Category: Sponsor a child

awareness trips, Community, Get involved, Sponsor a child, Sponsor an aging friend, Unbound
Jun 30 2018

True impressions of an Unbound trip coordinator

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What I’ve learned on Unbound awareness trips

Unbound staff member Joanna Pergande (second from right) with sponsors Servando, Susan, Christine and Albert on an awareness trip to Colombia.

Unbound staff member Joanna Pergande (second from right) with sponsors Servando, Susan, Christine and Albert on an awareness trip to Colombia.


By Joanna Pergande, Unbound trip coordinator

As a trip coordinator for Unbound, I’ve had the privilege of traveling with sponsors on awareness trips throughout the world. I’ve only been with Unbound since 2014, and I’m amazed by what I’ve been able to experience in the last four years. I’ve been on 14 trips total, traveling to 11 different countries, including Mexico, Chile, Kenya and the Philippines, and I’ve learned something new on each trip, both personally and professionally. During this time, I’ve met hundreds of sponsors from all over the United States and many of our local Unbound staff serving in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

For those still on the fence about going on an awareness trip, and those who want to learn more, here are some of my top learnings from the last four years:
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awareness trips, Sponsor a child, Sponsor an aging friend, Unbound
Jun 23 2018

Travel the world with Unbound

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Announcing Unbound’s 2019 Awareness Trip dates!


Unbound’s 2019 Awareness Trip dates are finally here, and we want you to save the date.

Our trips are an affordable way to have an adventure while learning more about the Unbound program. You’ll visit the communities where we work and see how families are using sponsorship to overcome poverty.

Our trips are open to everyone, so you don’t have to be a sponsor, but if you do sponsor someone, these trips offer an opportunity to meet your sponsored friend.

Whether you want to stay closer to home and visit Mexico or Central America or go farther afield with a trip to Africa or Asia, we have something for everyone. Our summer dates are especially popular with parents wanting to expose their children to something new.

Visit Unbound.org/trips to find the trip that’s right for you. Space is limited, so we recommend applying as soon as possible.

We look forward to traveling with you!

Guatemala, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jun 19 2018

Guatemalans face uncertain futures after Fuego

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Families displaced by volcano wait with unease

Sponsored youth Crisla and her mother, Maria, stay in a shelter after being displaced by the Fuego volcano eruption.


After most natural disasters, people are eventually able to go back home, clean up the material damage and rebuild their lives. The losses of loved ones, valued possessions and means of earning a living take longer to heal, but being home is always a good beginning.

The people displaced by the June 3 eruption of the Fuego volcano in south-central Guatemala hope to be able to go home soon, but for many when — and even if — that will happen is far from certain. Many towns and villages are still considered uninhabitable. Volcanic ash, exacerbated by heavy rains, continues to be a health hazard and toxic material still flows intermittently down the volcano’s southeastern slope. Conditions in some places have only recently become tolerable enough for recovery efforts.

According to Reuters, the official Guatemalan disaster agency, CONRED, said on Sunday that search efforts have been permanently suspended in the most heavily impacted areas of the Escuintla municipality, which are still considered at high risk.

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 people were being housed in shelters or staying with family members or friends, according to an estimate by the Guatemalan health ministry. That number included about 150 members of the Unbound community.
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Guatemala, Philippines, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jun 16 2018

Celebrating heroic dads

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Happy Father's Day from Unbound

Louie in the Philippines takes part in his local Unbound parents group.

For many, our dads are our first heroes. Whether it’s squishing spiders or lifting us up high on their shoulders, dads sometimes seem like they can do anything.

As we grow older, our dads become more human than superhero, but that doesn’t make us want to celebrate them any less. There are myriad examples of heroic dads within Unbound, whether their heroism is more on an everyday basis in their role as fathers or in more extreme situations such as natural disasters.
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Get involved, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jun 2 2018

Running for more

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How the strides of one help challenge poverty for all

Unbound Trailblazer April Arnold and her daughter, Adalynn, hold a photo of their sponsored friend, Maria, from Guatemala.


By April Arnold, Unbound Trailblazer and sponsor

I first started running out of desperation to lose weight from having my daughter. It was a struggle.

I ran in my basement on a treadmill so no one could see me, although at that point it was a lot more walking than running. I slowly built up my endurance and began to run more than I walked. I still remember the first time I completed a 5K on my treadmill. I was so proud of myself because I never thought I would do one. I ran in high school, but I was a sprinter, so I didn’t run more than 200 meters.

