Elizabeth November 6th, 2008

Part of my 101 Things in 1001 Days challenge.

My decision to sponsor a child was made years and years ago. I remember being deeply affected by World Vision TV advertisements when I was a child, watching the flies crawl over the eyes of malnourished children and wondering how to mail my leftovers to help them. I wanted to help long before I understood how to go about it, or how widespread the problem of poverty really is.

I know now that poverty could be cured by the Western world, if we made it a priority. I’m not naive enough to think that the sponsorship of a single child is the way to achieve it, but I do feel responsible for doing whatever is in my power to help those in need. As long as the first world continues to shun debt relief and aid, real people with real families will die. How can we ignore that?

I know that I have the capacity to improve the lifestyle of at least one family. Somewhere, anywhere – it doesn’t really matter where they’re from. Just to dull the pain of one hungry belly somewhere in the world is enough to justify the sacrifice that I make each month. No child should ever know that feeling.

Tim and I began sponsoring a little girl named Domenica a few months ago. Domenica and her family live in beautiful Ecuador – home of some of the most incredible landscape and wildlife on Earth. It is also home to one of the world’s most dangerous active volcanoes, it is subject to violent earthquakes and it is frequently at odds with its dangerous neighbours.

40% of its population live on less than $2 per day.

Impoverished families in Ecuador cannot afford fruit or vegetables. They largely survive on on maize, potatoes, wheat and rice and are very vulnerable to malnutrition and illness. Underemployment is a very serious issue, and poorly-paid labourers and domestic servants are often forced to leave young children at home in order to work. Girls frequently stop going to school to work, or to take over childcare and housework responsibilities. The poorest families often have to live on land vulnerable to floods or mudslides.

I expect that this post will attract some negative comments, over time. Criticism of child sponsorship programs is widespread, especially towards organisations such as World Vision. I understand the hesitation that some people feel regarding their Christian ethos, and the percentage of money spent on administration. I had the same reservations in the beginning, and researched my options over a very long period of time. I am comfortable with the administration costs, their transparency and accountability. I accept that it costs money to make money.

If you have reservations about all this, I’m open to discussion.

In truth, the dollars that I spend helping this one family might be better directed. Perhaps I could invest in a single project, such as an orphanage or a well or irrigation. Educating people about sustainable farming might help a community to break the poverty cycle. Perhaps there’s more value in every dollar that I donate this way, I don’t know.

But by sponsoring a child I am still doing all of these things. While my donation will improve the diet and education of the family I have chosen, it also contributes to their wider community through training, emergency relief and the provision of capital to start small businesses.

I kept all these thoughts in mind when reading about candidates on the World Vision website. I was intrigued by a group of children who were all photographed on the same day, with the exact same background. I made a decision to sponsor one of this group, knowing that by doing so I would be assisting all of them in some way. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Last week we received our very first letter from the family. Domenica drew a picture, and her mother wrote a short letter. Here’s what she wrote:

Hello dear sponsor,
I greet you wishing you are very well. As my daughter is a little girl it is me, her mother, who writes this letter for her. Let me tell you that my daughter likes playing, singing and dancing. Her favourite food is rice with cheese and fish such as tuna. The community where she lives is very beautiful with wonderful landscapes. Weather here is also beautiful.
Now I say good bye on my daughter’s behalf.
I hope you can write us a letter soon.
Cristina

It is Domenica’s birthday at the end of this month, and I’m looking forward to putting a few surprises in an envelope for her. They ask sponsors to be sensitive to the fact that siblings and friends may be upset to miss out on gifts, so whatever I send should be low-key. I am planning to send a letter, some stickers and maybe a couple of hair accessories. I am hoping that Tim will draw something to go along with it, or maybe I’ll try to doodle something. It seems like a connection that we can make now, while she’s still too young to write to us herself.

Do you have any ideas? I am supposed to send a standard sized envelope, so that there are no additional charges for postage or customs.

It has only been a few months, but this experience has already been very satisfying and very rewarding. I am so happy to finally have enough financial stability to make a commitment like this, and excited about seeing what changes will happen in the life of a little girl and her family.

After all, what’s more important than the future of a child?

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