7 Great Tips for Writing to Your Sponsored Child

Congratulations if you have recently sponsored a child! You are making someone else’s life better and that is a wonderful thing. Even more exciting is the fact that you can keep in touch with the child you’ve sponsored by writing to them.  

You may have met the child on a previous trip when you were doing some charity work volunteering, so it will be extra special to keep in touch and be able to find out how they are getting on in school and life in general as they grow up. Even if you’ve not yet met the child in person, it’s still an amazing feeling to be able to write to your new little pen pal and see how they’re getting on.  

If this is your first time writing to someone in another country that has been sponsored by you, we’ve got some super tips that will help make the best letter possible for them to read upon its arrival.  

Take a look and see how these pointers can assist you: 

Keep It Short and Simple

The children, will, no doubt, absolutely adore receiving mail from you. However, depending on their age, their reading skills may not be fully honed in just yet as they are still learning and developing. Therefore, it’s a good idea just to keep your letters nice and simple so that they are easy to read. 

You don’t have to go writing a novel either. Keep it reasonably short and fill it with interesting things to read because it might take a lot longer/be harder to read for the child if it’s many pages long. 

Tell Them About You

When you’re writing your letter, think about some happy stories you can share with them. You can talk about your family, mention your hobbies and interests and describe your work/school life too.  

Doing this gives you the chance to give them some insight into the kind of person you are and the life you lead. This can help the child feel a better connection with you as their sponsor. 

Talk About Your Pets

Depending on where the child is from, it might not be the cultural norm to own household pets. Also, they might simply not be able to afford to own one, so if you have a pet at home yourself, it’s a nice touch to let them hear about the animals that play a part in your life. They could well find this really intriguing finding out about their name, what they get up to, where you go with them etc. 

Skip the Material Things

It’s a good idea to miss out mentioning the material possessions you have, or that you have recently purchased, such as new clothes, trainers and smartphones because it will be difficult for them to relate to this.

Keep the Questions Coming

You don’t have to write as if you are talking at the child for the entire letter. It’s always recommended that you put some questions to them too. 

There are so many things that you can ask them to talk about and fill you in on. This gives you the opportunity to learn about them when the time comes for them to write a reply. The more you learn about each other, the more fun and interesting it will be as time goes on.  

Some good topic areas you might want to include are: 

·     Who are their friends?

·     What do they want to do in the future?

·     What food do they eat/favourite food?

·     What is their best subject at school?

·     Do they play sports? 

Share Some Photos
something that will surely put a smile on their face is seeing some photos along with the letter you send. You can pop some pics of your family, your pets and your home in the post for them to see. This will help them to build an image in their head about your life and who you are.  

Build a Bond

One of the best takeaways from these tips is to concentrate on building a bond with the child you have sponsored. You’ll appreciate it, they will too – probably more than you know. At the end of the day, they are the same as you, but they just live in different circumstances so treat them like you would anyone else when you are writing and sharing experiences.  

Of course, you can let them feel/know how valued and special by regularly offering them words of encouragement and affirmation. Positive reinforcement is a wonderful thing so share away!  

Last of all… keep it fun and happy!