Children International

For a while now, I've been considering adopting a child through one of the myriad international child sponsorship agencies, but hadn't yet done enough research to find a non-religious group. Last week, while running an errand for work, I was stopped by one of the infamous solicitors in the Park Blocks of downtown Portland. Usually you get saving whales, political agendas, gay rights, etc, but this time around it was something I felt I could actually make a difference doing and had contemplated before. The guy was working for Children International, an agency out of Kansas City (always fun to find things are run out of your home town) that was not religiously affiliated.

The other thing that stuck out to me about this group was that they actually encourage you to pick a country you would want to visit, because unlike most other agencies, they WANT you to visit your sponsored child. So I thought that was pretty cool. Apparently one of the least picked countries is the Philippines, so that's what I went for. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail with information about Ryan Christian Herrera, a seven year old living in Quezon City, which is on the outskirts of Manila. Keep in mind that the Philippines was ruled by the Spaniards for quite some time, so names and religious practices are not what you would expect of a Southeast-Asian country. Some of the other information includes that his mother, Angelita and father, Richard, are both 32. She is a homemaker and he is a daily worker. Ryan has an older sister Rosalie (11) and brother Paul John (13) with which he shares a two room house. Their home is made of concrete block walls, corrugated metal for roofing, a concrete floor, and no beds (although they do have mats). They also have a kerosine stove, running water in the home, and a toilet. Listed under Ryan's "chores at home" is running errands and "talents or hobbies" is singing. Anyway, I'm pretty excited to get some more information and start writing some letters! If you're interested in sponsoring, check out their website at children.org.