In Bangladesh International Needs has their own schools where children go for their education, in other countries the closest public school is used. Initiated by Ray Harrison, past world president of Youth for Christ, International Needs stands firmly in the individual benefits camp, a stance long criticised for its divisive effects in Third world communities. Local non-governmental organisations, such as Christian World Service and Trade Aid, have long believed that the individual benefits of child sponsorship do not address the causes of Third World poverty, that individual benefits can be divisive and demeaning within a community for both the sponsored and the unsponsored and that correspondence from the sponsors can bring about false aspirations or feelings of inferiority in a child from an impoverished community. Trade Aid Importers Manager Brian Turner said that sponsorship that comes hand in hand with religious doctrine does not work to a child's best interest. In the end there are two truths - conflicting truths at that.
Child sponsorship works in as much that it brings western dollars flooding into agencies.
A photo of a helpless child does pull on the heartstrings, a promise that for just a dollar a day you can save a life appeals to everyone's desire to do their bit for the needy - it's easy, it's emotive and it doesn't require to much understanding or responsibility for the inequalities of the world. The other truth, however, is that providing individual benefits to one child does not touch on the cause of poverty, does not support moves towards self-reliance and does not maintain cohesiveness and cultural integrity within a community. The Chicago Tribune investigation brought world attention to the fact that many agencies have moved away from child sponsorship in its original sense - but by continuing to fund raise on that platform is continuing to support the myth that focusing on one child is a viable way to help Third World communities out of poverty. As Trade Aid begins its Women and Debt focus, Trade Aid education co-ordinator Cassandra Moodley looks at the effects of debt on women in developing countries. Kafue Road, Zambia - some 300 women begin their normal workday at dawn.