Gary Duncan, Assistant Director of Marketing

Edging to Equador

In just a few days, we begin another Study Tour with a group of sponsors who will be visiting the beautiful country of Ecuador. Our flight from the mega-busy Atlanta airport will take us almost six hours over numerous Central American countries and two large bodies of water before we land on a short runway in downtown Quito. I started taking my 'altitude medicine' today to ward off severe headaches, sluggishness, and stomach aches that you may encounter in the high Andean altitude. Our hotel will be in view of six inactive volcanoes...although one continues to belch smoke that can be seen almost 50 miles away.

Although our group is smaller than the usual attendance of 20 to 30 sponsors, we have some unique characteristics contained in this group. First, we will have the youngest Study Tour participant in our 5-year history! His name is Luc and he is 7-years-old. We will also have our first intergenerational group, previous Study Tour participant Marlen and her mom and her daughter. They are from Miami and will bring a unique perspective of family traveling to the CCF Study Tours. We will also welcome back multi-Study Tour participants Jack and Cathie from Georgia. They are always a pleasure to have on these trips and generous with their support for youth projects in so many countries. Jack is a 'technology guru' who uses his talents to help poor villages harness the educational power of computers. We have some new travelers from other parts of the USA that we look forward to welcoming to our travel group.

I am fortunate to have CCF employee Renee of New York who will be helping me with the daily tasks of a Study Tour. Kimberly of Oregon is a new CCF employee of just a few weeks, but she will join us on this tour to see projects, meet National Staff in Ecuador, and get a first-hand look at how sponsorship fees and special gifts positively impact the areas where CCF is working in this country.

I look forward to reporting the events of our journey to you. I will also attempt to get sponsors-- even young Luc-- to add to this blog as we travel throughout Ecuador and explore the Galapagos Island....where there is no Internet service except on tiny Baltra Island and the signal is extremely week and sporadic even on clear days!

Hasta luego!

Gary D.

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William Fleming, HIV/AIDS Program Specialist

We arrived to the sound of drums and singing, a traditional greeting song for visitors. I visited the Kinabwe community project in Kenya to learn how we support children and how we link our sponsorship activities with grant supported programs. We sat with the Parents Executive Committee and discussed the activities supported by CCF for their community including; early childhood development, support for quality education, health promotion, improved livelihoods, and HIV prevention and care.

We moved on to visit two families with sponsored children. In the first, we met with 17-year-old Godfrey, caring for his 10-year-old brother Henry, their parents had died two years earlier. Henry is a sponsored child.

They had received two heifers and poultry which they keep on their small farm. In addition they grow coffee for sale with coffee plants they received through sponsorship. Despite being shy, Henry seems to be receiving good care and love from his brother. As evidence, he was third in his class (4th grade) and proudly showed us his high grades on his class notebooks. He also helps prepare food and keeping the house clean.

The care and attention Godfrey showed underlined the heavy responsibility on the young mans shoulders. While discussing his daily routine and the activities he participated in, he noted that with school, farming and care for Henry, he cannot participate in recreational activities with his peers. Both Godfrey and Henry expressed their gratitude for the sponsorship support, and also mentioned the support they get from the community. For example, the neighbors give extra food when they can. It is clear from Godfrey's description of their daily life that he worried about supporting the family and helping Henry succeed.

The second family we visit is a clean compound with several fruit trees growing in the yard. Two children are cared for by their grandparents who farm and sell coffee harvested for the coffee trees, CCF's economic support activities helped them to grow and market. The family shows us around and explains that he is able to support basic needs like school fees and good nutrition with the assistance that the CCF supported community project has provided.

We moved on to visit a school that CCF sponsors have helped in several ways over the last decade, including class room construction, houses for teachers, and teaching materials. Recent efforts have been made to establish fields of maize and vegetables as a means to teach agricultural skills to students and supplement the school lunches. The maize was stood high in the fields surrounding the school grounds. In discussions with the students, they are clearly sharp and engaged. They ask several questions about the US and were very ready to answer our questions about their class work and interests.

