Why she can’t stop talking about child sponsorship

Several months ago, I was startled by some feedback from a group of World Vision Canada supporters—donors lending their opinions to help make our work better.

“Do people who work at World Vision actually give to this cause?” someone had written. They wanted a testimonial. Not from a fellow “regular” sponsor… but from the inside.

Gosh, I thought. If only you knew.

This mission is much more than a paycheck. Staff members volunteer at events, fundraise through 6K runs and polar bear dips and yes, give financially too.

Like any workplace, some staff members really stand out. We have a term for it here—we say, “they bleed orange.”

And when I think about someone who bleeds orange, I think about Elizebeth.

She became a child sponsor to get better at her job

Elizebeth knows World Vision—and child sponsorship—from all angles. After leaving a profession in chemical engineering (“That's my background, not my passion”), she began volunteering in 2012 and eventually joined the organization full time in customer care. She spent years answering sponsors’ questions and helping manage their accounts.

When she first chose to sponsor a child, it was for research.

Elizebeth wanted first-hand experience so she could empathize with sponsors and assist them more effectively. Now, 13 years and several positions later, her identity as a child sponsor goes way beyond research.

Now, she says, “I can’t shut up about sponsorship.”

“The best experience of my life”

Pompey was Elizebeth's first sponsored child, a young girl in rural Northeast India. Elizebeth chose India because she'd grown up there. She also hoped Pompey and her daughter Eunice, who was the same age, might forge a connection.

In 2018, that connection became real when Elizebeth's family travelled to meet Pompey in her remote community.

“For me, that was one of the most meaningful experiences in my life, visiting her in 2018,” Elizebeth recalls. The local staff had never hosted a sponsor visit before, and they pulled out all the stops, with a dance performance and huge community gathering.

Elizebeth was blown away by Pompey, who danced so well and presented them with a drawing. “There's nothing that she cannot do,” Elizebeth raves. “But I think that confidence comes from these programs that give them opportunities.”

Seeing Pompey and Eunice together was a true joy: “Them meeting each other was like... the best thing that has happened in my life.”

As the years went on and the families exchanged letters, Elizebeth had her mind set on Pompey’s future. She knew that in rural India, the pressure to pull a girl out of school and get her married young would be strong. “In my letters, I would just tell her parents, ‘take action, educate her, educate her.’”

By the time their sponsorship journey ended, Pompey was 18 and had started college.

She was determined to become a teacher.

The details behind the data

Through multiple roles over the last decade, Elizebeth has worked closely with many aspects of child sponsorship. In her current role, she helps ensure that the data and information sponsors receive from communities is accurate, meaningful and reflects the impact of their sponsorship. “I get to be the bridge between the sponsors and the children,” she explains. She’s gained a deep understanding of the challenges that can arise on both sides.

Back in 2016, on a training trip to the Dominican Republic, she witnessed something that stuck with her.

Elizebeth and her coworkers had a chance to experience registration for a new sponsorship program. Parents lined up—children on hips and in hand—dictating their children’s information to the staff who were registering them.

Watching the parents, Elizebeth realized something. Oh. They don't seem confident about their child’s birthday. Their child may not have a birth certificate.

“People might just say random birthdays,” she remembers. “If they didn't know it, they'd just put December 31 or January 1.”

One in five children under age five worldwide has never had their birth registered with their government. Without a birth certificate, they can’t access their basic rights like school and healthcare, and it makes them more vulnerable to trafficking.

“In many parts of Africa and Latin America, the lack of birth certificates is a huge problem. But that's something World Vision really works alongside families to get,” says Elizebeth. “I was very proud to see that.”

Updating the records when a birth certificate is obtained, however, can sometimes create confusion for sponsors. Elizebeth has talked to supporters who noticed a change in their child's age, birthdate or name and immediately became concerned.

“The response is, ‘How did my child’s age change from three years to six years,’ right?” she says. “That's because they now got a birth certificate.” Information that may have been wrong, given based on memory or misunderstanding, is now validated and as accurate as possible.

“It will make no sense to the sponsor, and it will really get them upset when they don't understand the cultural issue there,” says Elizebeth. “But making sure children have birth certificates is something that we actively fight for.”

Meeting Mevisi in Malawi

Elizebeth has grown a reputation at World Vision Canada for being sponsorship’s biggest advocate. That role extends far beyond her nine-to-five. Today, multiple people in her personal network are sponsors because she has shared her first-hand experiences.

In 2025, during a personal trip to Malawi with friends from church, Elizebeth took the opportunity to visit her newest sponsored child, a girl named Mevisi who was born with a disability.

“Our daughter Eunice has a hearing disability,” Elizebeth explains. “We have a heart for children who are disabled.”

Mevisi cannot walk and she is mostly non-verbal. She smiles and says a few words, which her mom understands best. Stigma and beliefs about disability in their community have brought pain to their lives.

“Her mother was telling us how hard it is,” Elizebeth recalls. “They could not be in common gatherings, because they’re considered unlucky, like an evil omen.”

Following the trip, she decided to sponsor Mevisi’s brother, Happy, as well.

The following April, when volunteer work brought Elizebeth back to Malawi, there was no question she would visit the family again. This time, she invited a friend from the trip who had been considering sponsoring a child.

“’I want you to actually come and visit and see for yourself what World Vision does,’” Elizebeth remembers saying. “’What does it change in the community? Just come and see.’”

The progress the community had made in just over a year was thrilling. A large classroom block had risen up. Youth were rearing pigs through the Impact Plus project. And as for Mevisi? Her mom shared the shift they’d felt, a growing openness from their community.

“I heard that World Vision's involvement has really helped raise awareness about children facing disabilities,” Elizebeth shares. “Her mother was so happy this time, sharing that things have changed and that they're very happy that they're part of World Vision's program.”

Classroom blocks. Economic projects. Attitudes being transformed. Real change happening for Mevisi, her family, and a whole community of kids.

Elizebeth’s friend was blown away.

She chose to sponsor four children on the spot.

A message for sponsors from a woman who lives it

What does Elizebeth wish all sponsors knew?

“It's real, these children are real,” she says. “From my own experience as a sponsor and as a representative [of World Vision], I would say: 'You're changing lives and you're changing families.’ And I've seen that for what—14 years now?”

She encourages World Vision sponsors to go deeper and keep the connection going.

“It's very impactful for children and families, when you communicate,” she says. “They see firsthand that somebody cares.”

Become a child sponsor today and help create the conditions for lasting, community-led change.