Lifestyle

There are four places to go where you can sponsor a child online:

1. Sponsor a child with World Vision

2. Sponsor a child with Plan UK

3. Sponsor a child with Action Aid

4. Sponsor a child with Everychild

In Burundi, the struggle for power between the dominant Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority has resulted in the deaths of over 200,000 people and the displacement of 250,000. Additionally, 700,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries despite the recent brokering of a power sharing deal, which has as yet to yield lasting peace. The ongoing conflict has further weakened its ailing agricultural industry and greatly sped up the spread of poverty, and of HIV and AIDS.

ActionAid is a development charity with a strong commitment to work alongside local people and organisations in order to establish better rights for the world's poorest people, and the provision of basic needs that most in the developed world take entirely for granted. More than that, ActionAid is committed to tackling the root causes of poverty and have made education, HIV & AIDS, food, emergencies, women and girls their main priorities.

The people of Burundi are in great need of the life-changing hope that child sponsorship can bring to their families and communities. There has never been a better time to sponsor a child in Burundi.

ActionAid, one of the world's leading relief and development agencies, has developed a child sponsorship scheme which links people in more affluent countries with individual children in developing countries around the world, including Burundi.

The charity has been working in conflict battered parts of Burundi since 1976, and has focused on peace building initiatives, returning displaced people to their homes, and helping to develop emergency relief infrastructure. They have also sought to educate people about HIV/AIDS, and tprovide assistance in recovering from the psychological traumas so common in the conflict-ridden country.

For example, through the help of AcitonAid, Fidele was able to return to Burundi and take up his old job of teaching primary school – a particularly challenging task considering that children of the people implicated in the murder of his wife and six children, attend his class.

In the 37 years since its inception, ActionAid has reached many millions in Africa, Asia and the Americas, and has developed a wealth expertise in fighting poverty. ActionAid partners with local organisations and recognises the need to work with communities on their own terms. By getting to know the culture intimately ActionAid workers have the best possible opportunity to effect a lasting end to poverty.

Sponsoring a child in Burundi today will cost you only 50 pence per day, or £15 per month. Your money will also go towards development efforts in the town in which the child you sponsor lives. This will ensure the most efficient and effective use of your money. As a child sponsor you will be able to both send and receive communication with your child, and you can look forward to receiving special letters and drawings from the child you sponsor. Additionally, you get to see where and how your money is being spent through regular editions of Common Cause, ActionAid's newsletter.

Support the vital work of ActionAid today, and sponsor a child by clicking here. Your 50 pence per day will help to bring a lasting end to the indignity of poverty - find out more

You may also like to consider sponsoring a child through the following trusted agencies:

Sponsor a child with World Vision

Sponsor a child with Plan UK

Sponsor a child with Everychild