Frequently asked questions

• When can children transition from Mums and Babies to the Child Sponsorship Program?

  Across 25 developing countries, Compassion Mums and Babies aims to prevent premature death, secure good health and enable positive development in the youngest, most vulnerable children. When a child turns one year old, the focus shifts from survival to early childhood development, and the child is eligible to be sponsored while continuing to receive personalised home-based care up to age six. 

  You can:

  • Give to Mums and Babies
  • Learn more about the Child Sponsorship Program
• My first letter from my sponsored child referred to him or her as the wrong gender. Why?

  The first letter from your sponsored child is usually written very soon after the child receives the good news that he or she has been sponsored. Regular letters have a barcode on them telling the translator whether the child is a boy or girl. As the first special letter doesn't yet have that code, the translator does not know the gender of your sponsored child and may make an error.

  You can:

  • Write a letter
  • Learn more about how your letters reach your child
  • Sponsor a child
• Can I write to my sponsored child?

  Yes! The personal relationship you build through writing letters is one of the most valuable investments you can make in your sponsored child's life. Children love to receive letters, photos and cards and the emotional, social and spiritual boost that your encouragement gives your sponsored child can be pivotal to their development. Graduates from Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program consistently point to their sponsors' letters and prayers as the two things above all others that gave them hope, courage and the belief that they could overcome their circumstances.

  A 2012 study Compassion carried out in Peru, Rwanda, Guatemala, East India and Thailand found that:

  Over 90 per cent of children report strongly experiencing joy, love, encouragement and a sense of belonging when they receive letters from their sponsors.

  Children who receive letters report feeling more motivated at school and church activities.

  Children who receive letters consistently demonstrate greater confidence, including behaviours like an ability to care for others, awareness of generosity and sharing, ability to communicate, obedience and helpfulness.

  Children write a least two letters a year to their sponsors - we encourage you to write at least two letters a year in reply.

  You can:

  • Write a letter
  • Sponsor a child

  This content was correct at the time of publishing. Compassion closed its programs in India on 15 March 2017 and no longer works in that nation.

• The children in the photos have nice clothes and don't look like they are starving. Why do they need my help?

  We believe in maintaining the dignity of those living in poverty, and for this reason we make every effort to ensure the children are always photographed in clean clothes. Sometimes, this means that several children from the one child development centre may be photographed in the same set of clothes, which are passed from child to child. As a result, the photographs do not show the poor conditions in which these children live or the hunger and abuse many experience, but their families can take pride in the picture of their child that is being sent to strangers on the other side of the world.

  You can:

  • Sponsor a child
  • Make a donation
• What is the maximum age that a child remains in the Child Sponsorship Program?

  Children graduate from the Child Sponsorship Program at different ages depending on the country in which they live. Maximum ages are listed below; however students can graduate younger than these ages listed.

  East Africa area

  Ethiopia 22

  Kenya 22

  Rwanda 22

  Tanzania 22

  Uganda 22

  West Africa area

  Burkina Faso 22

  Ghana 22

  Togo 22

  East Asia area

  East Indonesia 22

  Indonesia 22

  Philippines 22

  Thailand 22

  South Asia area

  Bangladesh 22

  India 22

  East India 22

  Sri Lanka 22

  Central America & Caribbean area

  Dominican Republic 20

  El Salvador 22

  Guatemala 18

  Haiti 22

  Honduras 18

  Nicaragua 18

  South America area

  Bolivia 22

  Brazil 22

  Colombia 22

  Ecuador 22

  Mexico 22

  Peru 22