Tips to Help if You Plan to Visit your Sponsored Child...
Spend some time thinking about your personal reasons for making this visit, and some 
goals that you hope to attain.Plan ahead!!!Communicate effectively with the National Director and anyone that he/she has assigned to you.Write letters a little more frequently as your trip approaches.Talk to people (even strangers) about your plans for the trip.Don't be afraid to go alone!Do a little touring of the country before you visit your sponsored child.Stay as long as possible.Expect that it may take quite a bit of time before your sponsored child will feel comfortable with you.Don't plan to do a lot of travelling after your visit with your sponsored child.Expect to miss your sponsored child terribly after you've gone home.Don't expect letters from your sponsored child to be drastically different after your visit.Expect that your trip may not be as wonderful as mine.Expect to be a novelty.A word to the wise: There is never, ever, *ever* an acceptable excuse for a broken seal on a water bottle!!!Don't worry about being "acceptable" to your sponsored child, his/her family, or the CCF staff.
- Spend some time thinking about your personal reasons for making this visit, and some goals that you hope to attain. When you visit your sponsored child, you are representing the other sponsors. You're likely spending a lot of money, and you're likely travelling a long way from home. You want to be sure that you know why you're going and what you expect. You want to be sure that your goals are realistic, so that you won't be disappointed. I also found that when I clarified my goals, it was much easier to make plans. Return to top.
- Plan ahead!!! I found that all of the planning, reading, talking to people, etc. that I had done really made a difference for my trip! India is a very different place than my home. The culture, the languages, the lifestyle, so many things... Because I had prepared for this, I took pretty much everything in stride...
The only thing that threw me was the litter. I'm allergic to dust, and knew it would be dusty, so I expected headaches. But, I didn't have headahes. I was, though, bothered by the amount of litter. It was everywhere! As far as I could see, it seems that if you don't want something, you just throw it out the window. That really surprised me. Considering how different the cultures are, I think my preparation served me well...
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- Communicate effectively with the National Director and anyone that he/she has assigned to you. I almost wrote "Communicate frequently...", but realized that isn't really what I meant... Be sure that the National Director and other CCF folks know what you are planning. They'll be an invaluable resource to you if you keep them informed. Return to top.
- Write letters a little more frequently as your trip approaches. This is one that I didn't follow myself... I was so caught up in planning my trip and other aspects of my life, that my letter-writing suffered for the last 6 months or so before my trip... I don't think that this was terribly detrimental to my trip, but I'll never know whether or not Asma would have felt less shy if she'd had more contact with me as the trip came closer... Return to top.
- Talk to people (even strangers) about your plans for the trip. You wouldn't believe the amount of valuable information that I received by talking to strangers. There are a lot of people who have travelled internationally out there, and many of them (like me) like to share the wisdom that they gained. You're also more likely to receive positive and reinforcing comments from strangers and acquaintances at first... All my mom could think of was that her "baby" was travelling alone to India... It wasn't until after I was home safe and sound that my parents really felt comfortable enough to tell me that they were proud of me. Return to top.
- Don't be afraid to go alone! There are a lot of people out there who have travelled alone! Why can't you be one? In actuality, as a CCF Sponsor, I wasn't really alone. There are CCF National Offices in both of the major cities to which I travelled. They knew that I was coming, and planned for my visit. I spent most of my time in Delhi on my own, but the Delhi National Office planned a wonderful tour of some CCF Projects for me, recommended hotels and tours of Delhi and Agra, and even had someone pick me up at the airport! (Let me tell you, I truly appreciated that at 1:00 in the morning when my original hotel reservation had been cancelled due to a mixup!)
In Bangalore, I hardly spent a moment alone. I was simply spoiled by my hosts (the Project Administrator of Asma's project and his wife), as well as by the project staff, Asma, and her family... But, had I wanted to, I could have easily gone off on my own at any time. I have inquired about visiting Alaso, who lives in Uganda. When I do (someday), I will be traveling to Alaso's project with an escort from the National Office. As CCF Sponsors, we can feel comfortable that the CCF Staff will do anything in their power to ensure that we are safe and happy. Return to top.
- Do a little touring of the country before you visit your sponsored child. I spent my first week in India touring around the Delhi area. I was able to get acclimated to the culture, and to simply get used to being away from my home and work. I saw the Taj Mahal, which was a childhood dream. It was amazing. Return to top.
- Stay as long as possible. It is my understanding that when many sponsor's visit, they only stay a few hours. They have a short meeting with their child, and then continue traveling. If I had stayed only one day, I would have missed so much. Asma and I both needed time to become comfortable with each other, and there were so many interesting things to do and see! Return to top.
- Expect that it may take quite a bit of time before your sponsored child will feel comfortable with you. The relationship between sponsor and sponsored child is a really strange one. Your cultures are generally very different, your life circumstances are very different... You will need time to get past the barriers of expectations, cultural differences, and shyness. I was *very* nervous to meet Asma, but I can guarantee that it was worse for her. She is a very shy girl, and I think I terrified her at first.
