What Does Your Child Sponsorship Money Achieve?

When people think about child sponsorship they think of exchanging pictures and letters with a child, perhaps sending them a gift for their birthday. Sometimes they think about the money they’ll donate each month and they might wonder if it really achieves anything. Then the doubts about child sponsorship begin to creep in and they end up not doing it, believing that their comparatively small donation won’t have any real impact.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Child sponsorship has an enormous effect and not just on the sponsored child. The money doesn’t go specifically to that child but instead is used as part of a fund that powers projects in the child’s community and country, so lots of other people see improvements thanks to your money. In fact for every child sponsored an additional 55 children benefit.

Here are just some of the amazing things your child sponsorship money helps make a reality:

• Improving Education – We all know that education is one of the biggest and best tools we have for improving life chances, and that applies anywhere in the world. You child sponsorship money helps build, maintain and refurbish schools as well as train teachers, education workers and school management and admin staff. This helps bring education to children who otherwise would never receive it, and allows them access to a brighter future.
• Building A Healthy Future – We take access to healthcare for granted, but for millions around the world the nearest medical centre or hospital can be poorly staffed and days away. With the money raised through child sponsorship medical centres can be built, staff trained and vital equipment and supplies purchased. Healthcare workers not only help treat disease and injury they also carry out educational programmes to help tackle preventable diseases such as malaria.
• Water, Water, Everywhere – Anyone who has had their water supply off for a couple of days due to maintenance or a burst pipe knows how little we think about the convenience of having clean running water at our beck and call. For millions their access to clean water is precarious if it exists at all. When you give money for child sponsorship you’re helping build wells, water courses and improve sanitation facilities. Without these people can and do die of easily preventable illnesses and crops fail during droughts.
• Empowering The Economy – In countries where child sponsorship makes a difference many people don’t have access to vocational training and there is little in the way of economic safety nets to help people who become unemployed. Your money helps provide training courses, especially to marginalised groups such as women, so that they can secure work that is stable and rewarding. It also helps support savings and loans groups in the communities as well as lobbying governments to put in place protections for the vulnerable.
• Dealing With Disaster – In poor countries the infrastructure is often not prepared to deal with serious natural or man-made disasters. Unfortunately when things do go wrong, be it due to drought, an earthquake or the eruption of conflict, millions suffer. Money from child sponsorship helps to implement disaster preparedness projects and also ensures the execution of disaster response programmes in times of crisis.