FreeArticlesArchive

ere are many countries where the lack of education is a major problem affecting most of the people that live there. Worse than this, there are poor countries where children do not go to school. Instead, they work as shoe-blacks or newspaper vendors. This causes problems in their development and the Governments, because of the lack of funds and resources, cannot change much. Usually, the only hope left is in the child sponsorship programs. These are the only ones that care and want to make a difference.

For example, in Brazil, the poverty rate is most disturbing in the slum areas around big cities or industrial areas where the children exploitation rate is very high. 24% of Honduras’s population is illiterate. Two thirds of Guatemala’s youngsters live in poverty. 13% of Peru’s population cannot read and, in Paraguay, more than half of the population lives below the poverty line. Children are often neglected and suffer of different diseases and their parents are obliged to watch and not be able to do anything about it. These are only a few examples, showing some desperate situations in different countries. Looking bitterly at the facts we can say that for these countries, as well as many more, the future does not look well at all. Their only hope rests in child sponsorship.

Often, education makes the difference between rich and poor. Because the relationship between poverty and education is so tight, only a chance from child sponsorship could save anyone. In poor regions there is a permanent worry about survival, about the lack of food and clothes. Education is the least of their worries. What children from well developed countries consider normal and necessary, poor children can only dream of. But with the help of child sponsorship, their chances of having a better life improve offering them the possibility to consider a better future. Child sponsorship gives hope for an education that will later on offer the opportunity for a higher standard of life (better jobs, roofs over their heads, etc).

Anyone can help a child with the help of child sponsorship. This can be done very easily, by donating a certain amount of money to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that has active programs in the child sponsorship domain. The donation is usually a monthly amount of money and the person that wishes to help can contribute for a longer period towards the child’s life-quality improvement. The contact between the sponsor and the child that beneficiates of the child sponsorship program is often encouraged. Communication between the two is important for both parts.

As it can be noticed, the programs are called “child sponsorship” and not “children sponsorship”. That is because child sponsorship usually deals with the needs of a certain child, taking care of different aspects from his life, as education, health, housing and so on. Other direct or indirect beneficiaries of the child sponsorship programs are the child’s parents and close relatives. When possible, they are offered the possibility to increase their income. They are also counselled and educated about different childcare techniques that are most important in the child’s healthy development.

In a child sponsorship program, some of the main goals are to offer the child a home, the possibility to follow a school’s classes and develop properly, to be loved and cared for with tenderness and to change for a better future. Also, the child sponsorship programs often work hand in hand with other community programs that the NGOs have in progress, helping not only a child, but the entire affected community to progress and lift up from poverty. It is true that there are many NGOs whose main or only purpose is child sponsorship, but there are also other NGOs that have more programs in progress.

The way child sponsorship programs work is different. Some programs take place in the community where the child is situated. Other child sponsorship programs create new communities (especially in the cases with orphans, when there is nobody left to raise them). In this case, a tutor is assigned for each child, who will take care of the daily needs, living in the same house with him and offering affection and support.

In the present situation, child sponsorship is the only hope left for many regions around the world (affected by poverty, natural disasters etc.), where the local authorities do not have the possibilities to change much. It might not seem so, but even the smallest contribution can make a difference. Participating in a child sponsorship program is a small thing (almost insignificant) for people living in an economically stable society, but it can be everything for a child in need. So why not donate? If everyone would get involved in a child sponsorship program the world would be a better and happier place.