived this weekend.
I had seen B.’s picture when I signed us up, but somehow, having the photo in front of me, on paper, made it that much more real. A solemn little boy with large, beautiful, dark brown eyes peered out at me. I received a short letter telling me a little more about him. One of the things that most affected me was reading that B. was described as an active boy, and that the activity he participated in most often was…working in the fields.
B. is actually one of the luckier children in his area, I would guess, because he does attend primary school. Only 19% of the children where he lives are able to. And I know that in many nations, especially large rural or impoverished populations, children are expected to, and need to, work alongside their families to help maintain fields, crops, and animals. But it still tugged at my heart. Does he have a ball to kick or throw? Does he get to play after dinner? Is there always dinner?
In the handbook we received, guidelines highlighted what was and wasn’t appropriate to talk about with B. We were encouraged to send pictures, but told to be sure everyone in the photo was completely and conservatively dressed (not like I’m in the habit of wearing low-cut tops, but you don’t always think about husband in his bathing suit, or the baby wearing only a Pull-up or shorts, for instance). Also, you have to think about the surroundings and items pictured in the photo. Like sending Christmas pictures where Bean is surrounded by toys to B., who lives in a poor village, wouldn’t be very thoughtful. Also, some people don’t celebrate Christmas, so you have to be aware of that.
I hoped to be able to send small gifts for B.’s birthday in May, but the handbook discusses the need to avoid that. Not only are the postal services often spotty in Mozambique, but such gifts can create feelings of jealousy among other children or may actually violate cultural or family customs.
Obviously, since B. is not my child, and we always have to be careful of privacy issues, I won’t be able to post any pictures of him. I will talk more about him and the programs our sponsorship is helping throughout the year. This will be a learning experience for our family, and I hope to create a lasting tradition as we all get to know B.
