Sponsoring a Child

[LoneWolf]

This is something that we have always wanted to do for many years, and we have many made our commitment in sponsoring a child in need, he is a young boy living in the Philippines, (4 years old).

We are not extremely wealthy, but considering giving up $50 a month can help someone's basic needs, that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.

We believe that in order to gain, you must first be able to learn to give.

Given many of us here have the ability to help others, please do consider giving a helping hand, one way or another. Financially or in other ways.
There is already too much grief in this world, your help might just bring a ray of light in someone's lives

 

[lizzie]

We also are not floating in money - but have sponsored 2 children for the last 25 years ... as one grows up, we take on another ... and always girls. I am a great believer that education is the path to peace, and that change comes from the women of the "tribe". Educated mothers will educate their children, have less children and stand up for their rights.

Also, recently, got involved in sponsoring a clean water program in the theory that if the women have easy access to clean water the rest (hygiene, education, small business etc) will flow on.

Costs around $1,500/yr and consider it our donation effort

 

[Fifth]

'Sponsoring a child' is just a marketing ploy to personalise the experience for the charity giver. In reality, it would be a completely irresponsible way of distributing funds. How is one child more worthy than their siblings or other children in the village? And if every child in the village were sponsored, what about the village eight miles down the road? And what about the families without children? And around we go. So the funds are distributed throughout the community.

The information you receive about your 'sponsor child' - a whole heap of donors received the same photo and profile. In reality, the child is likely unaware that they are even a 'sponsored' child.

In a 2008 report on famine in Ethiopia, reporter Andrew Geoghegan, from Australian TV programme Foreign Correspondent, visited his 14 year old sponsor child. The girl has "been part of a World Vision program all her life" yet says (in translated subtitle) "Until recently, I didn't know I had a sponsor." and when asked about her knowledge of World Vision sponsorship says "Last time they gave me this jacket and a pen." Geoghegan was disconcerted to find that despite being "told by World Vision that [the girl] was learning English at school, and was improving...she speaks no English at all".

In response World Vision states that they take a community approach where the money is not directly provided to the family of the sponsored child. The 'direct benefit' approach would result in jealousy among other community members without children and would not work.

Foreign Correspondent replied to World Vision concerning child sponsorship. In part, that response reads: "Foreign Correspondent sought answers from World Vision representatives on why the organisation's literature creates the impression that donated money goes directly to the sponsor child. The World Vision representative failed to adequately respond to the questions and instead outlined the community projects where sponsor money is spent. Foreign Correspondent does not dispute the integrity of World Vision projects but questions the way sponsorship is promoted to the public. In its response, World Vision has ignored the reporter's surprise at finding his sponsor child speaks no English, yet he has been receiving regular reports from the organisation that she's learning English at school and has a good command of the language.

Andrew Geoghegan has sponsored Tsehaynesh Delago for a decade and yet she claims she was unaware, until recently, that she had a sponsor and says the only benefit she has ever received directly from World Vision is a pen and the denim jacket she wore on the day of filming."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Vision_International

The money does go towards a worthy cause, but if you're choosing World Vision over other charities because of the personal connection between donor and recipient and the 'direct benefit' model, then you're being misled and would do just as well donating to any other charity.

It's quite odd that after all these decades people are still sticking pictures of their 'sponsor children' on their fridge and telling guests 'this is Ayan, she is 8 years old and lives in a little town in Uganda called Butaleja, it's so nice to know we're making a difference in her life and giving her a bright future, I'm hoping she might become a doctor someday!' whereas it's basically just a picture of a random child on a fridge. Or the little pictures of them you hang on your tree as a Christmas decoration. 'Merry Christmas, Ayan!'

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

We sponsor a number of children in various parts of the world. It costs $43 per month per child. We get regular letters and reports from all sorts of places. Interestingly we've had a couple of updates from Gaza at the moment.

