Having problems

[ninabettina]

I sponsor through compassion, and am having a small problem. Xorse, the girl I sponsor in Ghana, writes me often. Well, she draws me pictures often. I'll respond back asking what the picture is of, how she's doing, what she's been up to, what kind of games she plays, all that stuff. The response? A quote from the Bible asking me for prayers. I'm

Comments

[walkintherain]

I've had that experience with Children International as well. While I'm grateful to receive letters, they always say the same thing. :-/

[karmabreeze]

At least with CI, I think a lot of it is that the families can't think of anything to say and so the agencies have form letters to help them out

[ninabettina]

I like that. We had a speaker from Xorse's country today, Ghana, and I mentioned him in a letter I'm writing now and some similar things to what you said about Chile's president. Xorse doesn't write me, a social worker does, that's why it doesn't even feel like it's coming from her, at ALL. I assumed it would take a while for her to write me back, but it was almost instantaneous that I got letters, so I don't know if it's that she's shy. We sent letters to each other around the same time, hers was thanking me for being her sponsor and mine was introducing myself and asking her about herself and such. I don't know what to think, I dont know how they're doing things :(

[sarainc]

I'm getting the same sort of thing... kinda makes you wonder how your money is being SPENT huh?

I've decided to commit to one full year of sponsorship, and if it doesn't improve I'll pull the plug then... I'm not necessarily looking for deeply personal letter writing, but some information from the organization about how the money is being used would be appreciated.

[ninabettina]

Are you through compassion as well? I never know whether or not to trust these companies, my friend sponsored through Compassion before and said it was trustworthy, but I guess I should have done way more research.

[sarainc]

no I'm thru plan usa.

[prayithelps]

I've researched Compassion Intl, World Vision, AND Children International. I did several speeches on the reliability/credibility of child sponsorship organizations for college courses. I would recommend requesting copies of fiscal reports (CI, at least, supplies them readily, when asked) to see how money is spent, and also looking at credible media sources (newspapers, magazines, etc) that list "top charities." I've been sponsoring thru Compassion for six years now; my husband and I have three children through them, and we're very happy with our experience.

I will say, about the letters however, that they *did* inform us of the process. Younger children use form letters to "fill in blanks" and even then, if they can't write, they simply dictate their "answers." Older children use more lenient form letters or write their own letters of specific topics, but there's too are translated, which may explain why the handwriting doesn't look like that of a child.

[gratiana]

I sponsor 3 children through Compassion International, and their letters have always been personal, even when dictated to someone else who wrote them. The youngest girl's letters would often end with "This letter is written by Sarala who greets you in the name of the Lord," who I assume was one of the teachers (it was usually the same woman). So I actually started greeting her back at the end of my letters too, "with love and prayers for you, your family, and your teacher Sarala." And sometimes at the bottom of the letter, the little girl would write her name or write her alphabet, something small to make her mark. But I could tell that she was strongly involved with the letter because she did answer my questions, and commented on photographs or other things I sent her.

(All this in past tense because she's old enough to write her own letters now. I've been sponsoring her for several years.)

Have you sent photographs or stickers or any little extras? My girls are always very good about thanking me for those.

[gratiana]

Oh, I just noticed you've only been a sponsor since September, and I wanted to add that sometimes the letters take a long time to go back and forth, with translating and everything, I guess... But there are certain scheduled periods where the children write letters (whether in response to you or not.) So it may be that some of the letters you're receiving are just those scheduled quarterly letters rather than replies to what you sent.

What to expect from the letters your child writes

[g9ine]

Here are some links to Compassion's Frequently Asked Questions about letter writing