Jojo M J from India

Jojo M J lives in India and will be 15 in July.  Jojo is a correspondence child who I started writing to in October 2009.  Because I only sponsor him through correspondence I am unable to send Jojo extra gifts but the sponsor who does pay his monthly sponsorship does have the ability to do that if they desire.  Compassion some times identifies children who have financial sponsors but realize that the sponsors do not communicate with the children at all.  Compassion will then ask the sponsor if they can locate a correspondence sponsor for the child and then match is made.  From the child's end they only think there is on sponsor which is the person who writes and in this case that is me. The letters to the children are vital and no child should ever have an empty mail box when letters are delivered from sponsors.  It's one of the best parts of sponsorship and I can't imagine missing out on it for even a moment.

Jojo is a prolific letter writer and all of his letters are written in English in his own hand.  This saves a lot of time in translation so his letters arrive faster than all the others we receive.  One of the huge benefits of sponsoring older children is the quality of their letters and your relationship with them because they are better at written communication than the younger children are.  Jojo has learned English as his second language and is doing a remarkable job writing to us on a very regular basis.  In 2012 alone I received 16 letters from Jojo.  Jojo is one of my favorite sponsorships.  He is always so thankful for even the quickest letters and items that I send.  I found comprehension flash cards for him in English and have been sending them from a school supply store here in Boise.  He soaks up everything he learns and is always so grateful for anything he receives.  He writes that he saves every letter that I send so he can read them again and again.  I do the same on this end too.  His financial sponsor is missing out on an amazing young man but he is such a blessing that I am thrilled that we are fortunate to be a small part of his life.  Jojo always asks about everyone in our family and even Raisin and Jay.  He is such a thoughtful young man.

The children from India that we sponsor call us Aunty and Uncle.  Growing up in Hawaii as a child I was also taught to do the same as a sign of respect.  It tickles me to have them follow the same tradition because it reminds me of my days in the islands.