Stories and Articles on Global Poverty and Child Development

Most people know Mike Donehey for his singing and songwriting. But the children Mike sponsors know him for another reason: his letters of encouragement.

Mike has been sponsoring children through Compassion since 2000, when he chose his first child at a music festival.

In Uganda, Olive smiles as a neighbor invites her to a family member’s wedding. But secretly, her heart sinks. She doesn’t own clothes nice enough for the occasion. These days, food is more important than fashion. She hates that her absence will make her look rude. It’s too embarrassing to explain, though.

Here’s how ministry supporters helped Compassion to step in and offer support for 4-year-old Yoskiel and his family in Indonesia when he was diagnosed with eye cancer at age 3 — just a few months after he joined our program and didn’t yet have a sponsor.

Salt is a highly sought-after commodity in the Indonesian village where Filia lives. Her father, Bagus, leads and mentors an income generation program for new farmers, initiated and funded by the local Compassion center.

According to the World Bank, the world’s poorest families are more likely to have access to a mobile phone than a toilet or electricity. As technology advancements reach the most remote corners of the globe, devices like cellphones and televisions are becoming important tools for daily life. They’re also becoming a lot more affordable.

I’m going to be honest with you: I love Christmas, but I’m not good at it. My wrapping skills are mediocre, my baking leaves something to be desired, and regardless of my best intentions, I’m usually scrambling through the Target aisles on Christmas Eve. However, what I lack in homemade magic, I make up for in memories.

The causes of poverty vary widely. Poverty can be purely geographical: Simply where you are born can dictate so much about your life.

But although poverty is often passed down for generations, the plunge to life below the poverty line can also be blind-siding. These families share their experiences of being born into poverty or ending up there because of changing circumstances.

You’ve probably been seeing more and more news about cryptocurrency lately, with people buying cars using bitcoin and some wealthy philanthropists donating as much as $1 billion in crypto to global COVID-19 relief.

Today we’ve got some more news: Compassion now accepts cryptocurrency donations. Here’s everything you need to know about why and how to donate bitcoin to fight poverty and reduce your tax bill.

Hear how parents of five children in Compassion’s program responded to this tough question people ask about poverty. For them, the hurtful myth that they are poor because they are lazy couldn’t be further from the truth.

For millions of girls around the world, menstruation brings shame, confusion and stigma. Discover how girls in Brazil, Honduras, Sri Lanka and Togo are finding education and empowerment with Compassion’s support.

Why do parents keep having children if they can’t afford to support them? Why don’t they get a different job, or work harder, if they need more money?

We put difficult but common questions like these to five brave parents of children are in Compassion’s program. In vulnerably sharing their experiences, they hope to break the stigma of and reveal the truth about living in poverty.

Norah’s mother, a hairdresser, and her father, a soldier in the Rwandan army, worked hard to provide for their daughter. But when war and genocide tore through Rwanda in 1994, it also ripped a hole straight through Norah’s heart.