A Former Sponsored Child's Reflections on the Importance of Sponsorship

Faimi Moscova, Sponsorship Mananger

Port-au-Prince

August 31, 2012

For over 25 years Save the Children in Haiti has supported development in the Maissade community through our sponsorship-funded programs, addressing the needs of vulnerable children and their families.

Archange Christophe was once a sponsored child and now works for Save the Children in Maissade. In 2004 Save the Children helped found the first and only community radio station in Maissade, and Archange was, and still is, one of the broadcasters at the station. Radio is a powerful tool for the education and welfare of the population, and also plays a key role i n emergencies.

“With the strong beginning my family and I received from Save the Children I completed my secondary studies and went on to a professional school. Then I returned to my village and applied for
the position with Save the Children. I feel like I owe it to the organization and my community. I accomplish my daily tasks with a spirit of kindness and try to help my people as best I can,” shares Archange.

Archange was enrolled in the sponsorship program when he was in 1st grade, and remained a sponsored child for nearly five years. He still has happy memories of those days and taking part in the many activities Save the Children organized in his community of Bois Rouge. He received school assistancv through the Save the Children education programs and his whole family was able to receive health care support. Archange believes Save the Children, with its many child-centered development programs, has inspired his lifelong pursuit of self-development. “Save the Children and its child sponsors have made remarkable contributions to education, health care and nutrition in Maissade,” he states.

“Being a sponsored child helped me appreciate generosity. Now I can give back to my community what I received. I can still remember my sponsor’s encouraging words 'school is very important, you must work hard at it' and 'it is essential to love your friends.' I am so grateful to Save the Children, without them and the support of my sponsor I wouldn’t have been able to gain a good education and succeed.”