Yesterday, I came across a post on Facebook by World Vision Singapore about a sharing session held on 2 March this year, entitled Walking Together in Love · Changing Children’s Lives.
At the event, attendees and the organiser World Vision Singapore watched Measure in Love, a film produced by Sylvia Chang, and listened to her sharing real-life stories from her many years of service as a lifelong volunteer with World Vision, dedicated to transforming children’s lives. Through her sharing and the film, those present witnessed the perseverance and compassion of humanitarian workers, and saw how love can transcend distance and bring about meaningful change in people’s lives.
As I read the post, I could not help reflecting on my own journey of sponsoring children in need.
In fact, I had already wanted to sponsor an underprivileged child overseas when I first entered the workforce at the age of nineteen.
However, my salary was modest back then. I had to help my mother support the family and pay for my younger siblings’ education, leaving very little for my own living expenses. As a result, the idea of sponsoring a child had to be put aside for the time being.
Later, I got married and had children. After going through a divorce, I found myself raising two sons on my own as they entered their teenage years. The financial burden on my shoulders became even heavier. Although the wish remained close to my heart, I never quite found the opportunity to act on it.
In June 2024, my elder son completed his four-year university course and began his working life. In September that year, I paid off his university loan, and suddenly, I felt a considerable weight lifted from my shoulders. As it happened, a friend told me the following month that his church was organising a child sponsorship initiative for children in the Philippines. Without hesitation, I sponsored a boy and a girl, finally fulfilling a wish I had carried for so many years.
Perhaps some wishes are never truly forgotten; they are simply waiting for the right moment.
In October 2025, I travelled to Nepal with a group of friends to trek in the mountains around the Machhapuchhre, or Fishtail Mountain, region. Along the way, I discovered that drinking water was not readily available in the mountains. It made me wonder whether the local children might also face considerable challenges in their living conditions and access to proper sanitation.
After returning home, I kept wondering what I could do to help them. However, I was also aware of my own limitations. Financially, in particular, I did not have the means to undertake any substantial relief initiative on my own. The desire to help was always there, but I could not find a suitable way to turn it into action.
In February 2026, I came across another Facebook post announcing that World Vision Singapore also had a child sponsorship programme. I decided to sponsor another child. After setting up my account, I clicked on the option to choose a child. Before making my selection, I decided to look at the children who had been waiting for years without finding a sponsor. Among them, I came across an eight-year-old boy from Sri Lanka and decided to sponsor him.
Since then, we have exchanged several letters. Although thousands of miles separate us, our correspondence has given me the opportunity to learn more about his life. What was once a distant concern has gradually become something more personal and meaningful.
In April that same year, I returned to the mountain trails of Nepal. This time, I travelled alone, hiring a local trekking guide and porter so that I could walk at a pace that suited me. Whenever I met children in the villages along the way, I gave them some of the stationery I had brought with me. These little gifts were not expensive, but they were something I could think of and afford to offer. I hoped that these modest tokens might bring the children a little warmth and let them know that even in remote mountain villages, there were people who cared about them.
Joining Global 6K for Water 2026 and Chosen®
On 2 September this year, I learnt through Facebook that World Vision Singapore was organising a fundraising campaign called Global 6K for Water, running from 20 July to 30 November. I thought it was a wonderfully meaningful initiative.
In places where clean water is scarce, children may have to walk several kilometres every day to collect water for their daily needs. Through this campaign, a donation of S$60 aims to help provide clean water access to a child. With the pooled donations, children living in communities in need no longer have to spend so much time and energy obtaining safe drinking water.
After work and at wekends, I already enjoy going for walks and taking photographs wherever I can. If I could combine the distance I cover through my everyday walks with an opportunity to help children in need, would that not allow me to do something I love while making a difference to others? With that thought in mind, I signed up for the campaign that very day.
In the days that followed, I came across several transformational development initiatives supported through child sponsorship posted by World Vision Singapore on Facebook. One particular initiative, the Chosen child sponsorship programme, caught my attention.
