We Have A Boy

October 4

A letter came. Printed child-drawn trees and sun decorated the front and the stamp mark dated October 18. The country name printed on the two pieces of 10,000 rupiah stamps was Indonesia. "We have an Indonesian kid," I said to Adrian. It was an introductory letter.

Signed up with World Vision couple of months back to sponsor a child in the region of SEA, Adrian chose not to specify the gender or country of the child to sponsor, merely where needed most. From the letter, we knew it was a boy whose name is Teguh Sabarna and he loves to play with marbles and wishes to serve the nation and country well when he grows up.

The main section with pre-printed lines was where Teguh penned his words. Rounded, child's writing with few alphabets crossing down below the lines, it was quite a joy to see him introducing himself to us. Of course, Indonesian language is quite different from our Bahasa Melayu, with few words that were foreign to us. One of such was marble. We called it guli. The Indonesian word for it was kelereng.

Right below where he signed off, there was a short translation in English, and the name of the translator was also included.

We are encouraged to correspond with him but not allowed to send him gifts. This is to avoid and prevent jealousy among the other children that he is staying with. I wanted to send him a teddy bear, and perhaps a set of clothing since Christmas is end of next month. Sigh.

I have friends who are also sponsoring children in other countries, and they were able to send them gifts like colour crayons. Hmm, perhaps I should make a check with Ted, my brother-in-law. I am sure there is a way to make this boy happy :)

You might wonder what is this about. It is about doing the little that we can to make life better for those in need. So what is World Vision? World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy non-profit organisation that is dedicated in working with poverty-strickened children, families and communities in poor countries with aim and hope to help them build a better future and a sustainable life.

We might not be able to volunteer to be personally hands on for such noble cause due to personal commitments and reasons, but there are other ways that we are able to contribute to make life a little better. RM50 a month for a child from each sponsor from all over the world, and the sponsorship is pooled together to enable these far less fortunate children have better sanitation and health care, better food, clothes to cover their bodies and education. Such sponsorships are not tax deductible, hence not exploited by those simply seeking tax exemptions.

http://www.worldvision.com.my/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Only the poor are unable to give because they do not have enough to feed themselves. One must be really poor to find himself unable to give!

Printed drawing on the back of the two-fold letter (like an aerogramme). Titled Gembira pergi ke pesta, it was drawn by a four-year old girl, Tallisa Puspita Sari from Sanggar.