Dear Sponsors and Friends of Give Children Hope,

I hope that you are all in high spirits as you read this letter. The past month has been wonderful to us, though we had several disasters that took hundreds of lives and great damage to properties.
If you can remember, a part of my country was hit by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake…particularly in Guihulngan, Negros Occidental. There were hundreds of deaths and the situation of those people living there was really heartbreaking. Many of the families are staying in shelters because they were so afraid to go back to their damaged houses. The shelters have run out of food, water, and medicine which makes the situation even worst. The good thing is however, that everyone is trying their best to move forward and build their dreams again. We know that there were other countries that suffered so much when this kind of natural disaster hit their country. Another good thing was that none of our sponsored children got hurt or even suffered much as these events took place. That is one of the greatest things that we are all very thankful for.

Speaking of your sponsored children, all our programs are doing well as they continue to feed the children of Sua and Maravilla Elementary Schools. The effects of the Meals at School Program for these children have been very obvious, as they have a lot more energy to go on with their day and their weights are getting better than before they had this program. I was able to talk to a grade 4 student and he was very happy to tell me that when he gets home, he doesn’t have to worry if there will be food or not because he gets to eat a lot during the feeding program. I also saw the posters that they have made, it is like a slogan, a drawing where they describe the effect of the feeding program to them. They are really genuine…it is so cute the way these children appreciate the help that you have been giving them.
This month will be the last month for this school year and the kids go on their summer vacation for the month of April and May. The next school year will be a lot different for all of us because the program called K-12 is being implemented. Before, our system was 6 years in Elementary and 4 years in high school so students get to college at around 16 or 17 years old. Well, this change means that our education system will be like in your country. I believe that it will definitely improve their learning.

We are so grateful for the help that you have been extending to us. It has helped these students a lot and it continues to do so. May you all feel our love and gratitude for all that you do for us.

Our love to you from the sponsored children,
Kristina Sunico, Manila, Phillippines. For the Give Children Hope sponsored children.