Compassion Explorer - Winter 2010

WINTER 2010 VO L . 1 , N O . 1 FIRST ISSUE FOR KIDSFOR KIDS

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compassion.com

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society ®. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

EDITOR Leanna Summers

PROOFREADING AND EDITING Colleen Keeffe and Suellen Wenz

DESIGNER Josh Lewis

PHOTOGRAPHERS Chuck Bigger and Elizabeth Karanja

WRITERS Lorie W. Barnes and Leanna Summers

PRINTING Michelle Dana

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? E-mail us at [email protected] or write to Compassion International, Attn: Compassion Explorer Magazine Editor, 12290 Voyager Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO 80921.

Compassion Explorer Magazine is published by Compassion International. © Compassion International 2010. All rights reserved.

Welcome to My World!See what life is like for a Maasai girl in Kenya.

Big Dreams, BigFaith, Big God Read how one girl is helping babies and moms in a village in Kenya.

DepartmentsCompassionate Kids

School Days

Word Scramble

Crafts, Recipes and Projects

Artistic Kids

Safari Puzzler

Science Is So Fun!

Health Matters

What Does God Say About … ?

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COUNTRIES WHERE COMPASSION WORKS

I’m so happy you’re here. Karibu means “welcome” in the African language of Swahili. In this issue of Compassion Explorer Magazine, you’ll get to make African crafts and food, and

learn about life in an African village! So come on in and check it out!

Karibu, kids!

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Karibu kids,I’m so happy you’re here! Karibu means “welcome” in the African language of Swahili. This is a language spoken in many countries in eastern and central Africa. In this issue of Compassion Explorer Magazine, you’ll get to make African crafts, food, and learn about life in an African village! So come with me. I can’t wait to show you around!

Kaitlyn MaherAge 6, from Virginia

Kaitlyn Maher’s got quite a voice! She sang on the television show called America’s Got Talent. She also sang for President George W. Bush and is in a Disney movie! And Kaitlyn just released a new music CD.

Kaitlyn was sad when she learned some kids don’t get enough to eat. With her parents’ help, she fi gured out one thing she can do for these kids. She’s giving some of the money she earns from her CD to Compassion to help kids who don’t get enough to eat! Now that’s one girl who’s taking her talent to a whole new level!

Kendra and IsabellaAge 12 and Age 7, from Colorado

Kendra and Isabella are two girls on a mission. They wanted to teach their friends about what life is like for poor kids. So they made a poster and brought it to a Girl Scouts event. The poster showed what life is like for Vianca, their

sponsored child in Peru. What compassionate kids!

Kendra: I think it’s important to teach other kids about poverty because they might want to help too, and there are lots of people out there who need help.

Bella: It made me happy I could share with kids because if we didn’t sponsor Vianca, she wouldn’t get to go to school.

3WINTER 2010

BY LORIE W. BARNES WITH ELIZABETH KARANJA, PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELIZABETH KARANJA

Irene gathers sticks to make a fi re to cook dinner.

Meet Irene Natumoi. She is a Compassion-sponsored child. She is 11 years old and is part of the Maasai tribe in Kenya. The Maasai raise cows and are nomadic, which means they move from place to place in search of grass and water for their cows.

Sponsorship is the best thing that has happened to Irene. This is because many Maasai families are too poor to keep their girls in school. Some girls get married as young as 11 years old. But because Irene has a Compassion sponsor, she does not have to marry. Instead, she can learn at school and play at the Compassion child development center!

Life in a Maasai VillageThe Maasai live in houses called inkajijik. Many houses are made of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and cow urine. Women and girls make the houses, haul water, collect fi rewood, milk cattle and cook. Men who are warriors watch for wild animals to help keep everyone safe in the village. Boys are responsible for herding livestock.

Meet my family!This is my family in front of our old house. Turn the page to see my new house!

What’s life like in a Maasai village in Kenya? Read on to fi nd out!

