IMPACTSUMMER 2016

CREATING LASTING CONNECTIONS

Experience an Unbound Awareness Trip

It started as a small group of seven who headed to Guatemala in 1988 with co-founder Bob Hentzen, who wanted to introduce some of Unbound’s earliest sponsors to their sponsored friends. Today, we host hundreds of travelers a year who traverse borders to see the work of Unbound for themselves.

Whether you’re a seasoned globetrotter or like to keep it local, you’ll be richly rewarded by seeing Unbound’s work in one of the 15 countries where we travel.

Unbound staff members in each country plan all the details and guide you through your journey. They serve as deep fountains of knowledge, reflecting the very essence of Unbound’s work. Their passion is contagious.

And the best part: meeting your sponsored friend. There will be vibrant welcome

ceremonies and sweet introductions among sponsors, sponsored members and their families. As you'll see in the coming pages, these introductions can bloom into heartfelt connections and surprising bonds of friendship, and you won't want to miss it.

You might see the famous Cristo Rey statue in Colombia or go on a Kenyan wildlife safari. You might tour ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico or travel by rickshaw in India. No matter which country you visit, you’ll indulge in the colorful cultures and meet the loving, joyful people who are waiting to welcome you.

We invite every sponsor who’s able to join us in visiting one of Unbound’s programs abroad. Bring a friend or family member, and come see for yourself. After all, you’re the reason we’re able to do what we do.

Since 1988, Unbound has provided journeys of discovery around the world for sponsors and others interested in our work. Unbound Awareness Trips give you an adventure unlike any other, inviting travelers to enjoy the local culture, meet sponsored friends and see Unbound’s work with their own eyes.

THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME

WHAT YOU’LL DOWhen you arrive at your destination, Unbound staff will meet you at the airport and accompany you throughout your visit. You’ll experience your sponsored friend’s rich cultural heritage, see the sights and be welcomed as an honored guest.

WHO YOU’LL MEETAs a sponsor, you’ll have the special opportunity to meet your sponsored friend and visit with many other sponsored friends, community members and local Unbound staff.

WHAT’S INCLUDED We offer affordable awareness trips to 15 countries. The fees listed below cover meals, lodging, activities, interpreters and in-country ground transportation for one person. Airfare is not included.

l $650 for trips to Mexico, Central America or the Caribbeanl $800 for trips to South Americal $1200 for trips to Africa or Asia

Visiting Kenya for the first time, Mary Geisz, Unbound's director of sponsor experience, hugs her sponsored elder, Joyce. Read Mary's reflection about her awareness trip and personal stories from sponsors by visiting unbound.org/tripstories.

WITH HER OWN EYES

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Yvonne (left), has been sponsored by Bridget (right) for over eight years. The two reunited on Bridget's second awareness trip to Kenya.

Longtime Unbound sponsor Bridget

Burpee will never forget the first time

she met her sponsored child, Yvonne, in

Kenya on an Unbound Awareness Trip

eight years ago.

Yvonne had just lost her father in a car

accident when Bridget came to visit shortly

after beginning the sponsorship. Yvonne

and her mother, Lucy, were hesitant to

trust this new person coming into their

lives after being made to leave her father’s

family home following his death, a common

occurrence in rural Kenya. They were left

with no place to live and no belongings

other than a deteriorating mattress.

“She was an 11-year-old girl who knew

nothing in life but rejection,” Bridget said.

“Life was really rough for them with little

hope for their future. I am not sure they

trusted me at first.”

Bridget chose to visit Yvonne on an

awareness trip because for her the pictures

and letters didn’t give her a full sense of

what life was like where Yvonne lived. She

wanted to see it for herself.

When Bridget first visited the small

mud hut where Yvonne lived with her

mother and young brother, she sat on the

bed and fell through a large hole in the

center. Seeing the flash of embarrassment

in Lucy’s eyes, Bridget knew she had only

a moment to demonstrate that she was

there without judgment.

“You have nothing to be ashamed

of,” Bridget said to her. “You’ve done

everything you can for your children.”

This was the moment that their trust

began to build. Over the course of that

first visit, Bridget learned about Lucy

and Yvonne’s lives and needs. Their

time together formed the foundation for

a blooming relationship in the years to

come. Bridget and Yvonne wrote to one

another often during that period, building

on that foundation letter by letter.

