Child Sponsorship that really works

The global success of Oscar winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire, which demonstrated the appalling plight of orphaned and other vulnerable children in Mumbai, has inevitably led to a surge in interest in child sponsorship in India as a whole.

Too many young children living in that country are deprived of a normal, loving childhood and have, instead, to endure the constant threat of being trafficked, maimed or sold into forced or bonded labour.
The problem for prospective child sponsors who are eager to help is knowing how their donations are going to have the maximum impact. Child sponsorship as we know it today probably first arrived on the scene in 1937 when the charity Plan was founded by two Britons who were moved by the suffering of orphans and other vulnerable children caught up in the Spanish Civil War. They urged others to donate one shilling a day to provide a child with food and shelter. They were also asked to write letters to the child to show them that someone cared about them.
The charity still exists today and is now called Plan International reflecting the fact that it is active in 50 of the Worlds poorest countries. Armed with over 70 years experience, the organisation is recognised as a leading authority on child sponsorship. Unbelievably, it currently has over 1 million sponsors in 20 different countries.
The main lesson that the charity has learned over the decades is that giving money directly to children and/ or their families is the least effective way of helping them. Presumably they have seen far too many instances of funds falling into the wrong peoples hands. Instead, Plan argues that the best way to help is to combine monthly sponsorship subscriptions so that there is enough in total to afford worthwhile projects across a range of sectors including education, health, child protection, child participation, economic security and water and sanitation.
Each child is encouraged to participate in decisions about which projects to prioritise and to be involved in their execution. Donors enjoy seeing the children they individually sponsor regain their childhood and grow into healthy, well balanced adults. Letters and photographs are still hugely effective in helping sponsors relate to the children they are helping and the projects in which they are involved. The highlight of any sponsorship is understandably a visit by the sponsors to meet their sponsored children in the country in which they live.