Work in the field
Contact with adopted children
Volunteers of the Association travel regularly to the countries where the long distance adoptions project is underway.
INDIA AND NEPAL
Volunteers of the Association travel to India and Nepal twice a year (period of February/March and August/September) to deliver directly the aid collected and to co-ordinate the activities of the Association.
Newly sponsored children of school age are enrolled into local schools at the first possibility. School fees are paid directly to the school and the name and address of the sponsor is communicated to the family and school of the child.
It is possible to correspond directly – in English – with sponsored children. Letters to children living in Nepal should be sent care of the office of the Association and in India directly to the specified address. However, the postal system in these countries is often slow and unreliable, and so letters can also be sent through the Association in Italy; these letters are delivered by hand at the first possible opportunity.
The Kathmandu office in Nepal helps, as far as possible, the families to correspond with their sponsor. However, many of the parents of sponsored children are illiterate and so ask friends, teachers and sometimes even their boss to write on their behalf. Letters are often very simple, repetitive and express only the gratitude of the family.
Unfortunately we are not able to carry parcels for sponsored children.
TIBET/CINA
Volunteers of the Association travel to Tibet once a year (period July/August) to distribute directly the aid collected, village by village, under the direct supervision of local Government officials. The gifts – clothes, shoes, sweaters, jackets, school materials, sacks of rice, flour and seeds – are all bought in the city and transported by truck to the villages where there are no shops. The money, gifts and food are distributed equally among all the children of the village, adopted or not, and their families.
In Tibet there is no postal system that reaches the villages. Letters can only be delivered, by hand, during the summer visit along with any photographs of the family adopting the child. These are particularly welcome because the families like to know the benefactors, at least through a photograph, who from far away have changed their life. These photos are highly prized and almost always end up on the altar in the home along with the families other most precious possessions.
Those who are able reply to their sponsors, in Tibetan, and these letters are translated by the Association in Italian or English. After the summer trip news of the child or person adopted is sent together with, if possible, a new photograph and letter.
Unfortunately we are not able to carry parcels for sponsored children.
If possible, donations for children living in Tibet should reach the Association before the end of June.