Child sponsorship

15 million people in the developing world today survive by salvaging waste. Many of them are children. We lift the lid on the worldwide scandal of young kids forced to scavenge on rubbish dumps to survive.

As a long-term supporter of ActionAid, British actor and comedian Hugh Dennis recently visited the five-year-old girl he sponsors in Myanmar. Having been ruled by a repressive military regime for over 50 years, Myanmar, also known as Burma, is one of the least developed countries in the world. Its people are extremely poor: one in four people live below the poverty line and only 50% of children finish primary school.

But now that the country has opened its borders, there's hope. Since 2012 we've been one of the few charities helping children through sponsorship in Myanmar. Here, Hugh Dennis shares his experience of meeting the little girl he sponsors and witnessing how his money is helping transform the future of her entire community.