What Happened When We Chose to Sponsor a Child
My wife Cathy and I have sponsored Wilsain since he was about 6 years old. He grew up in Grand Bassin in northern Haiti, raised by his aunt. He has consistently written that his favorite subjects in school are reading, English, and biology. He has done very well in school. He is 22 years old now, very happy attending his first year of university and wants to be a doctor.
While we have sponsored Wilsain for 16 years, only the last 5 years have been through Chalice. We have found Chalice’s child sponsorship programs welcoming and reassuring. We had sponsored two other children with another program previously, including a girl from the Philippines who eventually graduated college with a nursing degree.
When we joined our parish we became involved with a project supporting people in need in Haiti which was started by a young couple at our Catholic church. With the knowledge that Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, we chose to sponsor a child with this committee and that started our connection with Wilsain.
After a visit to Haiti by the committee head, it was determined that all the money we were sending to Haiti was not being entirely distributed for the education of the children. Some of the funds were used for the intended purpose but other money was directed elsewhere; and although the use was not malicious, it was not where we had directed our attention.
At that point, our committee head searched for a reputable group to take over the child sponsorship program and found and vetted Chalice. After the transition to Chalice, Wilsain received funds for school tuition and supplies, he received medical attention, supplemental food, family services, adult literacy and hygiene training, as well as skills training to improve his family’s future livelihood.
After Chalice took over we started receiving letters from Wilsain for the first time. Although we haven’t exactly kept up our side of the bargain with sending letters back, Wilsain has let us know that he and his family are so grateful for anything and everything we have done.
To meet him in person will be great. Next month I have the good fortune of being able to travel to Grand Bassin. I will meet with Fr. Alex, who is the pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes, the parish in Wilsain’s hometown. Wilsain is studying in Cap Haitien, where I'll be flying in. I understand that Chalice is working on making a connection happen for Wilsain and me. I’ve agreed to write about my experience in Haiti, so come back to this blog to find out about my once in a lifetime meeting with Wilsain.
— Ron Keller, Chalice US Sponsor