We finished with a visit to a vocational training program supported by CCF with funding from Irish AID. We visited with 12 young men who are learning to be welders with support from a local artisan. These youth, previously out of school and out of work, expressed their hope for the future and the change in their outlook that this program has created. When asked about their participation in HIV prevention activities, after first being a bit shy, they spoke of their knowledge about how HIV is spread and prevented. As young men in their late teens, they recognized that the decisions they make now can have important consequences for their future, we encouraged abstinence and safe sex practices. They acknowledged that they are facing challenges but are optimistic about what they are learning and how they will be able to assist their families as they increase their skills.

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William Fleming, HIV/AIDS Program Specialist

Note from William: I am the CCF HIV/AIDS Program Specialist, responsible for supporting our projects, supporting HIV prevention, and affected families. I came to Uganda to learn more about the Australian Partnerships for African Countries (APAC) project and to identify opportunities for developing new programs using effective approaches developed by the APAC project.


Mr. AIDS crawled out across the grass to explain how he was finding his way into homes across Uganda. Snarling from the ground in a wig and scary mask, Mr. AIDS warned the audience against organizations seeking to help them understand and defeat HIV - including CCF and the APAC project. As he crawled away, the peer educators performed a moving song in English and local language explaining how HIV is spread and what can be done to prevent infection.


"Be wise for a better future…" this was the theme of the poem the young man from the Mafubira Youth Resource Center shared with us. During a recent visit to the center, several young people shared poems, songs and skits they use to raise awareness and support behavior change to prevent HIV infection. We had come to learn about the youth center, which was started with technical and financial support from CCF-Uganda with funding from AusAID through ChildFund Australia.

The center is a rectangle room with walls covered with posters addressing topics such as HIV prevention, family planning, and self esteem for young people. There is also a computer for teaching computer skills, a television and VCR showing educational videos, and shelves with books, newspapers and games. Two basketball poles stand in the corner waiting to be installed. Though too small for the number of youth present, the room is welcoming and educational all in one.

I was part of a team including CCF staff from several countries seeking to learn lessons that we could use to strengthen our work to support children affected by AIDS around the world. The APAC project, implemented in Uganda, Kenya and Zambia seeks to improve the care and support provided to vulnerable children. There is a special focus on improving psychosocial support through training parents and key caregivers, such as teachers and helping them to be better able to care for vulnerable children and youth, including those affected by HIV/AIDS. Through a team of peer educators, CCF and Mafubira Youth Center are also involving youth directly in support for vulnerable children.

APAC project successes include a network of youth organizations that span the sub-county, increased behavior change among youth, improved school attendance, and vocational training that helps youth to develop small businesses. Furthermore, the center is expanding income generation that will help it sustain its activities. But perhaps the most remarkable change is the change youth see in themselves. They are emerging as confident, capable leaders, able to speak to adults and community leaders about the needs of children and youth in their communities. Seeing youth grow into their potential and serving their communities is perhaps the most promising and important development of all.

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Cidade Maravilhosa and the Foz!

By Gary Duncan, Assistant Director of Marketing

It is still very dark as we leave our hotel in Belo Horizonte at 4:30 a.m. for our flight to Rio de Janiero. We are nearly at the end of this Study Tour, but the energy level of our CCF sponsors remains high and positive. How could you not be positive when you know you are going to visit one of the most beautiful cities in the world and then fly down to the Brazilian/Argentine border to see a spectacular waterfall that makes Niagara Falls look puny? Our excellent guide in Belo Horizonte had arranged a group check-in at the airport and we were soon going to taking off into the sunrise with high expectations for today’s adventure in the cidade maravilhosa!

Just an hour of flight time and several people in the group have already excitedly spotted the Christ the Redeemer statue as our plane banks to the north for landing at Rio’s international airport. Landing in Rio on a clear morning almost takes your breath away… the mountains, the bays, the beaches, and the sweet Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf) just waiting to greet us! There is excitement among the CCF sponsors as we claim our luggage and meet Marcelo-- tour guide par excellance! Marcelo grew up poor in the slums of Rio with a single mom who taught him the value of education--he is now working on his PhD and speaks four languages fluently. Marcelo has a wonderful knowledge of Rio, its’ history, local culture, and politics. He has also been the tour guide for every CCF group since the beginning of Study Tours to Brazil about five years ago.

