The first letter contained the outline of a little hand. I thought it would be nice to trace my own hand over it and send it back, but between work and everyday life, it remained something I would do someday. A progress report arrived each year. The baby in the Dominican Republic went through primary and secondary school and had become a young adult.
5,635 days. Most of the photographs that came with the reports showed a bright smile, though I seem to remember a spell of rather glum expressions. The recent photographs looked cheerful again, which was a relief. Above all, the child seems to have grown up healthy and well, and that makes me quietly happy.
Yangchinhoe. This was the name Plan used in Korea after the Korean War, a Korean rendering of Foster Parents Plan. From 1953 to 1979, donations, letters and gifts from sponsors overseas reached children in Korea. A country that had once received help had, in time, come to sponsor children elsewhere. I think that was what drew me to begin sponsoring through this organisation.
There will be highs, and there will be lows. Through it all, I hope the journey is a good one.