Why We Sponsor a Compassion Child

This is Jenipher Achieng, our sponsor child from Kenya. She has been a part of our family since 2002.

Just for the record, I am not writing on behalf of Compassion International, although I believe it to be a responsible and effective charitable organization. There are many other relief organizations that are also doing great work, and it is not a competition. There is plenty of poverty and need to go around.

Compassion is a child sponsorship program which is promoted through Christian radio and music concerts. I chose Jenipher’s picture from a display at a Steve Bell concert. I wanted to sponsor a girl, since girls in Third World countries often miss out on education, either because they are needed to help out at home, or because their culture does not see a need to educate girls. I also wanted to choose a girl who was about the same age as my two daughters, so that they could write letters and find out what life is like outside of our pampered west.

Jenipher’s letters to us have been a poignant reminder of how those who have so little are so grateful for what they have. Last Christmas, for example, I realized that I spent
at least $100 on each of my girls, and sent Jenipher a cash gift of $25 (which Compassion workers in Kenya use to buy gifts locally), plus a few stickers and bookmarks (which can be sent through the mail). The MP3 players my girls received are already obsolete and have been replaced with IPODs, which they are already complaining about because they don’t have colored screens. Jenipher wrote to thank us and she wishes us God’s blessing for the nice dress that was bought for her. The money that we sent for her birthday was used to buy a school uniform and shoes so that she is able to go to school. (Many children in Africa are denies access to education simply because they do not have a school uniform and shoes!)

I once asked a Compassion Canada staff member about sibling rivalry. My own two children each have a closet full of clothes, way more food than they need, electronic gizmos and gadgets galore, and yet they still fight over such trivial things! Watching them divide a cake, for example, you might think that they are near starvation and that cake is the only food in the house. The staff member told me that she has witnessed generosity among poverty-stricken children that would set our children to shame. For example, she once noticed a girl who had received a package of pencils, and she was breaking them into pieces to share with the other children. Jenipher once wrote that with the wonderful birthday gift we sent ($25), she bought clothes for herself and her siblings.