Category: Sponsor a child

An image of a girl in traditional Guatemalan clothing riding a bike.
Community, Sponsor a child, Sponsor an aging friend, Unbound
Jul 17 2017

This is what makes Unbound different

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An image of a girl in traditional Guatemalan clothing riding a bike.

Sponsored child Merlyn, 12, enjoys riding her bike in the streets around her home in Guatemala. Merlyn’s parents, like others in the Unbound program, have a voice in choosing the benefits that best serve their family’s needs.


The stories in our recent issue of Living Unbound are about the innovative ways that your sponsorship helps people around the world, delivering personalized benefits that give families the means to lift themselves out of poverty.

What you may not see is how exceptional these solutions are. Unbound is leading the way toward a new kind of service. The programs that you support look first to the wisdom and the creativity of the people we all serve. Conditional cash transfers help families take charge of their own lives. Parent groups provide opportunities for members to take microloans to start businesses and change whole communities.

And these methods work. Contrary to the myth that giving people money makes them lazy, research around the world shows that conditional cash transfers like the ones Unbound employs have positive long-term impacts. Children stay in school longer, their overall educational and health outcomes improve and they grow up to get better jobs.

Together, you and the rest of the Unbound community of sponsors provide opportunity.
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An image of a sponsor and his sponsored friend in Colombia.
awareness trips, Colombia, Sponsor a child
Jul 8 2017

Cast your net

A sponsor reflects on his trip to Colombia

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An image of a sponsor and his sponsored friend in Colombia.

Sponsor Joseph Rivard (right) visits with his sponsored friend, 17-year-old Jan Sebastian, at Jan’s home in Colombia.


Unbound sponsor Joseph Rivard of Gulfport, Mississippi traveled to Colombia in May on an Unbound Awareness Trip. He joined Unbound as a sponsor less than a year before the trip, and sponsors three young men in Latin America. Joseph is a retired professor of psychology at Central Michigan University. He reflects on how the trip impacted his faith.

Like most Americans and others living in a “first-world” country, life is never perfect. Every Christian I know has a story to tell; stories that speak of the death of a loved one, sickness, stress in a career, family trouble, etc. Each of us, armed with faith, endeavor to overcome our own struggles. We journey through our lives doing the best we can to work through our own deficiencies while trying to understand and serve God in the midst of our confusing and sometimes tumultuous life journey.

When I left for Colombia in May, I knew this trip would be different from other mission-style trips I have made in the past. I knew it would be different, simply because God is always about things “now” and “new.” There were a lot of things in my life journey that could have justified not going on this trip, because life is that way — always filled with challenges and obstacles. Yet, whenever I quieted my worries, I was convinced in my heart that this trip was something God was calling me to do. He didn’t command me to go; God has never arbitrarily demanded things of me in that way. It was more of a gentle stirring and a pull on my heart that communicated invitation and opportunity.
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An image of the palms of hands.
Community, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jun 21 2017

Fasting for solidarity

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An image of the palms of hands.
Unbound seeks to be a gentle agent of peace in the world, and we celebrate all the moments of connection we are privileged to witness between members of our community of different faith traditions.

Throughout the world, Muslims are concluding the month of Ramadan. A period of fasting, prayer and acts of charity, Ramadan reflects the pillars of Islam.

The Ramadan fast, from sunrise to sunset throughout the month, is an act of personal discipline aimed at helping the faithful grow closer to God by focusing on the interior life. Many Muslims, like Christians who fast during Lent, also believe the practice helps them grow in solidarity with others.

In a 2015 story featured on the Unbound blog, Fatuma, the mother of former sponsored youth Fosia in Kenya, spoke of how Ramadan has helped her grow in compassion for her neighbors, many of whom do not share her Muslim faith.

“During the Ramadan fast, we especially feel connected to the many in our neighborhood who go without food because of poverty,” she said. … “When we break our fast in the evening, we make sure that we share our food with our neighbors. When we get food from Unbound, and one of our neighbors has nothing, we gladly share with them.”

An image of an Indian woman cutting excess plastic off bottles.
Community, Economic Self-Sufficiency, Education, Sponsor a child, Sponsor an aging friend, Unbound
Jun 14 2017

Living Unbound: In photos

Photo stories of empowerment

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It took a village
An image of 10-year-old Jonah sitting outside his school in Kampala, Uganda.
Jonah, 10, sits outside his school in Kampala, Uganda. When his mother, Jane, moved away temporarily for work, Jonah struggled to stay in school. Members of the local Unbound mothers group stepped in to provide support and help him keep up his studies. Today, Jonah is doing well in school, loves math, and Jane is back home and active in the mothers group.
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An image of Blanca wearing her running medals.
Get involved, Guatemala, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jun 12 2017

Running for love

Guatemalan mom dedicated to family, sport

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Blanca sits outside her home with her two youngest sons, Mynor (left) and Osber (right).
Blanca displays some of the trophies she has won at running competitions.

