Write to your sponsor child

You write a letter and mail it to HART. It will be scanned and emailed to our field office in Ukraine.

You write a letter from our website. It will be emailed directly to our office in Ukraine.

Your letter will be translated, given to your child’s case worker, and delivered to him or her directly.

First steps

Learn About Your Child.
HART provides each sponsor with a brief description of the child’s community and country. The more you understand about your child’s background, the more beneficial your relationship is. A child’s culture provides insight into who they are.
Google information on your sponsored child’s country. Learning about the culture, geography, or country’s history will give you a better understanding of your child’s background. It’s a great idea even to learn a few words in your child’s language.

Suggestions for good letter writing

Short, simple messages are best.
You can also use this “GREAT” acronym to guide you in your letter writing:

• G — Greetings
• R — Remember something your sponsored child has said and build on it.
• E — Explain something about yourself or your world. Refer to the letter-writing prompts above.
• A — Ask your sponsored child a question.
• T — Toodle loo! Say your goodbyes. This is a great place to share a Bible verse and a last word of encouragement.

Most likely, your sponsored child does not speak English.

• Short sentences and simple words are easier for the staff at HART international office to translate and for the child to appreciate.
• Avoid slang expressions and contractions, and write clearly to avoid confusion in interpretation.
• Keep your messages positive. Your tone should be warm and friendly. Take special care when discussing death or illness, and be sensitive to your child’s living conditions. It may be discouraging to speak or send pictures of your material possessions. Instead…
• Make each letter an educational experience for the child. Focus on happy news, such as favorite memories, family, favorite stories, age-appropriate trivia, profession or hobbies, how you celebrate holidays, and life in your town/city.
• Remember, the reader is your sponsored child.

Give the child lots of encouragement. Being able to write to you is a big deal for most sponsored children. To encourage your sponsored child:

• Comment on any progress you learn your child has made, such as in schoolwork, in a performance, or even in the child’s letter-writing.
• Be generous with genuine compliments. Praise the child’s talents or skills that you’ve discovered (i.e. “you are a good writer,” “you are a good helper”) or the child’s accomplishments (“your grades were very good,” “you must be a very good soccer player,” “your drawing is very colorful and happy”). Your words will boost your sponsored child’s self-esteem and be a daily reminder that someone cares.
• Challenge your child to try something new or difficult and then write to you about it. Avoid “correcting” the child or criticism.

Ask questions

Strike a balance between telling the child about yourself and asking questions of your child.

Ask open-ended questions. A child will find starting and maintaining a dialogue much easier if you provide the material first.
Ask for descriptions, thoughts, and ideas. Examples of good open-ended questions and statements include:

• What do you do on a typical day?
• What games or activities do you enjoy?
• What is your favorite way to spend an afternoon?
• Tell me about someone that has made your life better.
• Will you send me a drawing of your home or village?
• Who are the people that live with you?
• What are your favorite holidays? How do you celebrate them?
• What are your favorite subjects in school and why?
• Tell me about your favorite places.
• Other items to discuss: happy memories, hopes, and dreams, qualities your child likes about himself or herself, sports, cooking, and chores.

Ask a few questions at a time. Asking questions makes it easier for your child to respond, but too many questions can be overwhelming. It is likely that your sponsored child travels some distance to school each day, and has chores and schoolwork to complete when he or she gets home.
Keeping your letters to no more than 2 or 3 questions makes it easier for the child to respond.

NOTE: It’s better to avoid writing about material possessions and other topics that emphasize the difference between your culture and the child’s situation, but take every opportunity to encourage your sponsored child to work hard and perform well in school.

Make it a fun experience

As you correspond with your sponsored child, he or she will become more open to sharing with you. Knowing that someone is interested may spark longer letters. Build on past letters and maintain an open dialogue. Here are some ideas:

• Share funny stories.
• Start a game by mail.
• Share what you are reading and learning. Children observe how adults live and manage their lives, and sponsored children can learn from you by what you share in your letters.
• Send “All About Me” cards with space to answer preprinted questions that you both answer.
• Photographs enable you both to comment on the same things, people, and events.
  

Sending gifts

Examples of gifts. Family photographs, hair ribbon, embroidery thread, stickers, dolls, coloring books, stationery, school supplies, toiletries, socks, toques, mitts, stuffies, wrapped candies, and games.

Monthly Sponsorship. Your monthly sponsorship includes a birthday present, school supplies, and a summer camp experience for your sponsor child.

*Please Note*
If you send letters or cards to the HART office, they will be scanned and sent to Ukraine for translation. Please do not include other items with the card that cannot be scanned.

Shipping

Sending a Package. If Sponsors would like to send a package to their child, we encourage them to send their package to HART or drop it off with a shipping donation:

Packages weighing under 1.5kg = $10 donation.
Packages weighing over 1.5kg = $10 per kg.
An additional $15 for handling will be added on parcels larger than 48 inches around the box using the largest sides (circumference) 

Family Support Program

FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAM. We will combine all extra funds you may want to donate to your child/family into the Family Support Program. Within this fund, you will be able to send extra gifts to your child/family annually. If you would like to give your child an additional present for these occasions, we suggest a minimum of $75 to a maximum of $1000 per child/year.  It would be advisable to make this donation 4 months prior to your child’s birthday OR on a rotation system if you have more than one sponsor child.

Benefits/reasons for the Family Support Program:

• The one-time per-year donation will allow the caseworkers to concentrate their time on supporting the family’s needs and a little less time shopping throughout the year. In the past, we’ve had many cases where the caseworker will purchase a Birthday gift for the child through the program, and then a month later, a monetary gift from the sponsor arrives, which means the caseworker must take the time to purchase another gift for this child.
• This program aims to reduce the administrative time (both in Canada & Ukraine) to process monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or random donations of varying amounts. There will also be a cost saving on wiring fees which are added to each wire we send internationally to Ukraine or Moldova.
• Since we are very concerned about equity for all the children in the program – here is how you can help. Many of our sponsors don’t have the financial means to be able to participate in this Family-Support Program. If you are in a position to donate extra funds over and above your Family Support Program, these funds would go to a Child Sponsorship Program –  General Fund, that will be used to help families who do not receive any extra support from their sponsors. Their needs could be medical, education or home repairs, or summer camps for siblings not in the program.
  

Final reminders

Some Important Things to Remember. A caring heart rarely offends, so be at ease when writing. The following are simply a few suggestions and precautions to bear in mind when writing to a child in a foreign country.

• Take special care in discussing death or sickness. Do not provide any medical advice. Leave that to the local medical professionals.  Please keep in mind the age of the child when writing.
• Avoid asking embarrassing or too sensitive questions for children, such as why the child failed a subject, body image, death, or an absent father.
• HART respects the cultures of the local communities in which we serve. It’s okay to express your faith or beliefs; just be sensitive to the faith of your child’s family. HART is open to all children without consideration of background, religion, and social and family structures. Our Christian caseworker’s objective is to share God’s love with your child and his/her family in a loving and caring manner.
• HART translators will be translating your letters to your sponsored child. Generally, the content of the letters is not changed, but should it be necessary, letters may be edited.

The most important thing is that you care enough to keep in touch with your sponsored child. Remember that we grow in our relationships. By exchanging correspondence with your sponsored child, you build a person-to-person bond that can mean a lot to both of you.