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To help improve the correspondence with your child, I would suggest responding to each letter you receive from Julianna. This way, your letters will be more fresh in her mind so that she can be more responsive to them. You might try highlighting or underlining your questions so that they stand out to Julianna. This will let her know that you would love to have a response to that particular question. With these suggestions, you should hopefully see an improvement in the content of Julianna's letters.
If, after trying the tips above, she continues to say the same things, and not answer your questions, let me know. We can have staff work with Julianna to help improve her letters. In this case, it would be helpful to have a sample of these letters so that I can show staff what went wrong. You can send them in any of the following ways:
-Email: Scan and attach the letters in an email to email@example.com
-Fax: Send the letters via fax to 719-487-4828
-Mail: Send the letters via mail to:
Compassion International
Attn. Susan, SDR
Colorado Springs, CO 80997
If she has been getting our letters and colorings and drawings and cards, I don't see any way that she could wonder if I had any children...especially since one is almost the same age as her and we've mentioned that every time. I feel disheartened and saddened that my daughter is building a relationship with someone who potentially isn't even getting the things we send to her. I just don't know what to do about it really.
It looks like your sponsored child is just five years old so she definitely has a volunteer helping her write the letters. Carmen is always be present while the letter is being written and the volunteer may ask her questions about what she would like to know about her sponsor or what she would like to say to her sponsor to help her along and then write down what she says. Carmen is required to contribute to the letter at least by drawing a picture until she is able to write herself. In thinking about a five year old, she may not be able to remember the last letter when she sits down to write another one since it would not be in front of her. She may even have different volunteers helping her at any given time. Hopefully this helps you to understand a little more of what it looks like when Carmen writes the letters to you.
For me personally, it has taken some time to develop a relationship with both of the girls that I sponsor. I've been sponsoring for almost four years, and for the first two years or so I felt like I really had to pour into my girl's lives without getting much back. Over time, their personalities have come out and I can truly say that I love them both deeply. One of them is very smart and affectionate. She wants to be a doctor. The other is a class clown and wants to be a secretary. It has helped me to focus on pouring into them and accepting each child for who they were. It sounds like you are doing a family project with this sponsorship and really trying to teach your kids about the least of these (which I applaud by the way) so this may not be super helpful but I thought I would share my experience anyway.
I have record of two letters having been sent in 2013 from you - one in March and one in August. She just sent her third letter to you on December 5, which I trust you have received. Does this match your records?
Compassion is very committed to keeping administrative costs down. Until a couple of years ago, we did get the original letters. They switched to scanning on both ends to significantly reduce the cost of postage and speed up communications. As a guy explained to us in the mail room during one of my sponsor tours, a child would be asking the sponsor to pray for a broken arm, and it had healed two months ago. You would be talking about snow, and it would be summer when the child asked more questions about it. The turnaround is much better now and it is possible to have conversations. People still want to see their child's handwriting and drawings, so the print quality makes that possible. The letters also include photos sometimes (after larger gifts), so those are also in the printed scans, whereas before they took photos, had them printed at photo shops and mailed them. Printing is a significant part of what Compassion does, so they will absolutely have negotiated the lowest rates possible. (I recently paid $0.35 each for a very small volume of glossy coloured copies, and I live in an expensive area.) Here's a photo of customized stationary ready to go out for the children to write their letters in ONE national office.
I remember getting a Compassion magazine celebrating the millionth child sponsored -- it was a big deal! Less than a decade later (I think) they are now over 2 million. It is a large operation, but the correspondence is a key part of what they do. The one-to-one sponsor child relationship is one thing that tells the child they have value -- leading them to dare to hope and dream.
Your comments are helpful and somewhat close to what I am hoping to hear but still not making sense to me that postage is avoided when the letters I am receiving are through the mail. I also noticed the President's salary is $367k per year, very high; and the near 20% ratio of admin to funding is well over the high standard of 10%. As a CFO of a non profit I learned anything over 10% is a non-starter. I have a lot of questions here and am being advised to pull out at this point. Hoping to hear from the company tomorrow with good answers. Gini
I am so sorry for the delay in our response! I pray that I can help you understand a bit more about how Compassion works, what things cost; and in the end, help you gain faith for our ministry that allows you to feel confident in continuing sponsorship.
I would like to explain a bit more about what I believe you are calling a brochure. If I am understanding correctly, these are the welcome packets we send out when you first choose to sponsor a child. We feel these are very important because they provide you information on the child and can help you begin your sponsorship with knowledge of the child you chose. which in turn helps you write your letters and build your relationship. We have also had feedback from sponsors that they really like having this as a nice, "welcome" and that they keep this, rather than just tossing it.
The letters you are speaking of, do come on sturdy paper, printed in color, as you said. However, you can opt out of receiving physical copies of your letters and just view them online if you would like. This is what many supporters have chosen to do. You can also opt out of receiving any billing communications on printed paper as well.
We have recently changed how letters between a sponsor and child are processed. Research showed that the greatest frustration among sponsors and children was the length of time it takes to receive letters. This new process enables letters to be received up to fifty percent faster. Previously, it took up to three months for a letter to travel one direction. Now, all original letters between sponsors and children are scanned, translated, and delivered to the child's country office or to Compassion's USA office, digitally. The kiddos also receive high quality prints of sponsor's letters. Sponsors all receive letters by email, and if you so choose, a scanned printout by postal mail (again, this is optional). Letters are also stored online in the sponsor's My Account where they are immediately available after translation and remain there so that you can go back and view them at any time.
In regards to your concern about printing costs, I would like to give you some statistics on what kind of costs we are up against. Based on the letter or printed element (welcome booklet, appeal, etc.) and quantity of pages, the price can vary from 12 cents to 20 cents per piece for printing and production. Postage can also vary depending on how we mail the piece and the discounts that we receive. These costs can start at around 14 cents and go up to 38 cents. So an item can cost from 26 cents up to 58 cents per piece, but we try to keep the costs closer to the 26 cents per piece.
We are happy to answer any other questions you may have about this. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to speak with us about your concerns! Please know I will also copy my answer to your other post, for your convenience.
I have been sponsoring the same child for years and I still know absolutely nothing about him or have had any kind of relationship with him at all. Very disappointing. After 7 yrs we are finally canceling especially since he says in the last letter and previous letters he is not even in school so no idea where the money has actually been going.
Does my child really get what we are sending?.
I am beginning to not trust compassion international. Our child writes and doesn't seem to know anything about us, we send pictures and give lots of details and yet she writes and asks things she and ALL of Compassion worker should EASILY know based on the pictures and ALL the details we are always writing??? A few times she thanked us for ordinary things such as stickers but recently asked if we have children??? We have talked extensively about them so that doesn't make sense? I just want to do the right thing but don't want to be taken either as we can be donating elsewhere. Thoughts?
I merged you onto this conversation from a few days ago because you seemed to have similar concerns. Similar to Jessica's situation, you have a young six year old girl. She probably has a volunteer helping her write her letters. The letters are usually written on a scheduled day at the center, much like a school assignment, so that tutors can be on hand to help each child.
It looks like you've been blessed to receive five letters from Silvia and then you've sent two to her this year! One thing you could do to help improve the correspondence with your child, is trying to responding to each letter you receive from Silvia. This way, as I told Shayna, your letters will be more fresh in Silvia's mind so that she can be more responsive to them.
If after trying this, the letters do not improve, please let me know.
What if the sponsor children brought past letters with them on letter writing day? That way the staff can look over the letters and better help them answer questions. I've received many letters with the same things and most of the time with more information.
I've been to visit some of my sponsor kids and you definitely step into a different world.
I am so encouraged that you have been to visit your children! I know that it is something they will never forget and I hope you also enjoyed your time with them :). I actually see that you're going on another trip to Nicaragua in March with us! Have a safe and blessed trip.
Hi Emily.Actually I'm going to El Salvador in March.In one of the posts someone said her sponsor child wants to be a doctor.Mine in El Salvador does too.I'll talk to him about this when I am there.Something must have caught his attention at the doctor's office for him to want to do this.
I was there in 2012 and met some LDP students,2 that will be doctors.I'll tell him about that also.
Same Letter Different Day.
My sponsored child recently graduated from the program. In the beginning, I believed strongly in this ministry, going through the training to become a volunteer child advocate & working tirelessly to increase awareness & help raise up sponsors. After a few years however, I began to loose heart. From the outset of the relationship, every letter I received from my sponsored child (and I have saved them all) had the same content - none of which was ever response to the content of my letters - not one of my questions was answered - not one attempt to connect was successful. I found myself essentially answering the same questions each time I wrote a response, only to have him ask them again as if it were the first time we had corresponded.
I contacted Compassion, but was given simplistic and what felt like evasive answers. While I continued to pray for the child and provide financial support, I eventually stopped writing letters and working as an advocate. I have lost confidence in Compassion and am therefore unable to commit to sponsoring another child - and that makes me sad on so many levels.
I think you are missing the point here. If Compassion is willing to manipulate this process, we cannot trust they are also behaving with integrity in every other manner, including the funding of the children. Financial reports can be manipulated to look good. In the end, trust is needed to be involved in something like this. I can't blindly offer support to an organization that proves itself to be anything less than at least painfully honest! I will wait to hear the response from my post made today before cancelling but at this stage it's unlikely I can continue without strong support of the authenticity of the letters. I am told in the correspondence they come with that each child has only one sponsor. Yet color brochures and pictures in professionally done literature with each letter makes it more than just a bit difficult to believe. Sponsors likely want to support this type of effort. But if we cannot trust the process, we cannot trust the organization. Thanks for listening. I sincerely hope to find out somehow I am wrong about Compassion but it is going to take some explaining, not sidestepping, in order to get there at this point. Thanks again.
I am just going through your posts now to consolidate your concerns and will be responding above shortly.
help getting to know my child.
I have been a sponsor of a boy in Ghana since Aug 2009. In those 6 years, with writing letters and him responding I still hardly know him. It is really frustrating me - I pray that he will tell me something about himself - something different than what he has been telling me for years. I guess I'm struggling to connect with him which is disheartening to me.
Do you have any tips for me on how to connect better with him?
Without seeing the invitation you received, I am unclear as to what it said specifically. Was this an email invitation? If you're able to send us the email you received to firstname.lastname@example.com, I would be happy to take a look at it to clear up any confusion. If any links we provided you were incorrect, I deeply apologize and will pass this information along. Compassion has multiple trips throughout each year and often times the invitations to our sponsor's lead to the tours and visits page on our website. This page provides information on multiple upcoming tours to many of our countries, including your child's. Please know that our intention was not to provide you with inaccurate information. You can view our upcoming January 2015 tour to Uganda, here.
