Childspring (2007)

If you’ve been overseas and saddened after seeing a child with a physical problem you knew would be treated if he had been born in the USA, then you will understand the need for Childspring International. Childspring International exists to solve medical problems for children around the world, in turn boosting their self confidence, and then continues by helping the children further their education in their home countries. Childspring International Director Emily Rose Bermudez shared story after story of successfully serving children at CityLights last Tuesday.

            For example, eighteen year old Bernadette from Haiti came to the USA for treatment of her cleft palate. Worse than her medical condition, though, was the shame she had toward herself. She literally covered her face when meeting someone before her operation. However, after being treated by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Bernadette is in school in Haiti proudly learning to sew.

            Children from other countries are not the only ones benefiting from Childspring’s work. Rose Emily shared a story about a teenage girl whose parents hosted a boy in their home while he was being treated in Atlanta. Normally, the teenager came home from school to shut herself in her room to listen to music. Once the Childspring child arrived, however, the adolescent rushed home from school to play with the boy and even stopped by her mother’s room one evening to say, “I love you.” Like many host families, this family received as much from the child they served as did the child who stayed in their home.

            Childspring helped 100 children in 2006. Many children were treated in Atlanta, but others were helped in cities such as Boston, Dallas, New Orleans, and even in other countries such as Kenya and Columbia. Rose Emily sees one role of Childspring to challenge nations to consider how they may better serve their own. Practical ways to help Childspring are to be a host family, donate money or in kind gifts, or give frequent flyer miles to transport a child to the host city. For more information, please see the Childspring website at www.childspringintl.org.