*~*Bruna*~* On this page I´d like to tell you a little bit about my foster child Bruna from Brazil. I was thinking about the possibility of child sponsorship since quite a long time and so I was looking for information and experiences from other people. I got information about different organizations and about personal experiences of other foster parents that were not just interesting and informative, but also encouraging. In January 2002 I received a letter from “Plan International Germany” with lot's of information and some photos of my new foster child. Bruna and her family Bruna (*01/11/1999) is living in Brazil. Her mother Maria is a housewife and her father Jose is working as a labourer. Bruna has also a brother called Bruno Ricardo and a sister Michele. Her native language is Portuguese. Bruna in 2001 Where does she live? The place where she´s living is located in the state Maranhão in Brazil. The community has a population of ca. 15.000, of which more than 6000 are children between the ages of newborn and 6. It also is a suburban community and has more than 62% of it´s residents unemployed. Bruna herself lives with her family in a small house made of brick with tile roof. Throughout the year they get their water from an open community well that is in the house backyard. They are using a stove without oven to cook. The main fuel is propane gas. The family is spending their spare time with friends and neighbours listening to the radio. News about Bruna On May 28th 2002 I received the first letter written by Bruna's mother Maria *yippie* According to her mother, she likes to play with her siblings and friends with dolls, ball and hide & seek. Her mother told me that they don't have a "health station" in their community, but a police station, a square and playground for the children. Bruna will begin at school in the 2nd half of this year. (If we keep Bruna's age in mind, I guess that she means something like kindergarden.) About São Luis her mother is writing, that it is a violent city and that there are not many jobs for the "family chiefs" as she called it ;-) Today (14.03.2003) I've got another letter written by Maria. Here it goes: My name is Maria and I am Bruna's mother. I am very grateful for the letter and for the pictures. My daughter was really happy about it. I wish my daughter could know you, Mandy. She is 5 years old and she is not at school yet, but she will start school soon. She will study hard to write her own letters. Kisses and thank you! Maria I've got today (15.04.2003) another letter. Well, she isn't old enough to write yet, but she send me "handprints" lol You know, when you put colour on the hands or feet of your child and make those prints as memory? ;-) Very cute, I'll scan it if I can convince my scanner to work.