The Maasai Region

Cattle are very valuable to the Maasai. These nomadic people eat beef and drink cow’s milk. The wealthiest Maasai families own the most cattle.

This drum is made out of animal skin.

My brotherJoshua

My sister Mercy

My sisterLorna

My sister

My dadDaniel

My momKingasunyeKingasunye

My brotherOisula

My sister My brother

Lemiso

Me

THE MAASAI REGION

WINTER 2010 5

Here’s my new house! My Compassion sponsor sent some money and our family used it for what we needed most — a new house and a bed! The house is made of bricks and has iron sheets for the roof. Our old house had a grass roof so it leaked a lot when it rained. This new house doesn’t leak at all!

My old bed.I used to sleep on these animal skins before I got my new house and new bed! Sheets cost $3 in Kenya, but my parents did not have enough money to buy them for me.

Time to do some homework!We don’t have electricity in our house, but my sisters and I can do our homework by a lantern Compassion gave us.

Friends are great!Here I am with my friends at Compassion’s student center. We are in our school uniforms and are studying.

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2 3homework by a lantern Compassion

Cool water bottle! The Maasai use a dried squash to make a bottle for milk and water, and they decorate it with leather and beads.

6 compassion explorer

What does Compassion provide for many sponsored kids? Unscramble the words to fi nd out. If you get stuck, look on the back cover for the answers.

1. DOOF 4. NELCA RETAW

7. TORDOC

2. ICINMEED

5. SBIBEL 8. DNGRUOYALP

3. LOHOSC

6. OLTHESC

walkingslate and chalk

driving

notebook, pencils, pens, paper and more

Getting to SchoolSchool Supplies

beans and a banana

studying with a lantern

peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an apple, chips and a drink studying at a desk

with a computer

Lunch

Homework

Here are some similarities and differences between school in Africa and school in the United States. Can you think of other similarities and differences?

© STEVE G

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© STEVE G

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WINTER 2010 7

Don’t forget to ask your parents for help!

African kids who are poor can’t afford to buy toys, so they make them. See if you can make a ball like kids in Africa do!

Supplies: 6 plastic shopping bags

(grocery size)

Yarn or twine

Wad 5 bags into a ball. Wrap the handles

of the bag around the wad and tie the ends.

Wrap the twine or yarn around the ball and tie the ends. You are now ready for a game of soccer!

Place the wad of bags into another bag.

Close the bag.

Africans often use recycled items to make beautiful jewelry, like these beads made from recycled paper. Try making the beads, and then string them together to make necklaces or bracelets.

Supplies:

5 pages from old catalogs or magazines

1 bottle of glue or one glue stick

1 wooden skewer

How to: 1 Cut triangle-shaped strips out of

your catalog or magazine pages. The bottom of the strip should be

wider than the top of the strip. Make the strips 1/2 inch at the base and 10 inches long.

2 Take 1 of the triangles you have made. Tightly roll it around the skewer. Glue down the tip. Continue rolling your triangles onto the skewer and leave them to dry.

3 Ta-da! Your beads are now ready to be made into beautiful, colorful creations!

Grocery Bag Balls

Paper Beads

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Discarded plastic bags are a big problem. They often drift into the ocean and kill or disable thousands of marine animals and seabirds each year.

You can help keep more bags from ending up in the trash! Recycle your bags — or better yet, use cloth shopping bags instead.

8 compassion explorer

Ingredients 2 very ripe plantains 3 tablespoons of butter, melted 3 tablespoons of brown sugar 1/3 cup shredded coconut, toasted 1 9-inch square of aluminum foil

Note: You can fi nd plantains in the grocery store, but you can also use bananas for this recipe.

Directions1 Heat your oven to 375°F.

