We’re excited to report that CFCA has received its seventh consecutive 4-star rating, the highest rating possible, from Charity Navigator!

According to Charity Navigator, less than 1% of the charities that Charity Navigator has rated have received at least seven consecutive 4-star evaluations.

“This ‘exceptional’ designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Christian Foundation for Children and Aging from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust,” wrote Michael Smith, Charity Navigator’s chief operating officer. The rating indicates “that Christian Foundation for Children and Aging outperforms most charities in America in its efforts to operate in the most fiscally responsible way possible.”

To our sponsors and donors – thank you for your continued trust. We strive to use all funding in the most efficient, trustworthy manner. We’re happy that Charity Navigator agrees!

For more information about CFCA’s 4-star rating, please visit the Charity Navigator Web site.

By Charlotte Willenborg, CFCA sponsor
A few weeks ago I received an e-mail about the World’s Largest Coffee Break to be held May 10 at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Hoping to break the record of 3,000 people taking a break at the same time, the Fair Trade Organization wants to educate people about fair prices, fair labor conditions and direct trade agreements. This brought back memories of a CFCA Mission Awareness Trip to Guatemala that I took this past December with my daughter, Dawn, who works for CFCA in the Kansas City office.

During the trip, we met our sponsored children and their families. It was a wonderful experience and it truly gave me an appreciation of the simple beauty and the richness of the Guatemalan culture.

In Guatemala: Charlotte, CFCA-Guatemala staff member Claudia, and Charlotte’s daughter Dawn

While visiting the San Lucas Mission on the third day of our trip, we listened to Father Greg Schaffer talk about the Juan Ana Coffee Project. He told us how Juan Ana coffee, though not part of the famed “Fair Trade” program, is very similar in the respect that it provides a fair price for the farmers of San Lucas Toliman area. The producers in San Lucas actually determine the price they will need for producing and selling the very best coffee they produce. He explained that every aspect of their coffee production: from picking the coffee fruit, drying, sorting, roasting and finally packaging the coffee is done by small independent farmers. These families take great pride in what they produce and are directly involved in deciding how the extra funds they receive will be used to benefit their community. 

That day we saw how CFCA partners with the San Lucas Mission to empower people to use their God-given talents to provide a decent standard of living for their families. We left the mission that day with 10 bags of coffee, envisioning how we would invite our parish back home to build a real and lasting relationship with these coffee producers of Guatemala. 

Now, on the second Sunday of each month, we sell Juan Ana coffee and “Fair Trade” decaffeinated coffee, tea and chocolate to our parishioners. Our parish takes pride in the fact that we are making choices that respect human dignity and promote economic justice while building a true sense of global solidarity.

I see a great connection between CFCA and Fair Trade. Both organizations are about living out the Gospel call to serve the poor. Both focus on building relationships and recognizing the God-given dignity of each person and their gifts. Both CFCA and Fair Trade provide hope for those who are trapped in poverty. 

So on the weekend of May 10, you may want to consider being a part of the World’s Largest Coffee Break by drinking Fair Trade coffee. You can purchase Juan Ana coffee, the best coffee available from Guatemala, through the San Lucas Mission office in New Ulm, Minn. Or you may want to celebrate Mother’s Day by giving a gift of tea, chocolate or flowers (available through “A Greater Gift” Fair Trade).

Thank you, CFCA and Fair Trade, for helping me learn to build relationships.

Mission Awareness Trip
April 12-19, 2008

The children, mothers and chompipe (turkey) say, “Welcome to Guatemala.”

It’s a real joy to share this mission awareness trip with you. We are a nice big group, with many children, youth and aging to be visited and plenty to learn. This is the season of Pascua (Easter) … of life-giving rains … of planting and gratitude and hope.

Mothers and children join walk
More than 400 mothers and children met us up on the Panamerican Highway and walked with us to Zaragoza with an abundance of hymns and firecrackers. Great memories. A good number of these folks walked with us in 1996 and they remember it. Today these campesino (farm worker) families shared the fruits of their labor in the fields. Our pickup is now heavily laden with fresh tomatoes, peaches, apples and beautiful flowers.