Although we do provide the opportunity to meet your child and see our projects at work first hand, we understand that this is not possible for everyone. Therefore, it is important to us that you have resources providing information on how your money is used and assurance that the investment you're making is helping to pull a child out of poverty.
If you have concerns about our financial integrity, I would encourage you to please check out our ratings on Charity navigators or check our our budget. You might read this article in which a third party organization looked at the effectiveness of our programs in the 80's and 90's by interviewing former sponsored children.
I want to encourage you that Eva is a real child with value and potential. Your support is going towards programs that benefit Eva specifically in the four areas of holistic child development - economic, social, physical, and spiritual. Most importantly, she is hearing the gospel and being told that she is loved and treasured by Jesus. I pray this information helps but please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any further questions about our ministry and we are happy to answer them for you.
I know that Susan and I have been exchanging emails with you regarding your concerns and please know that we have contacted our field staff in Nicaragua regarding this issue. We are still waiting to hear a response from them but a few days ago I followed up with our country office and should hear back from them very soon. We will contact you as soon as we receive a response.
If you are on facebook, there is a great facebook group called Compassion Correspondents that is really a great place for encouragement in your sponsorships :) So many stories from people who, like me, do not work for Compassion and Can't afford to go see my kids first hand... the stories are from people who do get to go and people share letters and photos of their kids as well as letter-writing ideas :) It really lets you see how much difference we really do make in the kids life :) If you have facebook I'd encourage you to join.
On the other hand, if you have not had a letter in 6 months, Compassion staff will look into that for you :)
Many of the children in Compassion's program don't really grasp the concept of communicating through letters and your child might have a tutor helping them, especially is they are very young, and giving them suggestions on what to write about. I sponsor a little five year old boy and his letters are short, but I know that he loves getting my letters. We got a letter from his pastor describing the joy and excitement on the kid's faces when they received letters from their sponsors, and how sad the children were who didn't receive many letters. I love him dearly even though I don't know much about him and I know that if I keep writing that God can use my letters to bless him and work in his life. I would just encourage you to view this as your family's personal ministry to your child and keep writing to him or her and encouraging them and reminding them that God loves them and that they are special and important. Eventually, you will see the difference that you're making.
Also, the more often that you write, the more often you will receive letters back from your sponsored child. When your child gets your letters they will take them home and put them in a safe place and so they might not have your letter in front of them at the time they write back to you. I would encourage you to highlight your questions or put them in a bulleted list so that they stand out more and hopefully your child will then remember to answer your questions that way.
Thank you for choosing to bless a child in need. I know that you and your family mean so much to your sponsored child. Please don't lose heart. You are doing a wonderful thing.
I am truly grateful that you have stuck with it over the last two years. We appreciate the investment you're making in Joyce's life and I want to encourage you, just like others have above me, that what your family is doing is providing the opportunity for Joyce to hear the word of God and be told that she is loved, valued, and treasured by the King. Your letters boost her confidence and show her that someone cares about her, is praying for her, and believes she is worth more than the lies that she receives from the poverty she lives in.
My heart breaks hearing that you're struggling with the decision of whether to continue. After reviewing your account, I want to thank you so much for writing her letters. All children are required to write two letters per year to their sponsor but if their sponsor writes more often, they will write a response letter every sixty days in response to the letter they received. So for example, if you write every other month, you can expect up to six letters per year from Joyce. I see that she actually wrote you four letters in 2014. For a young child in their first year of sponsorship, this is wonderful! Often times, we encourage sponsors to wait a couple of years as the children catch up to the letters and get a handle on letter writing. Especially young children, who often times, this is a very foreign concept to them and they don't often know what to write because their lives are very similar day to day and most of their interactions are face to face where ours, we communicate in many different ways. She must be very eager and excited to send you letters as she's been responding to each of your letters! :) Even if she hasn't been able to express it to you through her letters, please know that they mean so much to her! Like Adam and Teresa mentioned, these children love to hear from and get to know their sponsors. Highlighting and numbering your questions will help Joyce's tutor to be sure and help Joyce answer the questions you have as she's still young and I'm sure wants to go out and play if she sees her friends outside :). It will also help because if Joyce forgets your letter at her home on letter writing day, she doesn't have it to refer back to when she writes you the next time. If you highlight specific questions, the tutor will take note of these before letting Joyce take her letter home, this way they have something to reference the next time she writes a letter.
My prayer is that these tips and the advice Adam gave, help you in your relationship with Joyce. As she gets older, it's likely that her letters will become even more personal and have more information. However, if you continue to receive letters that repeat the same things over and over please send us copies of those letters to the address that Susan gave above, or if you ever go six months without receiving a letter, please let us know. I see that your family gave her your first birthday gift this month. Since gifts take 2-3 months to reach her, she hasn't received it yet. But once it reaches the project, they'll help her to make a wise decision on how to use this for her greatest need. Thank you for blessing her this way! You should receive an acknowledgment regarding this gift within six months. I would encourage you to ask her about it in your next letter to her though!
Thank you for your patience as we work to make communications quicker and more efficient, and for your continued love and grace with Joyce as you're truly making a beautiful impact in her life. God is using you to build her up into the woman of God he's created her to be :).
Emily, yes our child is Joyce. I appreciate you looking up our correspondence - unfortunately the information you provided confirms my suspensions - she is not receiving our letters, drawings and gifts. I have 3 chosen and myself that send correspondence to Joyce. I chose to send them separately to increase the mail she receives. Only one of her letters appears to have been attempted by her, all others are written by a volunteer. Our most recent letter received was 2 sentences, the several before 4 - 6. I expected a language barrier, but wondered if the volunteers were/are quoting the letters without her input.
I will have to look up our credit card records, but clearly remember donating for Christmas and her birthday last year, we were excited to do so and made a big deal out of it with our kids - geography lesson and all to explain why we had to send it early. If Compassion doesn't have that on record, there wouldn't be a gift for her to mention.
Kenyan kids will often write in English fortunately, so the language barrier will disappear as they get older but the little ones that have volunteers writing with them (which is usually age 8 and under) may have shorter attention spans and "not much to say". Many of the littlest ones don't quite get the writing letter concept and don't understand why/who they are writing to exactly. It'll come as she gets older for sure :) My guess is that she just can't wait to get outside and play ball or sing songs with her friends :) However, when she gets your letters I bet she is overjoyed :)
Susan, I misunderstood Emily's post earlier to read that Joyce has only received 4 letters from us in 2014. Teresa helped point this out. So I want to verify - you are looking at how many letters Joyce had received from, or sent to us?
I want to apologize as it seems that there has been quite a bit of confusion in this conversation. I can understand that you are upset, maybe even a little frustrated regarding Joyce's letters and I sincerely hope that we can win back your trust in our organization. Please know that I am here to serve you for as long as needed. I just want to confirm your concerns so that I can adequately address each of them to your satisfaction.
As I was re-reading all of your posts on this very long conversation, it became clear that you seem to be concerned that Joyce is not receiving your letters because 1) she hasn't mentioned receiving your letters and gifts and clearly thanked you for them 2) the most recent letter you received was much shorter than the ones before which makes you think that she is not writing the letters herself. Am I understanding your concerns correctly? Please do let me know if there is anything that I have missed.
Do you happen to have record of how many separate packages of paper gifts you and your three children have sent and when you sent them? That would really help me to be able to compare your records to ours to confirm what was received or not.
Let me try to explain a little further what might be going on with Joyce and her letters. While Joyce is ten years old and should be writing on her own at this point, many of our children begin writing on their own gradually at about age nine as they feel confident and comfortable doing so. It could be that her tutors are still helping her write the letters, but she is required to be present, answer questions for the letter, and contribute to the letter herself. I just want to be honest with you that it is a process with many of these kids and some of them want so badly for their letters to be perfect for their sponsors that the idea of writing on their own is terrifying. It is also possible that as she gradually becomes more comfortable writing the letters on her own and gets used to the process, her letters may be a little shorter for a while. It could also be a little overwhelming in Joyce's case in particular because she has so many people writing to her and sending her things so she might not be entirely sure how to respond to it all.
That said, we ask the children to respond to each monetary and paper gift that they received and to respond to their sponsors' questions in their letters. If she has repeatedly not acknowledged receiving your letters and gifts, we can ask her tutors to work with her more closely to make sure that she does. I will send an inquiry to do this. However, I would like to address one of your other concerns when I send this inquiry. Would you be willing to send a copy of this most recent letter that was shorter than previous letters? That way, we can investigate to see if she wrote the letter herself and what the best route would be to correct this issue. Please send this letter copy in one of the following ways and I will follow up with the inquiry:
-Email: Scan and email the letter to email@example.com (Please write in the subject Attn. Susan)
-Fax: Fax the letter to 719-487-4828 (This is my personal fax number)
-Mail: Mail the letter to:
Compassion International
Attn. Susan, SDR
Colorado Springs, CO 80997
Is it possible these are being counted as one mailing?
I am happy to hear it's being looked into for you though!
I have all the same questions. I've written letters to our child on behalf of our family, and my daughter, 11, who was 7 or 8 when we started sponsoring our child, has written letters as well. Every time we receive a letter they are addressed to me...my first name, even though I always ended our letter with all of our names. Letters my daughter has written, we've yet to see a reply saying anything like, "Hi Lily, thanks for writing me" or something more personal like that; like my daughter's letters are being read by our sponsored child and that she understands my daughter is writing her specifically and responding to answer her specific questions. I understand the differences in culture, shyness, etc. However, it is a little bizarre.
The red flag to me was that since I set up the account, is my first name being used by default in responses? Is a child, my sponsored child, even writing my letters? It seems a little scripted... robotic...and impersonal. There has been nothing answered to questions we've written. In addition to always asking specific questions about school and family, we wrote and sent pictures of our family and pictures our new baby boy. Our replies contain nothing referencing what we've asked. I mean, being her sponsor for 4 years or so, you'd think that a reply would contain some kind of excitement or reference to our new baby boy. I'm not saying I need our child to say anything about our baby, but it would seem like a legitimate response if ANY letter contained something that seemed like our letters were being read and comprehended by a live person. Also, my latest letter was addressed, "Hi dear sponsor"... never "Hello Smith Family!" or something a real person would write that we've been writing for 4 years or so. It also is casting a cloud of doubt over my daughter who I'm trying to instill good values, that giving to a charity is a responsibility we are fortunate enough to be able to take part in. Also, why do the letters seem like scans? It would be nice to get the real letter... and feel real crayons being drawn on the paper... it's weird.
