conversations with a 3 year old

(fyi. conversation below. But first, a little background.)

Due to some position changes in Makarios, I have begun to take on part of the responsibility of "Sponsorship Coordinator." Each of our 80 students has a Sponsor (s). Through this sponsor's donation, the students are able to receive their education, medical care, two meals per day, clean water, school uniform, school materials, and transportation for those who need it. Sponsorship money also goes to our Dominican/Haitian staff salaries, as well as helping out with school maintenance & utilities.  My role in helping with sponsorship coordinating is keeping everyone in the states in touch with what is going on with Makarios. This includes blogging, Facebook-ing, and tweeting. In this new year, I have also been slowly collecting biographies on the families of each student, so that US sponsors can have a full picture of their sponsored student's life. 

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We've been fairly busy at Makarios (with 4 visiting teams over the last 3 months) so we're a bit behind on handing out Christmas gifts from sponsors. Yesterday as I was giving the adorable 3-year-old Katy her Christmas gift from her sponsor, I had the following conversation with her:

Imani: Katy! Look! You have this gift from your sponsor!

Katy: You gave me all these gifts?

Imani: No, it's from your sponsor! Do you know what a sponsor is?

Katy: Yes

Imani: Explain to me what it is.

*Silence. Katy continues to pull out things from her gift bag completely mesmerized by the clothes, markers, stickers, etc.*

Imani: A sponsor is someone who is helping you attend this school! Your sponsor lives in the United States and is praying for you! Every student in the school has a sponsor that is helping them. Look, here are your sponsors in this picture

*Katy continues to pull out her gifts, not really listening to Imani.

Imani:  So Katy, tell me again.. who gave you these gifts?

Katy: YOU!

Imani: Nope

Katy: La doctora?

Imani: Nope, remember what I said before? Every student in this school has a.. what?

Katy: A brother!

Imani: Not quite, Katy. Every student has a sponsor! Do you remember what a sponsor is?

Katy: No

Oh conversations with a 3 year old, gotta love them!

Katy's only in our Pre-K 3 class. As she continues through our school, I'm positive she will one day understand what a sponsor is ;)

Here she is, posing with her presents!

PS- That blog post(s) summarizing the last 3 months.. coming up soon!