On our way to Guatemala City to meet the sponsors, we spent an entire day visiting sponsored families in the area of Zaragoza. We have 1,687 sponsored children in Zaragoza and 60 CFCA scholars. Today we were able to turn over the ownership and keys to five new homes. The team here did a good job in selecting these families … healthy attitudes … real need … a view to the future … a commitment to keep their children in school. Myra is only 29, but she has seen a lot of life: education to the 4th grade, an abusive relationship, abandonment, two daughters ages 10 and 8.

“This nice home of our own will help us to focus on the future,” she said. “I thank God … and the sponsors of my daughter … and CFCA.”

In the last two years, just in Project Hermano Pedro we have been able to turn over new homes to more than 480 sponsored families. I can’t think of a better way to prepare for a mission awareness trip than visiting these families.

Facing west during the Mayan prayer service, sponsors and staff reflect on the sunset as a symbol of life after death.

A liver transplant
With two children of her own, Luisa Morales, community worker in Guatemala City, is in her sixth year with CFCA. To share this morning with the sponsors, Luisa brought Ana Beatriz, 14.
Ana Beatriz has been sponsored by Janet for the past nine years.

When she turned 10, Ana Beatriz was diagnosed with severe liver failure. She needed a transplant. Her older sibling, Roland, came forward and offered to become a donor. A foundation in Spain invited them to Madrid for the surgery.

Ana’s mother, Imelda, with a total of seven children, finds herself as the sole support after their father took off. One of her daughters is married. Imelda informed us that both Ana Beatriz and Roland are doing very well now.

Steep paths to families
On our visit to Aldea Pujujil, where 218 children are sponsored, our sponsors braved some steep paths on foot to visit a humble widow and two sponsored children who wanted to express their gratitude for sponsorship and for their new CFCA home. This family visit was followed by a gathering in the lean-to shelter for this CFCA community. I find them beautifully shy, but admirable in their hope. I calculate about 300 children and parents.

Nine new children sponsored
En route to Antigua through the highlands, we visit Chimaltenango with 8,721 sponsored children and teens in this region along with 461 aging and 287 scholars. Nine new children were sponsored during this trip, and the sponsors got to meet their new children and parents.

Thank you for being with us during this mission awareness trip, so rich in experiences and blessings. God’s blessings.

Bob Hentzen
Guatemala

Mission Awareness Trip
March 29—April 5, 2008

Words of welcome by Coordinator Minor Esquivel
“We have been looking forward to this moment. The children, the aging and the CFCA staff have been praying for you. We thank God for bringing you safely to our country to visit your CFCA family.”

The Risen Christ
First on the agenda was Holy Mass at El Poro section of San Ramon in the Chapel of San Antonio de Padua. Father Chepe, a native of Panama, has shoulder-length hair and could easily pass as a San Blas or Guatuso Indian. He took the readings from the Acts and St. Peter and handily brought us all into the Costa Rican reality of March 30, 2008. CFCA community promoters in the San Ramon subproject report that 350-400 children, youth and aging, and expectant mothers are able to have a good lunch each school day.

Sacred encounter
For me, a very sacred encounter took place between sponsor Julie Pringle, one of her seven children, Quincy, their sponsored boy, Yarito, and Yarito’s mother, Elba. Elba was born dirt poor in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, and struggled with an abusive husband. One morning, she sent her four children in the back of a neighbor’s pickup to haul drinking water. The irresponsible driver rolled the truck on a dirt road at high speed. Elba’s 13-year-old daughter, Miriam, died on impact. The other four were hurt, including Yarito. The family somehow made it past the ever-present border guards, and headed for the Central Valley of Costa Rica and San Ramon. Today, Divine Mercy Sunday, the mothers Julie and Elba hit if off. Quincy and Yarito hit it off. One could read it in their eyes. Somehow in God’s mercy, the circle was complete… and the Mass was just beginning.

Survival in the most challenging of environments
CFCA is involved in very challenging section of Heredia called Guarari. This is considered a high-risk community because of the high levels of robbery, drug dealing, assaults, sexual abuse, domestic violence, family disintegration, school dropouts and unemployment.

