“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who!
As world travelers, I believe we all long to do more to help the people we encounter around the world. We want to make a difference. Yet we also share an apathy. We don’t know where to start. My recommendation? Start with one child.
How it All Started
I grew up in South America. Everyday life in Ecuador was all I knew. When I moved to the US in the middle of fourth grade I was shocked to find that there was such a “plethora of Stuff”. The pack of sunflower seeds someone had once sent me was actually not as special as I had thought! It came from a place where there was a whole aisle of different kinds of sunflower seeds! This “plethora of Stuff” needed to be spread around a bit!
When I started a paper route, I started sponsoring a girl through Compassion International. I was 12 years old when I sponsored my first girl from Guatemala. I wrote her letters and then continued to sponsor 8 more girls from different corners of the globe.
Why I Trust Compassion
Compassion International is one of the few organizations I recommend without hesitation, knowing it makes a difference and has stood the test of time. The organization has three main tenets. It is Christ-centered, seeking to be like Jesus in loving others regardless of their religion. It is church based, which is huge to me, because it means that everything is done through local churches rather than foreigners who don’t understand the situation. Finally it is child based, meaning that all the dollars you give go to providing a holistic child development model.
I have seen the strength the program has given to each of the girls I have sponsored. My sponsored girl from Colombia was able to overcome her family situation, graduate from high school, and start a technical school. One of my Leadership Development girls from Ethiopia was enabled to study Electrical Engineering, get a great job, get married…and we are still connected via Facebook.
Ready to sponsor a child as well? Find out more!
Visit Your Child
Compassion gives you the opportunity to visit your children. This gives you the opportunity to do more than visit Instagram-able places. You can actually experience life in another country with people you already love. Compassion offers tours, but thankfully they also allow you to plan your own trip (Recommended!) and will help coordinate a visit.
I wrote an article about visiting my sponsored children in Ethiopia and Indonesia here: Your Friend is Waiting, So… get on Your Way
Letter Writing
THE COOLEST aspect of Compassion is that you get to write back and forth as often as you like. It is through this relationship that you can encourage your sponsored child, while also learning a lot about their culture. You can do this online, or you can send “snail mail” with stickers and other fun things.
Take Action! Sponsor a Child
Two billion people globally don’t have safe water, 800 million people are undernourished, 400 million children live in extreme poverty, and 800 kids die a day of preventable diseases. Statistics yes, but when when you realize that 800 million people are living on less than $2 a day, you realize how far the price of your latte can go (…I get it, I like coffee too).
You can be part of a lasting change. For $38 dollars a month, Compassion provides sponsored children health services, tuition and uniforms for school, supplemental food, mentoring, after school programs, and a chance to learn about Jesus.
Click here to pick a child to sponsor. Note: you can also pick a child based on their birth date, age-range, first name, or country you are interested in by using this selector.
If you would like to read stories of specific people and how the Compassion program has helped them, I highly recommend you check out all the stories here. I’ve met several former Compassion kids, and have never failed to be in awe of how much impact each of their sponsors had on their life.
If you have further questions check out this whole list of FAQ’s or simply ask me via the comments below!
Do you already sponsor a Child? Share this article with someone who could join you!
If you haven’t already, check out my post about visiting my sponsored children in Ethiopia and Indonesia here: Your Friend is Waiting, So… get on Your Way
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
