Compassion Switzerland
| Compassion Switzerland | |
|---|---|
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| legal form | Christian children's aid organization |
| founding | 2003 |
| Seat | Yverdon-les-Bains VD, Switzerland |
| motto | Change the world. One child at a time. |
| main emphasis | Christian children's charity |
| Action space | Switzerland |
| Managing directors | Philippe Mermod |
| sales | 4.2 million CHF (as of June 2013) |
| Website | compassion.ch |
Compassion Switzerland is a Christian children's charity and part of the international non-profit organization Compassion International , headquartered in Colorado Springs , USA . The core activity is one-to-one child sponsorship, whereby it is guaranteed that each child is supported by only one sponsor.
history
The work of Compassion International began in 1952 when the American evangelist Everett Swanson was touched by the suffering of the war orphans on a trip to South Korea and finally began a sponsorship program for 35 children. Compassion now works in 12 partner countries (including Switzerland) and in 26 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, where it supports more than 1.5 million poor children. Compassion Switzerland was founded in 2003 as a non-profit organization in Concise VD. Today the offices are in Yverdon-les-Bains. More than 6,500 children are supported by Swiss sponsors through Compassion.
Vision and mission statement
Compassion sees itself as an advocate for children in order to free them from economic, social, physical and spiritual poverty and to support them in their development into responsible and generally happy people.
Compassion's mission statement is as follows. Jesus in the center: Compassion is a Christian organization. Every child is given the opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in an age appropriate and culturally understandable way. However, acceptance of the Christian faith is not a prerequisite for being accepted into a Compassion program or being able to complete it.
Children in focus: In the fight against poverty, the focus is on children. Compassion believes that investing in children is the most sustainable aid to a whole society. The boys and girls in the Compassion projects are encouraged to grow into mature, healthy personalities who are capable of making good decisions.
Churches as a basis: Compassion works exclusively in partnership with local churches to bring holistic help to children. The local church understands the real needs of the region. It reaches children in poverty who need support best. A local church also creates an environment of unparalleled stability. Here children experience very sustainably how God loves and accepts them.
Committed to integrity: Compassion guarantees that all programs are run professionally and transparently. The programs for children are implemented with the highest quality standards and the country and partner organizations are regularly checked by independent institutions. This ensures effective poverty reduction. In addition, Compassion guarantees that at least 80% of all donations and income go to the children in the children's projects.
Compassion's work
Compassion International (hence also “Compassion Switzerland”) aims for sustainable development aid mainly through child sponsorship. There are three main programs:
Child sponsorships
Compassion's focus is on sponsoring children between the ages of three and 22. Compassion works exclusively with Christian communities that, supported by Compassion, open a so-called children's project on site. In this project, every registered child receives educational opportunities, from compulsory schooling to further education, health promotion through medical examinations and care, hygiene training and meals as well as the opportunity to get to know the Christian faith and values. In addition, the child finds a safe environment in the project in which they can learn, play and develop healthily. After a child is registered in the project, a sponsor is sought in one of the twelve supporting countries. This sponsor pays CHF 42 per month in Switzerland.
Within the overall work, a lot of emphasis is placed on the relationship between sponsor and child. Through personal correspondence, sponsors have the opportunity to encourage the child and positively influence their development. For the child it is priceless to know that there is someone in the world to whom it is precious. Compassion also offers visits to the project centers, where the sponsors can meet their sponsored children personally.
The "Child Survival Program"
Compassion's so-called child survival program begins during a mother's pregnancy and continues until the child can switch to the sponsorship program at around one year old. Here, too, there are projects supported by local churches in which expectant mothers and mothers with their small children are comprehensively supported. This program includes:
- Food
- Baby care, hygiene, nutrition
- Social integration
- Education and support for young children
- Medical supplies
- Vocational training for parents
- Biblical lessons for parents
There are project sponsorships for CHF 30.- per month.
The leadership mentoring program
The leadership mentoring program offers gifted children the chance to attend university. Not only are the tuition fees paid, but the student is intensively accompanied, encouraged and supported during his studies (system mentoring). Such a sponsorship costs CHF 300 per month.
Another important component of Compassion are the supplementary aid funds. They consist of various funds that cover needs that go beyond a normal sponsorship. These are, for example, the construction of new buildings, water filters, AIDS prevention campaigns or life-saving medical operations.
Funding program
For Compassion, poverty is more than a lack of money, property, or purchasing power. Therefore, in Compassion's view, the fight against poverty should not be limited solely or mainly to financial or material aid. With a holistic support program, Compassion wants to counteract the physical, mental, socio-emotional and spiritual development areas of children and thereby enable a person to develop positively. With a view to concretising this model, Compassion has developed a so-called wheel of poverty. Every activity that is carried out in a compassion project can be assigned to one of these categories of the “wheel of poverty” and makes a lasting contribution to effectively fighting poverty. The center of the wheel symbolizes absolute poverty. The spokes represent the different areas in which people have needs. The outer wheel stands for the state in which one is holistically freed from poverty. The spokes of the wheel of poverty:
- Economically
To be able to buy the things you need to live, you need an income. However, jobs for people without training are scarce. Compassion's programs emphasize education and the learning of practical skills in order to give children better career prospects than their parents had. Health Physical and emotional health are prerequisites for being able to work, play and develop healthy social contacts. Illness is an ongoing problem in many of the families Compassion works with. Compassion teaches the children about hygiene and health. Compassion is also there to help the child and family with medical interventions.
- environment
The environment, the climate, the possibility of living etc. influence a person's well-being. Compassion programs help children in their community and show them in a practical way how they can improve something.
- Social
A culture or state that belittles people, especially children, is a major obstacle to the fight against poverty. Children are the easiest and easiest to be abused, whether as cheap labor, child soldiers or child trafficking. Compassion works with the government and within the culture and strengthens the image of the child as something valuable.
- education
Children are often the best teachers of their own families, bringing much knowledge to their families. You are willing to get to know new ideas and implement them. Compassion brings relevant and useful information to the children.
- Spiritually
Compassion doesn't want to force anyone to become a Christian. However, many children and families have voluntarily chosen to believe in God because they have seen His love through the service of the local church community that works with Compassion. A child's life changes fundamentally when they realize that God loves and values them.
Finance and transparency
The association guarantees that the sponsored children benefit from at least 80% of the financial support and a maximum of 20% is used for administrative work and the search for new sponsors. The annual reports can be viewed online and are certified by PricewaterhouseCoopers . Compassion Switzerland has also signed the SEA's code of honor and has been awarded the best rating internationally by the World Charity Navigator.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://www.compassion.ch/ueber-unsere-arbeit/unsere-programme/kinder-ueberlebens-programm.html
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Our vision . Compassion Switzerland. Retrieved on August 9, 2012. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.compassion.com/poverty/poverty-wheel.htm
- ↑ compassion.ch reports ( memento of the original from October 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ehrenkodex.ch code of honor
- ^ World Charity Navigator
- ↑ Sponsorship Leader . Compassion Switzerland, Yverdon-les-Bains 2012, p. 10.