Boarding our large and comfortable bus, Marcelo remarks that there is a lot of luggage and smiles knowingly that the sponsors have been shopping at every stop over the past 10 days. Although CCF does not have an office or projects in Rio, the city serves as an example of urban explosion and all the problems that go with a city experiencing steady growth, high unemployment, and lack of adequate housing. We leave the airport and Marcelo is very candid in explaining the good, the bad, and the ugly of living—and visiting Rio de Janeiro. Most of the news reports in the United States when we hear about Rio’s crime are exaggerated and taken out of the context of life in a big city. Just ask Brazilians about visiting New York City or Miami, they are terrified of what they read and sincerely fear going to those cities.

From the airport, we pass one of the largest slums (favelas) in Rio and notorious for drugs, robberies, and murders. We are soon passing the old colonial part of downtown Rio de Janeiro with its’ beautiful Portuguese-style churches, the opera house and other stunning municipal buildings. Marcelo remarks that we will be having lunch tomorrow at one of the oldest traditional ‘tea rooms’ in Rio called Colombo. After passing the middle-class apartments and condo communities of Flamenco and Botafogo, we pass through a long tunnel taking us to gorgeous Copacabana Beach. The oohs and aahs from the sponsors when they see the beach is typical for anyone on their first visit to this famous beach. Our hotel on Avenida Atlantica is ready for our arrival as well as a large group of street vendors selling everything from jewelry to license plates, they are not pushy, but a lot of fun which is so typical of the Cariocas, which is what Rio residents are called.

Sponsors are asked to proceed immediately to the rooftop pool area where they are given a registration card to complete, served complimentary ‘caipirinhas’, and welcomed to the hotel by members of the management team. Immediately, the sponsors look over the low wall of the rooftop area to get a breathtaking view of the entirety of Copacabana Beach, the Sugarloaf, and a good view of the Christ the Redeemer statue perched on a mountain behind the hotel. It is as if the sponsors have been physically immobilized by some secret mist for they don’t move and continually murmur words of wonderment at what they are viewing. One sponsor jokingly says, “I plan to stay right here on the rooftop for the next three days! You guys can do whatever you want!”

After a quick trip to our rooms, we meet down in the lobby to leave for a beach pizza party, what a relief from all that meat and fish at the traditional churrascaria restaurants on this trip. I have reserved tables for our group at a nearby sidewalk café facing the ocean that serves delicious pizza Brazilian-style. The views of the ocean and palm trees seem to hypnotize our sponsors as they ‘chill out’ and realize they are really in Rio de Janeiro and eating lunch at Copacabana Beach. Soon the street vendors spot our group and the show is on! I try to manage the street sellers but our sponsors are eager to buy their wares, it is an open-air Macy’s basement sale! Many of the street vendors are eager to share their stories and I do my best to translate what they want our sponsor group to know. They are a poor, but industrious group of sales people with a great sense of humor, their marketing of their products is done with humor, class, and a splendid show of entertainment for their customers. Aiiii, how Carioca and Brazilian is this display, and the sponsors love it.

The afternoon soon arrives and we are off to Sugarloaf Mountain for some awe-inspiring views of the city, rivers, bays, mountains, and then back to the hotel to prepare for our short trip to an excellent restaurant in the Leme section of Copacabana. Marius Restaurant is a happening circus, a bonanza of mirth and laughter, a wonderful place to relax on your first night in Rio. We recognize all of our sponsors for their sponsorship of needy children, but give special recognition and a small gift to four sponsors who have been sponsoring children throughout the world for over 25 years! We also recognize sponsors who sponsor more than one child, including one gentleman from Minnesota who sponsors 17 children! CCF is blessed to have such a loyal base of sponsors who are truly part of our international family! We finish dessert and then back to the hotel-- well, not everyone. There is a great little street market on a section of Copacabana Beach which a group of us must explore. It is a 16 block walk back to the hotel late that night, but no one seems to mind given the beautiful moon over the ocean, the cool breezes through the beachfront palms, and the atmosphere of joviality that integrates the rhythm of this cidade maravilhosa. Boa noite or sweet dreams dear sponsors…..and welcome to Rio de Janeiro!

