Giving a gift is a great way to meet a specific need and even a small gift can make a huge difference in your sponsored child's life.

Generally speaking, we advise that a gift will take up to six or eight weeks to reach your sponsored child. This is a conservative estimate; some centres will process their gifts quicker than this, but we use eight weeks as our standard guideline to avoid creating an expectation we can't meet.

The gift process depends largely on the infrastructure in your sponsored child's community and the checks and balances Compassion includes to ensure transparency and accountability.

Some child development centres receive the money by cheque and some receive it directly transferred into a bank account, depending on their local infrastructure and processes.

After the centre staff receive the money, they meet with your sponsored child (and their parents) and inform them of your gift and discusses what some of the child's and family's needs are.

Next, your sponsored child signs for the gift to acknowledge that it was received. They then go to the market or local shops together and purchase the chosen items. One hundred percent of what you give is used to make the purchase, minus any currency conversion fees.

Generally, your sponsored child will write you a letter letting you know what was purchased and will possibly include a picture, depending on the amount of the gift and your child's centre.

If you do not receive a letter within eight months of sending your gift, please contact us. We may be able to contact our country office for more information.