# SomosUnoMásEnLaFamilia
This is the story of the trip of a Spanish family to Ghana, where they met the two children who have sponsored and the whole community that takes care of them. But it is, first and foremost, the story of how to put ourselves in the shoes of others can change our lives even if everything seems to be the same.
It is so difficult not to fall into the networks of consumerism that surrounds us. It is so difficult to live centered on what really matters, in the family, in sharing, not in spending. It is so difficult to face Christmas from that perspective, that sometimes we get a good knock to return us to the best way, to make us focus again on what, although we knew it was important, had faded in the rush from day to day.
Verdeliss, the name Estefanía uses in her social networks, where she has thousands of followers, is a mother, a madrassa, a good mother with a sweet voice and a permanent smile, a tireless worker -at home and on her blog- and a permanent seeder of joy. In addition to its six children, it has two sponsored through World Vision, a well-established NGO with multiple projects around the world.
From the sum of the two circumstances emerged the possibility of Verdeliss traveling to Ghana with three of his children to meet their sponsored children and the work that the NGO carries out in the country.
The equation was perfect but they had not had a surprise variable: Verdeliss and his family was going to receive a lot more than they could give. And although they have now returned to their everyday life, something has changed in their lives. There is a before and after. Because now, more than ever, they have all understood what is important.
With the necessary precautions and necessary vaccinations, with coverage and even with some fear for what might happen, she started for Africa and does not regret it at all because, if the experience has been positive for her husband and for her, it is even more striking how her children have taken her. For Estefania, as children traveled with less prejudice, they were less 'contaminated' and lived that experience in a precious way. "It has been a brutal experience for them and we know we have not been wrong."
Laia's clothes
When Laia (5 years old) arrived at one of the savings communities that she visited on her trip to Ghana with World Vision and they began to distribute the clothes they had brought for them, she was impressed. "His gaze stayed on me, his comments: 'Mama, they do not have clothes, and the one they have is broken.' They have come back valued more what they have, what things cost."
Verdeliss was particularly struck by the way in which they understood that what is necessary is enough. When they delivered the clothes and some toys of their children that they had brought to Africa, they did not take them out of their hands. On the contrary, the community saved it properly so that it could be distributed according to the needs.
There is nothing myth about that idea that they live happier. The secret, explains Estefanía, is that "human relations are more important to them". And they are less bound by possessions so that they have less distractions from what really matters.
A different letter to the Kings
At Verdeliss house they are not much to ask for. They know that they do not need so many toys, that there are those who have a hard time. But his six children are as children as everyone. And, before the advertising avalanche that precedes Christmas, his letters to the Magi never lack ideas.
This year they also have some wishes. Less, because since his trip to Ghana and now that Eric and Nlenye are one more in the family, they have changed the wish list. Now they ask for more for others and less for them, because one of the lessons that have been brought from Africa is that sharing is the best gift. They ask for games that they can share, because brothers there matter more than material. And they ask, of course, for their sponsored.
What has also changed is the heading of those letters. Until now, every year, like all children, they started with a traditional "this year I have behaved very well", a justification that seems a sine qua non condition for the Kings to come. But this Christmas they start with a request; "That we be happy, that we do not lack the illusion and the joy of being together".
What is a sponsorship?
A sponsorship is a form of collaboration with those who need it most. World Vision uses this system that allows us to establish a greater link with the projects with which we work. Sponsorship is a form of two-way solidarity: because through the bond that sponsors build with their sponsored children, they approach other realities and know the causes of poverty.
- Donations from godparents they are used to finance development projects, which benefit both children and their families.
- These funds allow the NGO act in solidarity and bring humanitarian aid to all families and children alike.
- In each country the needs are different, but they always carry out activities in fundamental areas: education, nutrition, health, increase in family income and training of communities.
- Families of children they know how sponsorship works and they get actively involved: taking pictures of the children, writing letters to the sponsors and in the activities of the projects.
- Godparents in Spain they receive both the particular progress of the child they are sponsoring and the development project that is carried out in the child's population.
With your donation, a long-term help is given to a specific community, the family they support, and above all, their sponsored child.
