Sponsor children in the US?

Question

I'm outraged. I went online to find a child to sponsor, in Africa, but though I asked only to see children deemed "greatest need", I was consistently directed to children living in the US. Look, I understand that there are children living in poverty in the world's richest country, but I think it's outrageous that these children should be considered the most needy in this world. George W Bush should spend some of his country's money changing the lives of these children, so that the rest of us can do what we can to help those unfortunate enough to be born in the world's poorest nations!

Answer 1

I totally agree....though I would be careful because you really don't know where your money is going.

Answer 2

Save the Children offers opportunities to sponsor children in Africa.

HOWEVER, note that, when you sign up to sponsor, through any organization, your money is not going directly to the child; the organization *is* helping that child and his or her family, very much so, but the money goes wherever it's needed as deemed by the organization. Sponsorship allows you to correspond with a child in the developing world.

I give to CARE International and MADRE.org -- I feel like they make the most difference with women and children.

Answer 3

I'm not sure what site you were on, but I would question it's legitimacy.  The poorest child in this country is richer than many children elsewhere in the world.  

"George W Bush should spend some of his country's money changing the lives of these children"

Our country already spends a lot of money on welfare, vaccination clinics, WIC, head start and any number of support systems for the poor including children.  We spend more on Health and Human Services than anything else.

As I said, I suspect the website was phony or poorly run rather than the search results of the most needy children being accurate.

Answer 4

You're right - although there are certainly children in the US who are in need, there are enough services that no one need starve to death.  I've done a lot of work in Africa and have seen children with swollen bellies, no shoes, and shirts with so many holes that they had to tie the material together to keep it on their bodies.

I've sponsored a child through World Vision for many years and would definitely recommend them. I've also seen their projects in the Middle East, and in 2 African countries (Zimbabwe and Uganda), and was impressed with what they are doing. You can correspond with your child and even visit him/her if you go to their country.

The benefit to going through an organization is that they are helping the communities to become self-sufficient. Although the money does not all go directly to your child, it does go to the community they live in.  Examples of projects is building a school, paying a teacher's salary, getting a goat for every family in the village, start-up business help, etc.

Their website in the United States is http://www.worldvision.org

For those reading this who are from other countries:

http://www.worldvision.ca (Canada)

http://www.worldvision.org.uk (United Kingdom)

http://www.wvi.org (international site – at the very bottom click ‘Other World Vision sites)