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Guidelines:

Letters to Sponsored Children

Address to Send Letters

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Making Payments

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How to become a sponsor

Application to become an iCARE Sponsor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Letters to Sponsored Children

The child you sponsor will recognize you as a very important individual, or group, in his or her life. We encourage correspondence between sponsor and sponsored child. It is an important way to let these sponsored children know that they matter. Never underestimate the power of correspondence to the child you sponsor or the power of the correspondence from the child to the sponsoring individual or group.

Below are some important guidelines that we ask sponsors to follow when writing their sponsored child. Many of the ideas below have been gleaned from the work of Compassion International and Christian Children’s Fund. These are two organizations with long and successful histories of supporting children through sponsorship programs.

POSITIVE LETTER WRITING IDEAS
  1. Keep your letters short and simple; one side of one page is long enough
  2. Write about your family and children
  3. Describe your work, hobbies or favorite pastimes
  4. Write about your relation to Jesus
  5. Write about your church, its activities and your involvement
  6. Write about special holidays or celebrations
  7. Write about where you live, the climate, aspects of nature or weather
  8. Ask your sponsored child about his or her life and perhaps the types of things above

Would you like to work some Oromiffa into your letters, the native language of your sponsored child? click here

NOTE: Oromiffa is the native language of most, but not all of the iCARE children at the Gore Home.

THINGS TO AVOID

  1. Writing about material possessions (for example, the size of your home and and kind of car you drive)
  2. Avoid discussions about politics
  3. Do not ever indicate that you want the sponsored child to visit the US or ultimately immigrate here
  4. Use of slang or colloquialisms may be difficult to interpret and understand
  5. Avoid discussion of gifts. If you are asked by your sponsored child for something specific, we suggest you explain that when you entered into a sponsorship agreement you were asked not to send gifts to individual children.
  6. Unless you have made arrangements to do so, be careful not to indicate to the sponsored child that you are going to visit them or may visit them.

Your letter will probably take 20 - 30 days to reach your sponsored child in Ethiopia. It will then need to be translated. You will want to address letters as follows:
(Name of child)
c/o Kes Ayana Hedu
Gore Bethel Home for Children
PO Box 60
Gore, Ethiopia

Inside the envelope be sure that the letter is clearly addressed to your sponsored child.  Kes Ayana, the Director of the Gore Home, will translate the letter, or have it translated, and give it to your sponsored child.  The average letter will cost about $1.00 to send.

Sending letters presents a constant challenge for the staff resources of the Gore Home. The actual number of letters each sponsor will receive in a year will fluctuate.

Oromiffa Phrases for letters, click here

GENERAL GUIDELINES

When someone agrees to sponsor a child through iCARE, they sign an application that states they have read, understand and agree to abide by the “recommendations” regarding gifts and letter writing in the interest of all iCARE children.

These guidelines are not in place in an effort to be politically correct, stylish or for any reason other than that they protect the children. 

In the past, children in this home have suffered substantially due to well meaning sponsors who did not follow these guidelines. These guidelines were developed based on years of experience. Please follow them in the interest of your sponsored child and all children at the Gore Home or other location of your sponsored child.

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