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Mar 27
2009
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This is a deviation from the normal stuff I write about but I am genuinely passionate about this and was inspired by a blog post by Steve Ollis. I made a comment there but thought I would expand on that a bit more here.
My wife and I sponsor a couple of kids through an aid organisation called International Needs, we beleive its the least we can do each month to help those less fortunate than us. In fact I would go further and challenge anyone in Australia that earns a wage to sponsor a child through any of the wonderful organisations that offer this form of aid. From first hand account I can assure you that it works, I have found that those that criticise by saying that "too much goes to administration" etc rarely sponsor anything or financially support via other means such as kiva.org or similar. They just use this as another excuse for not giving at all, but I digress.
I repeat my challenge, every person earning a wage in Australia should be sponsoring a child, embarrassingly most people who do sponsor don't even notice the money missing at the end of the month it is so little comparative to all the other financial commitments we have in the first world.
My wife and I have had the privilege of meeting our sponsor children ona a number of occasions. We have also seen the programs run by International Needs therefore meeting numerous sponsored children. A heart breaking story occurred one day when we were talking to an area coordinator whose son was also sponsored by a family who we knew through a mutual friend. The area coordinator's role was to ensure that the sponsored children and their siblings were being cared for. As part of this role she was responsible for communication between the children and their sponsors. She processed many letters and small presents from Australia to the children in her care as well as sending the regular updates and drawn photos from the Philippines to Australia.
Her sponsored son, who watched his Mum work, asked us if we knew his sponsor (a common question, we are both Australian so must know each other right?) and in this case we said that yes we did know of her. He said, without a hint of malice or disrespect, "She must be very busy because she has never sent me a letter, even just to let me know she got my drawings and letters. Please tell her that I am really thankful for her sponsorship it must be so much for her". Broke our hearts.We knew that she would probably not even notice the monthly amount taken out of her account and were sure she would be devastated to hear that she was "too busy" to offer basic encouragement to her sponsor child.
A sponsor child will appreciate and be eternally thankful for your money, but they covet a relationship with you, the giver, take the time to send them a letter, a photo a small gift. It will change their world and probably change yours too.
My Wife Linda with our sponsor child Jaymar, Philippines 2007
I have also met him and he is a shy but good kid, he lives with his Mum and Dad about 4 hours travel time from Manila