It's noticeable that most of the children we sponsor come from large families, so of them with as many as 10 children. There's no doubt that high birth rates is contributing to the problems these countries have, but for many people it's their only practical strategy they have for their own survival.

Overall I think it's fairly rewarding though, the letters we receive talk about clean water and access to medicines, they're also written by kids learning to read and write. Soccer seems to be an international favorite of the boys and the girls like dolls.

And yes, I'm aware that the money doesn't go directly to the children or their immediate family. It's used to assist the larger communities. As I mentioned, the communications we receive are about clean water, community health and education, not what a kid had for dinner.

We also support other charities on a more ad-hoc basis. I've known a few cancer sufferers so Peter Mac is high on our list.

There's a lot of good charities out there, but one thing that really annoys me is that they often don't respect donors generosity. I donated to a police charity once, and they received countless phone calls from other related charities. The same can be said for other various disability related charities (deaf, blind, etc). As a result we have zero tolerance for cold calling from charities.

 

[Spades]

I've always wondered how much of the donation goes to the child?

 

[LoneWolf]

Fifth, not even going to bother arguing with your points.
You are entitled to your opinions

I don't think your point of (a random child) is valid, what kind of person thinks this way? It's not a bloody sales pitch, perhaps there is these sales pitch out there, that does not mean every charity work under this way

Who is been misled here? read all your negative comments, now that is misleading

You need to accept this concept that there are people out there who are genuinely helping others, good on them. Now, by helping others it comes at a cost, that is just a way of life.
Yes, my $50 a month may not all go to 1 child, but it is definitely helping those who are helping others, is this not sufficient excuse to help them?

The program that I am donating under is: http://www.compassion.com.au/
And no, I am not a Christian, yet

 

[Singo]

The program that I am donating under is: http://www.compassion.com.au/
And no, I am not a Christian, yet

Very interesting!
You are not Christian but funding an organization which is converting vulnerable poor people to Christianity!
"Are you starving to death poor child? Come to church and follow Jesus! Jesus gives you food. Amen"

 

[D.T.]

You won't ever see me donating money to anything, ever.

I work with a couple of charity organisations (not going to name them) in my IT job. I see how they are with money and I don't like it. Its worse than most of the rumors you hear.

Instead, I'd much rather buy equipment that a hospital or some other organisation requires, or volunteer my time helping them out. This way the end recipient receives something of value.

 

[keithj]

The program that I am donating under is: http://www.compassion.com.au/

My daughters class at school has been sponsoring a child via Compassion. A few months ago she raised enough $$ herself to be part of a trip to Indonesia to meet her sponsored child & visit the project. The child looked exactly like the photo on the fridge, even had the same name, same handwriting - not all sponsorship programs are like World Vision.

 

[LoneWolf]

Very interesting!
You are not Christian but funding an organization which is converting vulnerable poor people to Christianity!
"Are you starving to death poor child? Come to church and follow Jesus! Jesus gives you food. Amen"

Singo, do you have a better method in helping those in need?
If I give you $50 a month, how many are you able to help and how?
Does it matter or not these kids become Christian or not?

The fact is, someone is helping them to have a better life

End

 

[nomadic]

Singo, do you have a better method in helping those in need?

A lot of guys here travel to Sth East Asia and find a bargirl for short time or long time. The money given to them is used to pay for their children's food and education. It's much better to give the money directly to a girl you like instead of getting eaten up in admin fees. But the flip-side is you can't claim it as a tax deduction.

 

[Scott No Mates]

I too sponsor an undefined number of both children and adults.

Apparently my generous donation goes towards education programs, social programs, hospitals, health care, support for the aged/infirm/disabilities/unemployed/aboriginal communities,
overseas aid programmes, refugees, start up business ventures, grants, infrastructure including road and rail projects, jurisprudence & supporting strong/impartial legal & parliamentary systems, defence, administration etc.

Oh. That's where my taxes go.