What makes this programme especially meaningful is that, rather than sponsors choosing children, the children themselves get to choose their sponsors. I found this approach deeply moving. Instead of passively waiting for someone to select them, children are given the opportunity to express their own wishes and make a choice. Inspired by this idea, I went on to sponsor two more children from Mongolia through the Chosen programme.
Love Should Know No Borders
On 28 September, I happened to be in Japan. Unfortunately, I had injured my left knee after slipping while descending Mount Hakusan on 24 September. While the other team members continued their climb up Mount Tateyama, I had no choice but to remain alone at a mountain lodge, finding ways to pass the time.
It was raining outside, and the weather was bitterly cold. Knowing that I would not be able to complete the planned ascent of the second mountain, I could not help feeling disappointed. Just then, I received an email informing me that I had been chosen as a sponsor by two boys, aged thirteen and ten respectively. At that moment, the disappointment I had felt over missing the climb gave way to a sudden wave of warmth. Although I was still physically uncomfortable in the cold weather, my heart felt wonderfully warm.
Two weeks after returning to Singapore, I received letters from both boys. Their messages were brief, yet they touched me deeply. Two children I had never met had chosen me, and through this unexpected connection, I received a gift of emotion and gratitude that I had never anticipated during what had already been a rather unusual journey.
I realised that warmth between people does not always require a face-to-face meeting. Sometimes, a letter, a thoughtful gesture or even a connection that crosses national borders can bring a little more tenderness into our lives.
Before this, I had also learnt that World Vision Singapore would be introducing its Chosen sponsorship programme in another country in November. I signed up to participate again. Although I did not yet know which country the programme would involve, it did not matter to me. As long as I could help children in need, their country of origin made no difference. After all, love should know no borders.
Walking Together With Love
I was particularly drawn to the title of the sharing session held on 2 March: Walking Together in Love. It reminded me of the name of my Facebook photo album, Walking Together with Love, where I keep my personal photographs and written reflections. The similarity between the two titles made me feel an immediate sense of familiarity and warmth.
Perhaps it was a beautiful coincidence. Over the years, I have recorded little moments from my life through writing and captured the scenery along my journey through photography. Now, I hope not only to preserve these moving experiences in words, but also to pass that same warmth on to others through meaningful actions.
From a wish I first harboured at the age of nineteen, to sponsoring children in the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Mongolia, participating in a clean water fundraising campaign, and giving stationery to children in Nepal's mountain villages, I have gradually come to understand that helping others does not require great wealth, nor does it demand grand gestures.
As long as we are willing to give a little more and care a little more within our means, every small act of kindness has the potential to become a ray of light in someone else's life.
In the years ahead, I hope to continue sponsoring underprivileged children from different countries and doing what little I can to help improve their living conditions, access to nutritious food, sanitation and education. Above all, I hope they will be able to grow up healthy and, one day, be in a position to give back to their communities.
Of course, I understand that there is only so much one person can accomplish alone. That is why I hope more friends will be willing to join this meaningful endeavour. If you share my belief that every child deserves access to clean water, a safe living environment and opportunities for education, I warmly invite you to support the work of World Vision and join me on this journey of love.
Let us come together through love and walk alongside one another. Wherever we may be and however little we may have to offer, a helping hand can make a difference to a child's future. May we all become messengers of love, helping more children discover hope and look forward to a brighter future because someone cares.
Whispers of Love: Love Begins with What We Can Give.
We may not have the power to change the whole world, but we can use what little we have to bring hope into a child's life. One sponsorship, one letter, one shared story — each may seem insignificant, yet could become a ray of light in a child's life. When love is no longer merely a wish held in our hearts, but is translated into one small action after another, we can walk together in and with love, allowing kindness to cross borders and hope to take root and flourish in the hearts of children.
Because of love, we find one another. By walking together, we make change possible.
Join Li Ai and the community of child sponsors by sponsoring a child today.
