NORMITA LOPEZ
By Dave Roberts
Well by now most of you know the
rules, the story has to have a link to the South
West. Normita lives in the Phillipines, and has
done all her life, so what are we doing making her
the people story?
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The link is through John and Heather Powell,
who to most people look unremarkable. What
is remarkable is that for nearly 30 years
Heather has been writing a cheque for what
seems like a small amount and in that time
has impacted on the lives of young people
like Normita.
In about 1988, Normita was living in poverty
in Quezon city, which had been swallowed by
the ever expanding metropolis of Manila. One
of eight siblings, born into a poor family,
Normita was destined to live as one of an
underclass in a society that had developed
in that way. The government of the Phillipines
provides education right through the primary
school age range, but the poorest families
cannot afford associated costs and the likelihood
of her escaping the cycle was low.
Heather had been involved in sponsoring children
for about ten years previously and one girl
in the Phillipines had just graduated, when
she chose in a fairly random way to sponsor
six year old Normita. From that time for about
12 years Heather, now
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John, sent a cheque which at today's prices
is about $30.00 per month, and with that was
able to provide support to Normita and the rest
of her family. The money, which is worth in
the order of a cappucino every three days, kept
the little girl in school to the end of high
school, looked after her health care and provided
reasonable nutrition in the home. Even today,
young people in that and many other countries
are falling out of primary school because they
are needed to work or a pencil is too much for
their families to purchase. Even today, young
people are struggling to make it through school
while their parents feed them what they can,
but not enough to stave off malnutrition. |
There is nothing that would make the
Powells stand out in a crowd, but in 1988 they took
on a young girl in a country they'd never seen,
and though they haven't changed poverty in that
country, they've broken the cycle for one person.
In 2000, just weeks before Normita turned 18 and
thus was removed from the program, John and Heather
scraped together the money to visit the Phillipines.
The trip clearly had a significant impact on the
Powells, who since then have found that it'sa much
easier to write to their sponsored children. They
used to love getting the letters from their children
too, but it carries that much more joy now. And
how do I measure that the process has impacted on
them? Well when we did this interview the Powells
told me that they had two new "daughters"
sponsored in the Phillipines. Then we talked about
their three "sons" in the same country.
Then about their new boy in Kenya. In any given
month they're now making an impact on the lives
of six young people.
So what is the impact on Normita?
John and Heather went back to the Phillipines in
2004 to see their sponsored children. The trip is
done in very simple ways and there are no 5 star
hotels in the itinerary. While there though, some
contacts arranged for them to see Normita. She brought
Nicole with her.... the Powells are now "grandparents"
in the Phillipines. Her husband is involved in the
telecommunications industry there, and the future
for Nicole is much brighter than it had seemed for
Normita.
We love this story. We don't want
to promote one aid group over another... The Powells
use the Australian Baptist World Aid group. The
South West Life staff have involvements with Compassion
Australia. World Vision are important, and there
are similar schemes that very probably have links
through your own community or tradition. What we
want to say is that this is a really splendid thing
you can do, and that looking into the face of your
"grandchild" in another nation, whose
life can be sustainable because of the kickstart
you gave them is a real possibility. Thirty bucks
a month in the South West might be a bargain, see
what you can do with it.
March 2005