In our visits to sponsored families, I note that the area is intolerably polluted by the black waters of a huge shopping mall located three or four blocks upstream. It would be an understatement to say that the families are struggling. Most of them are immigrants from Nicaragua, forced to try to survive under extremely difficult conditions.

Ribbon cutting
After a bone-chilling bus ride north, we dedicated a nice new classroom in El Pavon. This fine structure was made possible through the dedication of 9-year-old sponsor Emily and her parents, Dawn and Ed. Emily cut the ribbon to the new building with one of their sponsored children, Daniela. How beautiful to see the bonding between these two young girls. Trip participants were impacted by the difference between this nice new facility and the former make-do classroom. According to CFCA staff, the Los Chiles area near the Nicaraguan border has been seriously neglected. Our visits to homes here speak of extreme poverty. Work harvesting oranges, pineapple or sugarcane lasts scarcely four months.

Back in San Jose
We spent the day at a nice park with the sponsored children, parents, staff and U.S. student volunteer translators, mixing games, music, dancing, good food and a beautiful blue sky.

What a joy to see our own sponsored little girl, 4-year-old Cristina (Cri Cri), and to see her walking. Three years ago, doctors said she would probably not survive six months. Cristina and I sponsored her anyway. With God’s grace and the loving care of the Sisters, this little fighter is defying all the odds.

Dancing in the streets
Hundreds of people received us in the street of this challenging neighborhood. Vicenta, at age 32, has seen a lot of life—two boys, one little girl and a husband long gone. They’re literally dirt poor in a drainage area where things stay humid. Very early each morning, Vicenta climbs the embankment with her baskets and treks to market to buy vegetables for resale in the neighborhood. During coffee harvest, she and the children travel to one of the farms after school to pick coffee.

Following the family visits, we gathered at the CFCA center in Alajuelita to see handicrafts and foods produced by the mothers and elderly, and in the presence of the sponsored elderly Queen and King of the fiesta, we accompanied the elderly, the children and youth in dancing. My one step fits all.

We live in gratitude
Thank you for being with us on this journey. We live in gratitude for your solidarity and prayers.

Bob Hentzen
CFCA Costa Rica

Today is World Malaria Day. Malaria isn’t something we think about much in the U.S., but its devastating effects are still felt around the world.

Malaria afflicts 350 to 500 million people a year – 40 percent of the world’s population.

Malaria is preventable and curable. If not treated, though, it can be deadly. It kills more than a million people a year – mostly young children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is the hardest hit area, but malaria also afflicts Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and even parts of Europe.

CFCA projects in malaria-affected areas are working to help families deal with this threat. The easiest way to prevent malaria is by sleeping under treated bed nets, because the mosquitoes that carry malaria most often bite at night. Unfortunately, although bed nets are not expensive by U.S. standards, most families in malaria-affected areas can’t afford them.

Project Coordinator Mary Dawn Reavey, based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, wrote to us this week about malaria prevention in her community:

Medicated bed nets have been a sponsorship benefit at the CFCA Dar es Salaam project that families can choose from the personalized portion of their sponsorship plan since January 2005. Starting in 2008, every sponsored child receives a medicated bed net as part of his/her health benefit. Also part of the health benefit is malaria testing and treatment. Beginning in February of this year (which is the start of the long rainy season in Dar es Salaam), the project began providing education to sponsored families on the treatment of malaria to coincide with the distribution of mosquito nets to all currently sponsored children. We also have some children with chronic illnesses (e.g. sickle cell anemia, AIDS and severe cerebral palsy) on antimalarial prophylaxis.

Drug-resistant malaria is a huge problem because to most Tanzanian families every illness is “malaria” (any cold, flu, virus, ear infection, abdominal pain, headache, etc. is thought to be “malaria”). The cost of testing is much higher than the medication (40 to 80 cents to test versus 4 cents per tablet – dosage is based on weight so most kids only need ½ to 1½ tablets). Family members are able to go into any pharmacy and buy malaria treatment medication without a prescription, so they typically don’t test and instead treat for malaria with any symptom.