As a general rule, the project staff does an excellent job teaching the children how to respond to letters. However, keep in mind, children may not have their most recent letter with them when they reply. This means they may have forgotten questions that were asked in a previous letter, or pictures you sent, etc. These children also communicate verbally; letter writing tends to be a foreign concept to most of them. Many of them do use scripted responses or prompts written on a board by their tutor.
The letters you receive are copies of your child's original letter, which means the drawings, etc. are all hers, but they're copied and scanned in order to save money and get the letters to you more quickly. Please let us know if you have any other questions, or if I didn't explain something you had a question about!
When we say that letter-writing is a foreign concept for many of the beneficiaries in our program, we are usually referring to the younger kiddos because letter-writing is typically outside their experience and knowledge. Of course, there may be many reasons for a child to not write well or not know what to say. For example, many children may feel timid or have a lack of confidence when it comes to writing. It is also quite common for children to be behind in their schooling due to a lack of opportunity or funds to pay for school fees. Therefore, we have the younger kiddos write using form letters where they can fill in blanks and circle their answers. As the child gets older, they will begin to write their own letters without the assistance of a tutor. Also, as they begin writing, they might rely heavily on the subjects or topics recommended by the tutor, so their letters may seem similar. Our hope is that their confidence in writing may grow stronger over time.
When a sponsor is writing regularly, about once every 1-2 months, a good letter-writing relationship should be built over time. If this is the case, then I completely agree that older kiddos should begin to remember some information about their sponsor and be able to answer questions. However, to err is human, and they might still forget some answers to questions previously asked. I know that I have asked my own sponsor child some same or similar questions a couple of times, and he might think the same thing of me. I don't always have the time or the ability to go back and re-read all of his letters, which may result in similar topics being discussed. My hope is that he will be gracious and understanding of my forgetfulness :).
Please know that even if your children have not acknowledged each letter or bookmark in the past, they have indeed received everything you've sent. If there were any reason we were not able to deliver your letter or items to your child, we would have notified you and let you know why. I completely understand your desire to receive a confirmation since you were sending letters to children across the world, but please rest assured that your items were indeed successfully given your children. When a monetary gift over $20 is sent, the child is required to write a special letter to thank their sponsor and let them know what was purchased. Due to the time required for gifts to be processed, delivered, and utilized, it may take up to six months to receive a thank you letter.
I cannot express how sorry I am to hear of the doubts you have about Compassion and that your letter-writing experience did not meet your expectations. We sincerely look forward to earning your trust and proving our hearts for serving our sponsors and children with excellence.
First, I would like to sincerely thank you for all the love, support, and encouragement you have invested in Ellen's life for the past seven years. This truly means more than you'll ever know. Although you may not be able to see the tangible evidence, you are indeed making a tremendous difference in her life. I hope you will be able to visit your sweet girl someday and see in person the impact you're making!
I agree that it seems odd for Ellen to write her own letters in third person. I don't fully understand the Bahasa Indonesian language, so it may simply be a difference in language or a translation barrier. Our translators do their very best to translate letters understandably and conveying the same meanings. Therefore, they may be intentionally translating Ellen's letters into first person to be helpful. I'm sure that they are doing this with the best intentions and to be helpful, not to cause confusion or suspicion. Please rest assured that I have sent an inquiry to our Indonesian office to clarify why Ellen's letters are written in third person and to confirm whether she is writing her own letters. We will be in contact with you as soon as we receive a response within 45 days.
I understand your desire for Ellen to refer to Ashton with female pronouns, and I'm sorry for any confusion due to Ellen using male pronouns. I see in Ellen's letter from July that the translator clarifies this for us by saying, "In Bahasa Indonesia, 'Kak / kakak' = older brother / sister." I can see in Ellen's past three letters that she refers to Ashton as "kakak" which means older sister, so I am hopeful this issue has been cleared up! I have also notated your daughter's gender on her account to help!
We do truly care about the relationships that are built between sponsors and children through letter-writing, and it breaks my heart to hear that you have not had a good experience corresponding with Ellen. Please know that Ellen receives all your letters, and I'm sure that they mean a lot to her, whether she expresses this in her letters or not. I sincerely hope that letter writing meets your expectations in the future.
I have chosen to not have an autopay on our account because I want to make sure I am making a monthly check-in with my sponsor child. I really don't like complaining about stuff like this, but at the same time, one of the marketing tools Compassion (and other child sponsorship programs) use is the letter writing aspect. It is always promoted as such an important thing, yet the experience is very different. I have decided that I will sponsor Aimee for six more months. if, in that time, letter writing does not improve dramatically, I will be cancelling. I pray, sincerely, that Compassion understands this for the serious thing it is. As others have mentioned, it is now a matter of questioning the legitimacy of the program.
To not be so so dour and to be a problem solver, I do have a few recommendations.
First, if a sponsor writes a letter, have the children reply to it within a couple of weeks. Now that everything is digital, this should be a simple task and that will improve the letter writing experience. It'll also help strengthen the relationships.
Second, send annual pictures of the specific sponsor child! We as families should be sending pictures regularly and it would be nice to have the same in return so we can watch our sponsor child grow!
Third, if a sponsor sends extra funds for a gift (i.e. Christmas or birthday), have the sponsor child or project manager share the child's reaction from the gift in picture form.
All these would do a lot to improve relationships and hopefully make Compassion better equipped to respond to the sorts of posts that it seems to be deluged with.
In service,
I'm another sponsor, not a Compassion rep. My name pops up on this thread a few times, because it's close to my heart. I am realizing it's not just because I believe in what Compassion does and their integrity, but also because I feel for the sponsors who were expecting something different than what they get.
Compassion promotes the relationship aspect strongly , as good marketing, but also because it is foundational to their philosophy for the child to see their value and escape a mindset of poverty.
I sponsor several children, and even after many years, the letters of several kids do not come across as very personal, and are quite repetitive. There are times when the tutor influence on content is very evident. I get it. It's easier for me, because I've met them. For me it's enough that I know my words and presence (through letters) and finances have impact, but I understand that many sponsors want more. In my case, I see a definite difference in letter responses between different regions, but I also think the financial and educational impact is greater in the region where my kids are less chatty. So it depends on what is most important to you in the big picture.
I think Compassion could attempt to improve letter quality, but when it comes down to it, it's a child writing the letters and some just aren't going to be that good at it. I experienced this once when trying to help a smart, personable kid in my own country write a letter. The letter was limited and did not at all reflect his personality. After visiting, one of my girls kept asking if I'd been happy with the visit. I'd hate for the kids to feel like if they don't perform well, the sponsors wouldn't be interested. That's the tough side of one-to-one sponsorship.
The program Compassion has put together is quite impressive, with a detailed curriculum that covers physical, socioeconomic, cognitive and spiritual aspects of a child's life over many years. The programs are run by local churches who often have less members than the number of kids attending the programs (that spoke to me!). Often, many of the workers are volunteers (e.g. we visited a program with ~250 kids, and only 3 of the staff were paid). If you can imagine an involved program and a tutor with a class of 20-30 kids for a few hours, it would be very challenging for them to manage each letter response on an individual basis as they come in amidst the other activities. Some (lucky) kids would be answering letters every time they were at the centre! Plus, there is nothing digital about most of these churches, with much of that work happening at the national offices. I visited a site that looked extremely basic to me, until I realized it was only a few years old and the church was proud about their new rooms (cinder blocks, wooden desks, and dirt floors!
I appreciate the tone in which you wrote your post, as it is clear that you are not comfortable speaking up about your dissatisfaction. You sound like you've been an excellent sponsor and put a lot of yourself into it. I would love if everyone could see what I've seen, and have it be enough to know that they are making a huge difference, but respect that everyone makes their own decisions based on their resources and values.
Firstly, I want to say that I am very sorry that your writing relationship with Aimee has been lacking. You're right, something that Compassion advertises heavily is the importance of letter-writing, and when you don't feel like you're connecting with your child on that level, it can be frustrating. However, each child in our program is a different being with his or her own personality and experiences. We have a supervisor here in our contact center who was once a child enrolled in Compassion's program, and I have gone to him a few times with questions about his experience in the program, especially writing letters. He expressed to me that for him, as a young child in Compassion's program, he had so many other things going on in his life - his schoolwork, project activities, helping his family, etc. - that writing letters to his sponsor was often a difficult task to stay focused on, especially when he was young. I do not know how old Aimee is, but it's difficult to get a young child here in America to sit down and do anything for longer than a few minutes, and I know that can be amplified in other countries where written communication is not normal. I am sorry this has caused you to question the legitimacy of the program, but I can guarantee you that I've met and spoken with many people who have graduated from Compassion's program and have heard stories of my colleagues and friends who have gone to the countries in which we work and have seen the way the program works for themselves.
I would be happy to address your recommendations now! They are all wonderful ideas, and I have given a little bit more information about each one below.
1) Everything on our side (writing the letters and sending them to Compassion's headquarters in Colorado) may be digital; however, once the letter is sent to the National Office where your child is, it's a very manual process from there. This is something that simply cannot be changed at this time, as many of our children and families do not even have access to the internet. There's a great blog post on our site that you may find helpful in order to better understand this process: https://blog.compassion.com/how-are-your-compassion-letters-delivered/
2) We do send photo updates of the children in our program approximately 24 months, and it would be wonderful to send them more often; however, for the staff of the center to send more updates than they already do would take away time the children have to do other program activities. Some centers have over 200 children who attend, and sending twice as many photo updates as they do now would not be a good use of their time and resources.
3) Whenever a sponsor sends a child or family gift of $60 or more, that sponsor will receive a photo of their child with what they were able to purchase with the gift funds within six months of the sponsor sending the gift. That's a really fun way to get more photos of your kiddo, as well as see exactly how your money is being used. :)
Again, I appreciate you taking the time to let us know all of this, and I am sorry for the frustration you've experienced through this letter-writing process. If you have any further questions, we would be happy to speak with you again!
I appreciate your insights and absolutely understand that letter writing is not a priority for these children. However, my goal as a sponsor is to build a relationship with my sponsor child. My local church supports ministries in East Africa and if I just wanted to support good ministry work, I'd set aside the money for those activities instead. The appealing thing about Compassion is the opportunity to invest in the live of a child, not just financially, but spiritually and emotionally as well. That is hard to do when there is no evidence that the efforts are actually being received. Its not a matter of getting credit, but rather a matter of accountability and evidence of impact.
I went through and re-read the letters I have received in the past four years and they are all basically the same. Again, I understand that it isn't a priority to write letters for the children (I have four, I get that all too well). However, it seems like spending an hour every two months on writing a sponsor, with the goal of nurturing the relationship, isn't too much to ask. The same goes for the pictures. Again, it would be foolish to think of getting something too frequently, but it feels like once a year a staff member can take a phone with a camera to the projects and take a picture and then go back to the national office in the country and send them along to whoever in Colorado. What am I missing (that's a sincere question, not rhetorical)?
