Complementary Interventions

Completing Compassion’s core programs

Because Compassion believes that poverty is best addressed through the transformation of the individual child, Compassion does not engage in community development as a stand alone program, and neither does Compassion fund community development activities through the money received from the one-to-one Child Sponsorship Program.

However, to ensure that children receive the best possible opportunity to break the cycle of poverty, Compassion seeks to address all the obstacles that can hinder and impede the healthy development of children and their opportunity to reach their full potential. Many of these barriers stem from such factors as the unsanitary conditions of a child’s home and community environment, occurrences of natural disasters or widespread health epidemics, or issues that directly affect an individual child’s family and home life.

Compassion’s Complementary Interventions Program tackles some of these additional concerns and provides activities and interventions which enhance, improve and complement our core programs. Some of the complementary interventions supported by Compassion include:

  • Access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities:
    • water tanks
    • wells
    • pit latrines
    • flushing toilets
    • purified water
  • Disaster relief and reconstruction:
    • Famine
    • Natural disasters
  • HIV/AIDS interventions:
    • education and awareness campaigns
    • anti-retroviral drugs
    • additional support for children and their caregivers
  • Vocational training and non-formal education programs:
    • trade skills such as carpentry, tailoring etc
    • animal husbandry and cottage industries
    • truck, bus and taxi driving licences
    • sustainable farming
  • Educational resources:
    • library books
    • computers and other educational equipment
    • shelving, desks etc
    • sport equipment and playgrounds
    • musical instruments
  • Scholarships and special education grants:
    • trade certificates
    • midwifery and nursing
    • top-up fees and living expenses for high school students
  • Education programs for parents of Compassion-assisted children:
    • health and hygiene training
    • adult literacy programs
    • positive parenting
  • Micro-enterprise and income generation for Compassion-assisted children and their families:
    • micro-finance loans
    • small business workshops
  • Additional medical care and nutritional assistance:
    • emergency surgery
    • elective surgery
    • post-operative care and rehabilitation
    • dental care
  • Health awareness and education:
    • immunisations
    • anti-malarial bed nets
  • Partner development including:
    • staff training
    • project management
    • financial management
    • leadership training
    • social work
    • child development
  • Assistance for orphans and vulnerable children:
    • building and maintaining homes for orphans

You can donate to the Complementary Interventions Program by:

NOTE: The types of projects funded through Partners of Compassion or Sponsorship Plus are determined by the revenue generated through these sources in relation to the cost of the interventions Compassion Australia has committed to at any time.

For further information on Compassion’s Complementary Interventions Program, or to make a donation, please contact David Harrison compassion@compassion.com.au or call 02 4935 5000 / 1800 224 453.