Why write?
The relationship you build with your Karis family through letter writing is crucial for their personal development and growth. It helps both the carers and children know they are not alone and that someone really far away believes in them through the love of Jesus. Your letters can inspire them to study harder at school, to be more confident in their relationships, and to draw closer to God.
We’ve seen first-hand how highly Karis families value their letters and photos from their UK links. Whenever we visit the slums, we always see photographs of Karis supporters on the walls of homes!
Did you know?
In Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Programme, graduates consistently point to their sponsors’ letters and prayers as the two most important things that gave them hope, courage, and the belief that they could overcome their circumstances. Compassion’s studies found that more than 90% of children strongly experience joy, love, encouragement and a sense of belonging when they receive these letters. We have seen this too.
Children who receive letters:
- are more likely to pray and develop long-term motivation to improve their circumstances. Such is the power of having someone say they believe in you and put it into action.
- feel more motivated at school and often engage more in church activities. They consistently demonstrate greater confidence, including behaviours such as an ability to care, ability to communicate, discipline, helpfulness, and a greater awareness of generosity and sharing.
- often keep them forever, regularly reading and rereading them, particularly when they are discouraged.
How often?
During the year you will receive around 2–3 letters from your family in Kampala. These are usually written during the school holidays. We’d love for someone in your link to respond each time.
Caregivers who are not able to write will dictate to a friend, or one of the Karis staff, who will write the letter for them. The children learn English in school and are encouraged to write their own letters.
Your first letter
When your join Karis, it would be lovely if you could send a photograph of your family (or group) and a letter introducing yourselves. If a carer is unable to read the letter themselves an interpreter will read it to them.
Supporting as a group? Have a primary contact
If you support a Karis family as a group then it is better for one person or family to take responsibility for writing the letters. They will be the primary contact. However, we can easily set the letters up to be emailed to other people in the group too. Please email wendy@kariskids.org to discuss.
Contact details
If you’re a part of the Karis programme or you subscribe to our newsletter, you will be given details of how send letters, photos, and video messages.
Sending a gift?
Often when someone visits the Karis team in Kampala from the UK, they can take small gifts to the families. Your Karis co-ordinator will let you know if somebody has offered to do this and give you suggestions of suitable items.
Equally, we provide a postal address if you wish to post items, which some families choose to do in the lead up to Christmas.
Our Guidelines
Please abide by these guidelines in your communication with your Ugandan family and any others who are part of the Karis programme in order to best support our work.
If your communication doesn’t comply with our guidelines, we may not be able to deliver your letters and videos. For more wilful violations of these guidelines, we reserve the right to remove someone from the Karis programme.
Communication must not deny or negatively refer to Jesus, the Christian faith, orthodox Christian beliefs (as per the Nicene Creed), or go against the core values of the Church of Uganda.
Letters must be sent unsealed. Letters and videos will be reviewed by our team in Uganda.
Don’t share your address or personal contact information, such as a telephone number or email address.
Letters, videos, gifts, and photos need to be sensitive and culturally aware.
🚫 What not to do!
There are a few things that might make your Karis child/family feel uncomfortable or create expectations that can’t be met. These include:
📸 Inappropriate photos
Avoid showing alcohol, fancy cars, or expensive possessions. Please wear culturally appropriate clothes. Photos like these would be inappropriate…
- A family gathering under the Christmas tree surrounded by a mass of Christmas presents.
- An image taken on a beach with the family in swimming costumes.
✈️🚫 Don't invite them to come to see you one day
Likewise, don’t tell them you’ll visit them unless you have already made plans.
💷🚫 Avoid talking about material wealth
Be sensitive when talking about what you own or describing anything that would be unattainable to your link family, like a fancy holiday. This can accentuate the difference between you and the family.
🇬🇧🚫 Avoid slang or colloquialisms
Try not use words or phrases that are culturally specific to the UK e.g. ‘it was raining cats and dogs.’
✅ What to do
📸 Include names with photographs
Add your names to the back of your family or group photographs. This will help the family know who you are and to pray for you by name. You can even write a short description on each photo – they’ll love that!
❓ Ask questions
Your questions will tell your link children that you want to know them better. Below you can find many prompts which you could include in a few of in your letters.
⚽️ Find out what you have in common
Use the prompts as a starting point to describe your life (and your children’s lives if you are a parent).
