Compassion Trip El Salvador Recap
I am on the airplane returning from 4 days in El Salvador with Compassion International and wanted to share some reflection on poverty, Compassion and illegal immigration.
Compassion on the ground
Compassion is a group, a network really, of people from around the world who partner with poor children around the world to release children from poverty. Compassion is active in 24 countries and connects with 1 million children. The effort works by connecting sponsors with children. This connection includes sponsors contributing $32 a month to pay for that child’s participation in Compassion Projects that are run in partnership with local churches. Each Project works in four areas – Education (and training), Social-Emotional Development, Health and Food Supplement and Faith Development.
Compassion invites people to be sponsors through a variety of means, one of which is utilizing speakers and musicians to invite their audiences to sponsor a child. Compassion is a going to be part of our Church Basement Road Show this summer which is why I was on the trip – to see first hand how the program operates. We visited four programs in different areas around the country and met hundreds of children who are being assisted and given hope.
Part of what is so impressive about the program is the incredible difference $32 a month makes in the life of a child. 80% of that $32 is delivered to the child through the program. The other 20% goes to support the broader system. In short, the money is extremely well spent.
People Connections
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the effort is the way adults connect with children. In the projects themselves at the churches there are dozens of adults who love, teach and encourage the children. For children living in poverty the role of adult who believes in them, and calls them to a hopeful future is the key to ending poverty for that child. This is where sponsors fit in as well.
Sponsors not only contribute money to the program on behalf of the children, they give to a specific child. And they communicate with the child through personal letters. Going into the trip I was aware of the child packet process but had no idea just now personal it was. I was not sure if each child had only one sponsor or if the idea was that sponsors gave money to a general pot and a child was connected to them as an example. But that is not at all the way it works. Sponsors are connected with individual children and they exchange pictures and letter. The children know they sponsors by name even though they have rarely had the chance to personally meet. We visited a number of homes and the families would show us the letters and pictures they had received from their sponsors. These letters were often a bit of a keepsake. The children’s eye lit up when we would ask about their sponsors. Sponsors are an integral part of a child’s life
This is so impressive because for the issue is not that people don’t care for the poor the problem is that far to few of us actually know poor people. And far to few people in poverty have partners who are helping them to find hope and opportunity out of poverty. I would encourage you to consider sponsoring a child if it is at all of interest to you. Contact me and I will be glad to make it happen for you.
Beautifully Strange Partners
El Salvador is, as I mentioned one of 24 countries where compassion is active. And in some ways the context of El Salvador was only the background of our visit since our focus was on the seeing the projects in action. But for me there was not way to separate the setting of El Salvador from the work of Compassion being done there. The particulars of the El Salvadorian situation is that as a country of roughly 6.7 million people there are nearly 2 million who live outside El Salvador in the United States. Those living in the US send money back to their families in El Salvador in such staggering amounts that is represents ½ of the El Salvadorian economy. One half, it is amazing. We met a number of families who told us that their income, like $1-2 dollars a day (and they use the Dollars as their currency so there is no exchange rate differential) came from relatives in the United Stated. So it dawned on me how the work of Compassion in helping the poor is working along side this money from immigrants, legal and illegal, in the United States. I wonder how many times in the activity of normal life we interact with people who are helping to alleviate poverty around the world - Be that as sponsors of children or those sending money home. It is great to see what partners are made when people are doing a good.
2 Responses to “Compassion Trip El Salvador Recap”
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May 16th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Not only are you in with my ministry, you were in my country! I work with some people direct in El Salvador. I am so exited you got to go.
I also am exited your book is at Barnes and Noble. I was there yesterday expending my book budget, it will have to wait a week but I look forward to reading it!
May 28th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
[…] Compassion Trip El Salvador RecapEl Salvador is, as I mentioned one of 24 countries where compassion is active. And in some ways the context of El Salvador was only the background of our visit since our focus was on the seeing the projects in action. … […]