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Child Sponsorship, Evangelism, and Belonging in the Work of World Vision Zimbabwe
Author(s) -
Bornstein Erica
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.2001.28.3.595
Subject(s) - evangelism , politics , sociology , work (physics) , situated , transnationalism , perception , gender studies , economic growth , political science , law , economics , psychology , mechanical engineering , engineering , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , computer science
In this article, I examine the child sponsorship program of World Vision Zimbabwe—offering perspectives from nongovernmental organization (NGO) employees, sponsors, sponsored children, and rural communities being assisted. I demonstrate how transnational processes of giving and membership in a global Christian family contrast with Zimbabwean interpretations of humanitarian assistance and efforts to initiate a Zimbabwean child sponsorship program amidst growing local inequalities. in effect, new perceptions of economic disparity are produced by the very humanitarian efforts that strive to overcome them. I explore the intimate and personal relationships encouraged by sponsorship and the political economies within which they are situated, which include jealousies, desires, and altered senses of belonging. [Africa, NGOs, humanitarianism, transnationalism, development, Christian evangelism, Zimbabwe]