Jasmine Gnanaprakasam
Growing up, we spent a few weeks each summer in Minneapolis to see the grandparents and a multitude of cousins. On the refrigerator at Grandma Mac’s house near Minnehaha Creek were the magnetized photos of her “kids,” all the children she sponsored around the world for various aid agencies. “Nine kids of her own, and all these too,” Grandpa would say in his gravelly voice. So when the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging came to our parish six years ago to ask for sponsors, I thought of Grandma and sponsored a child.
Jasmine lives in Chennai, India, and was born on Christmas Eve, 1991. Our kids were born in 1990, 1992, and 1993, so she fits right in. Her father died in an industrial accident, and her mother earns a meager living as a seamstress. Jasmine was starting high school when we adopted her, and $35 a month pays for her education and occasional extra clothing. She calls us “dear parents” in the two long, beautifully penned letters she sends each year, and we get a photo each Spring. Each letter starts with, “This is your child, Jasmine Gnanaprakasam.” The first letters had the feel of being coached, with many phrases repeated, but her most recent letters reveal the progress in her written English, and a growing creativity and expression in writing, so I wasn’t surprised that she is now pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in English (our daughter is earning a B.A. in Journalism), and her brother a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (as is our son). She’ll be 21 this Christmas, and I can’t imagine where the time has gone.
I have no idea if the program stops one day, or if our $35 will be sent into perpetuity, but if she keeps sending the letters, I’m happy to send the money. Maybe one day we’ll finally get a photo with a little smile. And she prays for me every day, and that’s priceless.
berowne.com 
August 16, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Beautiful.
August 16, 2012 at 11:04 pm
When my wife and I were first married, I was working third shift at a hotel. One night, taking a break at work, I saw one of those late night commercials to sponsor a child, and I called in and signed up. The next day, since our budget was tight, I thought I ought to ‘fess up to my wife. It turned out that sitting home alone the night before, she had called World Vision just as I was calling Christian Childrens Fund, neither of us knowing the other had called. We decided it was meant to be, and kept both pledges going. Twenty-seven years later, we still sponsor kids with both organizations. So I guess it runs in the family!