Sponsor children

I'm confused. Who was supposed to come to day and let you down? And how is that linked to sponsoring a child?

Grankids

So is the connection between the grandkids and wanting to sponsor a child that they keep letting you down and you are considering not making that effort with the grandchildren, but putting the money you would have spent on the grandkids towards a sponsored child instead?

If so, I'll answer about the sponsored child. I have a sponsored child. We do get letters regularly (just from the child, not their teachers) but it's not a substitute for a real life relationship. It's a good thing to do and I am always interested to hear from my sponsored child, but I've never got drawings. It's a good thing to do but it won't provide a surrogate grandchild, if that's what you are looking for.

DD has sponsored one boy through school and is now sponsoring another two girls and it is an excellent thing to do, but for the sake of the children to give them better opportunities. She encourages her own DC to take an interest in them too.
I don't think wanting to do this because your own DGC have let you down is the right motive, but I'm sure you would find it fulfilling and your DGC may be interested in the child's progress too.
It's a long-term commitment; the first boy was sponsored for 12 years until he completed his school education.

I have sponsored a child in Kenya, right through from 6 to 22. It is great to develop a relationship through letters, and then I was offered the chance to go out and meet her. Seeing the living conditions of these children was a massive culture shock, and reduced me to tears, it is such a worthwhile thing to do. The sponsorship programme has finished now she has left school, but we are still in touch. The last time I was out there I managed to take her a laptop, as without that she would have been unable to go to college. She is now working hard to raise the money to go. She calls me her second 'mom' and texts me every so often with how she is doing. When I heard that her mother and her small child were ill with malaria I was, with a struggle, able to get money out to a friend who had a bank account to settle their hospital bills. They only owed £6, but were losing sleep worrying how to pay for the pills!

So yes, it is very worthwhile, some of these children go on to start up their own businesses. What I find hard to understand is those that agree to sponsor and then never write to the child. I wonder if they realise the celebrations at the projects when a letter arrives for one of their children!

We've sponsored a few children in the past. One was a little boy in Peru who is now a strapping young man who still sends postcards and photos.

Just recently we have started to sponsor a little girl from Cambodia.

I'd definitely recommend it. It's great to show the grandchildren as well. We ponder over globes and work out where they are and they glean information about how children in different parts of the world, live.

I sponsored two small children 40 odd years ago when my children were small. There was a little girl in Uttar Pradesh in India and a small boy in Thailand. My monthly contribution paid for their meals, some school books and a roof over their heads until they left school. This was done through Action Aid, I seem to remember. They were cared for by Nuns and I received 2 newsy letters each year from the children and from the Nuns, telling me of their progress, sending a photograph and anything else - like a drawing - that the child wished to send. I would write with photos from time to time and I loved to feel that my sponsorship money was going directly to a child (with a face and a name that I could recognise). Once they became adults, I stopped sponsoring.

Now, at Christmas time I give to Sleeping Children Around the World - a Canadian charity which organises volunteers to travel to third world countries where they have very efficient arrangements in place to provide special gift packs for children. These each contain a sleeping mat and blanket, (since kids are usually left to sleep on a hard floor often outdoors and are often permanently tired) a school uniform so that they can go to school, books, stationery and pencils, a vital mosquito net etc., By Spring I then receive photographs of the 2 children from an area I have chosen, holding a card with my name and message to them. It always makes me happy to see their little smiling faces.

After working in a orphanage in India for 6 months my son as sponsored a child.
He gets letters and cards from him.
It is special because they did have a relationship before the sponsorship began.

We sponsor a little African girl. When you see what we have here in the western world and what they don't have, it is heartbreaking. We sponsored her through Action Aid and receive a couple of updates each year. I have written sending photos and messages which Action Aid pass on to the little girl. It's a very worthwhile thing to do and I urge anyone who can afford it (we pay £20 per month) to look into sponsoring a child.

if youbare planning to spend the budget you would usually spend on DGC on sponsoring I would say don't do it. If ther is reconciliation betweennyou and the grandkids will you be able to do both? If yes..then sponsor..but it is an ongoing commitment and not to be done for what you get out of it.

We've been sponsoring children through World Vision since we got married 40 years ago.

The money that we've given over the years, hasn't just benefited the children but their local community. Clean drinking water, proper sanitation, schools and decent living conditions.

We exchange letters and cards when it's the child's birthday and at Christmas. When the child we are sponsoring has completed their education, we are given another child to sponsor.

I sponsored a young man from when he was 15 until I retired it was not through an agency but when my youngest volunteered in Africa he is just now at 38 seeing the fruits of his hard work and is now a very successful man with a family and his own business I m extremely proud of him he keeps in contact with me and has never ever forgotten the small amount of help that got him through school college and the lean years of starting out
I did sponsor a little girl in a India until the school closed that was through a small agency I did get school pictures but I would have liked a more personal relationship not as thank you s but just interested in her life
But yes I thoroughly recommend it but not as a get back at grandkids but because you truly want to help

Thank you to all you sensible posters who realised I needed a name to apply to ie. Action Aid. It is not a replacement for my step grandchildren who I adore and they adore me. When asked why they liked me so much, they told the biological grandparents its because I really listen to them, and I am kind. That comment caused reductions, so when I am told they want to visit me. The visit is generally scuppered at the last minute. Kids know who they want to pivot around, but it's not allowed. So after, another, of many, scuppered visits, I thought helping a child abroad to adulthood would be a good idea. The mention of a teacher in the post, was because I assumed all letters to small children would be monitored obviously. Thank you once again, fir your comments, I will look into it

World Vision, which Smileless mentioned, is another agency you could investigate.
A friend of mine used to sponsor two little girls in India in order for them to have a reasonable life and an education so that they weren't sold as temple prostitutes.

Thank you. Callistemon. I will look into it. Saving girls from this dreadful outcome would clearly be a start

I've been sponsoring children through the charity, Plan for many years. It's been wonderful to see them grow from shy little children to confident adults.

We sponsor through Compassion UK, though it is a world wide organisation. As well as the monthly direct debit to your child, you are encouraged to send Chistmas and birthday presents, and the chance to visit them is priceless.

Fuchsiarose why did the biological grandparents even ask the children that? Jealousy? Presumably your other half is a biological grandfather?

We used to sponsor a girl through World Vision when our children were small. Sadly redundancy and a severely reduced income (I couldn't afford school dinners for my own children) meant I had to cancel the sponsorship.
I had a lovely letter saying thank you for your help and not to worry as another sponsor would be allocated to my child.
Maybe it's time to look at doing this again, so thank you for your post.

I am not with the paternal grandparent anymore but had a lot of input with the kids from 0 to 7years. Yes jealousy can rear its head. This happens in blended families. My thoughts are with the kids, being denied that special someone in their lives. Happens all the time, adults manipulating kids who ask to see one of their favourite people.