Chasing After Jess

During my time in Ghana last week, I embarked on a road trip to the small town of Atorkor to meet a very special person in my life – one of my sponsored children, 5-year-old Bless.

A little bit of background on child sponsorship:

I have been sponsoring children through Compassion for the last 8 years, after sponsoring my first child (Sharon from Tanzania) when I was 16 years-old. Currently I sponsor 5 children, who I love with all my heart and soul. I plan on doing a whole post just on child sponsorship.

The Princess – Bless 💗

I sponsored Bless at the beginning of 2023, I had just returned from Africa where I had been able to meet Sharon, my first sponsor child. After seeing the direct impact Compassion had made on her life and family, knowing I had recently had a payrise, I decided to sponsor another child.

I set the filter to a child born on the same day as me and asked it to randomly select. Low and behold I was matched with Bless, only just 4 years old at the time born on 3rd December, just like me!

During this time we have exchanged letters and gotten to know one another, but nothing beats actually meeting in real life. Bless is a gentle and kind soul, who is definitely a princess (who now has a crown!) and captured my heart with her love for dance and her adoration for her baby brother. The connection we shared was instant, and as we spent the day together, laughter and joy filled every moment. I couldn’t help but smile so much that my cheeks ached, and saying goodbye at the end was a bittersweet moment that tugged at my heartstrings. She gave me a massive hug, and burst into tears. She wouldn’t let go, and eventually had to get carried away. The below photo breaks my heart 😭

Compassion’s Impact on Bless and her family:

Through the Compassion sponsorship program, Bless, her devoted mother, and her younger brother now have access to life’s essentials such as food, sanitation, clean water, medical care, education, and a safe place to call home.

Witnessing the positive impact of my sponsorship firsthand, I learned that Bless’s 23-year-old single mother was funded to begin a three-year sewing apprenticeship last year with some of the left over money from sponsorship. While I visited she even surprised me with a handmade bonnet, a gesture that touched my heart deeply.

Now, I’ll share the details of our special day!

I had organised this with Compassion in February, and they made the process completely seamless. I had been waiting for sponsor visits to start up again *officially* since COVID times (I say officially, because I unofficially went to meet Sharon in 2022, but that’s another story).

I was picked up at 7:00am by a driver and one of the Compassion staff in Ghana who hosted me for the day. We then drove for approximately 4 hours to get to Bless’ village. They explained to me in the car that no one had ever visited the project yet, so it was a big deal that I was coming and the whole project had done a lot of preparation.

When I arrived I was truly overwhelmed by the amount of preparation they had undergone! They had made songs with my name in it, choreographed special dances, and made matching clothes out of a special fabric just for that day (I even got a piece myself!)

We then went to the hall and the Compassion team delivered a project explaining what they are doing in the town, statistics of sponsorship here etc etc.

My favourite part of the day was when I got to go meet Bless’ mother, Janet. To my surprise, Janet was only 23 years old which is younger than me! But wow, what an incredibly strong woman she is. She is a single mother of two kids, who has been through a lot and at one point said she had given up. But God had other plans for her and she found purpose in her life through God. I got to spend time with Janet, Bless and baby Victor, and get to see their home. I was so flattered to see that the photos I had attached in my letters were hanging on the wall, an honour for me!

Compassion had bought the family a food package on my behalf for me to deliver, but I had also brought my own gifts for Bless and her brother to play with. Bless’ favourite by far ended up being the Princess crown with clip earrings and shoes, and baby Erica the stuffed hippo toy 😂 When I gave the toy to Bless I said what is her name? and she said Hmmm, Erica! Which made us all laugh. She then became the best mummy to Erica, and strapped her on her back the same way that her mother wears her little brother on her back.

My passion for child sponsorship and the incredible work that Compassion does resonates in every interaction I have with these amazing little friends around the world. I have now seen this incredible impact in person twice, and it leaves me feeling so honoured to be part of it. Meeting Bless and her family reinforced my belief in the power of compassion and the life-changing impact it can have on individuals and communities globally. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Bless’s journey and look forward to continuing to support her as she grows and thrives, knowing that together, we are making a difference in the lives of those in need.

It costs me just $7.70 a day to sponsor 5 children, or $1.50 per child. If this post caused even one person to sponsor a child, I would be so happy. It is the best thing I have ever done, and received more out of it myself through letters and friendship, than anything I could have given.

Thank you for reading about my special day 💗

Jess