🐶 Describe your family
They love this. Share everything you are comfortable sharing that is age-appropriate for your Karis family. Talk about your children, parents, siblings, pets, etc. Tell stories! As time goes on, tell your Karis family why you’re thankful for them as part of your wider family.
😂 Talk about your favourite memories
Tell stories! Talk about your childhood. Share funny family moments (remember that time Fido ate the Christmas turkey right off the table when the family wasn’t looking?!).
🎓 Describe your work, church, or school
You might even find out you share a common interest as you share about what you do.
✝️ Talk about your relationship with Jesus
Your words can help your sponsored child understand that God is real. Share prayer requests. Share your favourite Bible verses. Talk about your own faith journey. Remind your children that you pray for them. This will help shape your child’s journey as well.
🏆 Encourage your Karis children in any achievement and milestone
It may seem like you aren’t doing much, but you are! Your words of encouragement provide hope and fill your Karis children with love. You can strengthen each child by asking questions about the things he or she is good at.
It’s good to remember…
Not every family has a Christian faith. While most families are Christians, not every family is and we do not require it. Some faith-related questions may not be relevant to all Karis links but you should be informed about this from the family profile when you start.
Keep it individual. Your Karis family may have many children, but try address each Karis child at different points. When things are personal, each child will feel more seen and known. Over time, you may wish to write separate letters on certain occasions.
Many of these prompts can be asked or answered. Use them to share about you or ask about them!
Asking about your Karis child/children
Fun & Food
What activities do you enjoy?
What do you like to do with your friends for fun?
Do you like sport? What sport do you play?
What games do you play?
What meals are you good at cooking?
What are some of your favourite meals/foods?
Life story
Do you know why your parents gave you your name? What does it mean?
What are some of your favourite memories growing up?
What are some of the challenges you had to overcome while growing up?
Normal life
What is your typical day like?
Did anything interesting happen this month?
How do you like to relax?
What are you learning in life right now? (Life lessons, school subjects, skills, etc.)
When you have a special occasion to celebrate, what do you normally do?
where you live
What are some interesting facts about your home and town?
How would you describe the sights, sounds, and smells of where you live? What do you like about your neighbourhood? Are there any challenges for you living there?
Prayer needs
What’s your biggest challenge at the moment?
What are you thankful to God for at the moment?
School
What is your favourite part of school? What’s your least favourite?
Do you have a favourite teacher? What are they like?
Friendships & Role models
Who are your closest friends? How did you become good friends?
Who understands you better than anyone else? How did you come to know this person?
Who do you look up to in your life? Who inspires you? Why?
Who is your spiritual role model?
Sharing about you and your family
Your Family
What are your closest family members like?
What is your biggest challenge as a family?
How has God been faithful to your family?
Who else in your family knows Jesus? How did they come to know Him?
What’s is your favourite thing about your family?
Purpose & Goals
What do you believe are some of God’s purposes for your life?
What goals have you set for yourself? How much progress have you made?
FUN & Food
What are some of your favourite meals?
Have you ever eaten a dish originating from Uganda? What was it like?
Spiritual Life
How did you come to know Jesus?
What prayers has God answered recently for you or your family?
How has God comforted you in trouble?
Why do you love God?
What was the latest sermon that inspired you about?
What is a challenge in your relationship with God?
What’s one of your favourite Bible stories or passages? Why?
Sharing about where you are
Your Local Church
What do you like about your local church?
How are you involved in your church? (How do you use your gifts, skills and passions?)
Why is your local church important to you?
How is your church active in the community?
How does being a part of the church challenge you?
Current Events
Write about our seasons — most of the world doesn't have multiple seasons.
What’s something significant occurring in your town or region right now?
How do you overcome anxiety when facing worrisome events?
What news recently made you happy?
How has a recent event impacted your faith?
Sharing about the Karis relationship
Reactions & Prayer
What do you think about the family’s latest letter or picture you received?
How do you remember them throughout the week or month?
What do you appreciate about them? (You could comment on a recent letter you’ve received, the child’s prayers for you, artwork in a letter, a smile in the photo, etc.)
What concern of yours could you ask your Ugandan family to pray about?
Do you have an encouragement from the Bible for them?
What is your prayer for your Karis Ugandan family?
