By Korey King; Edited by Leanna Cappiello
I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit four of the five children I sponsor through World Vision.
My command of the Spanish language was significantly better than my first visit in 2013, so I was able to communicate with the locals better.
In El Salvador, I met my sponsored child, Herberth, his mother and one of his older brothers. Initially, Herberth was a bit nervous, but he became more and more comfortable as time went on.
After initial introductions, we went to see a preschool program supported by World Vision. The kids there sang a couple of songs for us. Their teacher explained the daily routine and how they tried to emphasize the importance of general hygiene (such as washing hands before eating) to prevent illness. I was pleasantly surprised with how strong the support of World Vision's work was locally.
This was followed by a visit to the elementary school that Herberth and his brother, Jose, attend. There, we interrupted Herberth's classmates during art class where we had a short Q&A session, primarily about Canada. Some of Herberth's classmates were as keen to meet and talk with me as he was. I also got to meet Herberth's teacher, who assured me that he was a good student.
Afterwards, we had lunch and went to a nearby park and played soccer, which was something Jose was equally as excited about as Herberth. This was great because I obviously wanted Jose to feel included as well, even though the sponsor-child relationship was between Herberth and myself. Herberth's mother also joined in the soccer game, which Herberth later said (in a letter) was a special memory for him. And of course, that made it equally special for me.
Once tired out from the soccer game (I was… Herberth and Jose probably would have played forever), we enjoyed some snacks in the park. Herberth was much more comfortable with me at this point. He explained things he had learned in school, such as in the rainy season the park sometimes flooded, but the sun would evaporate the water. Or how to get to the coffee crops his father was working on at the time.
We then headed back to the World Vision office to take some pictures and say goodbye, which was obviously the most difficult part.
I really enjoyed visiting my sponsored child!
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