# Can my family simply sponsor a poor family in a poor country? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253 "2012-04-09T13:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![sherryg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@sherryg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sherryg)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/41 "2016-09-24T10:19:58Z")
I have been wanting to do this for years. I am very interested if there is a family that I can help. Would welcome any info you have. ---
**Author:** ![sherryg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@sherryg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sherryg)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/42 "2016-09-24T10:22:17Z")
> [@kuzivakwashe](#): > > Does this offer still stands? If so, I can link you with poor families in Zimbabwe. I work for a small non governmental organisation in Zimbabwe. I would be happy to take any info you have to help a family in Zimbabwe. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/44 "2016-10-17T00:51:04Z")
Reported as spam. ( **Waringa** ) ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/45 "2016-10-17T01:17:39Z")
How donating your money to a food pantry right in your own town or city and helping some poor American families ? ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/46 "2016-10-17T01:56:08Z")
[Give Directly](https://www.givedirectly.org/) is a well respected charity founded on the principle of direct cash transfers as a form of aid. I’ve met with the founders before and I really like their philosophy. Their position is that direct cash transfer should be the null hypothesis of the charity world. That is, any charitable intervention should meet a minimum threshold that it does at least as well as direct cash transfer to be considered credible. In order to do that, Give Directly is gathering data on the exact impact of direct cash transfer and showing that many commonly popular charity interventions are not as effective as direct cash transfer. According to [Givewell](http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities), there are only 3 charity interventions that have strong evidence that they perform substantially better than Give Directly. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/47 "2016-10-17T03:12:53Z")
Just spend your next vacation in a poor country, befriend a poor family there, and send them money. That’s what I’ve done. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/48 "2016-10-17T13:04:24Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Just spend your next vacation in a poor country, befriend a poor family there, and send them money. That’s what I’ve done. Doesn’t this run the risk of creating jealousy from other families? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/49 "2016-10-17T14:06:48Z")
It’s better to find someone who has family in a village or whatever, and try to make a donation for something that benefits everyone. For instance, donating money to pay for all or some of the poorer kids there to get new school clothes and supplies for a year of school. Or a new well, or whatever they need as a community. The hard part is finding someone in a poor country, which is why **jtur88** ’s suggestion is the best. If you feel strongly about it, make a trip to that country and befriend some locals that can tell you what they need. Also, on that Kiva site, are loaners able to track how the business or whatever is going, or only whether or not the loan gets repaid? Seems like a great site to help out others will small loans. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/50 "2016-10-17T18:48:32Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Doesn’t this run the risk of creating jealousy from other families? Apparently, judging from above, it runs the risk of creating jealousy from other Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/51 "2016-10-17T22:17:23Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I was idly curious, with a view towards thinking about how my family’s money might be spent in the _future_. When do you expect to begin accepting applications? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/53 "2016-11-25T17:18:40Z")
Possible spam with gmail address noted and reported (davilaccaccya) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/54 "2016-11-25T17:19:51Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > It’s better to find someone who has family in a village or whatever, and try to make a donation for something that benefits everyone. > > For instance, donating money to pay for all or some of the poorer kids there to get new school clothes and supplies for a year of school. Or a new well, or whatever they need as a community. > > The hard part is finding someone in a poor country, which is why **jtur88** ’s suggestion is the best. If you feel strongly about it, make a trip to that country and befriend some locals that can tell you what they need. > > Also, on that Kiva site, are loaners able to track how the business or whatever is going, or only whether or not the loan gets repaid? Seems like a great site to help out others will small loans. I donate to Kiva and have never had anybody default. You don’t earn any interest on your money, so it’s a pure give-and-repay program. I’ve had the same $100 recycle many times over the years. The nice thing is that you can choose who it goes to. We usually pick groups of women in Africa trying to keep a cooperative business operating, rather than someone looking for less productive efforts. Kiva has field operatives who vet the applicants. It’s a nice notion to want to support a family, but as noted above, it’s risky if you don’t actually know the people and their situation. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253/55 "2016-11-25T17:36:19Z")
Since this thread has repeatedly been bumped by spammers (since removed) I am closing it. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-family-simply-sponsor-a-poor-family-in-a-poor-country/618253.md?page=2)