Compassion International

I sponsor a child through Compassion International. Her name is Victoria Mumbua, and she'll be 8 years old in May. I've sponsored her, with the help of my sister, for a little over 2 years now.

Poverty is an overwhelming issue. It's hard to know what we can do, especially high school or college kids who don't yet even have a steady paycheck, who have obligations to their school work & their parents... but I've learned that even small things can make a big difference.

Compassion's individual child sponsorship program is unique. They're unapologetically Christian, which means they do not receive government grants. They're one of the top-ranked non-profit organizations for how well they handle their finances. Most of your money will go directly to your sponsored child. Compassion takes out less money for processing and advertising than any other child sponsorship program [that I'm aware of]. They also do not use sponsorship money for community improvement projects, like water wells, etc. You can write letters to your child, and your child will reply to your letters.

Compassion also is unique in that they work with churches that are already established in the countries where they work. This way, they don't have to spend so much money sending Americans over to build projects & make connections in the local community. There's no language barrier to be overcome, and the church families know where the money really needs to go.

Mumbua still can't write on her own very well, so someone else at the project writes for her, but she does send me her drawings. I love receiving her letters! She's a very sweet and interesting little girl. It's so awesome to think that you can make an impact on the life of a child on the other side of the world! Children in poverty have physical needs, but they also need to know that there is hope. Your letters can help them see that they don't have to stay in poverty, and that they can make a difference in their world. The effort you put into writing letters and getting to know your child means so much to them.

Sponsoring a child with Compassion costs $32 per month. That's about a dollar a day. That's less than you spend on your daily bottled water or Coke. For some of you, that's still too much money- and that's understandable. I'd encourage you, though, to ask your friends or family members to sponsor a child with you, like I did. You can't solve the problem of poverty all on your own, but you can do something.