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- 74 Posts
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- frustrated and fed up.
Posted 3 years ago
Shannon Massey, Employee
- 1967 Posts
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First of all, I want you to know that I completely understand why you are frustrated. To be completely honest, we are all very frustrated as well. We strive to serve our children and our sponsors to the very best of our ability, but in times like this we feel like we are completely unable to do so. With that said, we are are very sorry. There are many reasons that we are behind, but there are two main ones. First of all, Compassion has been working on this major upgrade for many years. We needed to completely design a special program that we could use that would allow us to serve the growing amount of children and sponsors in our program. With that said, because we literally had to build this program from the ground up, we integrated the new system in steps, and like you said we began doing so roughly a year ago. As we began to use the new system, like all things, we discovered some bugs that needed to be worked out. And thus, we have been working on those. Regrettably, because the system was designed for Compassion and is different than all other programs, it takes some time to get these figured out and fixed so that they do not continue to happen. On top of implementing the new system, we are going through a massive loss with India closing. We are currently processing the exit of roughly 145,000 children in India, which is the same amount that we process in an entire year. This in itself has caused some delays and backups in processing. Nonetheless, we are counting on our supporters to be just that, supportive. We know this hard, but it is hard on all of us. We sincerely apologize that things are taking so long. In the long run, we are confident that when all the bugs are worked out we will be able to far exceed any expectation that you have of Compassion. We all look forward to that day! Thank you for sticking with us as we get through this very rough time!
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- 74 Posts
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Thank you for your reply. I'm so very
happy that you are getting your mail so fast. You are very lucky. The letters
that Sarah so wonderfully just emailed me were written before Christmas. I
would be OVERJOYED with letters
with a two or three week turnaround. I would be happy if they would just go
back to the two-month turnaround before the "improvements." Hopefully
that will come to pass for EVERYONE and not just a few. Because while I'm happy
for you (I am!!!), it just makes me all the more frustrated that I have to wait
for a letter for five or six months.
Regarding the IT issues - you're not the first to have said
that (see above). I've always worked for the government and the last place I
worked was for Social Security. I can't imagine if the upgrades to our system
for a complete overhaul had taken a year with over a year of issues like these. Two years
would have been unimaginable. We just overhauled our entire system with
numerous new programs and software to expedite things for our customers and to
track operations for quality control. It only took us approximately a month to
work out the kinks. They got everything completely running parallel to what we
were doing BEFORE switching over so
the transition was relatively painless and quick. If there is a problem, it
doesn't last long before it is fixed. Ditto for the United States Army where we
are constantly making major changes to keep up. I can't even count the number
of major overhauls there were in the 23 years I was enlisted.
Again - I am very happy that you get letters so fast and I
think it's wonderful that you've been sponsoring children since the 70's. I
didn't even KNOW about Compassion until I was in my 40's!!!!
- 43 Posts
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- 74 Posts
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Yes, rinkydink places would have a bit more difficulty implementing huge IT changes. :)
- 43 Posts
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- 43 Posts
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- 43 Posts
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- 74 Posts
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Marci L. Ficht
Jennifer
Jennifer
Marci L. Ficht
Steve
Marci, first, I completely agree with you about rolling out new software. I have been responsible for IT projects. In the case of Compassion, the upgrades were necessary and should have been designed, tested and implemented in a far better manner. In fact, I will go so far as to say nearly transparent to the users/sponsors.
That said, this is a ministry to bring Jesus to the children in poverty. Your commitment to Gadiel is still what it’s about, as you know. When April 15th rolled around this year I thought the same things you did. I have struggled with getting letters and gift acknowledgements (still have issues), but I have had the privilege of meeting three of the kids we sponsor. If for no other reason than to hear “my” seven-year-old girl praying for ME or to seeing what goes on in Compassion projects all over the world...I will never be the same! Forgive me for sounding like Peter, but I believe because I have seen. Don’t give up on Gadiel or Compassion.
Let me add, that the group of people who handle the social media inquiries are impeccable. Yes, we have to rely on them more than I think we should have to, but they do a wonder (and difficult) job. If I had their job, I would hope I’d have the restraint NOT to say, “You think you’re frustrated!? We’re here to honor God, deliver children from poverty, and assist the sponsors in their ministry. Explaining why the system needed to be changed and didn’t meet expectations is not how we want to spend every day.”
Marci, I’m not criticizing you in any way!!! You wrote what I was thinking. But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re making a difference in Gadiel’s life. I’m betting it’s worth it.
Steve
Sarah, Official Rep
Marci L. Ficht
I want you to know that I DO appreciate all that Compassion does and I know all this mess has been very difficult for you and the other staff. Which is why I have tried so hard to be patient. I just became frustrated when I realized that I've lost my connection with Gadiel....my boy. We used to be so close. He was finally starting to send me actual letters that weren't copied from the board with canned sentences or repetitive. I was learning about his life and it was wonderful!!!! And then it all came to an abrupt halt with the improvements. My girls normally send letters on a regular timetable, probably because they are just the form letters, easy to fill out, and don't need translated. (Which is why I was concerned over the amount of time it was taking to get the "latest" letters.)
I do have my account settings set to hard copy in addition to the ones in the system...the reason is that when I lost my Arthur (his project was shut down), everything of his was erased from my account. I lost it all....thank goodness I had the hard copies in a folder. So I don't want that to happen with my Gadiel or the girls!!!! I know it takes longer to get the hard copies, so no worries on that....I have the digital copies on the site until I get the hard copies. But yes, you are correct in saying that my problem is not receiving the letters that keep me close to my children. I will try to be patient.
Again, thank you for sending me the letters that were stuck in the system. :) What a wonderful way to wake up this morning!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Marci L. Ficht
Basically, thank you for your response and I think it's fabulous that you got to see your children!!!!! I wish I could do that but for now, I rely on stories from those that have visited their poppets to make me smile and see the good that we do for the children. You said April 15th...does that mean you just got back? Can we read about your travels anywhere?! And I will never give up on Gadiel...even if we never, ever exchange another letter or photo, I will always sponsor him and will always send him family gifts to help out his single mom and younger brother. I love this family.
Please let me know if you have a blog or something where you post pictures and stories? :)
Sarah, Official Rep
Steve
https://www.facebook.com/steven.j.ben...
Steve
https://www.facebook.com/steven.j.ben...
Marci L. Ficht