does anyone sponsor a child? and if so, would you recommend the charity that you sponsor through

[twocatsonthebed]

Erm, that's about it. We'd like to sponsor a child, but there seem to be a range of different charities, and it's hard to find out which give the most back, so any advice and experiences would be brilliant.

yes with world vision. They're fine, but tbh no idea how they rte in terms of giving the most back financially compared to others. They do seem to be very involved at a community level though, sponsorhsip helps entire village & community projects such as dev school, water projects etc

I think 'our boy' is sponsored through either World Vision or Christian Aid. Abaana is also a good one with v close links to tthe local communities.

Yes, we use Plan International. I would recommend them 100%, no negatives at all.

Like most others as far as I know, Plan focuses very much on community projects so that it isn't just 'your' child who benefits.

Letters and very small gifts to the child are encouraged, and you get lots of info back about your child and their family and community.

We sponsor through Plan International and I would recommend it too, although not 100%- some small gifts have gone astray, info back is quite formulaic- if you sponsor 2 children you will see what I mean- sometimes they could be talking about either. Also when a child grows out of his/her sponsors they switch you to another without any goodbyes, although if you specifically request it, they will allow one final letter through. Having said all that I think they do they best they can in what must be very difficult circumstances.
We also sponsor through Familes for Children- the money goes to an orphanage- lovely newsletters come back and you can buy cards etc. made at the orphanage. I like it better myself, but you do not get an individual child to relate to.

i sponsor with world vision,a little boy in uganda. all the money i donate goes to hima nd his family.

We do it through Plan Int'l. No religious side to it - one of the main attractions.

I must admit, we haven't found the info back from Plan formulaic, and we have had more than 1 child. Perhaps it depends on the workers on the ground who are doing the reports etc.

I do agree about the abrupt end when the child reaches the upper age limit, although I'm not really sure how that can be avoided.

We sponsored a few children over the years but didn't feel particularly sad when we had to change children because the projects in that area ended, saw that as a positive sign that the need was over.

Actually, for another thread, I don't know why charities need to put forward a child's "face" to attract people, when the money in fact goes to projects in the area. Would we sponsor less if we didn't have a child's image to hang on to? I suppose it's not so easy to market latrines or whatever.

I like the community aspect myself too, but the reason we chose a scheme where you sponsored a named child was so that our own 3 children, who were very young at the time, could more easily make a connection and feel involved.

It's the same reason many toddler groups and playgroups sponsor children overseas, because parents like to think they are helping another child, even though that may well be by building latrines or digging wells!

Portonovo you are probably right about communication depending on the ground workers- we sponsored 2 children in the same area, that may be why the reports were so similar.
Agree that it is very nice for children to be able to put a name to a child, makes it much easier for them to relate to each other. However, it also made it difficult when the scheme ended in the area.

You might like to look at this. I think it is a very positive charity, and good that the mothers are encouraged to stay with the babies and taught earning skills \link {://www.familiesforchildren.ca/this}

Thankyou everyone - I think we'll probably be going for Plan, as the secular aspect appeals to us as well. And we'd like dd to have the direct link, once she's old enough to understand. But it's good to hear everyone's experiences, otherwise I'd still be staring at the tv ads, wondering which one to go for!