Monday morning we ate breakfast with a group of LDP students. LDP (leadership development program) provides a scholarship and mentoring to graduates of the child sponsorship program. Acceptance is very competitive as only the top students from the country are chosen based on their grades since 7th grade, their leadership in the church, and a series of interviews. Once they are in, however, they are guaranteed to keep their scholarship as long as they maintain a certain grades.
After breakfast we went to a local market to shop for souvenirs. They had all kinds of cool bags, jewelry, and even hammocks. Everyone went home with great gifts to complement the wonderful memories.
We then went to the country office which is basically the Compassion administrative headquarters in El Salvador. We met many amazing people who make sure the program runs smoothly including the people in charge of keeping track of and translating letters between children and their sponsors. They showed us the box of about 900 sponsor letters that they get every week as well as the stacks of child letters waiting to be sent out. Although the numbers seemed high, statistics on the wall showed that every year children write to their sponsors 2x as often as sponsors write to their children. It may seem like nothing to us but letters mean the world to these kids who may never hear that they are loved if their sponsor doesn't take the time to tell them. I know it's easy to get caught up in our own lives and to forget about sometimes but if you sponsor a child, please write to them regularly, it really can make all of the difference in the child's life.
When we got back to the hotel we were greeted by a youth band from a local Compassion center (ages 9-16) who performed for us before dinner. It was a wonderful way to begin the end of our journey in El Salvador. After dinner we sat around in a big group circle and talked about ways that the trip had affected us. Although we had only met days before, many of us had formed friendships and realized that that night would be the last time that we would all be together.
The next morning we got up early and left the hotel for the airport at 6am. More goodbyes were said at the airport and again when we landed in Miami to part for the last time. I will truly miss the many wonderful people that I met on this trip and hope to be able to see them again one day.
Goodbye to the beautiful country full of amazing people- you will always be in my heart!
And for any of you interested in sponsorship, I brought home a child packet for a girl looking for a sponsor. Her name is Maria and she is 10 (just like my sweet Marlen). I have a month to find a sponsor for her but her birthday is Sunday and I would love to find a sponsor for her before then. If you are interested, please respond with your email or message me on Facebook.
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