People go running for many reasons. Some do it to get healthy, some for the competition and some to support a cause. Blanca is a 29-year-old mom of four living in Guatemala whose daughter, Berberlin, 13, is sponsored by Wayne from Montana. Blanca is also a runner. Her main reason for running is simple: to support her family.
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An image of a father in the Philippines rappelling down a building.
Philippines, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jun 9 2017

Serving communities together

Dads in the Philippines join forces for safety and support

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An image of a father in the Philippines rappelling down a building.

ERPAT dad Heracleo practices rappelling down a building, which could help him rescue others in case of earthquakes or fires.


Fathers are expected to be many things. They are expected to be providers, teachers, moral exemplars, and to strike the delicate balance between protecting their children and preparing them for life in a sometimes harsh world.

Responsible fatherhood is difficult, which is why those dads who dedicate themselves to being honorable, life-giving fathers deserve to be applauded. More than that, they deserve to be supported.

Support is especially important for fathers living in poverty. These dads, because they lack material resources, often find themselves in the heartbreaking position of not being able to serve their families as they’d like. They are hindered from providing things for their children that other fathers take for granted, like adequate food, decent housing, and basic education and health care.

Unbound recognizes that we have a particular role in helping to build up fathers and mothers who struggle to provide for their families. We’ve learned over the years that what they need from us is not to take over their lives or do for them what they wish to do for themselves. Rather, our role is to help clear a path for these families toward self-sufficiency, and then let them walk it at their own pace.
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An image of Monica Gomez, Antioquia program coordinator, from Colombia.
Colombia, Community, Sponsor a child, Sponsor an aging friend, Unbound
Jun 7 2017

Q&A with Monica Gomez, Antioquia program coordinator

Colombian staffer gives insight into working with families

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An image of Monica Gomez, Antioquia program coordinator, from Colombia.

Monica Gomez, Antioquia program coordinator, from Colombia.


When you have a personalized benefit program model the way Unbound does, it means each family gets a say in how their sponsorship resources are used. And because we have more than 300,000 sponsored members, it means that we don’t have just one program to fit everyone, but thousands of individual programs, each based on the needs of a sponsored child or elder.

To achieve this type of program, you have to have some very dedicated staff members who understand the communities they’re working with. Thankfully, Unbound has found many passionate, caring people to partner with families in creating positive change.

In Colombia, we’ve started implementing personalized benefits through child bank accounts, working with families to make their own budgets to help them achieve their goals. Antioquia program coordinator Monica Gomez offers insights into what it’s like working with families using a personalized benefit model.
Read the Q&A!

Image = The skytram or metro cable in Medellin, Colombia.
awareness trips, Colombia, Sponsor a child, Sponsor an aging friend
Jun 5 2017

10 impressions from 10 days in Colombia

Staff member reflects on her Unbound adventure

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Unbound staff member Maureen Lunn from Kansas City at an overlook in Medellin, Colombia.
A sign on the wall of an Unbound program office in Cartagena, Colombia.

By Maureen Lunn, writer/editor

I’ve had the privilege of trotting around the globe quite a lot in my life thus far, and by my mid-30s had set foot on every continent except South America. (Well, and Antarctica. But that doesn’t really count, does it?) So when I had the opportunity recently to travel to Colombia with Unbound, I knew it was going to be a special journey. I was right.

A week in Medellin and four days in Cartagena provided some of the most exceptional cultural experiences I’ve ever had, some of the craziest views I’ve ever seen and some of the warmest people I’ve ever met. Here are 10 impressions that have really stuck with me from my 10 days in the country.

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Image = Domingo works on homework. He's learning how to balance being a student with being a husband and father.
Education, Guatemala, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jun 2 2017

Opportunity of a lifetime

Guatemalan dad goes back to school

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Image = Domingo works on homework. He's learning how to balance being a student with being a husband and father.

Domingo works on homework. He’s learning how to balance being a student with being a husband and father.


Throughout his life, Domingo from Guatemala has had many roles. He’s a father, husband, fisherman, brother and dreamer. And now, at the age of 47, he’s also an Unbound scholar.

“I have always wanted to go to school,” Domingo shared, “it’s just that I was born into circumstances that prevented me from doing it. I had sadness in my heart because I wanted to learn, I wanted to be able to read and write like my friends. I have waited for the opportunity all of my life.”
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Image = Ndagire sets dishes on a drying rack after washing them. Her Unbound parent group taught her about the hygienic benefits of a dish rack.
Community, Economic Self-Sufficiency, Health, Sponsor a child, Uganda
May 31 2017

Living Unbound: Parent groups support safety, health

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Image = Ndagire sets dishes on a drying rack after washing them. Her Unbound parent group taught her about the hygienic benefits of a dish rack.

Ndagire sets dishes on a drying rack after washing them. Her Unbound parent group taught her about the hygienic benefits of a dish rack.

As we’ve shared in blog posts over the last few weeks, Unbound’s highly personalized benefits are creating opportunity for families of all types around the world. In Uganda, parents of sponsored children are taking steps toward safety and health in their homes with the help of sponsorship.

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