Sponsorship a solid foundation for building a brighter future

When you sponsor a child, you’re helping to empower their community and transform their world. Because World Vision works in communities on a long term bais, our work can meet immediate needs as well as tackling the bigger picture challenges affecting children’s wellbeing – with the goal of creating sustainable change.

While child sponsorship supports the child’s whole community and not just the child it also gives you the chance to develop a relationship with your sponsored child through letters, progress reports and even community visits.

But what happens when a sponsorship ends?

World Vision’s focus as soon as it begins to support a community is on leaving it stronger, empowered and resilient.

When World Vision moves on from a community, former sponsored children and their families will have the skills and the frameworks in place to continue building on the progress that has been made. 

Vathanak the nurse, Cambodia

Former sponsored child Vathanak always dreamed of a career in medicine – a dream that his parents and his sponsor encouraged him to pursue. Now 23 years old, Vathanak has graduated from university in Phnomh Penh to work as a nurse – and he uses his skills to conduct health checks for people in his community. Over the years, he's seen the incredible change that sponsors like his own helped to create by supporting World Vision’s work.

"I got health check-ups when World Vision was introduced to my community. Villagers learned a lot about hygiene and received healthcare improvements,"

"I got health check-ups when World Vision was introduced to my community. Villagers learned a lot about hygiene and received healthcare improvements," says Vathanak. "In a community where we used to have no proper healthcare system, schools with broken building and many dangers along the way to school, now many things are better. World Vision provided us with toilets, wells, micro-business knowledge, responded to natural disaster and  brought village cleaning programs to our communities. During my childhood the healthcare system was so poor in my community, only World Vision was working closely with the local people," says Vathanak.

Vathanak is grateful for the relationship he developed with his sponsor over the years and for the ways she encouraged him.

"I have wondered why a person that never knew me, would spend time and money to support a kid like me," says Vathanak. "My sponsor always responded to my letters, wrote great encouraging words. Whenever I received a letter from her I was so excited and shared it with my mum, dad and friends. Also, she told me 'study hard and play hard'. I want tell her that my dream become true now," adds Vathanak.

How You Can Help

• Sponsor a child: Sponsorship makes a long-term investment in the life of a child, his/her family and community, providing greater access to life-giving basics like nutritious food, clean water, medical care, and education -- the foundation for a future of independence and hope.
• Share our VISION: Be a part of our ongoing campaigns to raise awareness for children caught up in conflict and/or poverty by sharing this message with the world. Use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest to spread the word. Raise your voice and let others know how important it is to invest in the lives of children.

(Source : https://www.worldvision.com.au/global-issues/work-we-do/poverty/former-sponsored-children)

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