 
Sponsor a child? Maybe not
Many thousands of generous people respond to campaigns to sponsor children in the developing world. It's hard to look away when there are innocent children in dire need, and when reputable agencies ask for your money in order to help them. And yet, there are questions about child sponsorship - the ethics of sponsorship campaigns, and the effects on the local community of sponsoring the one when there are so many in need. This week's backgrounder explores these and other difficult questions.
 
Charities face tough task for dollars
 Plan International's marketing and communications director, Pamela Sutton, said last week that the
organisation had collected more child sponsorship agreements than ever before in recent months. However on the whole charities are struggling, as Australians gave less to charity last year than during the previous two years. Charities recorded an increase in donations which was less than the rate of inflation - Renee Barnes, The Age
Turning child soldiers back into children
Perhaps the bleakest image in our modern world is that of the child soldier. In Angola, there are at least 8000 former child soldiers which aid agencies are seeking to rehabilitate in part through child sponsorship. Last week, United Nations officials in Angola said the reintegration of former child soldiers into civil society was underway despite the scale of the problem confronting the
humanitarian community - Mail and Guardian Online
Confronting the Orphan Crisis
AIDS, war, exploding landmines, poverty, and famine have created a worldwide tragedy.
Over 10 million orphans under the age of 15 are now struggling for survival with both
parents dead. 108 million children have lost a mother, a father, or live parentless. More
than 13.4 million children are AIDS Orphans, the fastest growing orphan population.
Studies and news reports indicate that by 2005 there will be more than 20 million AIDs orphans still alive - Warm Blankets Orphan Care International
 
The Art & Ethics of Fundraising
On any given day, nearly every Christian household receives pleas for money. They come from Christian relief agencies such as Compassion International, Christian Aid, Feed the Children, World Concern, World Relief, and World Vision. While these groups have done an immense amount of good in the world, some people question their fundraising strategies. The appeals, they say, rely on guilt-inducing pleas and high-pressure tactics. They create a false sense of urgency, or make promises that a small gift can really change a child's life. Should charities be relying on Madison Avenue techniques instead of honest and direct appeals to Christian brothers and sisters? - Ken Waters, Christianity Today
 
Rich thinking about the world's poor
To those wanting your money for good causes, are you just a hole in the wall machine? To some fundraisers you, the donor, are simply an impersonal economic unit. To be plundered for your wealth though ever so politely. However many child sponsorship organisations encourage relationship between the donor and the recipient, engaging the donor and taking them on a journey of discovery and involvement that leads to their own development - Christianity and Renewal
 
 Give.org
Charity Reports Index
Is the money you donate to child sponsorship or other worthy causes getting to the right place? Give.org (BBB Wise Giving Alliance) provides a list of reports on charities and other soliciting organizations and is regularly updated. This site was developed to assist donors in making sound giving decisions and to foster public confidence in charitable organizations.
Give.org reports on hundreds of charitable organisations worldwide.
 
For the children
We pray, Lord, for all children, orphaned, or distressed anywhere in the world. We pray for improved conditions for orphaned and abandoned children. For children who have to work to be able to survive.
For those whose lives have been devastated by HIV/AIDS. For those who do not receive an education
and future employment is non existent. For the lonely, unhappy and the fearful. Let your love hold them Lord, and be real to them. Bless all those who help them, individually or through helping agencies. Give us all an urgency to care, and work to alleviate their pain.
 
True Stories: Torso In The Thames: Adam's Story
Destitution can bring out the very worst in human nature, and frequently the victims will be the children. When the mutilated torso of a young boy was discovered in London's River Thames in September 2001, it sparked one of the most challenging murder investigations ever mounted by the Metropolitan Police. Evidence mounted of disturbing links to organised human trafficking of African children into the UK for slavery and sex work, as police followed a sordid trail to Adam's fate. ABC TV, 10:00 pm, Thursday 28 August 2003
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