|PIC1|Christian child development charity Compassion International reached a major milestone this month with the sponsorship of of its millionth child, an eight-year-old boy from Togo in West Africa.

Although seemingly worlds apart, Fellow Blewussi Kpodo and his sponsor, Korean Jang Mi-ran, were brought together through the one-to-one child sponsorship programme offered by Compassion, which helps to release children from poverty while fostering a strong relationship between the child and the sponsor.

Mi-ran, a long-time supporter of Compassion International, holds the title of "world's strongest woman" after winning the gold medal for weightlifting in the women's super-heavyweight class in last year's Beijing Olympics.

While Fellow will soon be corresponding with his famous sponsor, his world is far different from hers. Fellow is one of four children who live with their father in Kelegougan, a community 10 kilometres northeast of Togo's capital city of Lomé.

Life has been difficult for Fellow and his family in the small West African nation of Togo, a country whose population has been devastated by Aids. The struggle intensified when Fellow's mother was killed as a pedestrian while saving one of his older sisters from an oncoming car. Fellow's father continues to work for the family of five as a driver.

|PIC2|"This particular sponsorship is very special in that it represents a milestone for our ministry," said Wess Stafford, President and CEO of Compassion International. "Compassion is now serving one million children and their sponsors!”

Over Compassion's 57-year history, more than two million children have been served through the organisation's various programmes. However, this occasion marks the first time that one million children have been sponsored concurrently.

"Who better to stand alongside this precious little one than the world's strongest woman," said Stafford. "Fellow's sponsor is Jang Mi-Ran, a long-time Compassion supporter and Olympic gold medalist weight lifter from Korea. So, the strongest woman in the world is now sponsoring one of the most vulnerable children in the world."

Founded in 1952, Compassion seeks to tackle global poverty one child at a time, serving more than one million children in 25 of the world's poorest countries.