CHILD CORRESPONDENCE: TOGO

Dear Roger. 

A letter to my Sponsored Compassion International Child CONFESSION:

This is my first ever sponsored child. 

I decided to pick up Roger's water proof envelope during a down pour at a NEEDTOBREATHE concert I attending this past Summer 2014 in Kennewick, WA.

I was on a 2 week long road trip with two of my closest girlfriends. These girls are two of the bravest most fascinating female people I know. We always take one HUGE adventure of a trip together each year. This trip was our second road trip and was to the west coast, USA. 
We started in Oklahomaaa and made a giant circle that inclosed Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, CANADA, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico ending again in Oklahoma. 

Yes, you read that right TWO WEEKS. 

So- as I held Rogers envelope and read his location, TOGO, I had a pull at my heart that he was to be the one I sponsored. You see my current boyfriend at the time had previously gone on a mission trip to Africa one summer and specifically to Togo. Holding a child from that location and seeing Togo bolding typed into the information sheet made me feel connected to my boyfriend. Who was 1,930 miles away and whom I was missing.  

So, right then in that moment, in the pouring rain while NEEDTOBREATHE sang 'when the water starts risen', Roger Kodjo Kponvi became my sponsored child throughout Compassion International.

ROGER KODJO KPONVI
AGE:4
LOCATION: TOGO, AFRICA. 
LANGUAGE:EWE

I was so stoked to begin writing Roger and sending him things my boyfriend and I could create together for him. 

Fast forward a few months.........

Still not a single letter had been written to 4 year old Roger. 

Not one item had been created between my boyfriend and I for Roger. 

I had made a pinterest board titled compassion full of great ideas and we did pray for him, but thats as far as it had gone.

One day I received a letter from Roger. It was a worksheet with questions for Roger about Roger that were suppose to be about him and that an assistant had filled out for him. In one section was room for a drawling created by Roger. Within the section 'Airplane' was written by the assistant. I like to call it abstract airplane. 

The arrival of this letter let it to be magnetized to the metal cabinets in the kitchen and peered upon whenever salt or pepper was needed from the seasoning rack. Also one remark from my roommate that "Rogers birthday is one day before hitlers". April 19, 2014. 

Maybe the excitement I had to send something to Roger was choked out by all the limitation, guidelines, rules and not allowed items, Compassion International has for what is accepted to send to my child. Or maybe I'm just a horrible person who thought sponsoring the money was enough? 

After all that prequel now let me tell you about tonights creative activities! 

I wrote to Roger. 

I told him that my boyfriend and I lived in Oklahoma, that we like to hike and go on adventures. I said that I like to grow plants and that I like butterflies. That my boyfriend like sports and the color blue. I included a photo of each of us and one of a beautiful tree we took a photo of while backpacking through the Hoh rainforest, Olympic National Park, WA. I told him God has a plan for his life and that he was special and that God loved him. (I took it right from the example of what to write to you kid section on my pamphlet) Lastly I sent a gift of $100.00 to him and his family for a christmas gift. 

I wrote 'adventures' in stead of the first word that came to mind which was 'trips'. Because I felt like that might be insensitive because he is so poor. Then I started second guessing the photo of the tree. I thought, "Well, he lives in Africa and what if he lives where there aren't any tree and has never seen a tree like this before and it makes him feel bad or that he doesn't understand it or can't relate to it. 

That led to banner idea I had to make for him. The very Pinterest triangles with letters of a child's name or welcome something like that spelled out across the string of triangles. 

You are only allowed to mail Paper product items to the children. I saw on the Compassion webpage that it was okay for a small string with stars attached with staples to be sent. My banner is based off those guild lines. 

I spent one after noon going through old magazines and ripping out pages with good "boy type" photo themes. Then cutting triangles from them. I chose things like blues of clouds and skies, reds in mountains and rocks, blues of water and oceans, a earth seen from space photo, neat bark textures from trees, trees, grass, an eagle, a dog, a elk, tall grasses. I laid them out how I was going to super glue them to the string I had to look at them. I had the conflicting thoughts of its really great and also is this appropriate for roger. I wondered how he would hang it up, should I leave enough string at the end so he could tie it up?

I took a saying from the journal my boyfriend had kept while on his mission trip. I cut out letter to attach to the banner. It is yesu lo wo. It is is in the ewe language and means roughly that jesus loves/cares for you. At first I wanted to put roger on it but I almost thing that is a name gives for my purposes and not what he is called. I also wanted his whole family to gain joy from it. 

I felt bad about the trees and the mountains and the 'pretty things" I wondered if roger would know what a elk is. If seeing these things would give him hope to know the world or sadness in the world he currently lived in. 

So I delayed sending it. 

Do you think I should send it? 
Do you think it is appropriate and that roger would be able to enjoy it? 

Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Also share some creative paper product gift ideas you have thought of or made for a sponsored child. 

Radom question: 

Do you sponsor a child? What group is it with?

Or

What have you sent your child? 


Thank you.