« Your Caption Here / Who Do You Hope Wins? »

Frequently Asked Questions

Written by: Web Team

Questions. Ever have any?

Ever have any about Compassion? Maybe not, but others sure do.

This is a common one that our phone center representatives hear a lot.

Doesn’t my Compassion child attend school at Compassion’s child development center?

Fortunately for you we’re not just giving you the question, here is the answer as told to us by those very same folks on the phone.

Compassion does not provide formal schooling for the children. Many children may attend the local government school. When needed, part of the $32 for sponsorship goes towards paying for the child’s school fees such as books or uniforms.

The children do attend the Compassion child development center for a variety of activities. The Compassion development center may enhance what the child is learning in school and it focuses on the most important areas of growth while promoting life skills.

Many people think Compassion provides official schooling like a private school, but we don’t. And now ya know.

Have other questions?

We have a list of frequently asked questions you may be interested in, but if you’re not interested in traveling over to compassion.com to read them, stay tuned because we’ll be highlighting some more right here.

Share This With Your Friends:

Read these related posts:

9 Responses on “Frequently Asked Questions”

Subscribe to comments on this post

Amy Says:

November 12th, 2008 at 11:47 am

Interesting. I always thought they went to school at the child development center, too. Do they go there after school usually?
Wendy in Iowa Says:

November 12th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

On average, how many children are enrolled at each center? Is there a minimum number of children required to open / keep open a center?

What is the average number of children sponsored by one donor at one time?

In addition to prayer, letter writing and gifts, is there anything else I can do to assist my kids/families/centers?
Judy Tremblay Says:

November 12th, 2008 at 9:44 pm

How often do children attend activities at the development centers, on average?
Chris Giovagnoni Says:

November 14th, 2008 at 2:12 pm

@ Amy,
Most children do go to the child development center after school. Although, some do go before school too. In some areas, school is held in the evening.

@ Judy,
Depending on the church partner, children usually attend the child development center three to five times a week.
Judy Tremblay Says:

November 14th, 2008 at 3:19 pm

How many child development centers are located in areas without a Bible translation in the children’s native language (a local dialect, rather than a country’s “official” language)?
Denise L. Says:

November 17th, 2008 at 7:55 am

To Wendy in Iowa – You can help your child’s center by making a gift to the center itself. This you might have to do with a letter to Compassion’s headquarters.

I gave a gift to my child’s center (secretly hoping they could buy swings for the children, since when I visited my child I had to teach her how to use a swing). The center’s staff wrote a nice letter and included a photo of themselves with heavy-duty wooden chairs for the early childhood class. These chairs had been the center’s priority for purchase, since they didn’t have enough.
Chris Giovagnoni Says:

November 17th, 2008 at 9:05 am

@ Wendy,

According to our Writing and Visits (WAV) team, the folks who handle the questions we receive via e-mail and the compassion.com contact us form:

“Up to 250 children can be enrolled at each child development center. There has to be a minimum of 50 children in order to open a new center.”

By far, most sponsors are currently sponsoring one child. 87% of our sponsors support one child. The remaining 13% sponsor more than one child (it’s usually two children) or sponsor one child and have other commitments with us (e.g., supporting a Complementary Intervention fund)

And piggy-backing on Denise L., you can give a gift of $25-$1000 each year to your child’s center. If you’re interested in doing so, you should speak with a sponsor relations representative at 800-336-7676.
Chris Giovagnoni Says:

November 19th, 2008 at 11:40 am

@ Judy Tremblay

I spoke with the folks in our International Program Group. They’re in the best position to answer your question (comment #5).

Here’s what they said.

It’s difficult to precisely determine how many Compassion church partners are located in areas still in need of native Bible translation. Answering the question definitively would require an incredible amount of data integration between ministries.
However, ministries such as Wycliffe Bible Translators and Joshua Project work specifically toward bringing God’s Word to Unreached People Groups around the world.

There is an exciting story from Ecuador that speaks to your question. In the case of one primitive tribe in the Amazon, Wycliffe was the first outside contact for this tribe, who came to know God, established a church and eventually became a partner with Compassion.

Wycliffe has played a powerful role in establishing literacy among this people, helping translate Scripture, build a written language and teaching the tribe’s children to write so they could communicate with their Compassion sponsors!
Judith Tremblay Says:

November 19th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

That’s an incredible story about the inter-ministry teamwork in Ecuador!

I’m familiar with Wycliffe’s work, although I am glad to find out about the Joshua Project.

Thanks for the update–even without exact data on how many Compassion centers are without native-language Bibles, it appears that there are, in fact, some. I will pray for God’s continuing to provide missionaries to serve as translators to ensure that everyone will soon have God’s Word in their language.