2 Peel and cut each plantain in half, then cut the halves in half.

3 Mix the brown sugar and melted butter together.

4 Arrange the plantains on the aluminum foil. Brush the butter and brown sugar mixture onto both sides of the plantains.

5 Make a pouch for the plantains with the aluminum foil and bake them for 40 minutes, or until they are soft.

6 Arrange your baked plantains in a bowl, sprinkle with coconut, and enjoy!

Note: If you are using bananas instead of plantains, cook them for only about 10 minutes, or until they are soft.

Baked PlantainsAsk an adult to help you!

CarolynAge 6, from Massachusetts

Nope! Plantains are a type of banana popular in Africa. They are not usually eaten raw. Ripe plantains look rotten because they have black spots or are completely black, but that’s when they are sweetest to eat!

Rotten Bananas?

Do you have a drawing of your house, family, pets or friends? How about a picture of what you’d like to be when you grow up? Send it to us! We might feature it in an upcoming issue of

Compassion Explorer Magazine! Include your name, age and where you live. Send them to: Compassion InternationalAttn: Editor, Compassion Explorer Magazine12290 Voyager Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO 80921

Or e-mail them to: [email protected]

WINTER 2010 9

BY LEANNA SUMMERS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHUCK BIGGER

10 compassion explorer

Emily learned that millions of babies in Africa die every year. They die because they don’t get enough to eat or don’t get medicine when they’re sick. She also learned that Compassion’s Child Survival

Program helps poor moms and babies stay healthy.

Emily wanted to raise enough money to start a Compassion Child Survival Program in Embu, a village in Kenya. It wouldn’t be easy because she needed a lot of money: $40,000.

“I didn’t really know how God would work it out,” says Emily. “So I prayed about it.”

With her mom’s help, Emily wrote letters to her family and friends. Emily asked them to send money. She had a bake sale. She had a car wash and a bowl-a-thon. She even had a concert at her church. In just a few months she raised $12,000!

Emily wasn’t sure how she could raise the rest of the money. But she kept praying — and God answered her prayers. A friend heard about Emily’s plan and gave her the rest of the money!

When Emily found out, she jumped up and down. “It was awesome! I was so excited!” she says. But Emily had just one more thing to do.

She wanted to visit the moms and babies she helped. It wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be to get to Africa. The year she was supposed to go her trip was canceled. Finally, three years later when she was 15 she got to go! She stuffed her suitcases with baby bottles, blankets, and toys and took a long plane ride from her home in Atlanta, Georgia, to Kenya. Her family went with her.

When Emily arrived in Embu, babies giggled as she handed them the toys. Their moms hugged her and said, “Thank you.”

One mom told her about how her baby was sick but Compassion’s Child Survival Program provided the medicine she needed.

Emily is so happy she can help babies and moms, and says other kids with big hearts can help poor people, too. She tells kids, “Find your passion and go with it, and God will really bless you with it.”

“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

— Matthew 17:20

When Emily Blake was 12, she dreamed of helping sick babies. She never thought her dream would take her as far as it did — all the way to Africa!

Where is Embu?

Is God calling you to do something big for Him?

You can do all things through Christ!

Emily serves lunch to moms and babies in Embu.

WINTER 2010 11

Do you know the names of different groups of African animals? For example, a group of leopards is called a leap. Good luck! Answers are on the back cover.

1. GIRAFFES 2. HIPPOS 3. WARTHOGS

4. ZEBRAS 5. LIONS 6. CHEETAHS

7. CROCODILES 8. ELEPHANTS

Lion = SimbaElephant = TemboGiraffe = Twiga

Hippo = KibokoCrocodile = Mamba Cheetah = Duma

Animals in Swahili!Swahili is one of the many languages spoken in Kenya. See if you can pronounce some of these animal names in Swahili!

12 compassion explorer

How to Do the Experiment:Assemble your supplies. It’s a good idea to place the bowl in a sunny spot and assemble the materials in that location.

1 Mix the water in the bowl with the salt, a few drops of food dye, and a few teaspoons of the spices until the water looks dirty!

