Sponsorship in India and Restrictions on NGOs Cancel

I saw recently that another child sponsorship charity is being forced to end their program in India due to a crackdown on foreign funds received by NGOs.  The other US charity partners with local NGOs and was no longer able to forward funds due to this policy.  Is anything similar happening to CI or is the model different enough (with CI having their own centers) that this isn't a problem for them?  It sounded like a larger problem related to changes the Indian government is making, but it could also mean that the other charity's financials weren't transparent enough to satisfy the inquiry about foreign funding and it's a problem with just that charity.  CI staff, is this something that is a potential problem for CI as well?

Hi, I had the same questions in my mind. I have 2 boys (writting buddies) in India with that organization and indeed I got a mail about them having 60 days to end it all.. I was wondering if CI had the same problem.. but I understand the problem is about the religion.. so it should be ok for CI to continue.. I am happy for all the sponsors here.

I'm not religious. I can understand the Indian government's concern. But surely, they could develop a solution that didn't harm the kids.

Hello.  I was a long time donor with Compassion as well as with Children International.  I have been so frustrated with the lack of information from Compassion over this issue.  I was told it was to sensitive to discuss, yet information was all over the Indian newspapers.  They told me not to read the Indian newspapers because they were inaccurate. Well I have terminated my relationship  with Compassion.  I had asked them if there was some way to let me help my kids find another NGO program in the area and they said no.
On the other hand I have been with Children International for about 7 years and they are the best organization ever.  The staff at the call center, the transparency of what they do and how they spend your funds are second to none. I Love the letters and communication with the kids and the programs they attend.  I just recently  started sponsoring a third child with Children International from India who wants to be a Doctor when she grows up ! Also she is quite the Artist!

I really enjoy this relatively new website and look forward to becoming more engaged with this community as well as making friends with my fellow sponsors.   Nice meeting ya'll.

nvg310 said:  I had asked them if there was some way to let me help my kids find another NGO program in the area and they said no.

It sounds like the government and the charity are involved in a dispute and the kids are pawns, and are the key losers. That's unconscionable.

It's my understanding that each child sponsorship organisation  can only operate  in a very specific area. This is required to ensure that no  tax exempt  sponsorship charities  overlap  and compete with each other.  There may be some exceptions. This is the reason CI can not continue to serve families who move,or those who live, outside of their specified areas.  So it's very possible there isn't another NGO program in the area where these children live.  I certainly hope this does not effect CI! It would be very reassuring to hear from CI regarding this situation. Also about government plans to demolish compounds in Lusaka and slums in Manila. When dealing with foreign governments all we can do is to respect them and hope for the best for our sponsored children.

yes, one of my girls was going to graduate from hs in 2 months.. I wanted to help her with higher education...Compassion refuses to let me leave my accesss info for her or let a 3rd party from another ngo contact her... so sad.  They said when OUR program is over, its over.  Sorry for venting....

There is no reason for you to apologize. It's heartbreaking when this happens, especially so close to her graduation. I think everyone on MSC understands how much this hurts. She  might contact you through social media.  Many sponsors have been contacted by a child they had formerly sponsored  via Facebook.  This really sucks!

Just a quick thought to add to this to reaffirm what Elemay was saying.  I interviewed a pastor at a Baptist megachurch near where I live a couple of years ago.  He was showing me the wall where they have the pictures and information about all of their missionaries.  Most of the missionaries had locations that were very specific with a city and country.  But a couple of them just said "Asia".  I asked him about those that were so nonspecific, and he said that they were in India, and that if the Indian government knew that the missionaries were there, they would send them away as religious groups like that are not allowed in India.  This seems to fall in place with that policy, yes.

I think Children International will be fine as they are very transparent with foreign Governments  and are strictly and simply a Child Development Center.  I believe Children International Kids move up  and on and help the very communities they are receiving benefits in.

I am not sure why Compassion is having so much trouble with sponsor/child letters. It has been 7 months since I sponsored a girl there and I have heard nothing, and others also claim they hardly hear from their kids at all with the "new system."  Compassion is a large organization that is not inexperienced with handling letters. I understand they have a new system but it will be over a year now that they have not been able to manage it. CI handles everything so well, I wonder what their secret is! I do have a child in India through CI, so that's good. I did have a Compassion child drop, and I figured the letters were not enough, but it turned out they were just sitting in translation for months and she never even get a chance to read them. And they were written in Spanish anyway!  As for religion, it doesn't matter to me if the organization is or is not religious, but I follow the kids' lead. Faith has been a great resource to help some of them through some tough times. At others, you have to use code words to even say God Bless (China), and the translators know this. And for religiously sensitive areas, I am always notified ahead of time. India though...never came up. My kids there (through another place) tell me about their traditions and I about ours, and we learn from each other. One child in India (not through CI) had such a strong Christmas card to me, and I was all "Happy Holidays" when I wrote hers, since for India, that's what I thought would be fitting. Anyway, that is sad that kids are missing out due to restrictions. Right now in India I got a letter (again not from CI) that any monetary gifts might not go through just yet since the government restricted the use of certain money.