It is our second day in Rio, and everyone is already for breakfast and eager to leave for our visit to the Christ the Redeemer statue or Corcovado. It stands on a very high peak in the middle of the largest urban rain forest in the world called Tijuca. We have arranged for our CCF sponsors to go on a safari adventure this morning, so there are six open-air Jeep type vehicles waiting for our group. They will transport us through the city until we reach the cog-wheel railway station in the northern part of the Botafogo neighborhood. It is indeed strange to ride around Rio in these safari vehicles and watch the reaction of Cariocas on their way to work when they see us --how strange this group must appear to the residents of this city, but the Cariocas smile and some wave a cheerful good morning to us. So Brazilian!

We arrive at the little train station and immediately see groups of other tourists standing in line for the next trip up the mountain… there are Italians, French, Germans, Brazilians, and some folks from the USA all waiting to climb up the mountain side through Tijuca National Forest until we reach the majestic Christ statue at the top. As we wait, some of our CCF sponsors are off to buy souvenirs and take photos of the surroundings. Soon, we board our little train and start up the mountainside through the forest where little signs note the types of trees and plants we are passing. There are two stops as we go up the mountain to let locals on and off the train, at the first stop, a quintet of samba school players get on the train to play and sing for the tourists. It is a scene out of a Fellini movie as we steeply climb the mountain on a little cog-wheel train while joyful samba music is playing and several people are dancing in the aisle of our bonde car.

As we approach the top of the mountain, there is a sudden break in the thick forest and a giant gush of oohs and aahs is heard from the passengers as they catch a glimpse of the beautiful scene several thousand feet below -- Ipanema, Copacabana, and Lagoa. There is not a cloud in the sky on this beautiful day. From the last stop, we either walk up over 700 steps or take an elevator to the base of the statue. From the top of the mountain, the view is unbelievable; it is no wonder people do not want to leave this almost sacred place of beauty. As one sponsor remarked, “this is almost a spiritual experience for me.” No one could deny the peacefulness and exhilaration of seeing Rio de Janeiro from the base of the Christ statue.

We descend the mountain by bonde train until the first stop and then hopped back into our safari vehicles for an exciting ride down the winding road that goes down the mountain through Tijuca Forest to a section of the city called Santa Teresa --which has become an artist colony and place to live for the noveau rich in Rio. We have the afternoon free until dinner at a great little restaurant called ‘Mio’ in Ipanema. CCF sponsor Steve from California is crowned King of Cheesebread and given a Rio fake license plate that reads ‘Sr. Pao de Queijo’. Back to the night market at Copacabana Beach tonight before returning to the hotel for some last minute packing of luggage for the flight to Foz de Iguassu in the morning.

We are flying south to the border of Brazil and Argentina this morning to spend a few days at one of the largest waterfalls in the world, the Foz de Iguasu or Big Water in the native language of indigenous people who still live in the area. It has been almost 30 years since I last visited the Foz and I remember Iguasu being this small town with no paved streets and you had to pay a fisherman to row you across the river to the Argentine side of the waterfalls. No more! The Foz de Iguasu region is a giant international tourism destination with modern facilities on both sides of the border and a booming eco-tourism business. Our group is staying at the historic Cataratas Hotel which faces a portion of the falls on the Brazilian side. During the next two days, we hike around the falls, walk gingerly along catwalks over a portion of the falls, and take a really fun boat trip to the base of one of the falls, yes, we all were drenched but laughing the entire time. It is really good to see Brazil and Argentina develop a healthy industry of eco-tourism that protects the sub-tropical forests, assures the integrity of the falls, and gives employment to so many local people.

