Child Protection Policy: Guidelines for Sponsors

Thank you for your decision to sponsor a child in the Hope for Children program. You are beginning a rewarding journey and we hope your experience with Hope for Children is fulfilling. With your decision to sponsor a precious child, you begin a new relationship with a child. As a Hope for Children sponsor, you share responsibility in protecting the children we serve.

In all areas, Hope for Children places the interests and needs of the children in the program first and foremost. We are committed to the welfare of children and their protection from abuse and exploitation. In order to help protect the privacy, dignity and personal safety of every child in the Hope for Children program, we have implemented this Child Protection Policy: Guidelines for Sponsors. Please read through this policy so you can better understand them and follow them.

Information about your Hope for Children child

Sponsoring a child is a rewarding experience and we encourage you to share your joy with your friends and loved ones. You are welcome and encouraged to display photos of your Hope for Children child at your home or personal space at work/business to share your experience of helping a child in need, along with the provided basic personal information only.

The child details presented to you, are for conveying appropriate information about the sponsored child, and are not for distribution.

• Please do not email, share or publish photos and personal information of your Hope for Children child anywhere on the internet. Personal information includes your Hope for Children child's photo and/or personal information such as their age, name, or geographic location. Anywhere on the internet means on websites, forums and on social media platforms such as (but not limited to) Facebook or WhatsApp.
• Those using our online services are not allowed to download any personal information of children, including photographs. Privacy also demands that children, their families and communities be shielded from any potential inappropriate contact from sponsors or others.

Communication with your Hope for Children child

Children have the right to be completely secure from the fear or reality of any potential abuse (either physical or emotional) resulting from inappropriate contact. As you proceed in your Hope for Children journey, you will notice that we are extremely careful about communication with children.

By agreeing to become a Hope for Children sponsor, you also agree not to attempt to contact a Hope for Children child and his or her family or community members, in any manner, other than through requests in writing to Hope for Children. Telephone calls, emails or unplanned visits to the child's residence and community are not allowed. Please do not attempt to contact your Hope for Children child through any form of Social media, even if you find that they are available. If you are contacted by your Hope for Children child or his/her family outside of our correspondence process, please immediately let us know about it by writing to or by calling our head office (details are available here).

You are welcome to visit the child you sponsor and meet the whole family by requesting a planned visit. Please send a request to our email id, info@hopeforchildren.com, at least ten days in advance and we will be glad to organize a visit on any weekday avoiding weekends, festivals and National Holidays. A Hope for Children sponsor will be allowed to meet a child only in the presence of Hope for Children staff and a parent/guardian of the Hope for Children child. Please note that unplanned visits to your Hope for Children child's residence or community are not permitted under any circumstance, and all visits must be organized through us.

Writing Letters to your Hope for Children Child

We encourage all Hope for Children sponsors to write to their Hope for Children child to get to know and encourage them and their family through the writing material provided to in your Sponsor Kit. Your Hope for Children child will also write back to you. You will also be provided with the necessary writing material to reply, every time your Hope for Children child writes to you. Many sponsors and sponsored children find this a rewarding experience. If the child is very young or does not know how to write, our project staff will help him/her to write and the letter will also be translated to English if the child writes in his/her native language.

As a sponsor, please keep your letter content in the best interest of your Hope for Children child, such as his/her schooling, hobbies, activities, festivals etc. Do not ask for or mention any personal, family or religious information. We are committed to not deliver any letters to or from the Hope for Children child that contain any such inappropriate information or personal contacts like address, phone, e-mail, etc. You may add cards and stickers to your letter but we ask that no other gifts be shared as we care for all children equally and want all children in the program to receive the same benefits.

If you have any questions about communicating with your Hope for Children child, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Sponsoring a Child in your Locality

We have found that it is in the best interest of the child that the Hope for Children sponsor they communicate with not live in the locality around them. As a result, when signing up to sponsor a Hope for Children child, you will be assigned a child from a different locality (usually designated by state). Please do not attempt to request or sponsor a child from your state/locality as Hope for Children cannot fulfill this request. We hope you will understand and respect this policy as we care for the children in the program.

Questions

If you have any questions about any of these policies or want to notify us if any Hope for Children child, family member/legal guardian or donor/sponsor has breached any of the above-mentioned guidelines of child protection, please email us at info@hopeforchildren.com.

Thank you for sponsoring a Hope for Children child, as you are making a valuable difference in the lives of so many children throughout India, and are helping end poverty and uplift the most helpless in society.