Christmas in February

Children and family members gather for the party. 

One strong reason Annette and I have been involved with the mission organization, Lahash Intl., since arriving in Portland six years ago, aside from our close connection with the founders, Dan and Erin Holcomb, is its unique child sponsorship design. Lahash works in East Africa, including Dodoma, Tanzania, the destination of our last two Africa trips. Lahash’s partner there is Grace and Healing Ministry of Dodoma (GHMD), based at Iringa Road Mennonite Church. The main method by which Lahash relates to GHMD is child sponsorship. At first glance, that appears little different from sponsorship with larger non-profits: $25.00/month donations, photos of a child, occasional letters from that child, etc. What’s unique is individual, personal relationships encouraged between sponsors and their sponsored child. That’s nowhere more obvious than at the annual Christmas party, which happened this year on Friday, 24 February. Dave Hanson and I were wonderfully blessed to be in Dodoma on that day.

A child gets gifts of clothing (in the bag she holds),
food, and a bed.

A few weeks before Christmas, at one of the regular Friday gatherings of the 100 Lahash-sponsored children, each child is interviewed about what they’d like for Christmas. The usual wishes of these vulnerable kids are pretty basic: clothing, school supplies, shoes, a bed and mattress, food. A list of three items, with costs in US$, is printed with the child’s current photo and sent to the sponsors, who then make a choices of a gift or gifts from the list and contribute the money to Lahash.

Eliya gets a bed and more. 

All of this comes to a grand conclusion a couple of months later in the PARTY! In preparation, several staff persons (primarily Mariam Munga, Tiffanee Wright, and Lauren Hall, this year) are madly busy buying gifts and being sure that not one of those kids is missed. All is ready and waiting as the children arrive. There’s singing and dancing, prayers, and talks, and this year a slide show of events during the year, but the focal point is the mound of gifts waiting to be distributed, beds and mattresses to one side, two bicycles, even a sewing machine! The tingling climax finally arrives, and one by one, called alphabetically by first name, the children walk forward, most shyly, to receive their gifts, often accompanied by Mama or Bibi (grandmother) or maybe Baba (dad) or Babu (grandpa). Child, relative, and gifts are photographed and videoed together before the next child is called.

Sauda (with Mariam and Tiffanee) gets her sewing machine
from her Portland sponsor, Dana Bertermann.
Sauda will now be able to begin tailoring classes. 

Once all of that has happened, the songs and dances and talks finished, there begins a determined effort to get sponsor thank you notes written on charming, hand-made cards the staff has prepared. Swahili words, often revealing deep feelings of thanks, slowly appear on paper, the card is turned in, and then, there’s food, rice and beans and greens happily devoured. But even before the food, new clothes and shoes—every child gets at least a new outfit of clothing and a pair of shoes—appear on many children. Enjoyment and gratitude are keenly obvious and wonderful to watch.

It was momentous for me to be with Annette’s and my sponsor child, Charles John Chatanda (my only sadness: Annette’s absence from the excitement). Charles is six years old now, a stocky little guy, whose grandmother was at his side. When I got to him after the party, he had stripped to his blue briefs and was getting into a new shirt and pants, then struggling to work his way into and tie new shoes. Annette had packed a separate gift for him that I had brought with me, some books and drawing supplies, but the clothes got the focus of his attention. I watched him later laboriously copying Swahili words on a card with Bibi’s help before he got his plate of food. I knew I’d see the card again, translated, when it arrives in a few weeks with his photo taken with his gifts.

Charles, sporting new clothes and shoes,
with his grandmother

Few sponsors have my privilege to be right there, and I was tearfully grateful for it—and to be in the midst of all of that pleasure and gratitude breathed out by the crowd of kids around me. Again, as happens often, I felt great appreciation for Lahash Intl. and its sponsorship program, bringing together across more than 10,000 miles a vulnerable child and sponsors in heart-touching encounters.

Want to sponsor one of those vulnerable kids? It’s all there at Lahash, Intl.. Katie Potter, the U.S. sponsorship coordinator, and Liesha Otieno, working on sponsorship in East Africa, will be delighted to hear from you. Welcome aboard!

Joseph rides away with a 20 kg. bag of corn meal
on the back of his bike.