I've had an odd experience over the last week or so, and what better way is there to deal with an odd experience by blogging about it? None, I say.

This year, my mother had a brilliant idea on what our family should give each other for Christmas - nothing. We're a family that consists entirely of adults now (noone under the age of 25), and so instead of wasting our money on bobbles and trinkets, we agreed to donate to charity in each other's name.

This was indeed a brilliant idea, which I hope will continue for years to come.

In addition to purchasing some chickens and hens for a poor family in Africa (among other gifts), I also decided to get into “Child Sponsorship.” I hesitate to say an unkind word about this program, but you have to realize going in that your money does not go to that specific child whose sad picture comes included in the welcome package. Instead, it goes to support programs in that child's community.

Of course, it would be nice if some money did make its way to the specific child you think you're sponsoring, but I also realize the enormous overhead that it would take to do such a thing, so that my $30 would turn into only $10 after administrative costs are subtracted. And certainly the child sponsorship charities mention the fact that gifts of some value (money or presents) could spark jealously among other kids, which could trigger robberies and other nastiness. So, although it would be nice to send money directly to a poor child somewhere, it's probably for the best that a medical center is built, a clean water well is dug, or an elementary school is provided with textbooks.

This whole experience has given me a new outlook on charity, and I intend to continue to give all year, not just at Christmas. It's amazing.

Now here we come to the point of this post. As interested as I currently am in my child (Namthip in Wang Wiset, Thailand) and thinking of other ways to help, I am equally dumbstruck at how it appears I am the last person to discover this.

I tell my little story about how purchasing chickens led me to sponsor a child, and one of my boss' tells an amazing story of how she sponsors 4 children - one for each of her own 4 children, and of the same gender and age as her kids. One project manager I tell mentions how she sponsors 2 children. I tell another friend of mine, and he sponsors a child as well.

Hmph. That certainly takes some of the fun out of it. I mean, I still feel like giving and I definitely intend to do more, but I haven't been able to pass my joy along to anyone else yet... I'm the last one to the party.