CFCA’s BON subproject is located in western Kenya, near Lake Victoria, one of Kenya’s malaria corridors. They wrote to tell us about how they’re fighting this threat, too:

Malaria is prevalent during the rainy season because the mosquitoes tend to multiply during these cold periods. It is transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito, and can be prevented by spraying insecticides, sleeping under treated mosquito nets and draining away stagnant water. It can also be prevented by keeping our home environments clean by clearing all the bushes around our houses and destroying or burning waste containers around our homes since these are breeding places for mosquitoes.

In the fight against malaria, Nairobi-BON subproject always does the following for our beneficiaries:
1. Provide treated mosquito nets at least once a year and ensure that sponsored children and aging sleep under their nets.
2. Create awareness of the dangers of malaria and employ preventive measures like the ones mentioned above.
3. Emphasize the importance of proper hygiene and sanitation.

It is good that these efforts have helped prevent malaria in our beneficiaries since we do not experience many cases of malaria.

On behalf of the CFCA beneficiaries, BON subproject is grateful to CFCA for joining in the fight against this killer disease.

Sponsorship in malaria-affected areas not only allows children to receive bed nets for prevention and quality medical care for treatment if they contract malaria, it also allows families to eat a more nutritious diet. This strengthens their immune system and improves their reaction to medicines. Sponsored children are also able to go to school and learn about the causes and effects of malaria.

This is a great example of how holistic child development, through sponsorship, improves a child’s life in so many ways. Every aspect of their life and sponsorship – food, shelter, education, medical treatment – works together to give them hope and an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty.

You may have read the story about children in Guatemala protecting their environment in the April Update. If you didn’t read it, here’s a quick synopsis.

There is a neighborhood that borders the CFCA center in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala. The children from the neighborhood wanted to play at the CFCA Center, but they weren’t allowed (out of concern for their safety if they played unattended). Three CFCA finance staff members wanted to help the children find a way they could play at the center, so they organized an environmental club.

The environmental club, comprising children from the bordering neighborhood, meets twice a week to pick up litter from the area and recycle it. Then, their bag of trash is their “admission ticket” to play basketball, soccer or educational games at the center. They’re also served a snack. Omar, Sergio and Victor, the organizing staff members, volunteer their time to be with the children during club activities.

Now the children are also planting vegetables in a garden at the CFCA center, supplementing their family’s diet and learning organic growing techniques.

Here at CFCA headquarters in Kansas City, we were inspired by the children in Guatemala who are making their community a better, cleaner place to live.

So, today – on Earth Day – we decided to live by their example. After our weekly all-staff meeting, interested employees walked around the neighborhood where our office is located and picked up litter.

It was a great addition to other earth friendly practices we have in place at CFCA. And, it was an opportunity to live in solidarity with our friends and fellow staff members in Guatemala.

The children in Guatemala are leading the way … and we’re following.

We received this letter recently written by a sponsored child who lives near Nairobi, Kenya, to her sponsor in the U.S. We were touched by her first-hand descriptions of how the recent violence in Kenya has affected her. We’re withholding her name to protect her security in the still-volatile nation. If you’d like to read more about the unrest in Kenya and how it affected sponsored members, we’ve written several news stories here.

17 March, 2008

Dear Joe,

How have you been? Well, I hope it has been well with you. How was your Christmas and more how is your new year going? For me I am happy now that the violence has ceased and that am in my last year in high school.

I spent my Christmas very well since the election hadn’t taken place but ever since 28th (of December) it was very bad. You know we live in a place like 80 kilometers from the capital city Nairobi … where when people learned that President Kibaki had won they celebrated because the majority are the tribe of Kikuyus, so all my Luo friends were evacuated back to their ancestral home.

We had lived with them all my life only to be separated like long-time enemies. As the violence continued we were even told not to wear specific clothes like trousers. Although I am Kikuyu, I used to go to the police station where almost like 5,000 people had camped since they neither had a home nor money to take them back to their rural homes.

I remember I didn’t celebrate the new year as I am used to but I had to stay indoors. If you were to be seen straying after 7 p.m. (that was the curfew time), you could have been killed by either the police or a vigilante group called Mungikis.

Properties were looted and burned in various places and at night a person could hear gunshots next to your house. Things got out of hand and the Mungikis claimed that my mother was a supporter of the opposition that is the party of Raila Odinga so she was brought home by policemen.

