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FAQs

01 What is World Vision India?

World Vision India is a Christian grassroots humanitarian organisation that reaches out to the poorest of the poor in India regardless of caste, creed, race or religion. Through development, relief and advocacy, World Vision India strives to create lasting change in the lives of children, their families and communities living in contexts of poverty and injustice. World Vision started as a small organisation when its founder Bob Pierce, a war correspondent, began helping children affected by the Korean War in 1947. Today, World Vision works in about 100 countries worldwide, enriching the lives of over 1.5 crore children. World Vision India is governed by an independent Board with men and women drawn from different parts of the country and from different disciplines. World Vision International has consultative status with UN/ECOSOC (Category III) and is in official relationship with UN agencies, including UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR and ILO.

02 What does World Vision India do?

World Vision India seeks to ensure the sustained well-being of all children living in poverty. Well-being for children is measured in terms of access to basic health care and appropriate education, children feeling protected and cared for and having opportunities to participate. While we measure the impact of our work in terms of the child, the investments are also into families and communities. World Vision India's investment into families and communities is to ensure that the well-being of children is sustained even after World Vision India leaves the area. Our experience over the years has shown that if we limit our programmes and investment to just directly impact the child, the change will not be sustainable. For sustaining the well-being of children, we need to equip the families and communities socio-economically; hence, World Vision India's approach to child well-being is community-based and involves multiple programmes. World Vision India's investment in children, their families and communities are often in areas such as economic development, education, health and leadership development. We work closely with community-based organisations, government, other NGOs and civil societies. World Vision India recognises that sustaining the well-being of children also requires policy, structure and systems support. We work closely with the local, state and central government along with other NGOs and academic institutions. World Vision India also responds to natural disasters due to natural calamities in the country, especially to ensure children in these communities are protected and their families are provided adequate disaster risk reduction support to be rehabilitated in the short-term. World Vision India has responded to every major disaster, starting from the cyclone in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, in 1977, tsunami in 2004, Uttarakhand floods in 2013 to the most recent Ockhi cyclone in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

03 Where does World Vision India work?

World Vision's work in India began in the year 1958 in a small way in Kolkata. Today, as the country's largest grassroots child-focused organisation, almost 1600 staff work in over 6252 communities, touching the lives of a little over 26 lakh children, their families and communities, across 185 districts in 25 states and 1 National Capital Region World Vision India is a registered society under the Tamil Nadu Societies Act 1975, with its National Office in Chennai. We select areas where children live in most vulnerable situations, in consultation with government and other NGOs. In each of the districts, we select the most vulnerable blocks and work in a contiguous set of villages and hamlets/slums serving an average of 40,000 people. This model of development that covers a large area over a long-term basis multi-sectorally is referred to as Area Development Programme. In each of these areas, we begin our work with rigorous assessment phase and broad consultation with various stakeholders. Along with the local community leaders, we develop the long-term strategy and short-term designs for our work in the community. To facilitate the sustained well-being of children it could take anywhere from 12 to 15 years.

04 World Vision India receives foreign money, why are you asking Indians to contribute?

Sponsorship is more than making a monthly gift to a child. Child Sponsorship is our way of taking care of our own citizens and building our own nation. We believe that this is an opportunity for all Indians to partner with us in this nation-building process. It is our way of letting children know that we care for them. Furthermore, your continuous support not only brings lasting change to a community but also gives you the joy and satisfaction of having made the difference. This is your chance to make a meaningful gift that will change the life of a child.

05 World Vision India calls itself a Christian organisation, what does this mean? Is World Vision India involved in conversions?

No. World Vision India is not involved in conversions. While World Vision India is motivated by the love of God in Jesus Christ to serve people in need, World Vision India will never exploit the vulnerability of the poor for faith reasons. Furthermore, World Vision India serves the poor, irrespective of caste, creed, colour, gender or religion. World Vision India does not engage in offering inducements or pressures to change faith; for us this principle is a policy position.

06 Do only Christians receive help from World Vision India?

No. World Vision India serves the poorest of the poor without any discrimination on grounds of caste, creed, colour, gender or religion.

07 What is Child Sponsorship?

Child Sponsorship is the commitment you, as a sponsor, make to partner with the child, the child's family, the child's community and World Vision India to ensure that the vulnerable child experiences sustained well-being, even after World Vision India completes its work in the area. It is a relationship not just between you and your sponsored child but also with your sponsored child's family and community. This relationship is aimed at giving a better life to the child by equipping the whole family and the community as well. Child Sponsorship is a way you can help make India a better and safer nation for our children.

08 Is Child Sponsorship an effective way to help?

Yes. Child Sponsorship is the best expression of one's power to help build a nation fit for children. When you sponsor one child, you also invest in building a family and community. To create environments where children thrive, development programmes are planned and implemented in partnership with the communities that we serve. The most vulnerable children are chosen to be a part of the Child Sponsorship programme by their community. Your sponsorship then contributes to ensuring that children are better educated, healthier and protected. Your contribution also helps invest in healthcare, agriculture, income generation, access to drinking water and other development programmes, depending on what the community needs most. In our experience around the world, investing in children, their families and their communities has proved to be the best way to impact sustained progress in the life of a child. As a child sponsor, you can see for yourself the lasting change that you are helping create in the child's life and the impact your support has in her/his community.

09 How does my sponsored child benefit?

World Vision India aims to promote lasting well-being of all children in the communities we serve. Our aim is to benefit and encourage every person in the child's community to become a strong and productive member, thus moving the whole community towards self-reliance. Your support will provide a child with opportunities to access basic health care, quality education, good health, sanitation, access to clean drinking water, income generation programmes for their parents and much more. This gives a chance for children to experience a normal, healthy and happy childhood.

10 Why should I help a child who lives with his/her parents?

World Vision India recognises there are many ways of helping children. While a significant number of children in need live in institutions, vast majority of children in poverty in India struggle along with their parents and communities. Our experience over the years suggests that children in need, living with their families and communities, can experience well-being of life by carefully designed investment into their families and communities. Your sponsorship is the way to collaborate with the child's family to give the child a new day and an opportunity to experience lasting change. World Vision India assists children living with parents because such assistance enables them to remain as a family unit. In many families, either the father or the mother is dead or has disabilities or one of the parents has abandoned the family. In other instances, the parents are very poor and the income is too little for survival. Therefore, World Vision India helps keep the family together and the children have one or both parents with whom they can share their love.