You always know when a study tour is almost completed (besides being tired and sometimes a little cranky.) The sponsors showed an emotional display of complete satisfaction with what they have experienced on the study tour and a little sadness that it is all ending within 24 hours, we have to say our goodbyes and return to our home communities. The bonds of friendship formed during a study tour is indicative of a group that has come to Brazil for a common mission, to learn more about Christian Children’s Fund, to visit CCF projects and sponsored children, and to learn more of the history, culture, music and arts of this vast country called Brazil.

As we wait for our flight connection in Sao Paulo, Brazil, international airport, to get to Miami, I see sponsors talking quietly to one another, laughing at some of their digital photos, and making plans to return to Brazil on a future study tour. They will return to the States more bonded with the mission of CCF and eager to recruit new sponsors in their community. Many of them will raise funds from their churches, business associates or civic groups to fund needed projects in Brazil or perhaps a project they visited during this Study Tour. I look forward to receiving copies of their favorite photos from this trip and perhaps visiting with them this year as I travel throughout the United States. Emails, phone calls, and letters will be exchanged for many years to come. Most of all, we have shared a common experience throughout this trip to Brazil that none of us will forget. We have gained so much knowledge of Brazil and its people.

I will miss this group of unique individuals! CCF is fortunate to have them as sponsors and loyal supporters helping needy children throughout the world. I hope to see them again in the near future on other study tour trips! We will continue our CCF Study Tours this year with a trip to Ecuador in July (sorry sold out!) and a fantastic study tour to India in late October. Next year, we will be going to Zambia, Bolivia, Brazil, and maybe even Thailand. There will be more countries announced later this summer!

Thank you to the sponsors and fellow travelers on this Brazil Study Tour. I will never forget you! gary d.

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By Gary Duncan, Assistant Director of Marketing

It is a cool morning today as we prepare to leave the hotel and visit a CCF project located in one of the urban neighborhoods of Belo Horizonte. CCF has been active for many years in both rural and urban areas of this region providing training and leadership in community development, and most importantly, empowering local residents to take charge and make changes in their communities and neighborhoods. As we battle the downtown rush hour traffic this morning in Belo, our minivans wind up and down the hilly neighborhoods of the city until we are almost at the edge of the city. Here is where you find mud adobe and small block houses built haphazardly on hillsides where landslides are common during the rainy season. There are no streets in these favelas (slums) and many of the houses lack electricity and water. These are people who have come to the city seeking work, hoping to give their children a better chance in life, or just to find a glimmer of hope that things will get better. They feel powerless and without direction, but they have the same dreams and ambitions for their children as we do for ours in the United States.

Creeping to the top of one hill, our vans stop in front of several large structures that now serve as a school, training center, and central meeting place for the community. Some of the teachers and nuns are waiting outside to greet our arrival and we are soon ushered into the main building where you could hear the excited laughter and chatter of children in various classrooms. We are quickly seated in an open courtyard area and the neighborhood priest walks slowly to the center of our group to officially welcome us to Projecto Provendencia. He appears to be in his late 70’s, somewhat stooped and wearing common trousers, plaid shirt, and a simple sweater. Dalton, from the CCF-Brazil staff, begins to translate his words to our group. I noticed that he was speaking Portuguese with an Italian accent and later learned that he had immigrated to Brazil with his parents many years ago. He had devoted his life to the parents and children of this poor neighborhood and his accomplishments can only be termed saintly in mission and determination.

As the Priest speaks, he draws parallels of our visit to scripture he reads from the Bible. He says our visit ‘from a land so far away, so full of riches, so full of goodness,’ is so humbling to him… and he begins to cry, choking on his words as he tries not to loose his train of thought. I glance around the room and look at the faces of the CCF sponsors, many of them wiping away tears from their faces as they grasped the sincerity and warmth of the welcoming message from this elderly priest. Dalton maintains his composure as he accurately translates each word, each nuance, and each heartfelt sentiment being expressed by the Father at Projecto Provendencia. His remarks end and we are quickly organized into three groups (this time, I am put in the chirpy blue group!) and guided to the various classrooms of the children. We see their studies, their projects, their youthful exuberance, and sense their ambitions and dreams for a better future.

