My Year With World Vision

I’ve been with World Vision for a year now.

I didn’t even realise it until World Vision sent me an email last week, celebrating “our” one year of togetherness.

When I started to sponsor kids last year, I didn’t broadcast it. I didn’t share it on Facebook. I didn’t write about it in my blog. Not that there’s anything wrong about doing it; that was just my personal choice.

Even my closest friends didn’t (and still don’t) know about it. And I loved the secrecy – still kinda do – because I wasn’t tempted to accept comments about me being a good person… because I’m not. I’m really not.

So please spare me those comments. It is the hardworking people from World Vision, especially those who immerse themselves in the remote communities of our country, who deserve them.

But the disadvantage of keeping this “affair” a secret is that I wasn’t able to share the loveliness that is World Vision. I wasn’t able to “tell the world” about their good work and how each one of us, ordinary persons, can help even beginning with just one child. Because when you commit to help a child step in school and finish it, you are already helping uplift the life of one family. When you commit to help a handful of kids, you are helping uplift the lives of a community.

It doesn’t sound like much, but for me, imagining myself in the shoes of a sponsored child, it helps so much that someone out there, though a stranger, is invested in my education and well-being. It matters that someone out there cares for me.

And you know what? I want to believe that, in a way, through World Vision, I was able to become part of those kids’ lives. I hope I could visit them one day!

(I am not a good sponsor. My kids have sent me letters and pictures but I wasn’t able to send even a single letter because it keeps slipping my mind. Must write them a letter tonight.)

Why World Vision

Alright, World Vision is not the first organisation I have supported. However, it is only World Vision that I’ve been able to support consistently because they’re not just an organisation. Being a sponsor feels like being part of this huge, lovely family.

I have always had a soft spot for children, so when I discovered the Christian organisation that is World Vision and its, well, vision to bring children back to school, I was sold. But child sponsorship is not the sole work of the group. If you take a look at their website, you’ll see that they are doing quite a lot of things and are involved in several communities’ livelihood programs, health and nutrition, values formation, and disaster preparedness, among others. They are even involved in disaster response in different countries.

Also, I remember that last year, I had a tiny contribution to their promotion of breastfeeding where we sponsored breastfeeding kits for Filipinas in poor communities.

But what I especially love about World Vision is how we, sponsors, also receive personal care — as if we are actually humans and not robots! Hehehe. They really read my emails and always respond quickly whenever I have concerns. Sometimes, when I happened to earn more and, thus, give more, they call me to confirm that I haven’t accidentally entered a wrong amount hehe. They also call me to ask where I would like to donate the “extra.” It’s the small things, really, but I just appreciate the openness of communication as well as the transparency. (And I like being treated like a human being! :P)

They also have a Sponsorship Portal that makes it easy for a sponsor to get updates about our kids. I could show you a screenshot, but then I’d be exposing the identity of the kids I’m sponsoring.

If you are someone who likes to keep track of donations, it can also be seen in the portal. However, they also diligently send you receipts of your donations (I didn’t ask for this but it doesn’t bother me either!).

You can also choose where you want to sponsor. Because I am from Mindanao, I chose to sponsor kids from Mindanao — from Misamis Occidental and from North Cotabato in particular. I have always wanted to sponsor more kids, but because I shifted from freelance work to full-time work this year, my reduced salary doesn’t allow it yet. But I’m faithful that God will increase my means of giving.

So…

There are a lot more reasons why you should sign up as a World Vision sponsor. First, sponsoring a child doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket. You can sponsor a child’s education for just ₱750/month. (NOVEMBER 2017 EDIT: It used to be ₱600 when I wrote this post but as of May this year, it was changed to ₱750. Very reasonable if you ask me!) An ordinary lunch with the family even costs more than that. Giving is convenient – and you can even make it automatic to not miss deadlines. As I have mentioned above, the finances of the organisation is very transparent. There are events World Vision hosts for sponsors; I know sometimes there are perks, too.

Sponsors who have been with World Vision a whole lot longer than I’ve been may be able to tell you more wonderful reasons to be a sponsor. But I know they will all agree with me when I say this: to make a difference in a child’s life is priceless.

Visit http://www.worldvision.org.ph/ to get involved.

Disclaimer:

This is not a sponsored post. World Vision has not asked me to write about them. This post has been written entirely voluntarily, out of the joy and satisfaction that I have felt during my first year as a World Vision sponsor, with the hopes of involving more people in their good work.