A smart girl like me, thousands of miles away
http://www.littlechildren.org/
16 years ago, I visited Dumaguete City, in the Philippines and met Bianca Jane. She was a bright, shy second-grader, and she showed me around her house. There was just one room, with rudimentary cooking facilities and a dirt floor. But it was a lot bigger and better-kept than many of the other homes in the squatter community she lived in.
I had lived in Dumaguete for a semester a couple years before, volunteering with kids and families like Bianca's, living in very difficult conditions. Little Children of the World (LCW) helps westerners like me sponsor kids so that they stay in school and have a shot at a better life.
I knew that not every child in the program had the interest or skills to complete school, especially with so many obstacles. I had gone through the stack of student descriptions and picked out the smartest girl I could find -- Bianca Jane.
Every month since then, I've sent a small donation. My support helped her get school supplies and uniforms, and gave her family an income stream that let them to keep her in school instead of pulling her out to work. Because of the cost-of-living differences, the cost of dinner and movie for me was enough to substantially change the incentives in her family. In return, I got neatly-printed letters and photos over the years from a maturing girl and then young woman.
When Bianca Jane was accepted into college, I volunteered to pay her tuition. And in 2016, I'm so proud and thrilled that she's going to graduate! She had the skills and discipline, and I am so fortunate that I got to watch her journey and know that my support made it far more likely she would succeed.
Review from #MyGivingStory