We work with communities to meet immediate needs as well as providing long-term
solutions. Depending on the needs of the community, Child Sponsorship Programmes focus on: child protection, education, healthcare, water & sanitation,
economic development and food security – with the goal of creating sustainable
change.
Over time you can connect with your child and their community through letters,
photos alongside regular updates and reports from the community.
But what happens when a
sponsorship ends?
When World Vision moves on
from a community, former sponsored children and their families are ready to
continue building on the progress that has been made. Keep reading for three
stories about former sponsored children achieving great things thanks to you!
Vathanak the nurse, Cambodia
Former sponsored child
Vathanak has 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
has seen the incredible change that sponsors like his own helped to create by
supporting World Vision’s work.
"I got health check-ups after World Vision arrive in my community.
Villagers learned a lot about hygiene and received better healthcare services,"
says Vathanak. "Now many things have improved in a community where we used
to have no proper healthcare system, broken facilities in schools and many
dangers along the way to school,. World Vision provided us with latrines,
wells, and micro-business knowledge; responded to natural disasters and brought
village cleaning programme to our communities. During my childhood, the
healthcare system was so poor in my community, but World Vision worked closely with the
local people to improve it."
Vathanak is grateful for the relationship he developed with his sponsor over
the years and how his sponsor encouraged him.
"I’m amazed that a person who 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 to 'study hard and play hard'. I want to tell her that my dream came true."
Kumila the journalist, India
Though Kumila grew up
belonging to a marginalised community and confined by poverty, she still dreamed
big. Today, the 26-year-old former sponsored child has graduated from
university and works as a local news anchor.
"Since my childhood, I have always loved reporting news and being an
anchor. But the conditions at home were poor. I remember asking my father for
letting me join a computer course so that I could pursue my dream, but he said
no because we didn’t have enough money. That day my hope was shattered,"
says Kumila. When she discovered that World Vision was offering children like
her vocational training in computer, she was ecstatic.
"The computer course did me good. For my line of work, understanding
technology is very important. Computer knowledge is a must for what I do,"
says Kumila.
Besides the course, Kumila received educational support from World Vision to
help her complete school. A bicycle helped her to travel the long distance to
class every day, and her family began earning a better income after her father
participated in training to grow rubber saplings.
"Thank you World Vision. I would not be able to reach here on my own. Now
I can pursue a career I’ve always dreamed of. World Vision and sponsor gave me
the support to complete my studies. There has been a lot of progress in my
village and community because of you. Today I am self-reliant member of the
household. I feel confident; I am living my dream of being a reporter,"
says Kumila.
Hyromi the humanitarian,
Mali
Hyromi was born into an
extremely poor village in Mali with no school, health clinic or access to clean
water. “My mother and father suffered a lot before I was born,” he says. “Their
first four children died, my parents still don’t know what caused their deaths.
So when my older brother was born, my mother named himYizounwhich means ‘we don’t know’ as they didn’t know what his
future would look like, whether he would survive or not.”
Though school was over 12km away, Hyromi’s father recognized the importance of education
once World Vision started working in the community. "When World Vision
came, it was like the sun rising for my community. The closest school was too
far for my family members and me to walk. My father organised for my mother,
aunt and all
my relatives that were of school age to live in a house in the
village, where the school was, for three months at a time so that we could get
an education.”
Thanks to this education and a sponsor from the other side of the world, he was
motivated to succeed. He says, “I worked really hard and was the first in my
village to graduate with a university degree. My life and the life of my
community is very different now because of World Vision. My community is much
healthier today due to some good practices of hygiene and sanitation and access
to clean water; and more developed because many of the former sponsored
children are educated and can now better support themselves and their
families."
Hyromi is now proud to work for World Vision, to pass on his vision and hope to
other children in Mali. “I just want to say a huge thank you to all those that
have sponsored a child,” he says. “I know personally how much difference
sponsoring a child can make, it doesn’t just help a single life but gives a
whole community life. The change is real and huge. I am who I am today because
of World Vision."
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