Again, I really don't want to be whining about stuff like this. I want to encourage Aimee because I believe in her. The reason I chose to sponsor Aimee is because I am aware of the disadvantages she is going to face as a female in the part of the world. Still, I'd like to "see" that what I am doing is actually doing some good. Does that makes sense?
I know that your intentions in posting these concerns are pure; you want to make sure you're being the best steward of your money that you can be. I definitely admire that. I hope that the explanations I've given can suffice for now. The absolute best way to put together all of the missing pieces and un-dotted I's in your head is to be able to visit your child for yourself (or any of our Compassion centers, for that matter). However, I know that this isn't feasible for many of our sponsors. I'm so sorry that we haven't been doing the best job in helping you see the difference you're making in Aimee's life. Please know that we're always looking for ways to make our systems more efficient, and even just in the past few years, we were able to switch over to sending sponsors scanned letters, as opposed to original copies. This cut out months of waiting for the sponsor to receive his or her child's letter. Hopefully, as we advance more and as our centers do, too, we'll all get more on the same page digitally. There's just a lot of variables that go into this process, and we recognize definitely have a long way to go before it all becomes 100% streamlined. We thank you so much for your patience in the meantime, and will continue to do our best to explain the "why" behind our processes and policies!
1) doesn't seem like my child knows anything about me, so it's impacted my motivation to write. (It's been a while this year due to personal reasons.(
2) I've contacted Compassion several times with absolutely no acknowledgement of my contact. There are things we need to change in our sponsor information, etc. and I have received zero response.
With the amount of money we're providing, I have a much higher expectation of responsiveness and some direct indication that we're truly making a difference.
I have never had a correspondence with Compassion sent to socialmedia at compassion dot com go unanswered. You might want to try emailing them if you need something and calling is being unsuitable. There are many reasons that public requests on boards like these may not end up with satisfactory responses. Including their inability to figure out which account is being talked about and the person asking never comes back and notices there were more questions.
1) While sponsors receive mandatory twice-a-year (at least!) letters from their sponsored children, in addition to biennial photo updates and letters from the children's center director, etc. - and they still don't feel as connected as they would like - children have an even harder time connecting and understanding who their sponsors are. Additionally, when children sit down to write their sponsors, it can be difficult for them to remember every thing or detail their sponsor has told them, and relating to what their sponsor writes can be challenging for many children. Letter-writing is also a mostly-foreign concept to the kiddos in our program. All of these things combined can make it hard to feel like your child truly knows and relates to you, and I am sorry for the frustration that's been caused to you because of this. However, taking action in this matter is difficult, as the children in our program only know as much about their sponsors as their sponsors divulge to them.
2) I am so sorry that you have contacted us with no response. Our queues get very busy this time of year, but that's still not an excuse for us to make you feel like your needs are not being attended to. As Sarah mentioned, our email address email@example.com is always open, and we will definitely get back to you with whatever you need.
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From the moment I told my father he was going to be a grandfather there has been a longing for fishing trips with this new addition by his side. Iris's diagnosis went hand in hand with new challenges, dreams were put away for a while but never forgotten. Nine years later his wish was granted, to spend happy times on the water with his granddaughter. So my message to you all today is don't forget your dreams, no matter how hard it may seem in the moment when you put them away always know they are there and one day when the time is right you can make them come true.
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Aug 23, 2016
Science Tuesday: Why Mesophication Matters
Topic: Resilience Watershed protection / management Wildfire
Type: Research Synthesis
No matter where I am, I always find myself subconsciously looking for two things: fire and oaks. I start looking for clues, trying to uncover the stories and processes that I know are there, and wondering where the Quercus is to round out the picture. (I remember being elated to find oaks in the cloud forests of Chiapas, Mexico, and having the feeling that something was missing when I've visited my sister in Alaska.) I know—by default, I seem to have a fairly narrow focus–but alas, I come from a fire-loving state with more than 20 species of oaks. It's in my nature.
So when I touched down in New Hampshire for the first time earlier this month, I found myself busily scanning the roadside in my usual fashion. Even after an overnight flight with a toddler and less than three hours of sleep, I was eager to understand the place—and, of course, to see some oaks.
On my second day there, my friend took me on a short walk from her house to a massive red oak, which was standing alone in a sea of eastern hemlock, red maple, beech and smaller red oaks. Local rumor has it that this oak is one of the largest in New Hampshire, and given its size, I don't doubt it. It had a big fire scar stretching along one side, and the crown was well out of reach. As I gazed at the tree, I felt conflicted. In some ways, this place seemed very foreign to me. I could feel the history—the centuries of heavy-handed management—and sense that this was a very different landscape than it once was. And yet some things were so familiar: the huge oak, the thickets of shade-tolerant trees in its understory, the obvious lack of fire.
After my trip, I looked back at a paper that I've cited many times, but more as a theoretical framework for the issues I work on here in northern California's oak woodlands. This time I read it with new eyes, thinking about the specific landscapes and forests of the North Atlantic and the eastern United States. The 2008 paper by Nowacki and Abrams, which coined the term "mesophication," gave us a new way to think about the ecological impacts of fire exclusion. The paper describes the widespread conversion of fire-maintained open forests, woodlands, and prairies to closed-canopy forest, and the pervasive shift from diverse, fire-adapted plant communities to shade-loving, fire-sensitive communities. These changes jumpstart a positive feedback cycle, wherein species shifts and forest densification move the microclimate toward cooler, wetter, and more shaded conditions, which then further promote shade-loving species and the conditions within which they thrive. The process of mesophication is usually associated with changes in fuelbed flammability (from light, flashy herbaceous fuels to dense, compact woody fuels), which further preclude fire and inhibit the success of fire-adapted species.
In their paper, Nowacki and Abrams discuss the historical role of fire in different forest types across the eastern United States, and they estimate the extent and magnitude of changes in fire regimes. They show that across most of the eastern United States, there has been a temporal shift toward less fire (see figure). That's no surprise, but the cycle of biotic and microclimatic shifts that have accompanied these fire regime changes is striking—an insidious threat to biodiversity and fire resilience, often overlooked when the focus is on fuels and fire hazard.
And this is where oaks come in. Throughout their range, oaks (especially deciduous oaks) are signatures of fire adapted communities—an arboreal expression of a long, mutually beneficial relationship between humans, plants and fire. And ironically, it's this quality that makes oaks even more vulnerable to the effects of fire exclusion. This is true in California, and it's true on the other side of the country. It's the reason that the majestic red oak in New Hampshire seemed so familiar to me, with its swarm of hemlock and other mesophytic tree species; it could have easily been a big California black oak adrift in a sea of Douglas-fir. When I travel, I look for oaks because they tell a story—usually a fire story—and they make me feel at home.
Nowacki, G. J., & Abrams, M. D. (2008). The demise of fire and "mesophication" of forests in the eastern United States. BioScience, 58(2), 123-138.
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5 thoughts on "Science Tuesday: Why Mesophication Matters"
Justice says:
Very insightful article.
danielg7 says:
Great post! That Nowacki and Abrams paper is one I keep coming back to again and again.
Mary Huffman says:
Love this, Lenya. Thanks! The pervasive influence of fire stewardship by Native people has been missing from eastern forests for so long now. I recall a "pioneer record" from Ohio from the 1860s that noted how trees were springing up in the prairies "by the millions . . . with the cessation of burning under Indian reign." Bob Bale probably has some records from New England way before that!
Matt says:
The "oak" is, in fact, USA's national tree, according to a bill passed by congress in 2004 (https://www.arborday.org/media/pressreleases/pressrelease.cfm?id=95). It's sad to see that such recognition is at odds with the continued loss of many of these ancient, legacy marking oaks, breathing their final sighs of life as they succumb to the anthropogenic forest conversion affects of fire loss from "sea to shining sea".
Amanda Mahaffey says:
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lenya! If you're interested in learning more about fire in eastern oaks, the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange has a summary from our June workshop on Fire in Oak (http://www.firesciencenorthatlantic.org/blog/2016/7/26/fire-in-oak-recap-regional-differences-local-applicability). One of our speakers was Marc Abrams, the other half of the Abrams-Nowacki mesophication team.
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In Revelation 22:14, when referring to the Second Coming of Jesus, it reads, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates." On Saturday, April 30th, 2016, members of the American Clergy Leadership Conference of Los Angeles and their guests truly experienced a blessing from Jesus and the Holy Spirit at the Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony held at Christian Light MBC and officiated by Bishop J.L. Briggs and First Lady Peggy Briggs. In preparation for this Blessing, ACLC Los Angeles committed themselves to preparing couples to understand more deeply the significance of the Blessing; the change of blood lineage and the indemnity conditions involved with the Blessing.
This preparation began with 40 days of prayer and devotion before the Blessing, which included a texted Bible verse every morning for the 40 days along with an excerpt from Father Moon's words on God's original plan for couples, parents and children. For example, the scripture verse on Day 3 was Matthew 10:37 and Father Moon's words on this verse were "Jesus said, 'Love me more than anyone.' It was indeed a most revolutionary statement. As a result of the Fall, God lost his children, the brother and the sister, even their parents, husband and wife, and all the related relationships, all these were instantly lost. This is where God's pain lies. Humanity inherited Satan's blood lineage. God needs people who can connect with God's heart, unite their mind and body, and make a lineal relationship with God's love." Also, during this 40 days of preparation, Bishop Michael Sykes and Rev. Zena Sykes visited Los Angeles to teach on the significance of the Blessing and the "Six Steps to Elevate Your Marriage." Dr. Nicholas Benson, ACLC Los Angeles Co-Chair, and his wife Dr. Eva Benson held a similar seminar the next weekend at Christian Light.
Along with our ACLC elder clergy couples in the Los Angeles area, a group of 12 potential new couples joined with the 40 Days of Prayer and Devotion in preparation for the Blessing. However due to schedule conflicts and various restraints, only one couple, Deacon Phil Maxwell and Mrs. Maxwell could attend the Holy Marriage Blessing on April 30th. There is rejoicing in Heaven over one precious couple who washes their robes, inheriting the right to the Tree of Life and standing as a Blessed Central Family for the building of God's Kingdom. Musicians from Sadoc Christian Peace Family Church harnessed the Holy Spirit and many dedicated volunteers devoted themselves to the program.
Dr. Nicholas Benson graciously expressed congratulatory remarks and gratitude for everyone involved. We truly had a sanctified and glorious time in the Lord. After the ceremony Deacon Maxwell and his wife asked; "When will the next ceremony be? We have at least 4 couples who we would wish to participate." A pastor and his wife, who were attending an ACLC event for the first time, were enthusiastic about being involved in the Blessing movement. All of the elder ACLC clergy couples who were in attendance were inspired with the overall level of enthusiasm.
Ten days before the Blessing, Bishop J. L. Briggs had collapsed in weakness and exhaustion and was rushed to the hospital with a serious case of pneumonia. Five days later, after being released from the hospital, he still had a sincere determination to officiate the Blessing Ceremony on April 30th with his wife, First Lady Peggy Briggs. He said, "Father Moon has allowed us to "right" or correct what Adam and Eve had wrong from the beginning and for couples to go beyond the realm of sin and conflict. Father Moon has finished his course on this side but he has left us detailed guidelines and conditions on record that we can follow, such as the 40 days of separation and sanctification after the Blessing. He has left a legacy for us to carry on."
Submitted by Min. Susan Munsell, ACLC-Los Angeles Coordinator


