2009 has been an exciting year at Whole Child. Working in orphanages of both Nicaragua and El Salvador, our year was filled with continuing our work in our existing orphanages while we staged new interventions in both countries. Thanks to our supporters, we were able to reach many more institutionalized children and continue to refine of our program to ensure that we meaningfully improve their lives to the highest degree.

Program Refinement and Expansion

One of the most compelling new elements of our program is the documentation of the life of each institutionalized child. Whole Child has provided each child with a memory book, and has trained each caregiver to recognize and document key moments in every boy’s and girl’s life and record her observations in the memory book. When possible, caregivers also include photographs and other keepsakes. The memory books provide children with a sense of their own personal history, while fostering a deepened relationship between the primary caregiver and child. Most children leave an orphanage with no record of their months, years, or entire childhoods while in institutional care. Whole Child’s memory book program is a gift to each child that will truly last a lifetime.

In El Salvador, 2009 brought a significant change in government. The full implementation of Whole Child programs depends on a close collaboration with the ministries that oversee child welfare systems. Therefore, a smooth transition was especially important to maintain the continuity of our work. We are pleased to say that the new government of Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes has been a receptive and collaborative partner. Most notably and importantly, the new First Lady, Dr. Vanda Pignato, has embraced our work and we are looking forward to a long and rewarding partnership with her and her office in the years to come.

Building Key Partnerships

In 2009 Whole Child celebrated its second year of participation in the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), President Bill Clinton’s preeminent charitable organization, which pairs carefully screened charities with appropriate funding partners. This year, Whole Child was selected as one of the top NGOs at CGI with an announcement of our CGI Commitment to Action. CGI highlighted our organization and our current and forthcoming work as an example of how to alleviate the crisis of the care of vulnerable children in the developing world.

Another of our key supporters, SISEL International, stepped up its financial contributions in 2009 and has played an instrumental role in securing our future during these difficult financial times. As of this writing, Founder and CEO Karen Gordon has just returned from Nicaragua, where SISEL provided and helped distribute gifts to the children and their caregivers for the holidays.

With all the opportunity that 2010 brings, Whole Child International needs financial support for our ambitious and cost-effective answer to one of the world’s most enduring problems — the devastating developmental impact of poor caregiving on the millions of children who live in institutions. As an early intervention program, the sooner we reach each child, the more benefit that child will have from our work. With a strong program in place for replication, our financial resources are the greatest limiter of the number of children we can reach.

Please visit www.wholechild.org/giving to donate. By expanding our capacity to reach new orphanages and new countries, your donation will have tremendous and direct impact on the world’s least fortunate children.

Whole Child International is a 501(c)(3) public charity. All contributions are tax-deductible in the United States to the fullest extent of the law.