Child Sponsorship: The Approaches Adopted by Two NGOs in Response to Child Poverty in Guatemala

Child poverty is one of the fundamental issues currently confronting Guatemalan society. This study examines the efforts of two international NGOs to address child poverty in this country. Compassion Guatemala is a faith-based evangelical NGO which enables foreign donors to sponsor individual Guatemalan children by funding the costs of support services in areas of the child’s educational, health and spiritual development, from pre-school years through to secondary school completion and beyond. Conversely, Plan Guatemala is an agency with no religious affiliation which has adopted the rationale that a greater positive impact on child poverty can be achieved through the implementation of community development projects which target health, sanitation, food security, education and civic participation. The strategies adopted by these two NGOs raise the question: is child sponsorship an effective response to child poverty in Guatemala?