India - Taher - First letter from Taher!!

13 Feb 2013

Dear St. Jerome Catholic Church,

     Hello! How are you? I am fine here. I hope the same with you. Greetings and best wishes from our home.

     We felt happy to receive your sponsorship; we were waiting for a long period. Now our family members and I felt happy when our social workers told us.

     I am Taher and I’m writing this letter. I am the 3^rd child of my parents. I have an elder sister and brother. They are also studying in my school. Now my sister is 9^th grade and my brother is 7^th grade and we all walk to school.

     My father works in a flower market. He sells garlands and flowers. My Mother is a tailor and she stiches (sews) clothes in the house.

     My school name is Sri Krishna High School. I am studying in 6^th grade. My teacher’s name is Sarilha. I like her very much. Now I can pay my school fees in time and can buy school materials. I am very lucky boy to have a good friend like you.

     My best friend’s name is Nikhil Kumar. My favorite bird is a parrot. My favorite color is green. My favorite dish is noodles. My favorite subject is mathematics. My favorite fruit is mango. My favorite animal is a lion and my favorite game is chess.

    Once again we are all sending you regards for your kind and generous help. May God bless you abundantly?

Thanking you, your loving child

Taher Mohammed

India - Taher - March Letter to Taher

Kenya - John

I'm please to let everyone know the Sherman Family are the proud new sponsors of John from Kenya. Below is a letter the family wanted to share with us.

Dear St Jerome Family,

            We've been talking about being of help by simply making a small monthly contribution to make sure someone other than us also has food, clothing, a place to call home, an education, opportunities and reminders that they are loved - Just like the Sherman kids have. Preston has been encouraged to participate more in this process as he's the oldest and I feel he's ready to fully understand commitment. With a few factors I manipulated to help select a sponsored friend (a boy around Preston's age who enjoys studying English - to maximize our communicative relationship), Preston asked for us to provide what we can to John from Kenya. This is a family commitment, but a goal I set for Preston is to create a friendship that can maybe one day include an in-person meet when they are both teenagers (Preston's confirmation gift being a trip to Kenya). I really hope he will make it very difficult for us to say no in the future and also really hope we can make it happen when that time comes).

         Meet John, a handsome young man who lives with his brother and their parents in Gachororo, Kenya. John recently turned 9 years old – Happy Birthday to John, Happy Birthday to John, Happy Birthday to John, Happy Birthday to John, And Many More!!! Big thanks to Steve Taylor – the sharing of your experiences with CFCA are not only touching, but inspiring. Also, big shout out to CFCA for their amazing foundation and all that they make possible and to the public library system. Thanks to Grissom Library allowing us to borrow every book about Kenya in their juvenile section, Preston and I have become very learned about John’s proud country!

Miles of smiles,

Dara Sherman and Family

India-Welcome Taher

St Jerome welcomes Taher Mohammed to our community.

Taher is 10 years old and lives Hyderabad, India. St Jerome began its sponsorship of Taher, through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) as of 26 Dec. He is a wonderful Christmas gift to our parish and we to him. This is the perfect way to start the New Year. The Justice and Peace Committee facilitates his sponsorship.

It is important that all our parishioners have an opportunity to know Taher. We will post letters shared with Taher, on the website, and share in the experience of knowing and assisting this youngster succeed in life.

In addition to having a representative from Justice and Peace correspond with Taher, we are looking for a family with a child, of the same approximate age, to also write Taher. Please contact Steve Taylor, if you are interested in participating. It is a wonderful opportunity to give your child a global education and pen-pal.

More about Taher

Taher is friendly and enjoys singing and drawing. At home, he helps his mother with the housework. Taher is the youngest of three siblings. His mother is a tailor and his father is a flower vendor. Taher's parents cannot provide the basic needs of the family and education of the children.

Talents and pastimes: Singing and drawing

Jobs at home: Helping mother with household work

Favorite school subjects: English and math

Languages spoken: Urdu and English

India-First Letter to Tayer

8 Jan 2013
Greetings Taher,

I wanted to send a quick note letting you how pleased St. Jerome Catholic
Church is to sponsor and know you. My name is Steve Taylor and I will be one of
a couple people writing you. Very soon we will have someone your age also
writing you and we hope you will enjoy writing to them. This is a good
opportunity for each of you to learn more about our different countries, schools,
sports and other topics.

I look forward to writing you and learning more about you and your family in
preparation for meeting you in Oct during mission awareness trip . My wife,
Jayne, and I sponsor Meya Nathasha, who lives in Hyderabad and I will also
meet her. The trip takes place on 20-31 Oct, as long as they have a minimum of
12 going. CFCA will know for sure in July and they will let you know.

I understand your favorite subjects are math and English. Does this mean you
can read this letter without translation? If you send a letter in English, could you
repeat some of it in Urdu, so we can see how your native language looks? Your
interest in math is interesting to Jayne since she teaches math in grades 2-5.

We will send more letters soon. Below is a picture of Jayne and I and our
grandchildren, Abbie and Noah.

Warmest regards,

Steve Taylor