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After another year or two break I'm now back on the air. Over the xmas holiday period I've been working PSK31 & SSTV primarily on 40 & 20m. Stations worked include DA0NR, RA6ASU, TF2CT, K8WDX, G3YSK and DR11BUGA (all PSK31) … Continue reading
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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post7705704021638870638..comments2020-03-31T23:58:28.251-05:00Comments on Rockman Corner: "Rockman X5 IF" by Yoshihiro Iwamoto Depicts a Twisted Alternate X5 EndingProtodudehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-73589335263192264692018-12-16T16:33:29.967-06:002018-12-16T16:33:29.967-06:00This is fantastic! Thank you for sharing.This is fantastic! Thank you for sharing.Tiny Protohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-60706493216212358822018-12-05T05:22:05.419-06:002018-12-05T05:22:05.419-06:00You are the ephipany of not fun allowed.You are the ephipany of not fun firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-14823367051577293632018-12-03T18:14:50.821-06:002018-12-03T18:14:50.821-06:00Too retro? You and I, and everyone else, know what...Too retro? You and I, and everyone else, know what retro looks like, and X does not fall under retro. Retro was Mega Man being drawn like Astro Boy in his manga days. Not everything has to be edgy or gritty to sell despite the fact X's manga has some pretty dark stuff going on. Deep Fried firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-38631653964638761402018-12-03T15:36:13.955-06:002018-12-03T15:36:13.955-06:00Yeah, there was a interview with Udon on one of th...Yeah, there was a interview with Udon on one of the Megaman sites several years back and pretty much the reason they gave for not wanting to translate the x mangas was because they thought they were "too retro". Which I think was such a cop out because Iwamoto's X mangas have amazing artwork and his style really fits the email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-26001405277031099552018-12-03T11:21:28.672-06:002018-12-03T11:21:28.672-06:00They said that? Wow, that's shallow. Iwamoto d...They said that? Wow, that's shallow. Iwamoto draws just fine, but I guess Udon doesn't like the way he draws X and Zero with handsome bishounen looks or something. Deep Fried email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-84049567510686795522018-12-02T22:03:56.479-06:002018-12-02T22:03:56.479-06:00I don't like the look of that X body with a Ze...I don't like the look of that X body with a Zero helmet and right arm, but that idea for an epic climax to an ark for the X series is interesting.Mark Havochttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-21592653338601174092018-12-02T21:53:54.640-06:002018-12-02T21:53:54.640-06:00Honestly I wouldn't like this sort of ending. ...Honestly I wouldn't like this sort of ending. The battle ended way too quick, and we're talking about X and Zero here; the best maverick hunters and legends in that world. And I honestly don't see Zero killing X. Damaging him drastically yes, but killing him? Doesn't he have "limitless " potential? We have yet to see what that truly means honestly. Nonetheless, it is a nice read and very well done. firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-65010080700403122212018-12-02T21:16:47.136-06:002018-12-02T21:16:47.136-06:00Mega Merge!Mega email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-68711290897839877272018-12-02T15:13:00.359-06:002018-12-02T15:13:00.359-06:00I already translated here https://mangasrockmantra...I already translated here https://mangasrockmantraducidos.blogspot.com/Rockyou78https://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-27740846846748463532018-12-02T02:43:57.385-06:002018-12-02T02:43:57.385-06:00I wish all of Iwamoto's X series manga would c...I wish all of Iwamoto's X series manga would come here officially. It is very annoying that it still hasn't been picked up by Udon or anyone else, especially with the recent sales of both Mega Man X Legacy Collections. email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-51075312341213028722018-12-01T23:10:36.622-06:002018-12-01T23:10:36.622-06:00Better than Model ZXBetter than Model ZXJordanhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-3429579065527137802018-12-01T22:57:08.103-06:002018-12-01T22:57:08.103-06:00Looks like a better combination than model ZX.Looks like a better combination than model ZX.Jordanhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-66211656841379097792018-12-01T22:51:11.790-06:002018-12-01T22:51:11.790-06:00I'd gladly read it if you did translate it.I'd gladly read it if you did translate firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-14987475304726796692018-12-01T22:50:35.761-06:002018-12-01T22:50:35.761-06:00I'd rather have a different company other than...I'd rather have a different company other than Udon translate the X mangas to be honest, because the reason they gave for not wanting to a few years back was pretty bogus just because they didn't like the artstyle email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-38798590561050438322018-12-01T16:24:08.099-06:002018-12-01T16:24:08.099-06:00Its gotta be XeroIts gotta be XeroWert456https://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-23982285537391440852018-12-01T06:22:20.329-06:002018-12-01T06:22:20.329-06:00That design looks weird as heck and no way would t...That design looks weird as heck and no way would this be a perfect ending... well maybe if it didn't literally look like a discombobulated... hodgepodge of X and Zero. Although it does remind me of Custom Robo and Medabots I guess that's a plus.

