Meet Katiusca, our diminutive Dominican Republican

This is Katiusca, our youngest sponsored child. She has been part of our family since August 2005. She turns 10 tomorrow. She lives with her father, mother, one older brother and one younger sister in Santiago. Her father works in a factory and her mother works as a cook at the University. The family income is about $137 a month. They have a concrete block house with a concrete floor and a corrugated metal roof. The house has a kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a dining room. Cooking is done on a gas stove, and they have running water in the house. This family of 5 shares 2 beds. Her favorite color is pink and her favorite school subjects are math, grammar and art. She likes to play indoor games with her friends and family in her free time. She counts painting, dancing and singing among her talents. She reports that she
behaves well at home and helps here mom with chores like sweeping and washing dishes. She is having some trouble with science in school but says she will try harder. Katiusca is not sure what she wants to be when she grows up, but she is thinking about it. Last Christmas she got to go visit her Grandmother at the beach and got to eat cake and ice cream. She has really grown quite a bit since we first sponsored her, don't you think? I have recently sent a Special Needs Gift for Katiusca and will report back on her when I receive news of what the family used it for.

Katiusca came to us when our first sponsored girl in the Dominican Republic, Yulisa Antonia, (pictured below) left the program because she got married at the age of 14. Naturally we were upset but unfortunately marrying quite young is not unusual in poorer countries. We only had her 4 months before she was gone. CI suggested Katiusca and we were happy to accept her into our family.

Children International has been working in the Dominican Republic for 31 years. There are almost 28,000 children sponsored in 2 agencies there. Income inequality there is among the highest in the world.

I want to add some more information about the book The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer which I mentioned here a few posts ago. Here is a link to an article published in the NY Times on March 10, 2009 about the book . The article is entitled: If you think you're good, you should think again.

And here is a link to an article by Peter Singer in the NY Times Magazine of December 17, 2006. That article is called: What should a billionaire give - and what should you? Both very good, thought provoking articles. I will warn you that the second one is rather long but well worth the read.

And finally I will leave you with a quote from George Eliot "What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?"