Sponsering a child

EileenW1

For 25 years I raised money for UNICEF through a dedicated band of my students. We raised over $100,000 and always knew we could state where the money went, not for one child but whole communities. We built wells, vaccinated thousands of children, purchased schools in a box, helped with tents, medicines etc during earthquakes. My daughter sponsored two children through World Vision and discovered they did not actually exist. The photos were exactly the same as a friend 's Supposed" children. When challenged WV said, they 'represented children' and money was going to the school where they were! I also learned from a 'celebrity' friend of mine, used in a TV ad that the child filmed with her was not her actual sponsored child but belonged to the cameraman! My daughter had been receiving fake letters from them for years.
Since retiring my husband and I found a kindergarten in a Balinese village we visited. We are on a pension but in three years of fundraising we have furnished two classrooms, one for special needs littlies, built and equipped a kitchen so all can have breakfast, furnished a teachers' room, provided two security gates, new playground equipment, covered play area and paid for three years lease of the land. We visit at least once a year and can see the changes made, the joy on the little ones faces and have no worries about where our donated money is going. Neither are we paying the salaries of staff to process and siphon off as we deal only with the headmaster who tells us what is needed and we then work hard to provide it.