Also what is so far fetched about Zero self repairing? In a universe where robots cut through time and space, teleport. all type of crazy stuff... THAT is the thing that is hard to believe??? In my opinion if I sit and think about half the stuff that goes on in a practical and logical way in the franchise Zero hiding and repairing himself seems like one of the more plausible and realistic things to happen. If it's some storyline thing.... Well I mean that's even worse of a hill to die on out of all the storyline email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-63435660397131341132018-12-01T03:08:07.560-06:002018-12-01T03:08:07.560-06:00I want to translate it.I want to translate it.Anonymoushttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-59641386231992031982018-11-30T21:04:41.298-06:002018-11-30T21:04:41.298-06:00Don't know about the rest of you, but this is ...Don't know about the rest of you, but this is how I would have loved X5 to end.

This is also a perfect illustration of what I fantasized when I first heard about Megaman ZX all those years ago--a perfect fusion of X and Zero.

Iwamoto is such a god. TRANSLATE HIS WORKS, UDON YOU firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-28403407853199413872018-11-30T17:40:10.632-06:002018-11-30T17:40:10.632-06:00so they have 30 minutes to defeat Sigma?so they have 30 minutes to defeat firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-22873136132994838432018-11-30T07:56:38.291-06:002018-11-30T07:56:38.291-06:00Zero: "I'm gonna need both busters for th...Zero: "I'm gonna need both busters for this one..."email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-43190185514617653172018-11-29T23:45:59.211-06:002018-11-29T23:45:59.211-06:00Ordered my box and it was shipped to my home city....Ordered my box and it was shipped to my home city. I am out traveling and will be back home to see this in January. SOOOOOOO looking forward to those pages after seeing this. A combination of X and Zero's parts???? METAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can already custom recreate this by combining the parts of the D-Arts figures lol