After the tour, we are brought into a large assembly hall where the children entertain us with songs, music, and dancing. Their enthusiasm is infectious and soon I notice that many of our CCF sponsors are singing and clapping to the music. The sound is joyous as the children give their best performance for this group of visitors and it is hard not to notice that all of the teachers, nuns, and our humble priest are beaming with pride at the excellence of their students. The performance ends with all of the younger children giving hugs to each sponsor, a gigantic international love and display of Brazilian affection for visitors.

Soon, the teachers and students leave the room, and we are there alone with the priest, some members of the CCF-Brazil staff and other community residents. The priest rises from his chair to bid farewell to our group. His words are reverent and emotional as he tells us of the struggles the community has faced in providing for their children. He outlines their challenges as well as their successes throughout the past years, and it is obviously that this is truly a humble man of God.

Of course, no day would be complete in Brazil, without someone, this time THE PRIEST! --mentioning that we must have a snack before leaving. We enter a small room off the large assembly hall where there is a bountiful array of goodies including cakes, candies, breads, juices and coffee. I must admit, it was all delicious! I have developed an almost addiction to the Brazilian snack called pao de queijo (cheese balls/bread) Okay, after two slices of cake, some sticky candy, and over 8 cheese balls. The priest thought we had eaten too little and insisted that we eat more before we leave. Do we really look THAT hungry?

It was back to the hotel in the afternoon and a few hours of rest before our farewell dinner with the national office CCF-Brazilian staff. Oh, did I mention that before the staff took us back to the hotel, they insisted we go to a place called Baby Beef Restaurant for a light lunch to hold us over until dinner. Several sponsors took a pass at this lunch while the majority of us maintained protocol and zoomed through the selections of salads, pasta, meats, and desserts. I make a mental note to go out later this afternoon and buy a larger belt. Back at the hotel, I prepare for the evening’s events and farewell ceremony. We have brought small gifts for our Brazilian staff colleagues and they must be wrapped and gift-bagged before 7 p.m.! All I want to do is lay down on that inviting bed in my room and sleep for a few hours. No such luck since I must check email from the office, start repacking my luggage for the early morning departure tomorrow from Belo, and call our tour guide in Rio de Janeiro to assure him that we do NOT need any snacks while in Rio!

The Farewell Dinner that evening was wonderful with our CCF-Brazilian staff and sponsors sharing memories and heartfelt feelings of their visit to Belo Horizonte, the value of Study Tour to Brazil, and how we would all like to return to this wonderful state one day in the future. After an excellent musical presentation by local children from one of the CCF projects and an emotional video of a gentleman speaking about his life as a poor youngster who had been helped by CCF, and many kind testimonials by CCF sponsors and Brazilian staff, we reluctantly call it a night.

We were soon off to bed after the last speech and hugs all around the room. Tomorrow, the group moves on to the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro with some great memories of our stay in the state of Minas Gerais. Before heading up to my room, I visually survey our CCF Study Tour group of sponsors and it strikes me how rich a family of travelers CCF has produced. From 19 year old Michael, who will be a second year student at UNC this Fall, to several people who are retired and have sponsored children through CCF for over 25 years. We are from small towns and very large cities, US and foreign born, a multitude of occupational backgrounds, friends, family, and companions united by one mission to help children in need and visit CCF projects. It is a remarkably diverse, yet blended fabric of altruistic individuals who are making a difference in the lives of children who they may never meet and yet there is this strong bond that unites us all.

I think of our early founders of CCF as they struggled to help children in China both pre and post-WWII. Surely, they must have experienced moments of doubt if this organization could ever survive with such a simple mission and yet a life-saving goal for children in need throughout the world. I think our founders would be pleased to see what Christian Children’s Fund has become and the unity it has brought to both sponsors and sponsored children, a sponsor trying to give a child a chance in life which is how it was in the beginning and that is how it continues today. Simple and yet so very effective!

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