Endangered Childhood
A Difficult Predicament
Who among us has not been confronted at one time or another, through the media or while traveling, with the sight of human misery and, more specifically, with the sight of children's misery?
Some pictures and statistics cannot leave us indifferent and often, when we encounter them, we say to ourselves that something ought to be done for those people, that our own difficulties are negligible in comparison with the ones they have to contend with in their constant struggle for survival.
But however well-intentioned our resolutions may be, they are often quickly forgotten, swept out of our minds by the geographical distance which separates us from those poor countries and by our own personal cares as we go about our daily tasks, leading busy but comfortable lives in some of the planet's richest societies. Another world within the same world.
Should we let things stand as they are?
When you stop to think about it and ask yourself what can be done, you quickly discover that the means to act do, in fact, exist and that it takes no specialized knowledge of relief work, no unusual effort and no deep personal vocation (not everyone can be an Albert Schweitzer!) to put them into practice.
Child sponsorship is one of those means. Although still poorly understood by the general public, this formula provides a wide range of advantages to anyone who has decided, even with a minimal investment, to come to the rescue of children living in distress.
Sponsorship as a means of action
Get informed!
After taking no more than half an hour to read the following pages, the vast majority of you will be in a position to commit yourselves to becoming a child sponsor with absolutely no impact on your standard of living. So come on, take your head out of the sand and give it a go!
Nota Bene
- Throughout these pages the term "organization" refers both to relief organizations in general and to organizations specializing in the sponsorship of needy children.