What could it be called? ZeroX? RockZ? ZeX?

I like ZeX.Furanshi6https://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-81679496043339531632018-11-29T16:41:20.876-06:002018-11-29T16:41:20.876-06:00This really give the quote "I hid myself to r...This really give the quote "I hid myself to repair myself" a whole new level (and more context lol)Sephhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-73326130886861457922018-11-29T14:12:39.578-06:002018-11-29T14:12:39.578-06:00So there's going to be some fan art/sprites of...So there's going to be some fan art/sprites of Zero with X's body now. okay.N-Mariohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-37979253438215384462018-11-29T12:38:55.236-06:002018-11-29T12:38:55.236-06:00Please, make this a game Capcom.Please, make this a game email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080026879350344019.post-78719542585193610442018-11-29T11:07:20.215-06:002018-11-29T11:07:20.215-06:00Strange, also a mostly X body with few Zero featur...Strange, also a mostly X body with few Zero features like the wrist things and the helmet just doesn't look right.

It's like it borders on edgy but doesn't quit go far enough like a clean cut businessman in a suit but in army soldier boots and helmet but otherwise just a normal business man.

Even that looks better than Zero's head plopped on X's body actually. I don't know maybe I'm use to seeing bulk and clutter for the former ... and hair I firstname.lastname@example.com


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This is my mom's little goober Charlie! The pound said he was Dachshund mix and our best guess might be with some sort of terrier? What do you guys think? Either way, he's the most happy go lucky little pup you ever did meet and we are so lucky he found us! – Delaney C.
My handsome Cocker Spaniel Parker! – @nicoleranaldii
Cooper loves the pupparazzi
This is Nahla. She likes hiking and bacon. -@ursus-vesper
Chase the Destroyer & his side-kick Sammy defeated their outdoor dog mat! The mat didn't stand a…
This is Daisy, my 7 year old English Staffy who will not go on a walk anywhere unless she has one of her 20+ sports balls. – @hayhaylay
Pippa's valentines, rose petal bath, only for the cutest of dogs
Here's my Milo. Rat terrier/Chihuahua. 8 months old. Loves to bark at everything, go on car rides, sunbathe, squeaky toys, hiking, and chasing after bucks. He's my angel from God.
This is my dog, he isn't the smartest dog but he is still a very good dog
Ten out of ten dog
I eat poop!View On WordPress


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Every dog I meet is special, but sometimes I meet dogs and I just know they're one-of-a-kind. When I recently photographed two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Maya and Bodie, I got the chance to meet two of those dogs.
Truth be told, this wasn't the first time I met Maya and Bodie's owners Neil and Kim though. I actually met them for the very first time 3 years ago when I photographed them with their pup Tory (who is now passed away).
I spent the day on the Manassas, VA Battlefield with Tory romping through the grass and capturing the sweet bond they shared.
The Manassas Battlefield is a special place for this furry family. I've done all their photoshoots there. Each pup has their own spot where we shoot, reminiscent of past photoshoots.
This recent shoot was there as well, but was all about Bodie. He's training to be a decoy retriever and Kim and Neil wanted to get a few pictures of him before he was through with his training.
We couldn't get through the day without putting Maya in front of the camera too though!
Like Bodie, Maya is a Royal Canine National Champion. But, Maya is also a prize-winning dock-diving dog that's acquired many accolades and medals in her few short years. She travels all over the country with her owners and brings home prizes to show off to her brother.
Kim and Neil brought along their creativity and fresh ideas for this recent shoot, which I love! I'm thrilled when clients get involved in their pets' photoshoots and bring a fresh perspective.
Together, we brainstormed fun ways to pose the two champion dogs and different tricks we could use to get their personalities to shine through on camera. We took individual pictures, pictures of the duo and even a few with Kim and Neil for the mantle at home.
In the end, the pictures came out beautifully and a special picture of each of the dogs was picked to print on a custom wooden block that their owners showcase in their house – right next to the custom wooden block picture of Tory.


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Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser
This was a fundraiser to raise money for the Great Strides Walk that takes place every June. We added lady bugs to the painting to give it a 3-D effect. This group was a very creative group, they each had their own vision and followed it, making each painting uniquely their own.
The lady bugs were special because they represented the granddaughter of the hostess of this event who has Cystic Fibrosis.
Many friends and family came out to support this cause and with the addition of raffles offered this fundraiser raised $1,100 toward finding a cure!
Elk's Lodge "Adopt A Soldier" Fundraiser
Each year the Saugerties Elk's Lodge raises money to support the Adopt a Soldier project. Care packages are prepare with necessary items needed by our enlisted military and shipped to the organizations that over-see the distribution of the packages.
Donations are always welcomed but may not always be enough. Shipping these gifts can get expensive. This fundraiser helps to support this cause. What a great way to give back to those who give so much for us!
It was an honor to be involved with both of these projects!


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24 August 2010
Article taken from the DAILY NEWS Aug 24, 2010
The customer base for archived media content has grown rapidly in the past few years, expanding beyond in-house broadcast users, educators and cultural institutions to include advertisers, filmmakers and online content producers.
Now, the global trade in audio-visual archive content generates some $450 million dollars (USD) in revenue a year.
The archive industry has grown in value at a compound annual growth rate of nearly five per cent over the past five years, according to findings of a new study from Screen Digest and trade bodies FOCAL International and FIAT/IFTA, the International Federation of Television Archives.
The report 'The Global Trade in Audiovisual Archives' is the first of its kind to assess the business of archive content and the new opportunities offered in the digital media world. Uniquely, the report includes estimates on the global volume and value of trade in archive content.
"Audiovisual archives fulfil a central role in the businesses of many media groups, but this is the only study to actually examine the business of storing and selling audiovisual archive content," said author Claire Harvey. "Our findings show that the trade in archives is an important part of the wider media economy, with content supplied by archives appearing in an ever increasing range of outlets. The growing variety of consumer platforms for accessing short-form, long-tail content means that this key role will only grow in importance."
It's estimated that a total of 42.7 million hours of content are held in the world's archives, most of it (72%) on tape, with about 20% on film and about 10% in an HD digital format.
However, just 21% of archive content is rights-ready, the report indicates.
Contrary to popular belief, archives are not full of stuffy old clips of obscure events, they are dynamic businesses; the research shows that 30 per cent of material held is less than five years old, and half of all content less than a decade. Stock footage, news and documentary content is the corner stone of the business in terms of volume of trade (75 per cent) and value (63 per cent), but archives also fulfil an important heritage and cultural role.
Archives are investing in content and technology innovation to take advantage of new opportunities. The digital content economy has created an environment of 'mashups' and user-generated content; as production budgets are squeezed programme makers turn to reusing not creating content; and as online consumers increasingly expect media content for free, archives are enjoying growing demand from businesses as well as the wider public.
However, the pace of business and the ever-changing technological demands of the media industry have left archives facing difficult choices. Despite the decline in the costs of digital storage, the demands of holding the nearly 43m hours of content held in the world's archives remain substantial. Finding and accessing that content can be even more problematic, with issues surrounding digital asset management, metadata and customer access portals all at the fore.
The industry has taken innovative steps to address these issues, including experimenting with user-generated metadata and providing advanced access portals that allow real-time clip selection and on-the-fly transcoding.
Preservation of content stored on an array of formats, many of which are near-obsolete, is also an on-going challenge, with the demands of commercial value constantly weighed against cultural and heritage preservation.
Surprisingly, it is some of the more recent formats, particularly tape-based formats of the 1980s and 1990s that are most at risk.
Read the full article HERE.


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Nigeria Air was a proposed airline and flag carrier in Nigeria.
The new airline was announced at the Farnborough Air Show, in the UK, in 2018. Initially, operations were due to commence in diciembre 2018. However, just two months later, in septiembre 2018, Nigeria's Federal Government announced that Nigeria Air had been suspended.
Before suspending the project, the Nigerian government had announced it would invest US$5 million in the new airline, and said that a the investment would be intended as a business, not social, venture. If the airline does resume, it will be privately-operated.
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Before suspending operations, the airline announced it was looking into 81 route options. Destinations were not finalised before operations ceased.
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20 septiembre 2018
Nigeria Air relaunch grounded
Nigeria has suspended plans to relaunch its national airline two months after the attempt to revive the carrier was announced.
Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika broke the news on Twitter after a cabinet meeting, saying ministers had made "the tough decision" to suspend the project.
20 julio 2018
Nigeria Air targets 81 routes
The new national carrier of Nigeria, Nigerian Air has got high hopes! It plans to inaugurate 81 domestic and international routes in Nigeria. The campaign was set into motion in 2015 and after a few setbacks, the airline is back on track to launch this year. The Department of Transportation has insisted that it plans to poromote Nigerian aviation with these new routes, not compete with it.


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Reasons for Defining and Criminalizing 'Terrorism' in International Law
Mexican Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 6, pp. 419-460, 2006
48 Pages Posted: 30 Oct 2008
Date Written: October 29, 2008
Much of the international legal debate about defining terrorism has focused on the ideological disputes, or technical mechanics, of definition, rather than on the underlying policy question of why-or whether-terrorism should be internationally criminalized. Since most terrorist acts are already punishable as ordinary criminal offences in national legal systems, it is vital to explore whether-and articulate why-certain acts should be treated or classified as terrorist offences rather than as ordinary national crimes such as murder, assault or arson. Equally, it is important to explain why terrorist acts should be treated separately from existing international crimes in cases where conduct overlaps different categories, particularly the existing sectoral treaty offences, war crimes and crimes against humanity. This article argues that terrorism should be defined and criminalized because it may be a threat to human rights, the stability of governance and to international peace and security. There is also better conceptual value differentiating political violence from other crime which causes fear.
Keywords: criminalization, terrorism, definition, international law
JEL Classification: K10, K30, K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation


text:
Spotted Eagle Ray - 6FT Sculpture
Brand : Interior Gallery
- 100060
- 640265215872
A Large Spotted Eagle Ray Sculpture ready to be hung in aquarium parks, commercial establishments, themed events, restaurants, and more!
The Spotted Eagle Ray is a tropical fish commonly seen alone but occasionally with a group. It's dark ventral surface is covered in white spots or rings. Known to commonly eat small fish and crustaceans and frequently searches the sandy seabed for food. Beware the Spotted Eagle Ray's base of tail which carries several venomous stingers!
Not to worry though, this fish sculpture is made from durable materials using cast resin mold mixed with fiberglass and hand painted to the highest detail. A great addition to your fish decor!
Dimensions: 42"L x 62.5"W x 8.5"H
Weight: 15.4 lbs.


