One of the long term ways to help make a difference to the lives of others in developing countries is through the idea of child sponsorship. While child sponsorship links one child to a sponsor, the money that sponsor puts forward to help the child also goes to help the whole community that the child comes from.

There are a number of organisations who run sponsorship schemes. World Vision is one of these. Money from the sponsor is used for direct support of a child, but is also targeted at the provision of programs that will ultimately enable a greater level of self sufficiency within the child's whole community. This includes programs designed to improve access to health care, to enable improved income support and to provide community opportunities for education.

Paula through the Ballarat Centre of Music combines her normal activities with child sponsorship. This benefits the sponsored child as well as providing the performer with a sense of purpose.

An example of an organisation that sponsors a child is the Ballarat Centre of Music. The organisation sponsors a child called Goma who lives in Guinea in Africa through Plan International. While the sponsorship seems targeted at one individual, a portion of the sponsored funding is also used for running community based projects that assist all families in the area.

Community based projects supported by the organisation include the provision of clean water, training in hygiene, the construction of latrines as well as the delivery of child care and other programs.

Paula explained that together with the organisation, she has undertaken this project partly as a way of ensuring that students at the Centre get a better understanding of the situation faced by many children in other countries. Also, there are times when it can give the performers a sense of purpose.

Money for the sponsorship of Goma is raised through recitals presented by the children at the centre. So, as well as raising money to make a difference in the life of Goma and her community, the activity provides a focus for the performance by the students at the school. Students at the school are kept in touch with Goma's progress, and reports on her are posted to those associated with the centre.

You might not be able to afford the cost of sponsorship individually, but together with others, through things such as Student Councils, it might be possible to raise the funding needed to make a difference to the lives of Goma and the community that she lives in.