World Vision sponsors could choose a child in the mid-1970s by pasting one of these stamps with their likeness on a mail-in card.
World Vision International archives
No matter who chooses whom, many sponsors of children in need see God as the real driving force when they enter this arrangement with far-away strangers.
Kids in South Sudan await a daily meal from World Vision.
AP Photo/Sam Mednick
Not everyone’s a fan of this fundraising approach. But it does bring the needs of children in developing communities to the attention of many Americans.
Madonna with her adopted son, David Banda, at an orphanage, 40 km from the capital Lilongwe April 19, 2007.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Andrea Freidus, University of North Carolina – Charlotte
Voluntourists’ ability to change systems, alleviate poverty or provide support for vulnerable children is limited. They don’t have the skills and can perpetuate patronising and unhelpful ideas.