text: One Of These 11 Will Win The 2015 PGA Championship\nEven though the Old Course should have been to his liking, Watson's aversion to golf outside of the United States continued last month in St. Andrews. Back on home soil, Bubba is returning to the site where he first truly contended for a major title, losing to Martin Kaymer in a three-hole aggregate playoff in 2010. Combine the good memories of a final-round 68 to get in that playoff with recent solid play at the RBC Canadian (plus confidence from having two green jackets in his Augusta National locker), and only Bubba-being-Bubba can stop him from winning.\nIf ever a player were due to win a major it's the 27-year-old Australian, who rebounded from his rough U.S. Open Sunday and an agonizingly close performance at St. Andrews to win the RBC Canadian Open. In his first-ever PGA Championship in 2010, Day finished T-10 at Whistling Straits after a final-round 74. He has since logged a T-8 in 2013 at Oak Hill and a T-15 last year at Valhalla. With power at a premium in Wisconsin, Day is the no-brainer favorite to finally win a major.\nThe British Open champ missed the 2010 PGA playoff by a stroke, ending up T-3 at Whistling Straits. When his inside-120 yards game is on and the fairways are running just enough to give him sneaky power off the tee, Johnson can keep up with the long bombers. Throw in his affinity for playing in front of Midwest crowds, and a second major in 2015 would not surprise one bit.\nThe winner of the year's first two majors has no track record at Whistling Straits but has played his share of Pete Dye courses. After a weekend scouting trip before the WGC-Bridgestone, he should have his "lines" picked out. It's surreal to consider Spieth didn't have his best ball-striking at Chambers Bay and still won, then took better ball-striking to St. Andrews but missed a playoff by a stroke due to a so-so putting performance. The ability to hang around when not playing his best may be his most impressive trait, making it hard to see the 22-year-old anywhere but near the top of the 2015 PGA leader board.\nSure the specter of the heartbreaking final-hole two-shot penalty that dropped him from a playoff to T-5 in 2010 lingers. But Johnson will have put that melodrama behind him by Thursday and should pick up where he left off last time he was in Kohler. His biggest admirers are still mystified by a third-round 75 at St. Andrews that took him from looking like a runaway winner to also-ran. He has two other top-10s in the PGA, not that anyone remembers anything beyond the fiasco at Whistling Straits's 18th hole.\nLefty's week at the British Open was a tragicomic series of brutal lipouts and strategic mistakes (driving into Swilcan Burn!), which will have the 2005 PGA champion . . . feeling confident? At least that's the vibe he gave reporters soon after hitting a drive into the Old Course Hotel on his 71st hole at St. Andrews. Winless since the 2013 British Open, Mickelson has seen his putting is better of late and has second-place finishes at the this year's Masters and last year's PGA to remind him one hot week is all that's needed to return to the winner's circle. Oh, and a final-round 67 at Whistling Straits left him T-12 in 2010. Look out for the wise, patient golfer who can still overpower a course.\nThe perennial contender just finished off a nice trip to the Scottish and British Opens, though he did seem to get the worst of the draw at St. Andrews. Kuchar can look forward to returning to Whistling Straits, where he was the first- and second-round leader before finishing T-10 due to a lackluster weekend (73-72). That was his best finish in a PGA and only top-10. He's desperately overdue to win a major and knows his clock is ticking.\nEarly in the 2010 PGA at Whistling Straits, Furyk seemed destined to capture his second major. But a disastrous final-round 77 dropped him to T-24. With six top-10s in the PGA, including a second in 2013 and T-5 last year at Valhalla, this is a perfect spot for long-awaited major championship No. 2.\nThe Englishman can't be pleased with his T-74 at St. Andrews after contending there five years ago. But as he did in 2010, Casey will arrive in Wisconsin with confidence. A T-12 at Whistling Straits last time around won't be forgotten by the 38-year-old, who has newfound stability in his personal life and the same awesome tee-to-fringe game. He also figures to be better rested this August thanks to his full focus on PGA Tour play instead of splitting time between tours. Now, he just needs to get a few more putts to drop (140th in PGA Tour strokes gained/putting).\nOne of the world's best ball-strikers missed the cut at Whistling Straits in 2010 and has been trying of late to sort out his putting. Rose revealed at the recent Quicken Loans National that putting coach David Orr spotted a setup issue that left his shoulders closed at address. A Saturday 65 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club backed up the theory that that was the problem. Throw in a win earlier this year on a Pete Dye course (TPC Louisiana at the Zurich Classic), and the Englishman should be feeling better headed to Wisconsin.\nFive years ago this little-known 22-year-old missed the cut in his first PGA Championship. Rounds of 74-74 gave Willett his first taste of major golf, and now the Englishman returns having contended last month at St. Andrews (T-6). He's won three times on the European Tour, including the Omega European Masters just a week after his fine St. Andrews run. Ranked 24th in the world, Willett would be England's other Olympics representative alongside Rose if the Games were held now. He exudes the confidence of someone ready to make a late season charge up the world rankings.


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With fabulous views towards the City of London, all the Superior rooms are beautifully designed in soothing pale tones with refined Art Deco detailing. Measuring 32 square metres (345 square feet), the rooms feature king-size beds, which can be reconfigured as twin beds on request. Some rooms are designed to be fully accessible for guests with reduced mobility.
We offer all guests staying at The Beaumont complimentary:


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John Dinnis is about as far back as I have got while researching my father's side of the family. He is my great great grandfather, and what draws me to him is the fact that he lived in Brighton with his family during the 1840s to the 1860s. It has been possible to find such an amount of information about him that I feel I am actually getting to know him and his family life quite well.
He was born in 1816 in Baldock, Hertfordshire, the next piece of information about him is the England Census of 1841. By this time he was married to Charlotte and they had a little girl aged 4, Catherine. They lived at number 9 Middle Street, Brighton which is very close to the seafront and is in the town centre. It's still there today and is somewhere I walk past quite often, I have never known my ancestors lived there before and it seems odd to think that they were also wandering around the same streets over 150 years ago.
John has listed his occupation as a Cook, and although I don't know where he worked it might well have been one of the local hostelries.
My interest was sparked by this information and I began reading books about old Brighton. (The New Encyclopaedia of Brighton, Rose Collins, and the website http://www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk/ROYALPAVILION/ABOUTTHEPALACE/Pages/History.aspx.
At this time Brighton's population was growing, in 1841 the London to Brighton Rail line first opened, bringing more people to the coast. At the same time as the Dinnis family lived in Middle Street, Charles Dickens was often visiting the town. He first visited in 1836 while he was writing 'Oliver Twist', and four years later in 1840 he returned, writing chapters of 'Barnaby Rudge'. Later in 1847 Dickens and his wife Catherine stayed at The Bedford Hotel on Brighton seafront while she was recuperating from an illness. Charles Dickens continued writing 'Dombey and Son' which is partly set in Brighton. I wonder if my great great grandfather ever came across him, he was just around the corner. In 1837 the new Queen Victoria visited Brighton for the first time, this must have been a big event that the Dinnis family might have been a part of.
The next information is from the 1851 England Census, which I will write about later.
From the Census information and the various Brighton Directories available on www.mhms.org.uk it is possible to see the various neighbours of John and Charlotte Dinnis. This gives a flavour of life in these times, and builds a picture of Middle Street. They include:
A gas fitter; pork butcher; beer retailer; solicitor; grocer; Brighthelmstone Dispensary; tailor; Union School; registrar of births and deaths for the palace district; bookseller; shell fishmonger; basket maker; straw hat maker; coal merchants and cow keepers.


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Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former ally of ousted President Robert Mugabe, has won country's landmark Presidential election.
ZANU-PF party wins Presidential election in Zimbabwe.
With all 10 provinces declared, Mnangagwa won 50.8 per cent of votes to 44.3 per cent for opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of MDC party.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission declared ZANU-PF party's Mnangagwa, a duly declared elected president. Mnangagwa needed over 50 per cent of the vote to secure victory without a second-round run-off.
Meanwhile the opposition has rejected the results. The chairman of Chamisa's MDC Alliance said the count could not be verified and moments before the official announcement, it's spokesman denounced the results as fake.
Public reaction to the election results have already sparked a deadly crackdown on protesters. Six people were killed on Wednesday when troops fired live rounds against MDC demonstrators alleging the vote had been rigged.
Zimbabwe's opposition says its candidate,Nelson Chamisa,has won Monday's presidential election. The MDC Alliance says the ruling Zanu-PF party is attempting to rig the vote to allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to win, and the delay in releasing official results is unacceptable.
The commission said it would announce the results of Zimbabwe's presidential race, pitting President Emmerson Mnangagwa against opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, only after all the votes have come in from across the country.