When my mom asked me to do a 5K with her, I reluctantly signed up. I was nervous. I never would have thought I would love it and become addicted to group races. It’s a lot more fun to run outside with hundreds of people than alone on my treadmill.

After logging several 5K runs under my belt, I heard about the Unbound Trailblazers through a breakfast meeting we had at work. I really liked the idea of adding a purpose to my runs. It also made me want to challenge myself. So I joined as a Trailblazer and set up my fundraising page. I decided to run the Heartland 30K series, which is three 10K runs in three weeks.

I’d never run a 10K before, so this was going to be a challenge, but I felt like I had a lot of support behind me. Getting postcards from Unbound with words of motivation was just what I needed on tough days.
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Vincent Murmu and Rose Muiruri present at Unbound's Global Insight Series.
Economic Self-Sufficiency, India, Sponsor a child, Tanzania, Unbound
May 12 2018

An investment in mothers that makes sense

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Updates from Unbound's Global Insight Series

By Gustavo Aybar, communications field liaison coordinator

One of the smartest ways to help a child is to invest in a mom.

That was a central message at our third event in the Unbound Global Insight Series, which brought program coordinators Vincent Murmu from India and Rose Muiruri from Tanzania to share their perspectives as frontline staff.

Audience members listen to Unbound’s Andrew Kling, community outreach and media relations director, as he introduces speakers for the spring 2018 Global Insight Series at Unbound’s international headquarters in Kansas City.


The April 25 event at our Kansas City headquarters drew 193 people, while more than 2,500 online users participated via Facebook Live. The evening included presentations by each guest speaker, a question-and-answer portion and a “reverse” Q&A, in which the speakers had a chance to ask questions of the audience.

The coordinators’ accounts illustrated the benefits of entrusting the mothers of sponsored children to make program decisions. These women develop, sharpen and then utilize essential life skills to sustain their families, and they have endured and overcome obstacles that many would describe as insurmountable.
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Sponsor a child, Unbound
May 5 2018

Because moms are never alone

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Watch our latest video to see why we believe in moms across the world

Sleep is hard to come by. A moment of solitude? Not going to happen. Second-guessing the parenting decisions they make daily? Yes.
Add all that stress to living in poverty — any mom would be overwhelmed.

So how do moms keep their families moving forward? Because they’re master multitaskers. Because they mean business when it comes to setting goals. Because they get the job done no matter what. Because moms are stronger together. #becausemoms

Watch now!

Three Kenyan moms look at paperwork together.
Sponsor a child, Unbound
Apr 25 2018

Because we’re better together

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No matter where they are, moms need each other’s support.

Moms around the world understand the need for community. Whether it’s a monthly play date, a Facebook moms group, or a relative close by to lend a hand, community lightens the load, tells us we aren’t alone and becomes our own personal cheering section.

Three Kenyan moms look at paperwork together.

Alice, Lucy and Virginia are members of a mothers group in Kenya. They work together to set goals and create plans to achieve them.

It’s this notion of community that’s foundational to why Unbound is different. Our field staffs help to organize and encourage small groups of women across the Unbound world, to not only help the women leverage their knowledge of their families’ needs, aspirations and talents, but to take full advantage of their own skillsets. Because of their expertise, these moms are well positioned as primary decision makers in our program. We let them shine while remaining available to offer support and encouragement along the way.
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Transita smiles in welcome outside her home.
Education, Guatemala, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Apr 7 2018

‘I will fight for my dreams’

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Guatemalan youth doesn't give up on education

Transita smiles in welcome outside her home.


By Jordan Kimbrell, writer/editor

I recently had a conversation with my grandmother about dreams. We talked about how sometimes they evolve as we mature, or even fade away to be replaced by new ones. I once dreamed of becoming a professional actress (I even started out as a theater major), but anyone who had seen me as a child with my nose constantly in a book wouldn’t be surprised to learn my dream had changed and I ended up as a writer/editor.

What is true of most dreams is that, for them to become reality, they require hard work. For me that meant going back to get my master’s. Luckily, I received a teaching assistantship and had access to student loans to make my educational dreams a reality. But these resources aren’t always available in places where Unbound works, and even with an Unbound sponsorship, once a student reaches upper levels of education the cost may be more than she can afford.

That was the reality Transita, 26, in Guatemala faced when she graduated high school in 2013. She’s been sponsored since 2003, but the many expenses that go along with college were simply more than the sponsorship could help with.
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