Child Sponsorship: Why we abandoned the fundraising campaign that was raising funds!

The 80 children at the orphanage were starving, sleeping on rocky dirt floors, and living amidst garbage. They lacked basic amenities and desperately needed rescuing. We also discovered that the orphanage leaders and local officials were profiting from foreign donations, leaving the children without the support they needed.

This prompted us to start Musana Children’s Home, dedicated to providing these children with safety, hope, and opportunity.

To fund the relocation of the children, we initially followed the common path of child sponsorship. At our launch event in September 2008, we secured 40 sponsors who each pledged $40 per month to support the cause. In return, we promised donors a direct connection with their sponsored child, encouraging communication through letters, gifts, and even visits.

Initially, this fundraising method covered 75% of our monthly expenses. However, as Musana grew, we realized child sponsorship had unintended negative repercussions. Despite our good intentions, we were creating a system that could harm the very children we were trying to help.

Here’s why:

1. Child Dependency: The program fostered an unhealthy reliance among children on their sponsors, affecting emotional well-being and perpetuating dependency. Children waited anxiously for letters, feeling unloved if none arrived. Those who did receive letters became emotionally reliant on their sponsors.
2. Organizational Dependency: Relying heavily on foreign funding hindered our efforts to become self-sufficient and locally led. Staff grew complacent about raising local funds, knowing sponsorship money would cover most expenses.
3. Inequality: Sponsored children often received preferential treatment, causing resentment among their peers. Non-sponsored children felt abandoned while watching their friends receive letters, gifts, and visits.
4. Limited Long-Term Impact: While immediate needs were met, systemic issues of poverty and inequality were left unaddressed. Sponsorship did little to tackle the root causes of poverty that led to children being in the orphanage.
5. Cultural Insensitivity: Western values imposed through the program created cultural conflicts. Local staff reported that children became unruly and disrespectful, isolating them from their community and cultural norms.
6. Lack of Sustainability: Dependence on external funding made us vulnerable to collapse if sponsors withdrew. Investing donations in local enterprises could have ensured long-term community self-sufficiency.
7. Prevention of Local Ownership: Overreliance on foreign sponsors fostered corruption and a lack of accountability. The community referred to Musana as ‘the Mzungu organization’ (meaning ‘white people’), underscoring a lack of local ownership.
8. Stigmatization: Sponsored children faced stigma from peers, perpetuating feelings of inferiority and dependency. This became more pronounced when paying day scholars joined the school and perceived sponsored children as receiving special treatment.
9. Promotion of White Superiority: The program unintentionally reinforced harmful stereotypes, fostering dependence on Western intervention rather than local empowerment. Relationships between foreigners and locals often became transactional rather than authentic.

Realizing these issues, we reevaluated our approach and shifted away from child sponsorship. We now prioritize local ownership, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and accountability. Though challenging, this shift was necessary to align our practices with our core values and foster genuine, dignified community development.

Today, Musana provides full and partial scholarships to 1,943 students. What sets Musana apart is its self-sustaining model: local income, not external donations, supports these scholarships. Profits from Musana’s social enterprises—including schools, hospitals, training centers, restaurants, and guesthouses—fund this support. A dedicated team of twelve social workers identifies the most vulnerable children, ensuring resources are directed where they’re needed most.

This approach empowers the community economically, enabling them to care for their own members rather than relying on external aid. Scholarship recipients and their families are integrated into the Musana community, motivating them to contribute actively to their own development alongside staff and other community members.

This transformation—from passive recipients of charity to active agents of change—embodies true dignity and fosters hope for a brighter future.