A story of sponsorship: from the UK to Hong Kong to Cambodia

Susann and William have sponsored with World Vision UK for more than 7 years and recently flew from their new home in Hong Kong to visit their sponsored child with their two daugthers; Elena and Amelie.

Read on to find out what the girls thought about Cambodia, meeting their sponsored child and learning what life is like in a different world to theirs:

Susann:

When each of our children were born in 2004 and 2006, we decided to sponsor a child through World Vision. We were introduced to two young girls in Myammar and Cambodia. Having moved to South East Asia last year, we took the opportunity to finally meet one of our sponsored children, Siyoeurb, in Cambodia. Not only that, we also got to spend time with some of World Vision's local staff who guided us through the day.

It may be the 21st century, but not everyone has access to what we take for granted, such as clean water and basic sanitation. We learned about all the remarkable work that World Vision is doing on the ground and saw first hand the difference it makes in the local communities that we visited. Here’s what our two daughters (in their own words) thought about the visit:

Elena (9 years old):

This week was my first time in Cambodia. I had got a good impression of Cambodia in Siem Reap where we spent 3 days. On Thursday we were picked up at 8 o’clock by Dinna from World Vision. We stopped at the World Vision office to meet other World Vision members. They were all very kind. 

We then headed on to a few small villages where we met other kids, babies and grown-ups. In one village they learned about where to go to the toilet and how to avoid many diseases through better hygiene. We also followed a session about how to make porridge and saw the mums receive special vitamin packs for their babies.

One of the villages had a well. We dropped the bucket to get some water out; I had never done this before and thought that it was very exciting. In the villages without a well people kept water in huge pots and I saw a little girl getting water from the pot in a small bowl.  

Finally we met our sponsor child. It felt so good to see Siyoeurb! We have been writing letters to her for six years and Siyoeurb always draws lovely pictures. She is now 16 years old. My little sister was born six years ago and this is when my parents decided to help a girl in another part of the world. Siyoeurb’s English is surprisingly good. She lives with her grandma, aunt and cousin who is still a little baby. The baby was very cute and liked munching apple slices.

Siyoeurb told us about school and her family. I asked how far she had to go to school and she said it was 1km away from her home. We also had lunch with her, her aunt and baby cousin. After lunch we played three games of memory. Siyoeurb was great and we all kept laughing and clapping our hands. I hope I will see Siyoeurb again. We took lots of photos but it is not the same.

Amelie (6 years old): 

Today I saw Siyoeurb. She looked wonderful. We could easily talk to her! We gave her some presents and an English dictionary; I wrote a little note on the first page so she won’t forget me and my family. I hope she will use the dictionary at school. The school I saw today was very different from my school. There were a lot of children in one room and three or four of them had to share a bench. They all smiled at us and their teacher was very nice. We had brought some pencils but there were too many kids and not enough pencils.

We ate together with Siyoeurb and her auntie. I had rice and vegetables. We also played a game, it was great fun! Then it was time to leave. It was a super day out but I was sad saying goodbye to Siyoeurb. 

Susann:

As you can see from the girls’ account of the visit, the highlight of the day was our meeting with Siyoeurb of course! We were truely amazed by her in so smany ways: the young girl who we had, so far, only known from a few photographs and letters sent over the years, was now standing in front of us as a delightful 16-year-old! She showed us so much enthusiasm and clearly has so much potential. Siyoeurb hopes to go on to university and we believe that she will succeed.

The slogan on Siyoeurb's T-shirt said "Do what you can with what you have" and how humbling to see how she lives by it every day! Siyoeurb has also started to make a difference in her own community by acting as leader of her local child/youth group. Our children had a wonderful time with her which we will always treasure.

We love hearing stories from our sponsors, so thanks to Susann, Elena and Amelie for sharing them with us. It's so inspiring to hear stories like  Siyoeurb's that are only made possible thanks to your support. What do you find most inspiring about sponsoring a child? Leave a comment on our Facebook page and let us know.