To want to sponsor a child?

[quizzywizz]

I really want to sponsor a child through a site like Compassion where you can write to them and they write back and there is only you sponsoring the child.

It is £21 per month and a child is sponsored to about 18 / 22 I think.

I really want to do it and am drawn towards it but, after mentioning it to friends / parents, pretty much everyone was against it. Pointing out that if I sponsored a 6 year old I could be paying for at least 12 years = £3024. Unless the monthly amount goes up in which case it would be more.

They just keep saying that there is no point sponsoring a child that is nothing to you, there are children in the UK that need help, I am not well off / well paid, and that money doesn't get to the child.

Choosing which child might be tricky as there are some lovely little children on the site! I can't explain why I am so drawn to the idea so I am not managing to defend my view point very well. I think that sponsoring a child changes their life and gives them opportunities that they wouldn't otherwise have.

[exoticfruits]

You can visit with PLAN.
I don't think that any sponsor 1yr olds. I have always helped older DCs get an education. The money goes to the community and the family benefit through that. You are matched with a child- I wouldn't like the idea that you look and choose. I presume they match where the need is greatest, and it isn't greatest with babies.

[IncrediblePhatTheInnkeepersCat]

Jinsei "However, I hate the idea of "choosing" a child from the Internet - almost as if they're up for sale!"

^^ YY

I imagine that it's the cutest children chosen first. Imagine being a kid who has been waiting for a sponsor for a year say and seeing other children being snapped up after only a week or two. Much fairer to be assigned a child.

[Pootles2010]

Does Compassion in the UK have the same issue with homophobia as in other countries? In US and Australia you're not allowed to tell 'your' child that you are gay, for example see here.

[quizzywizz]

I decided to go for it!! I am now sponsoring a little 8 year old in Peru!

pootles Not sure - it isn't something that even occurred to me. I suppose they have to respect the churches that run the schemes though.

[Sunnywithshowers]

That's great news quizzywizz :)