The Sponsor a Child program (SAC) at the Farm of the Child is a unique opportunity for both Sponsor and Child to grow in a relationship that extends beyond the bounds of everyday life. Sponsors are invited to share, not only monetary donations that go entirely to support the children, but to become a part of their sponsored Child’s life on the Farm or in the School through bi-annual letters. Children are able to reach out beyond their small society at the orphanage, school, and nearby town of Trujillo, and imagine what the world is like where their Sponsor lives.
Through SAC, the Sponsor becomes a part of the Child’s life on the Farm through the obvious means of providing monetary support. This support of $50 per month for a Farm Child, and $25 per month for a School Child, helps defray the costs of raising and/or educating a Child in a secure and loving environment. The Farm fosters a loving environment where the Child is provided with a family of foster parents and other children; with a school which provides a high standard of Catholic education; with a beautiful church and religious formation; with a clinic and medical attention; with vocational training such as carpentry and sewing; and with fun and activities-all necessary for healing a broken child. The School Child shares in almost all aspects of the Farm environment except the family homes.
The Sponsor also becomes a part of the Child’s life through bi-annual letters that the Child writes to the Sponsor at Christmas and Easter. Through these letters the Sponsor becomes each individual Child’s bienhechor - good deed doer, supporter, friend. Though many of the children may never meet their Sponsor (though all are welcome to come visit if possible), the Sponsor becomes for them an ideal. A person who loves that Child through their support for them. A person who helps create the solid foundation of family that the Child so desperately needs. A person to whom the child can feel his own little connection and sense of belonging.
Through SAC, the children are able to reach out beyond their small society and imagine what the world is like where their Sponsor lives. Through the bi-annual letters, they connect to a friend in a world very different from their own. They learn to share their thoughts, exciting events, favorite moments. They learn to share their hearts with someone they trust, sometimes for the first time. They also learn the value of gratitude. The bi-annual letters provide an opportunity for the children to say thank you for all that they are given.
Sponsors are encouraged to write back to their Child and share photos, family moments, thoughts, and kind words. Though this is not a necessary part of the SAC program, the children love to put faces and words to their bienhechor through the receipt of letters.
For more information on our program, or to begin to Sponsor a Child, contact Andrea McMerty-Brummer