Thank you very much for the lunch you sponsored for us last year. It was very nice. Our photos were taken and we were given clothes. It was really thrilling because we didn’t expect it.

All in all, even after the post-election violence, we came back to school, though a little bit late, but it doesn’t matter so long as we finish school. I really am in a dilemma between doing telecommunications engineering and doing designing (graphic or Web).

I hope your daughter is progressing on well. I really wish that the people of U.S.A. will choose a president fairly and hence no violence will take place.

Since I am one of the biggest supporters of Manchester United, I really felt bad when they were defeated by Arsenal in the FA cup. (It’s rather odd for a girl to like football in Kenya but nothing is ever odd to me).

I pray and hope that your job is progressing well.

In school this year there was a celebration due to the good performance of last year’s candidates, and so our hopes are hoisted high that we as the current candidates will pass come the examinations.

Right now Kenya is going back to her usual doings but for me life will never be the same. The wound will take long to heal. Thank you for your support and everything you have done for me. I wish you a happy Easter holiday.

Your sponsored child,

(Name withheld)

Mission Awareness Trip
March 1-8, 2008

It is a pleasure to be in touch from northern Mexico. I am very grateful to be able to spend this week with our CFCA family here. This trip is focused on CFCA projects in northern Mexico, including the states of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis, Potosí, Jalisco and Querétaro.
  

I played one song with them and I overheard, “If they ask for an encore, let’s do our first song again.” I remarked to the families present, “Wouldn’t it be great if world powers could send guitar strings instead of arms?”

A good orientation and initial gathering

Sponsors were invited to say something about their sponsored friends and to tell us about their involvement with CFCA. Father Tony Lee, pastor of St. Jude’s Parish in Peoria, Ill., shared that while he is here, Father Peter Herely is leading a CFCA weekend at St. Jude’s. Our prayers are with you, Father Peter.

 On Monday, Father Tony and I teamed up for a bilingual morning prayer, readings for Lent, hymns led by Bob and shared intentions. Tomorrow morning, Father Tony will celebrate Holy Mass for us in English.

Successful visits generate warmth and love

The Ortigosa Home and Day School—preschool through junior high—serves 88 sponsored boys and girls. The sisters had organized a general assembly of the students that included musical interaction with students by Bob. Boarders served as guides for sponsors on a tour of the facilities. Warmth, love and shared snacks topped off the visit.

We remembered in a special way the meeting today of the OAS as it considers the crisis of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Jerry Menard traveled to Nuevo Laredo with Miguel Angel to see his sponsored
girl, Rosario. I am happy to report that this trip went very well for Jerry, for Rosario, for the Sisters in Nuevo Laredo and for staff member Miguel Angel Alba, who did all the driving.

Empowered mothers grateful for sponsorship

Our group visited 65 dynamic families of subproject PAN, many of them squatters living in the area of Cerro de la Campana. Mothers Licha, Marta and Petra are the community leaders. Staff member Matilde from the project office offers solidarity, visits and support. The tiny kids danced a cute number, and 7-year-old Magali proclaimed, “It’s really bonito (nice) to have a sponsor.” Maria spoke of her two children, a 9-year-old boy in fourth grade and a 14-year-old girl who is a special child. She emotionally expressed her gratitude for the sponsorship program. Other mothers, including Francisca, Claudia and Sylvia, also expressed a sincere and balanced gratitude.

School children display creative talent

At Parras de la Fuente, 76 spontaneous sponsored children were waiting for us, together with veteran missionary educator, Sister Rosario. Her congregation has served in this home and school since 1912. Alexis, Estefania, Gloria and Jorge all did a nice job on their respective songs, singing a capella at that. The sixth graders upheld the poetic fame of their town with two synchronized declamations: La Muñeca and Parras Tierra de Poetas. I encouraged the kids to appreciate these precious years in such a pretty and good school. They were proud to say aloud the names of their sponsors.

Bernardo Grousset School, which houses subproject BGS, has a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Parents are welcomed to participate in the classes. Creative thinking, spontaneity and self-confidence in expression are encouraged. A general assembly of students took us through the entrance of the flag, norteño folk dances and vocals.

Cristina and I are now on our way to Guatemala City to meet the mission awareness trip group arriving March 8. Thanks again for traveling with us.

