How often will I get a letter from my godchild?
You will receive a letter from your godchild twice a year: one during the school year and one at the end of the school year. The second letter will contain their school results. Of course it would be pleasant for your godchild if you send them a letter as well.
How do I start?
Your godchild is probably very young, so it will not be necessary to write an incredibly long letter. A nice postcard or a lovely drawing would be pleasant as well. It is very important that you introduce yourself: tell them something about you and your family members. It would be nice if you add a picture so they can see what you (and your family) look like. You will also be curious to know what your godchild looks like. You can tell them something about your work, life in Belgium, your hobbies, things that are typical for our culture like Christmas, visiting your grandparents on Sunday, Belgian fries, football and so on. There is so much you can talk about.
Be careful that you do not flaunt your belongings or your housing conditions. Your godchild comes from a very poor family and is not used to this kind of wealth. You should also take into account that the English or French of your godchild will not be very advanced. Introduce yourself as ‘your Cunina godparent’ or ‘Cunina parrain’. A lot of parents call themselves ‘mommy/daddy’ or ‘maman/papa’ which is well intended, but causes a lot of confusion. Most of the Cunina godchildren still have one or two parents.
What can I ask my godchild?
Feel free to ask your godchild a few things, but try not to bombard them with questions. They are not used to all these questions. Besides, their world is a lot smaller than yours.
- Do you have any brothers or sisters?
- What time do you get up?
- How do you go to school?
- What is your favorite subject in school?
- What is your favorite meal?
- What are the names of your friends?
Can I ask anything?
The cultural differences between you and your godchild are too big, so you cannot ask them anything you like. A well-intended question like “What would you like to be when you are older?” can be wrongly interpreted by your godchild. They will think that they get to choose their education and that you, their godparent, will pay for all the costs.
That is why “I will always help you” is not a good message either. Cunina godchildren come from very poor families. These kind of messages create expectations that you will not be able to fulfil.
How long will I have to wait for a reply?
You will receive a letter from your godchild twice a year: one during the school year and one at the end of the school year. The second letter will contain their school report. Please remember that it might take a while before you will receive their letter and especially their school report. All the reports have to be collected, copied and sent to Belgium. Volunteers help us process the reports before we send the letters to the godparents.
Where do I send my letter to?
You send your letter to Cunina. We always check the letters that your godchild sends to you and the letters that you send to your godchild. We do this to protect you and your godchild. This way we can avoid children writing begging letters. We strongly advise you to not put any of your contact details like your address or your email address in the letter to your godchild.
Please remember that it might take a while before you will receive their letter and especially their school report. Our co-workers in our partner countries have to collect all the reports, copy them and send them to Belgium. Our volunteers process the reports before we send the letters to the godparents.
When do I send my letter?
You can send us your letter preferably by the end of February or the end of August. It gives us the time to check and prepare the letters before we send them to your godchild.
