Food crisis in West Africa
Millions of children and their families in West and Central Africa face a growing humanitarian disaster as a food crisis intensifies across the region.
Find out moreCommunicating with your sponsored child
- Can I write to my sponsored child?
- Addressing and sending letters
- When should I send letters?
- What should I write about?
- Can I send gifts to my sponsored child?
- Can I send a cash gift to my sponsor child?
- How often should I write?
- Will I receive letters from my child?
- How long does it take to get a reply?
- Why do the letters have to come via Plan first?
- What if my child is too young to write?
Questions and Answers in Full...
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Can I write to my sponsored child?
Sponsorship is a wonderful opportunity to experience our work through the eyes of your sponsored child and their family. Communicating with your sponsored child keeps you in closer touch with their progress and that of their whole community.We encourage our sponsors to write and offer an online letter writing service in MyPlan. Step-by-step you will be guided through writing a letter to your sponsored child with suggested questions and topics to discuss. You can upload 2 photos which is a great way to reciprocate the 2 photos supplied by your child's family each year.
Login to MyPlan to learn more and write a letter. Of course, we also welcome letters and photos sent through the post.
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Addressing and sending letters
Send your letters to:
Plan, GPO Box 2818, Melbourne VIC 3001
Please include your child's Identification Number and your Plan Number on your letter and on each photo to ensure that mail is addressed safely to your sponsored child.
To protect your privacy, please do not include your address in your letter or on the envelope. All letters are reviewed for child protection reasons. Including your personal details could invite begging letters from people unconnected with the sponsored child. If we cannot send the letter we return your correspondence to you explaining our concerns and actions.
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We encourage sponsors to write a letter of introduction soon after commencing sponsorship. A birthday or a Christmas card, if culturally appropriate, should be sent three months prior to the occasion. One or two letters a year in addition to this is ideal.
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- your family's daily activities as they are similar around the world!
- your pets or garden
- news from your community
- your school, sport or hobbies.
Communicating with a sponsor may be a new idea for your sponsored child – asking a few simple questions in your letter will make it easier for them to communicate with you. You could ask about their favourite school subjects, games they like, their hobbies, favourite colours, etc. Perhaps ask about their family and friends or what they want to be when they grow up?Consider what you and your child might have in common and start your communication there.
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Can I send gifts to my sponsored child?
No. Plan has recently conducted a study on our child sponsorship program and its impact on the children involved. One thing we learnt was that gifts from sponsors to their sponsored child caused jealousy and discontent in some communities. To address the concerns of children and communities Plan will no longer be sending gifts from sponsors to their sponsored child.
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Can I send a cash gift to my sponsor child?
Plan has a policy of no cash gifts as this has proven to cause disharmony and problems within the family and community and may place children or their families at risk.
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Plan suggests that you write no more than twice a year. This will allow adequate time to deliver your letter and ensure you receive a response to your letter before you send another.
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Will I receive letters from my child?
All sponsored children will send an introductory letter to their sponsor. Beyond that sponsored children will continue to correspond if their sponsor writes to them.
Older children who are literate may write a letter or a note, while children who are too young to write and those who cannot write may receive help from their family or a Plan program staff member who will identify themselves in the letter. Children may send drawings and craft work to accompany their letters. You will receive the original letter and a translation.
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How long does it take to get a reply?
It can take up to 6 months to receive a response to your letters.
After you submit your letter, it will be printed, screened for inappropriate content and bundled with others destined for the same Field Office in your sponsored child's country.
On arrival at the Field Office your item is sorted and translated into the local language and delivered to your sponsored child. (Please note that translations may not always be literal and may have been written by a person for whom English is a second or third language.)The same process is repeated when your sponsored child communicates with you. This process takes time.
In many areas where Plan works a mail service does not exist. In some communities the only access is by foot, donkey or even a canoe. Plan makes every effort to keep communication between you and your sponsored child swift, but there are some practical limitations.
Your patience in communicating with your sponsored child is appreciated.
If you have not received correspondence in six to seven months from the time you write, please contact us and we will follow up with the respective Field Office.
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Why do the letters have to come via Plan first?
To ensure that we do not allow harmful relationships to develop we ensure that correspondence between sponsors and sponsored children comes via Plan rather than direct. Communications from sponsors are screened to intercept inappropriate written or visual material that raises child protection concerns. As Plan is a non-denominational organisation we also need to check for political or religious comments that could cause offence or be illegal.
We also protect the privacy of our sponsors by checking that letters do not contain their contact details. This could invite begging letters from people unconnected with the sponsored child. If we cannot send it we return the correspondence to sponsors explaining our concerns and actions.
Below is a guide that outlines the type of content that Plan looks for when screening sponsor mail.- Sexual or sexualised language
- Excessive use of familiar terminology such as 'love' (NOTE: it is acceptable for a Sponsor to finish their letter 'Love Kathy')
- Adult content/issues such as:
- Swearing
- Violence
- Exploitation
- Sex
- Relationship/family/financial problems
- Inappropriate photos and images (containing nudity, images of a sexual/intimate nature, exploitative)
- Religious content (sponsors mentioning their religion is appropriate - preaching and evangelism, sending bibles or discriminating against another religion is not)
- Racist language of any sort
- Political content
- Requests for gifts from the sponsored child/family other than the usual letter, drawing or handicraft
- Invitations to come to Australia
- Offers of direct financial and other assistance
- Complaints about Plan (NOTE: We accept that sponsors may have complaints about Plan but they should be directed at/to Plan Australia staff NOT to sponsored children)
- Sexual or sexualised language
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What if my child is too young to write?
In this situation, family members and community volunteers will assist.