The influence of child sponsorship program on community empowerment: a case of compassion international in Limuru district, Kiambu county, Kenya

Abstract

Child sponsorship is one of the strategies adopted globally to fight poverty among the disadvantaged and impoverished in the community. Sponsorship, as a development model, began in the 1930s, and throughout the subsequent decades has evolved from a direct benefit relationship to one that benefits the broader community. Compassion international is among the leading global charities that adopted child sponsorship model in empowering local communities in fight against poverty. Compassion’s sponsorship program focuses on holistic approach to poverty and focuses on four main domains namely: the spiritual, physical, socio-emotional and educational/economic needs of a child. Compassion achieves this through a partnership model with local churches. This study sought to establish the influence of Child Sponsorship on Community Empowerment in Limuru District. The survey was conducted through interviews of the formerly sponsored youth in this region, the church leaders and Project Directors of Compassion Assisted Programs. One hundred and ten questionnaires were issued to randomly sampled formerly sponsored youth in four compassion assisted projects in Limuru District. The questionnaires that were duly completed and returned were ninety eight questionnaires which represented a response rate of 89%. The study results showed that formerly sponsored children were actively involved in the community and had significant influence at the community-level decision making process. Based on the findings of this study, it was evident that child sponsorship has a significant positive influence on the community empowerment in Limuru District in Kiambu County. Whereas education support was rated the highest in the ways Compassion’s Child Sponsorship was empowering the community, inadequate funding for furthering education was cited as a common obstacles among formerly sponsored children after they left the sponsorship program. The study recommends that more funding is committed to programs that can empower the caregivers to ably take-up the responsibility of furthering the education of their children after sponsorship funding is expired.