On the second or third day of my visit, I asked Gangamma, her social worker, if there was anything that I could do to make things easier for Asma. "Time", she said. "In time she will be more comfortable with you." Sure enough, although Asma never lost her shyness, by Day 7 or 8 of my visit, Asma and I were nearly always holding hands, and she was scolding me when I didn't eat all of the food that was offered to me... (Let me tell you, *no one* can eat all of the food that was offered to me!) Return to top.
- Don't plan to do a lot of travelling after your visit with your sponsored child. I would recommend that you don't do a lot of touring after you leave your sponsored child. I spent nearly 2 days in Delhi after I left Asma. At this point, I was tired (physically and emotionally), and sad to have had to leave her. If I'd waited to see that Taj until after my visit with Asma, I think I may have been disappointed. Quite honestly, just about anything would have been a let down after having to leave Asma and the other wonderful people in Bangalore. Return to top.
- Expect to miss your sponsored child terribly after you've gone home. Another thing that never occured to me while I was planning my visit, was what it would be like to leave her. I focussed on how wonderful it would be to see the work of CCF first hand, and how it would be to meet this beautiful child that I considered to be a part of my family. Somehow, I forgot that I was going to have to leave her. I'll just say that it was hard, very hard. I love the other 2 children that I sponsor with the same fierceness that I love Asma, but having met her, I'm almost desperate to see her again. Quite honestly, it is almost easier having never met the other two... Return to top.
- Don't expect letters from your sponsored child to be drastically different after your visit. As Asma has grown older, her letters have become more interesting and informative. Her writing skills have allowed her to express herself more freely. The letters did not change dramatically, however, after my visit. They are still full of kindness and love, but are still fairly formal. Letters are, after all, nothing in comparison to face-to-face contact. Expect that your sponsored child will not know how to express his/her deeper feelings. You'll know, after all, how your visit affected the both of you... Return to top.
- Expect that your trip may not be as wonderful as mine. I was so fortunate to have had everything to work out so well. I've been told that India is one of the most difficult places for a "Westerner" to travel, and that people either love it or hate it with a passion. I can nearly guarantee that the people at any CCF National Office and Project Office will be as kind and as helpful to you as they were to me... You and I *are* their source of income, after all... But, depending on your expectations, your personality, the personality of your sponsored child and the other people that you visit, and so many other circumstances that can't be controlled, you just never know how things will work out.
It is my belief, however, that if you have a clear plan and goals for your trip, and have realistic expectations, you will be amazed at how wonderful your trip turns out to be. Return to top.
- Expect to be a novelty. Imagine yourself as a sponsored child, or a family member or neighbor of a sponsored child... Now imagine that a sponsor is coming to visit you. This is a person that you perceive to be (regardless of the reality of the belief) very, very wealthy. He/she is travelling across the world to see a *child* after all... This person sends money each month to help care for a child that he/she does not even know... Now imagine that this person looks different from you, and you may have never seen anyone who looks like he/she does... Would you find this person to be fascinating? Would you stare at this person? I'd imagine so... Return to top.
- A word to the wise: There is never, ever, ever an acceptable excuse for a broken seal on a water bottle!!! I was doing so well... I ate fruits and vegetables that had been washed in the water (which you aren't supposed to do), and yet I hadn't had a moment of feeling badly. Then, I made that "fatal mistake"... I bought a bottle of water at a park called "Nandi Hills" near Bangalore. It had been frozen, and still had a big chunk of ice inside. I was so excited! I love to drink my water as cold as possible, and hadn't had any cold water since I'd left home. I couldn't believe my luck!
Then I noticed that the seal was broken. Uh oh... I said something to Gangamma, the woman with me, and we went back to exchange the bottle. It was the only bottle of cold water that they had. I was told, "Don't worry, the seal broke when the water was frozen." If you think about this for just a second, it makes no sense... When the water expanded during the freezing process, would the seal break before the bottle burst? Of course not! But, I wanted my cold water so badly, that I accepted any excuse. The cold water was nice, but not worth the price I paid for it for the next three days...
The moral of the story: When you are buying bottled water, do not ever, *ever* accept any excuse for a broken seal! Return to top.
- Don't worry about being "acceptable" to your sponsored child, his/her family, or the CCF staff. It is natural to be shy when visiting new people and a new place. The unique relationship between a sponsor and a sponsored child can potentially make it even more difficult. But, remember, you are a sponsor, a special person who loves a child you have never seen. You are inherently "acceptable" to your sponsored child. Don't wait until you've lost 50 pounds to visit your sponsored child, or until you've had your braces removed, or any other excuse...
I am sure that if you respect your child and his/her culture and family, you will be have a successful visit. Things will not always go the way you expect them to, you will sometimes feel uncomfortable or confused, but if you just take things easy, you won't be disappointed. Return to top.
- Plan ahead!!! I found that all of the planning, reading, talking to people, etc. that I had done really made a difference for my trip! India is a very different place than my home. The culture, the languages, the lifestyle, so many things... Because I had prepared for this, I took pretty much everything in stride...
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