Compassion International is a Christian humanitarian aid child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world. Compassion International, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, functions in 26 countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, and Kenya. The organization provides aid to more than 1,700,000 children. The chairman of the board is Karen Kemps Wesolowski, and Santiago Mellado is the President and CEO.
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History
The Everett Swanson Evangelistic Association was founded in 1952 by Everett Swanson to help children orphaned by war in South Korea. He traveled there to preach the gospel to the troops of the army but during his visit he saw children orphaned by the war. In 1953, he began to raise funds and the next year he developed sponsorship programs to help support orphans for a few dollars a month. The name of the association changed to Compassion in 1963, inspired by Jesus' words "I have compassion on the multitude. I will not send them away hungry" (Matthew 15.32).
Donating countries
Compassion International accepts contributions from a number of countries. Below are details on some of its coordinating organizations.
Canada
Compassion Canada was formed in 1963. This was the organization's Canadian branch. Based in London, Ontario, it was founded by Bob and Janet Forsyth of Blenheim, Ontario, who wanted to expand Compassion's ministry from the United States to Canada.
Switzerland
Compassion Suisse was formed in 2003. This was the organization's Swiss branch. Its original offices were located in Concise, were relocated to Yverdon-les-Bains in 2009.
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Programs
Compassion helps those in impoverished areas using a holistic three-phase approach. This approach goes well beyond simply providing food and medical aid and also involves education and training to prepare the individuals for contributing back to their community.
Child Survival Program
The first stage of Compassion's model is their Child Survival Program. This program provides prenatal care, nutrition, health care, infant survival training, spiritual guidance and education, and support through the local church for mothers of at-risk infants.
Child Sponsorship Program
The second stage is sponsorship of children. Children in the program are provided food and clean water, medical care, education, life-skills training, and spiritual guidance through a direct sponsorship. Sponsored children are selected by the sponsors and two-way communication is encouraged between the sponsored child and the sponsor. As of October 2016 the cost to sponsor a child through Compassion is $38 per month. There are currently over 1 million children worldwide in this program.
Sponsors are able to visit their sponsored children through trips planned by Compassion International. Compassion's goal is to provide a trip to each country every other year. Compassion coordinates every aspect of the trip including travel, meals, tips and gratuities, fees related to the travel, and sightseeing fares.
Compassion operated in India for 48 years, with its $45 million in transfers a year, making it India's largest single foreign donor. Compassion provided services under its Child Sponsor Program to 145,000 Indian children. In 2015, Compassion affiliates' offices were raided by tax investigators seeking evidence it was funding religious conversions. Compassion said it was then encouraged to direct funding to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh groups. In 2017, the Government of India barred Compassion from transferring funds into India, forcing to group to close its operations in that country. The Ministry of External Affair later clarified that the ban had nothing to do with the ideology of Compassion International.
Leadership Development Program
In the final stage of Compassion's approach is the Leadership Development program. This program is available to graduates of the Child Sponsorship program and provides leadership related training from various sources. This program ensures that poverty is not a roadblock for tomorrow's leaders to reach their full potential. This program is currently being merged with the Child Sponsorship Program in order to prepare a wider spectrum of children for life after they graduate.
Countries of operation
Compassion provides child development aid to children and families in 25 countries. Each country's office is staffed by local personnel.
Ratings
Compassion International currently holds a rating of three stars (out of four) from Charity Navigator, a grade of "A" from the American Institute of Philanthropy and met the "20 Standards for Charity Accountability" from the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance.
Through 2015, Compassion International has received Charity Navigator's highest four star rating for 15 consecutive years, thereby receiving special recognition on their "10 Charities with the Most Consecutive 4-Star Ratings" list.
An empirical study published in the Journal of Political Economy showed that the sponsorship of children through Compassion International resulted in significantly higher rates of children completing school and greatly improved adult employment outcomes. The study, led by University of San Francisco professor Bruce Wydick and involving over 10,000 individuals in six countries, showed that the Compassion child sponsorship program increased the probability of primary school completion by 4.0-7.7%, secondary school completion by 11.6-16.5%, and university completion by 2.1-2.4%. It also increased the probability of salaried employment in adulthood by 5.1-6.3% and the probability of white-collar employment by 6.5-6.7%.
See also
- Compassion Australia
References
External links
- Official website
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