Is sponsoring a child effective aid?
Does sponsoring a child in developing countries really help? A new study says yes.
The BBC reported in an article last week that while nine million children worldwide receive sponsorship by Western donors, there has been little if any research into the question of whether such aid is effective.
But now a study conducted by the University of San Fransisco provides some answers. Interviewing over 10,000 people in six developing countries, researchers compared the lives of those who had been sponsored by the agency Compassion with their peers who had not been sponsored.
One researcher summed it up: "As a development economist I am used to seeing very modest outcomes from aid programmes, but we were amazed at the size of impacts on kids."
The BBC article stated, "The results showed that the sponsored children stayed in school longer than their non-sponsored peers, were more like to have white collar jobs and were more likely to be leaders in their communities and churches."
This certainly is in line with the results we see from our sponsorship of secondary and university students in Tanzania. Education is the key to a life beyond subsistence farming. Girls and young women who are educated tend to delay marriage and children, and have the means to support the families they create.
We also see a ripple effect from our scholarship support. Graduates get jobs and then help their younger siblings with school fees, or provide support for their elderly parents.
And that's precisely why we provide scholarship support -- to give a 'hand up' to an individual who is willing to work hard at school, and then use the gift of their education to give back to the community.
The BBC reported in an article last week that while nine million children worldwide receive sponsorship by Western donors, there has been little if any research into the question of whether such aid is effective.
But now a study conducted by the University of San Fransisco provides some answers. Interviewing over 10,000 people in six developing countries, researchers compared the lives of those who had been sponsored by the agency Compassion with their peers who had not been sponsored.
One researcher summed it up: "As a development economist I am used to seeing very modest outcomes from aid programmes, but we were amazed at the size of impacts on kids."
The BBC article stated, "The results showed that the sponsored children stayed in school longer than their non-sponsored peers, were more like to have white collar jobs and were more likely to be leaders in their communities and churches."
This certainly is in line with the results we see from our sponsorship of secondary and university students in Tanzania. Education is the key to a life beyond subsistence farming. Girls and young women who are educated tend to delay marriage and children, and have the means to support the families they create.
We also see a ripple effect from our scholarship support. Graduates get jobs and then help their younger siblings with school fees, or provide support for their elderly parents.
And that's precisely why we provide scholarship support -- to give a 'hand up' to an individual who is willing to work hard at school, and then use the gift of their education to give back to the community.
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