9 ways you’ll make a difference to your sponsored child in 2017

Written by: Compassion Canada

By sponsoring a child with Compassion in 2017, you’ll make an incredible difference. You’ll bring stability and security to a child living in the vulnerability of poverty. From all of us at Compassion, thank you.

Your support will help your sponsored child to be:

1. Educated

From the back of the classroom, we see several you children standing up from there desks to raise their hands in order to answer a teacher's question.
Depending on where your sponsored child lives, part of your $41 a month will pay their school fees or go towards school uniforms and supplies. This is so vital! If you sponsor a girl, the fact that she’ll spend 2017 attending primary school will mean her eventual wages are likely to be 10-20 per cent higher.*

2. Valued

I little girl and her teacher stand in front of a chalk board smiling. The little girl has her arm around her teacher's shoulder.
Every week for 44 weeks of the next year, your sponsored child will attend a Compassion centre. They’ll receive love, guidance, teaching and care from a team of well-trained staff from the local church. They’ll even have a designated staff member who is responsible for going the extra mile in caring for them!

3. Protected

A little girl walks down the road, holding the hand of a grown man. The man is holding a bible in his other hand.
Poverty places children at risk: abuse, enforced child labour, trafficking, female genital mutilation and child prostitution to name just a few dangers. Because you enable your sponsored child to have weekly contact with their Compassion centre, trained staff will notice if they’re acting out of character or absent from centre activities. Centre workers will follow up and do everything they can to keep them safe.

4. Confident

A girl sits in her grass hut holding a large pile of letters from her sponsor. She looks proud and confident.
Studies have shown that by writing two letters in 2017, you’ll boost your child’s self-esteem!**

5. Healthy

A doctor uses his stethoscope to listen to back of a little girl in a red sweater.
You’ll enable your sponsored child to keep up-to-date with their immunizations and to receive a health screening.

6. Well fed

A little girl sits at a table eating rice. She's smiling
Your sponsored child will receive nutritious food each time they attend centre activities, and extra food packages to take home if they’re at risk of malnutrition.

7. Supported at home

A mother and father sit and look on as woman holds their baby, showing them how to care for their infant properly
Centre workers from the local church will take time to get to know your sponsored child’s family, making sure they’re safe and well. These everyday heroes will go out of their way to visit your sponsored child at home.

8. Equipped

A little boy sits at a desk writing on a piece of paper
At their centre, your child will be taught the Compassion curriculum which covers everything from Bible stories to practical skills like money management.

9. Empowered

A young teacher uses a long piece of wood to point to different tools hanging on the wall. A number of carpentry students look on.
From bead-making to carpentry and baking, you’ll give your sponsored child access to vocational training that will empower them to get a job in the future.

A huge thank you to every one of our sponsors. Thank you for giving a child in poverty a brighter future. Thank you for joining us in the fight against poverty.

If you don’t already sponsor a child, why not make it a New Year’s resolution to empower a child today.

Sponsor today

By Becca Stanley; this blog originally appeared on Compassion UK