Our adopted daughter leaves the nest

Genesis Jazmin Moreno Quishpe is ready for the world!

They grow up so fast, don’t they? We don’t mention it very often, but we adopted child here at the shop. Well, she was a child when we adopted her in 2006, but Genesis Jazmin Moreno Quishpe is all grown up now. Jazmin was born in 2000 in Quito, Ecuador, a happy girl whose favorite classes in school were art and social studies. At home she did chores and ran errands for her parents and drew, painted, and played dolls with her brother Darikson and sister Nairoby. Jazmin was just like most American kids, except her family was living on less than $400 a month ($US) in a one-room house with insufficient food, wooden beds, a concrete floor, and corrugated metal roof. She needed help, and thanks to the support of our clients and the work of Children International, we were able to provide it. Now, thirteen years later, we can see the real-world results of that help and we’d like to share them with you…

Our first picture of Genesis Jazmin Moreno Quishpe, age 6

Jazmin is like many of the children growing up around the world in extreme poverty, and in fact, she’s better off than many. We first connected with Jazmin through Children International (CI) when she was 6, and began supporting her with a monthly donation. Our sponsorship helps her but also supports the Sponsorship Center, a hub of activity for youths and teenagers in her village. Staff and volunteers coordinate activities, host meetings, and distribute gifts and benefits, while sponsored children play, use the library, receive tutoring and training and attend youth program functions. Beyond the monthly donation, sponsors can make additional gifts directly to their child, and we’ve taken advantage of the opportunity many, many times. We’ve given clothes and toys, but poverty changes the needs for gifts and the CI staff helps.

Jazmin shows off her final gifts as she graduates from the CI program

They do let some of the fun stuff get through, but they also use some of the money for more necessary things like furniture, appliances, even construction materials if that’s what the family needs. Working with CI, and working hard on her own, Jazmin has put these gifts to work to build the stable and healthy life she deserves. In her periodical letters we watched as she went through elementary and high school and finally struggled to be accepted into college, the police academy, or the Ecuadorian military. Her last letter as she turned 18 and graduated the CI program put icing on the cake… Jazmin won her struggle to be accepted by a university, and she will begin studying law this year!

Children International is one of the many charities that have made a commitment to helping these kids obtain the food, medical and dental care, education, clothes, and shelter they need to have a chance at life. CI connects sponsors with individual children around the world, putting a personal face on the impersonal and pervasive endemic in the areas CI works. CI began in 1936 as “Holy Land Christian Mission”, but today is a secular organization operating in 10 countries, and more than 300,000 sponsored children and their families are currently benefiting from one or more of their programs. About 83% of each dollar to program costs that directly help their benefit the children, while the remainder is split between 11.2% fundraising expenses and 5.7% administrative expenses. Funds collected provide goods and services for sponsored children and their families, primarily in the areas of health and education. Field experts in international health and human services conduct personal on-site evaluations to verify that benefits are delivered effectively.

Our newest adopted child… 5-year-old Kerly Anahi Herrera Simba

Despite the best efforts of Children International, Tom Dwyer Automotive, and possibly even Genesis Jazmin herself one day, poverty will continue to exist. But CI isn’t quitting and neither are we. Now that Jazmin has left the nest we’re adopting another child… say hello to 5-year-old Kerly Anahi Herrera Simba. We’ll keep you posted on her progress!

At Tom Dwyer Automotive we try very hard to be more than just an auto repair shop. Business is important, profit is important, but a business must give back to the world or else it’s just a parasite. We give to many worthy causes, CI being just one, but it’s only possible because of the strong support of our clients through the years. THANK YOU so much for your support! And we hope to keep making a difference in the lives of all the people we meet… clients or otherwise!