This is a sponsored guest post.
As a parent, children are always at the forefront of our minds. We love our little ones and the moment you become a parent, you start to care about the wellbeing of other children too. Sometimes this feeling isn’t immediately noticeable but within a few months or so, it quickly becomes apparent that you’re not only looking out for your own child, but others too.
On occasion, this motherly emotion can be emphasised by seeing children suffering, either on television or in real life, and culminates into a desire to help young people – whether across the world or in your local area. This is when investigating children’s charities becomes much more important but with so much uncertainty around charities nowadays, how do you even know that they are actually being helped by your donations? This post is designed to highlight just what local children’s charities do to help children across the globe, so that you are more aware of what your money can achieve.
Food and Water
We all deserve access to food and clean water, children even more so than adults because they require it to grow and develop. The huge increase in conflict across the world, particularly in the Middle East, has led to serious food shortages and contaminated water supplies which together, has resulted in one in twelve children under five years of age becoming weaker and emaciated due to a lack of food.
Many charities focus their efforts on getting safe food and water to families and children across the globe. Each charity operates differently, but most focus on the most vulnerable of society, meaning that children (particularly those who are orphans) are usually the first to benefit from charity work in each area.
Education
It’s almost universally agreed upon that the first step in dealing with most of the world’s problems is teaching people about their issues. If we are able to communicate to members of society how they can address the problems they are facing, then it becomes much easier to curb the effects of disease and other issues. Education is important not only for adults, but especially for children too because they are the next generation of citizens who can make a difference in the long-term.
With this in mind, many charities focus their efforts on building schools or sponsoring children to attend an educational establishment. Donations often go directly to buying equipment and clothing for the sponsored child and most charities update a sponsor with images and progress reports to highlight the effect of their donation.
Medical
Many countries with the neediest children suffer from poverty and along with this comes a lack of medical supplies or resources. There are some countries in the world, like Liberia, with 14 qualified doctors per million people – to put that into perspective, the UK and USA have closer to 3000 doctors per million people. Breaking this down further, these figures mean that a doctor in Liberia has to look after over 71,000 individuals, whilst a Western doctor looks after 330. These figures are mind blowing, particularly when you remember that the doctors in these suffering countries will be severely underequipped.
Many charities send doctors themselves, or fund medical supplies to help the families and children in these struggling countries. It’s this support that can change the lives of many children around the globe.
Hopefully, these three points have highlighted just how important charity work is and with any luck, it will help you make your own decisions on whether to support a charity or not. Remember, the best way to see the value of your donation is to investigate exactly what the charity does before you make a decision.