2 Place the drinking glass in the center of the bowl.

3 Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap so that it is a little loose. Place the pebble on top of the plastic in the center so that it is exactly above the top of the drinking glass. Make sure the bowl set up is in a sunny location in your home.

4 Leave the bowl in the sunshine for two or three hours and check on it regularly to note what is happening.

The temperature in the bowl will increase. This heat will evaporate the dirty water. When the water vapor reaches the plastic sheet, it will form water droplets. This water will run down the plastic sheet and drip into the cup. Now this water is clean and good to drink!

Supplies:

1 LARGE CLEAR BOWL

2 TABLESPOONS OF SALT

DRINKING GLASS WITH 1 CUP OF WATER

CLEAR PLASTIC WRAP

FOOD DYE, (ANY COLOR)

1 PEBBLE

Dirty water makes kids sick. Around the world more than 5,000 kids younger than 5 years old die every day from diarrhea.

OPTIONAL: Spices such as garlic or chili powder.

© STEVE G

RAY

BY LORIE W. BARNES

WINTER 2010 13

Malaria is a disease carried by mosquitoes. The kinds of mosquitoes that carry malaria aren’t found in the United States, but malaria is a big problem in Africa. Follow the numbers to learn more.

Kids live near dirty water.

Mosquitoes bite kids.

Kids get sick.Mosquitoes hatch in the dirty water.

Malaria kills more kids in Africa than any other disease. About 1 million people die every year from malaria. Most people who die are African children under 5 years old.

Nets keep kids safe!Mosquitoes that carry malaria bite only at night. Compassion provides sponsored kids with nets and kids who sleep in mosquito nets don’t get sick!

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Kids live near dirty water.

Mosquitoes hatch in the dirty water.

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dirty water.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes bite kids.

3bite kids.

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Start Exploring!Compassion Explorers are always asking questions and searching for answers. They fi nd them in God’s Map for Life, the Bible!

Read or listen to Psalm 139:1-16. Put YOUR name in every place where you read the words “I” or “me” in the Bible verse. Now, read or listen to Psalm 139:1-16 again and this time use the name of your sponsored child or an African child’s name instead of your name. What did you learn about God’s love for you and all kids from this Bible verse? How do we know that we are special to God?

Now read the Bible verse below, then answer this question: What was God’s fi rst plan and best idea for every kid?

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” - Jeremiah 29:11

This is God’s fi rst and best idea for every child. But many poor kids can’t go to school, get medicine or enough food. Many of these kids get help through Compassion. But compassionate kids know that God wants them to help all kids in need. It’s easier than you think. All you have to do is pray for them!

Now you can help kids see how much God loves them!

Dear Jesus,Thank you for giving me hope and a future. I pray for kids in Africa who need to know Your love today and need to discover You, Jesus, as their Savior and Lord. I pray for those kids who are hungry or sick or don’t have clean water. And I pray for (name of someone you know) here in my country who needs Your love, too.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

You don’t have to travel to Africa to fi nd kids in need. How can you help someone who might need to have a friend to play with or talk to?

BY LORIE W. BARNES

WINTER 2010 15

In Ethiopia not everyone can afford a car, so they use camels like this one to help carry everything — even suitcases and furniture!

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Check out Compassion’s Web site for kids:

.org.org

Can you write a caption for this picture?

Send it to: Compassion International, Attn: Compassion Explorer Magazine

Editor, 12290 Voyager Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO 80921. Or e-mail it to

[email protected].

AnswersWord Scramble, page 7 1. food 2. medicine 3. school4. clean water 5. Bibles 6. clothes 7. doctor 8. playground

Safari Puzzler, page 12 1. herd, corps or tower 2. bloat3. sounder, drift or herd 4. herd or zeal 5. pride6. coalition 7. bask or fl oat 8. memory or herd

Compassion International12290 Voyager ParkwayColorado Springs, CO 80921-3668(800) 336-7676