Sponsor with Compassion

Sponsorship means more now than ever before
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428
Days Waiting
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Basile

  • Country: Burkina Faso
  • D.O.B: January 30, 2008
  • Age: 13

  • Gender: Boy
409
Days Waiting
child portrait

Abel

  • Country: Guatemala
  • D.O.B: January 28, 2013
  • Age: 8

  • Gender: Boy
365
Days Waiting
child portrait

Leila

  • Country: Burkina Faso
  • D.O.B: November 2, 2014
  • Age: 6

  • Gender: Girl
402
Days Waiting
child portrait

Paola

  • Country: El Salvador
  • D.O.B: November 6, 2009
  • Age: 11

  • Gender: Girl
Portrait of Basile
Meet Basile
Basile is 13 years old and lives in Burkina Faso.
BF1450293 | Days Waiting: 428
Country: Burkina Faso
Birthday: January 30, 2008 (13 years old)
Gender: Boy

Basile lives with his mother and father. Basile's mother is sometimes employed. Her occupation is: Agriculture / Farmer. Basile's father is sometimes employed. His occupation is: Agriculture / Farmer. Basile has siblings living in the household. Basile helps with the following duties at home: Running Errands.Basile's favourite activities and interests include: Group Games.Activities that Basile enjoys through the church are: Bible Class. At the compassion centre Basile's favourite activities are: Learning about God. Basile attends school. He is in the equivalent of grade 2.Basile's favourite subject is reading. His performance in school is average.Basile's family lives in the area of Banembato in Burkina Faso.

Basile's Country Details

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in western Africa. It's slightly larger than Colorado and is mostly flat with undulating plains and hills in the west and southeast. The country's climate is tropical with warm, dry winters and hot dry summers.

Burkina Faso, with a population of 13 million, is one of the poorest countries in the world. With no coastlines and ports, the country has few natural resources, fragile soil and a highly unequal distribution of income. About 90% of the population is engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture, which is vulnerable to variations in rainfall. Nearly a half million people in Burkina Faso have HIV/AIDS. French is the official language, although native African languages belonging to the Sudanic family are spoken by 90% of the population. Most of the population practices indigenous religions the rest are Muslim and Christian.

Originally colonized by the French, Burkina Faso gained its independence in 1960. Repeated military coups during the 1970s and 1980s were followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s. Burkina Faso's high population density and limited natural resources result in poor economic prospects for the majority of its citizens. Every year, several hundred thousand seasonal farm workers seek employment in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana and are adversely affected by instability in those regions.

African children playing

Compassion’s ministry is focused on what we call holistic child development. This means developing children in all the different aspects of their lives—their minds, bodies and relationships—while giving them the opportunity to hear about and experience the love of Jesus from caring local church staff and volunteers.

How does sponsorship help kids?

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Formal and non-formal educational opportunitiesCompassion assists children with their primary school education and gives opportunities to attend secondary school, as well as providing vocational training opportunities and extra-curricular activities such as sports, field trips, music and computer training.
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Health care, hygiene training and supplementary foodKids get a healthy snack or meal when they attend program activities, receive regular health check-ups, and learn how to take care of their bodies and form healthy relationships.
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The love and support of a local church and the opportunity to hear about Jesus Because Compassion partners with local churches, children are connected to a local Christian community where they have the opportunity to hear the gospel from caring church staff and volunteers.
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Personal attention, guidance and loveChildren are cared for and invested in by members of their own communities, who encourage them to discover their unique gifts, passions and abilities. Their sponsors also play an important role in this through their prayers and letters.

How is sponsorship impacted during the COVID-19 crisis?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are empowering the local church to use your sponsorship donations to meet urgent and critical needs of families with children/youth registered in the program.

Funds previously used at the child development centres can now be directed as needed to children and their families for necessities like food, clean water, shelter, clothing, household items, and even medical care and trauma counselling. You can learn more about the impact of the pandemic on our program and how our staff are responding to the crisis with great faith and creativity here.

Is sponsorship still relevant during the COVID-19 crisis?

It is! In fact, sponsorship during COVID-19 is needed now more than ever as it enables us to meet the very real and urgent needs of children and their families.

Sponsorship empowers the church to serve the children we love, ensuring they have the hygiene, medication and health supplies they need to make it through the pandemic. It ensures sponsored children have the food and housing security they need as their country deals with the ongoing impact of COVID-19. And it also enables our local partners to share encouragement from the Bible, tutor and deliver programming and deliver trauma counselling in these unprecedented times.

Why do you work with local churches?

Compassion works exclusively with local churches because they know the names and faces of the children in their community and can best understand and respond to their challenges. They are known and trusted by their neighbours and are able to reach those in the greatest need with compassion and through the love of God.

We equip our local church partners with the resources, training and expertise to help children escape poverty. Each church is empowered to implement the program in a way that meets the specific needs of the children they serve. In this way the physical, spiritual, emotional and relational needs for children are met as they are empowered to overcome poverty in all its forms.

Do kids need to be Christian to be in Compassion’s program?

Absolutely not! We encourage children and families of all faiths and backgrounds to register in our programs and would never require or coerce anyone to convert to Christianity.

Learn More

At Compassion, we take financial stewardship seriously.

As certified members of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, Compassion Canada is committed to handling the finances entrusted to us with the utmost integrity. This year, 84.7 per cent of funds were used for program activities benefiting the children we serve, and 15.3 per cent for support services.

Today, children around the world are discovering that poverty doesn’t have to be their future. Help one more do the same by sponsoring with Compassion!

Children running and smiling