 

[Singo]

Is there an easier but better method to help? No. When we commit to fund x dollors per month, then these NGOs budget accordingly and deliver their programs. At the end of the day, how your money is used depends on the particular organization through which you donate. What is their mission? They spend accordingly.

You can select what sort of organization through which you support. You can analyse how the money is spent (It will be hard as lots of the donations are spent to 'show' the results)

I donate my time and money, but I work with a grass root organization. Yes it does have its own vision and mission. (Lots of so called grass root organizations are just businesses in a disguise though) All I can say is do not fund programs which gives them food, but fund programs which teach how to earn their food.

 

[Mitch1]

while I also make charitable contributions both overseas and oz. there are 2 neg. that really bug me.

one already mentioned, you give to a charity here and get endless phone calls every single qtr from several charities all looking for donations. (including one who has a D/D already from me ???, the reason they give is that it is a special draw that is not included in my donation that I may like to be part of!)

the other is the amount of money that must be spent sending ongoing info to the sponsors on how well their sponsored child/guidedog/adult is doing. these photos/professionally printed leaflets, stationery, postage etc must cost an absolute fortune. I have contacted them on a number of occasions asking them to put money to better use and send none or just 1 every couple of years or failing this just email me? no, it is part of their structure that they will not change.

Charities are a business, they have to be, advertising awareness campaigns does work but i would rather they did not allocate so much to updating people especially if it is just to add a personal touch and is not directly going to a child as per fifths info. which sounds very factual.

some charities pay an absolute fortune in salaries to their ceo's. is it really justified, business or not?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Charity-chiefs-huge-wages-reined-say-MPs.html

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

I hear what you're saying Mitch.

I've made it very clear to the charities I support that if I start to receive calls from other associated charities, or even them soliciting more, I'll withdraw my support. They tried to get more money shortly after my sponsorship started and after a mildly friendly call it stopped (and I haven't heard squeak from them since).

I get what you mean regarding the ongoing communication. At the same time it's also understandable that for some people this is an important part of the process. I don't think it makes much of a hole in their overall budget though.

 

[Corey Batt]

Use charity auditing and verification websites like http://www.charitynavigator.org/ to compare their payout ratios, administration costs etc.

There are some major charities which only use ~30% of donations on the actual cause/need - the rest is absorbed by administration, advertising and directors fees.

 

[Mitch1]

i think I will be cancelling my surf life saving one?62% of all donations are spent on administration ??? that is crazy!

http://www.couriermail.com.au/busin...nistration-costs/story-e6freqmx-1226174582139

am ok with my vision aus one good on them

 

[topcropper]

'Sponsoring a child' is just a marketing ploy to personalise the experience for the charity giver. In reality, it would be a completely irresponsible way of distributing funds. How is one child more worthy than their siblings or other children in the village? And if every child in the village were sponsored, what about the village eight miles down the road? And what about the families without children? And around we go. So the funds are distributed throughout the community.

The information you receive about your 'sponsor child' - a whole heap of donors received the same photo and profile. In reality, the child is likely unaware that they are even a 'sponsored' child.

!'

Yeah, interesting info. I'm heartless when it come to donating overseas. I just picture some AK47 toting pea brained thug getting it all. I'd probably donate if it went towards free contraceptive pills, condoms, or free vasectomy clinics.


See ya's.

 

[sanj]

Yeah, interesting info. I'm heartless when it come to donating overseas. I just picture some AK47 toting pea brained thug getting it all. I'd probably donate if it went towards free contraceptive pills, condoms, or free vasectomy clinics.


See ya's.

Wow.

Just wow

 

[jackbak]

Controversial but I don't like donating to humans, I think we are the worst thing that ever happened to the earth and there should be less of us not more. I prefer to donate to help wildlife and the environment and try and fix the atrocities humans are committing to the earth. Maybe I'll soften my beliefs as I get older...

Lonewolf not aiming this at you, if you want to donate to a charity then I think that's fantastic.