Correspondence between Sudbury family and sponsored Ecuadorian child cut off

For three years, Jennifer Lievers and her family corresponded by letter with a young Ecuadorian boy they had sponsored through a Christian child development agency, called Compassion Canada.

She had a special reason for choosing Allan — his birthday would have fallen on the same day as a child Lievers was not able to carry to term.

Starting in 2010, the two wrote back and forth, sending a letter per month, until they were finally able to meet when Lievers' family travelled to the South American country.

"I had 36 letters from him before we got to meet," she said. "I felt that I really knew him, and so it was really neat to go and actually meet him."

Morning North6:44Letters of Note - Jennifer Lievers

In this edition of Letters of Note, Jennifer Lievers of Sudbury shares the letters she's received from a little boy in Ecuador which her family sponsored. The sponsorship program ended in the boy's region and her correspondence was cut off.

The two exchanged details about their respective lives which are several countries and thousands of kilometres apart. Allan would confide in her his worry when his mother hurt her hand, or beam when his brother excelled in sports.

In response, Lievers said she sent stickers or bookmarks, and would detail the family's daily life, noting differences between where they lived, such as the changing of the seasons.

In addition to the correspondence, Lievers' family helped Allan financially, sponsoring him so he could attend church programming, as well as covering school fees and medical costs.

But as the relationship blossomed, it was suddenly cut off.

"I got a phone call from Compassion [Canada] saying that his project was going to be closing down and that we weren't going to be able to communicate anymore."

Lievers said she had the opportunity to write one final letter.

Listen to her story — and what she put into that last letter — here.