Hey Auntie... Compassion has not sent funds to India since April  2016.

Hello, Yes this indeed what happened.. As a result I got a letter from a "project facilitator" that the church where one of my boys (Arjan) was participating has decided to end the partnerschip with Compassion and so I won't hear anymore of him :-( .. I still have Karthik (for those who remember him.. I already have him since 2006, he is now 20 years old) but I don't know how long. I will be sad loosing Karthik, but at least he is not really a child anymore. I am proud of the young boy he became. The 2 boys are written friends, I do not pay for them.. I am not sponsoring with Compassion, because I really prefer the approach of CI..

Just saying, could the reason that you got such a " strong Christmas Card' from your writing buddy instead of a "Happy Holiday" type card, have been because those were the only ones made available to him or that he was allowed to send?  I sometimes wonder, even in CI, if all the children and families  really understand that their sponsors may be of a different faith than their own, or may not hold any religious beliefs.

Hi Everyone and thank you for your questions and concerns!

While we don’t have any inside knowledge about the situations of other NGOs operating in India, we can provide this information to give some context of how CI operates. Basically, having worked in India for more than 25 years, we have developed some very strong and long-lasting partnerships there who believe passionately in our mission. They understand our strategies and the impact of our programs — that we are giving children and teens real opportunities to break free from poverty by focusing on the areas of health, education,empowerment and employment. We plan to continue working in India for many years to come and have no reason to think things will change with our situation there any time soon.

Regarding other areas of the world where we work, we do see occasionally where governments take actions aimed at solving urban issues and poverty in their countries. Sometimes, those actions intersect with our neighborhoods, and CI families are affected. Right now, we’re not aware of any measures taken that would impact our kids. We’re happy to report that it’s business as usual for CI in the countries where we work. 

barbmc said:  I sometimes wonder, even in CI, if all the children and families  really understand that their sponsors may be of a different faith than their own, or may not hold any religious beliefs.

I've always told myself that it doesn't matter. All my sponsored families have made it quite clear how important religion is to their lives. For me it's preferable that at least the organization is secular, as it helps me feel less hypocritical, although I'm not even sure why. It wouldn't change anything if they were religion based. Maybe it's knowing that it's their culture and nothing is imposed or coerced. I don't talk about religion at all with them and doubt I ever would before graduation. But I certainly appreciate religious sentiment, as I know how their offered blessings are sincere.  

The religion of the sponsored children doesn't matter to me either.  It warms my heart when they write God bless you, or that they pray for me in Church,  or that I am a gift that God has given  to them. I have no disrespect for any ones beliefs. I chose to sponsor thru CI because it is a secular organization. I never discuss religion with my sponsored children because I believe that is their parents right. My post was not about that. I apologize if anyone thinks it was. It was not!  This has never been a problem for me or the children I have sponsored. I do wonder sometimes if they understand that caring and generous sponsors come from many different backgrounds, races, and religions. To me CI is an excellent example  of how people who hold very different  beliefs can come together respectfully to work for a  great cause (all our sponsored children) and that can't be a bad thing for them to know.

barbmc said: I do wonder sometimes if they understand that caring and generous sponsors come from many different backgrounds, races, and religions.

I think that as they get older,  they do.

That's great news!

Well, moving forward I never did say everything I wanted to the girls, one in 10th grade, one in 12th.  So I think I will try to obtain some inspiring quotes and include one at the end of each letter to my kids.  That way as the years progress they will have little nuggets of positivity archived in their letters. And by the way thank you to everyone who is posting on this site.  Wonderful to know there are kind and generous people , especially being exposed to such negativity on the 24/7 news.  I remember growing up my parents said they wanted to "  watch the news"  Ha ha, now I say im gonna turn on the the bad news... ugh...

Thanks for the update!  I figured that CI would have said something if they were impacted, but I wasn't aware originally that the issue related to organizations with religious teachings included.  Happy to know that all is well with CI!