Want to change the world? Honor Universal Children’s Day this year, and start with just one life. The GoAbroad Foundation, together with Volunteer for the Visayans, connects international donors with Filipino children in desperate need of help. Stepping up as a sponsor could be your chance to make a heartfelt and genuine difference in the world.
Choosing to sponsor a child’s food, schooling, and general well-being, especially a child you have never met, can seem like a daunting prospect though. Whether the cost seems too high, you are uncertain if you will be really making a difference, or you are just skeptical of the whole concept, before vetoing the idea, consider the many convincing reasons why child sponsorship is of vital importance in developing communities.
1. Sponsoring a child is an effective way to contribute your help to individuals and communities in need, without ever leaving home.
If you feel the strong desire to make a difference in the world, but lack the time or means to travel overseas and work as a volunteer, child sponsorship is the ideal solution. You can still make a big difference in developing communities, and you will still get the added bonus of learning more about a distant culture and community, as you follow your sponsored child’s journey.
2. You will be helping not only the child you are sponsoring, but by extension their family.
Child sponsorship is not an isolated project, focused on individuals, but an integral part of multi-faceted work aiming to achieve better welfare services in the community. Volunteer for the Visayans sponsorship program prides itself on being able to provide many benefits not only for sponsored children, but for their families. For example, families of children in the sponsorship program receive a monthly grocery subsidy. Your generosity will have a ripple-on effect that will touch more lives than you realize.
3. Sponsored children have better chance of finishing their education.
Many children are forced to drop out of school early, as their parents are unable to afford ongoing school fees, or they are required to work to supplement the family’s income. Sponsored children are given the opportunity to complete their schooling. Education is crucial to combating poverty, and ensuring that these children receive a good education is a sustainable and long term approach to building a better future. Better education means more opportunities, a new generation of leaders, and the chance to break free from the cycle of poverty.
By sponsoring one child, and helping provide education, you are helping communities as a whole develop.
4. When you sponsor a child, you can put a face and a name to the fight against poverty.
Rather than simply donating a sum to an organization, you have the opportunity to be personally connected with the cause, which will change your entire perspective. Almost everyone knows there are millions of people suffering in poverty; but the figures are so vast they are scarcely comprehensible. Being connected to one child makes it more real: you will see that these are real people living real lives.
Sponsors are given regular updates on their sponsored child, and they can also receive correspondence from the children themselves. Your resolve to make a difference will be strengthened even as you commit to sponsoring a child. Sponsor testimonials also confirm that being able to witness a poverty-stricken child flourish under sponsorship is a gratifying reward for sponsors’ selfless generosity.
5. You will be able to see exactly where your money is going.
Sponsoring a child is an altogether different form or philanthropy than just sending money into a void. Making any kind of donation from afar can seem risky, as often you have no assurance of how the money you donate to a charity will be distributed. Sponsoring a child carries with it a certain transparency. By creating a connection with the child you sponsor, and following their progress through updates provided by the Volunteer for Visayans team, you will be able to see the real and tangible differences that your money can make.
6. It is an affordable way to make a substantial difference.
Sponsoring a child is perhaps the best way to see that small sums of money can have huge impacts. For just $300 USD dollars a year ($25 USD a month) you can change a child’s life. For less than one dollar a day, you will be able to provide access to food, education, social support, and medical care to children from disadvantaged families. Making just a few small sacrifices in your own life can make a world of difference in someone else’s. .
To find out more about sponsoring a child, contact us today.
This blog was contributed by Petrina Darrah:
Petrina is an English teacher and freelance writer who abandoned her native New Zealand for a life on the road. A Linguist, oenophile, and cheese fanatic, she has lived in France, Italy, and Colombia, and traveled solo through more than 30 countries in between. You are most likely to find her sleeping in an airport on her way to somewhere new, hiking up a mountain, or basking on a beach in the company of a good book.