Yes, every year, we’ll send you a Christmas card and a birthday card, which you can write a message in and send to your child. Please be mindful of your sponsored child’s own religion and culture when writing your Christmas card!

Your letter has to travel a long way – and may have quite a journey to get there – whether by plane, train, on foot or by donkey! It then will need to be translated into the child’s local language for them to understand. Because of this it can take between three to six months for you to hear back from a letter that you have sent. But when it arrives it will be worth the wait.

You can write as frequently (or seldom) as you wish, but most sponsors find two or three times a year is ideal. If you write very frequently, please bear in mind that, it may not be possible for your child to respond as frequently. They may deliver more than one at a time – so you may get one letter in response to several that you have sent.

Click here for the full list of our National Office addresses.

As a minimum each year you can expect to receive back from your child a Christmas card and their Annual Progress Report, which lets you know how your child is getting on at school, how healthy they are and how their home life is going.

Other letters from your child are on a response only basis – so if you write, your sponsored child will write back to you! That’s why we really encourage you to write, to get the most from your sponsorship experience.

The age of your child when you start sponsorship also affects the correspondence you can expect to receive. Younger children will be less able to write to you until they attend school and learn how to read and write. So, you may get a letter from a member of their family, or written by a World Vision member of staff who visits the child regularly. Your sponsored child will usually be encouraged to do a small drawing for you too.