God’s blessings,

Bob Hentzen
Monterrey, Mexico
March 8, 2008                                                                                                             

Mission Awareness Trip
March 8-15, 2008

Best wishes from our March 2008 mission awareness trip group. It’s nice to be home. Our sponsors have made the effort to place themselves in the midst of this ancient culture in which all of God’s creation is seen as sacred. We thank our loving God for the privilege of just being here.

A humble family speaks

From the very first morning in Guatemala City, this has been a very blessed time. I am inspired by the courage and zeal of Natividad. She is now a CFCA social worker in some of the toughest areas of Guatemala City. Natividad grew up as a sponsored child. This first morning of the trip, Natividad brought a sponsored family from the edges of the grand metropolis to meet the sponsors, to have a good breakfast with us and to share their struggle and their dreams.

The father, Braulio, rents a small piece of land in San Jose Nacahuil on which he plants corn and beans. I find that he lights up when he talks about farming. He deeply respects the land and explains how he kneels and prays before disturbing the pachamama (Mother Earth) with his 18-inch hoe. Once the land is prepared and the seeds are in the ground, he prays for life-giving rains. Many days, Braulio wakes up unemployed. On these occasions, he leaves home at first light with ax, machete and rawhide mecapal (headband), and treks each time further in search of firewood. Even for essentials like fallen wood, land owners are sometimes trigger happy when a campesino ventures across their fence line. When he can, Braulio hires out as a day laborer. The going rate for day workers in his area is about $6 per day. He plays guitar for liturgies at the parish.

Mother Sylvana works very hard at home caring for her own father, who is bedridden with a stroke. Their oldest son, Pantaleon, works on construction sites during the week and studies on weekends. Marta Alicia, 13, is in her first year of junior high. Their second son, Rolando, 15, was born with a good mind, but with quite a list of physical challenges. Rolando is sponsored. He thanks his sponsors for their love and medical help, and he demonstrates his gratitude by studying hard to become an accountant.

Hearts full of dreams

Friday in Patzun was special. Seven newly sponsored children were personally met, welcomed into the CFCA family and sent on their way with hearts full of dreams.

Our dynamic and devoted community workers from Project Patzun offer a traditional musical greeting to the sponsors. Each of them visits 325 sponsored families in the villages of the highlands.

Cristina and I wish you a restful and hopeful Holy Week and Easter.

Bob Hentzen
CFCA Guatemala
March 16, 2008

A trip across the twin Indian cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad is a little like an intergalactic space trip. You strap in (or don’t) and launch out into the great unknown. There is so much life here, and you never know what new experiences each trip will bring. The only certainty on every trip is diversity.

 

The dense traffic here flows like water, widening as vehicles jockey for position at intersections and squeezing back to the allowable space (some might call them lanes) once the intersection is crossed. Honking is considered a courtesy rather than a complaint in India. The trucks even have “Please Sound Horn” signs to invite the driver in the vehicle behind to give a warning when they pass. No encouragement is really needed, though. No one seems bashful about using their horn. When traffic is not bad, you can drive across Secunderabad and Hyderabad in about an hour. When the traffic is bad, the same trip may take two hours or more. The traffic is usually bad.

 

Different languages, cultures, religions, economic statuses and castes coexist everywhere you look. In Hi Tec City, one of Hyderabad’s wealthy new suburbs, the small makeshift huts of the construction workers are sprinkled among the gleaming office buildings. A little further down the road the Muslim call to prayer spreads from loudspeakers atop a nearby mosque, blending with car horns and the Hindu chants that are coming from a TV in a repair shop by the road. And throughout the city motorcycles carrying three, four, five people zip in and out between luxury automobiles, bullock carts and pedestrians.

 

At first I tried to pull apart India’s diversity so that I could make it easier to understand and more manageable. But India is neither manageable nor easy to understand. And trying to pull it all apart is as futile as trying to pull apart the flavors of a curry in order to make it easier to digest. 

 

Maybe coming to grips with India can only be done through embracing its many paradoxes. While this country may look on a map like one country in the world, a drive across any of its cities reveals a deeper truth that this is a country that contains many worlds.