Fast forward eight years. Bridget had just

retired and decided to head back to Kenya

to see how Yvonne’s life had changed since

she last saw her in that mud hut.

What she found was a beaming, confident

and brilliant young woman. A young woman

who had become an exemplary student at

school and was also the proud recipient of

an Unbound scholarship.

She found a strong, independent mother

who had started a small store thanks to

the money she was able to save with their

newfound stability, and now owned a

thriving business in a larger, safer home —

a home with a good mattress, at that.

WITH HER OWN EYES

5

What Bridget found in that small,

Kenyan town was completely different

from what she saw years before. And

this time she was warmly welcomed

by Yvonne, Lucy and Yvonne’s younger

brother Kenneth — all the doubt about

her involvement in their lives had since

vanished. This time,

Bridget felt like she

was reuniting with

loved ones, saying,

“They’re a part of my

family now.”

On the visit, the

family sat in the

small one-room

house chatting and

catching up on each

other’s lives. The

stacks of letters that

had been exchanged

between Bridget

and Yvonne over

the years provided

plenty of fodder

for conversation as

they looked through

photographs and

shared memories,

just like family.

“[Bridget] is part of my family. I feel like

she is my sister,” Yvonne’s mother, Lucy,

said. “I really love her. She has been a great

support to my daughter and all of us.”

For Yvonne, the correspondence with

Bridget had greatly boosted her spirits

over the years. Away at school, she neatly

preserves every letter that Bridget sends in

a three-ring binder that she shows off to

her classmates.

“Letter writing is so important,” Bridget

said. She encourages every sponsor to

write regularly to their sponsored child

or elder to form a bond that will create a

lasting connection on both sides.

Just weeks after returning from her visit to

Kenya, Bridget received a letter from Yvonne.

“Were it not for

you, I don’t know

where I’d be now,”

Yvonne wrote. “And

I don’t want to

imagine it.”

For Bridget, and

many other sponsors

who have traveled

on an Unbound

Awareness Trip, the

experience is life

changing. Seeing

with her own eyes

the transformation

that can occur in

someone’s life

from an Unbound

sponsorship inspired

and empowered

Bridget.

But more than

that, the experience

infused her sponsorship with more life and

meaning, making the person on the other

side of her monthly contributions more than

a photo. Now, she has firsthand experience

of Yvonne and her family’s striving and

success, and she can call them family.

“Anybody who can possibly do it — go!

Go just one time to see it firsthand; it’s a

life changer,” Bridget said. “I promise you’ll

want to go back.”“

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Yvonne (left), her mother, Lucy (right), and Yvonne's brother, Kenneth (front), warmly welcome Bridget at their home in Kenya, which also serves as Lucy's storefront.

INDIA

BOLIVIA

NICARAGUAGUATEMALA

EL SALVADOR

HONDURAS

COSTA RICA

UGANDA

COLOMBIAECUADOR

CHILE

MEXICO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

PHILIPPINES

KENYA

BolivialJuly 23–30 (optional side trip to La Paz July 30-Aug. 2)

Chile lSept. 30–Oct. 8

Colombia lMay 6–13

Costa Rica lMarch 11–18 lMay 6–13 l July 22–29lOct. 21–28

Dominican RepubliclReturning in 2018

Ecuador lReturning in 2018

El Salvador lJune 24–July 1lNov. 4–11

GuatemalalJan. 28–Feb. 4lMarch 18–25lApril 22–29lJune 17–24lJuly 15–22lAug. 5–12lSept. 30–Oct. 7

HondurasOcotepeque/Santa RosalJune 17–24Santa Barbara/SuyapalAug. 5–12

India Chennai/TrichylJan. 18–29

Bhagalpur/Delhi/Dumka/HyderabadlOct. 25–Nov. 7

Kenya lFeb. 18–March 1

Kenya/Uganda lSept. 11–22

MexicoMerida lOct. 14–21Cuernavaca lOct. 21–25

Nicaragua lFeb. 11–18lAug. 12–19

Philippines lFeb. 8–20

2017 UNBOUNDAWARENESS TRIPS

READY FOR MORE INFORMATION?

Or, mail in the form on the next page

Call(800) 875-6564

Send an email to trips@unbound.org

Visit unbound.org/trips

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