MSC archived stories - September 27, 2020
I wasn't planning to come back but thought dropping a line in case you were wondering what's going on in my world – a lot! Estephanie, age 12 (my former sponsee & goddaughter) is to become a Sponsor herself to a little boy in Chimaltenango, where Fatima from through my 'gift sponsorship'. With the memory of the CI program operation in the field fresh in her mind, I'm sure she will teach me as much as learn from my own experience.
A few things to bring up:
- It's almost the end of CI fiscal year, but still no sign of the full Annual Report 2019 available on the site.
- I've not seen the children for over a year now with no annual photos taken and wonder how much have they changed, as we expect them to grow fast at young.
- Some of my follow-ups outstanding since November! Is Zambia's situation dire compared to other countries in terms of CI activities happening during the pandemic?
For being positive and inspired, I wish to share an occasion when I received Welcome Packs together in the post for Saira and Adela, who just graduated. Those days we had 3.5" x 5" photos (though now larger size 4" x 5.5") and both children were wearing distinct tops in blue and purple colors.
The photos were attached to the letter using color paper clips. The staff member who I knew well used matching color clips to their dress color – how clever and inspiring thought that was to welcome them to my care – fantastic!
Welcome back...My best wishes to your two graduates, Saira and Adela; to your much loved Estephanie; and, of course, to you!
ReplyDeleteSeptember 27, 2020
Hello Chelaka! I just visited all your children yesterday by way of your profile. I, too, remember the endearing personal touches like the color-coordinated clips and I indulge in reminiscing! What an interesting endeavor to share sponsorship with Estephanie; enjoy.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 27, 2020
Hi Chelaka.Greetings. Thanks for sharing. Good to hear from you again and I went to your profile to check all your beautiful children..
ReplyDeleteSeptember 27, 2020
barbmc
ReplyDeleteI think the fantastic sponsors on this site are already well aware of all the problems covid 19 and its restrictions are causing for CI. I'm sure it's no different for any of the legitimate child sponsorship organisations that operate in these countries, or other poor countries. You sending, money for a childs school supplies doesn't make it a scholarship and it doesn't make the person sending it into anything like a charity or organisation. I've sent educational EGs to my sponsored children, but only through CI where there is no unsupervised or direct contact for the children and their families allowed with their sponsors or ex-sponsors due to child protection laws.
September 27, 2020
Welcome back and nice to have you back on here again! Unfortunately, things are slow right now and CI is having issues due to the pandemic as stated in an earlier post by another sponsor.Jenifer's last update was from March 2020 right before the world went into a major lockdown and I normally get mine in like July or something like that. No worries, I'm sure that the children, their family, and their friends are doing well. We will just have to keep them in our thoughts and prayers and hope for the best.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 27, 2020
@chelaka, our 2019 Annual Report is on our website.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 28, 2020
As are the latest updates about how the pandemic is affecting the operations of each country we work in.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 28, 2020
You are very generous, Chelaka!
ReplyDeleteSeptember 29, 2020
Thank you for the warm welcome. Just as I was thinking not seen the children over a year, to my total amazement today I got Aaron's – now how am I going to survive looking at his photo for a year.. help! :-)
ReplyDeleteSeptember 29, 2020
Erin – I can only download the 2 pager report, but is there a full version that used to publish on the site?
ReplyDeleteSeptember 29, 2020
@chelaka: That is our Annual Report. If you are looking for our audited financial statement, click on the words "Smart Giving" and scroll down.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 29, 2020
I was looking for the full version like 2018 -- [anyflip.com/ugfv/acwq/basic]
ReplyDeleteSeptember 29, 2020
chelaka: thank you for asking about this. I had been wondering the same thing (and I had forgotten, yet again, that CI uses different 'year' designations for its taxes vs its AR's)....I watch for this because of CI's trend in recent years. For example, 'total revenue' 2015: $188M.... 2016: $152M.... 2017: $138M... 2018: $125M... 2019: $115M. That's cash plus 'product' donations, but the cash contribution portion of that (sponsorships, etc) are similarly declining, from $102M in 2015, to $78M last year. [including 'product' in the revenue denominator is another discussion] That steady, continuing drop is not a trend for others, incl. CI's cross-town neighbor. And there seem to be no shortage of kids waiting for sponsorships, so there's still plenty of need for sponsor dollars. I am sure everyone has thoughts on how to start to reverse the trend - some ideas seem obvious. But it's clear everyone, including us sponsors, can do more. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 29, 2020
@chelaka: We are not printing a more expanded version this year. Our focus has been on ensuring our field staff has the support and funding they need so that families have food, kids have educational needs and that everyone has access to medical care they may need, so we're watching our administrative costs even more closely that usual.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 29, 2020