About Matsiko
About 600 million orphans and vulnerable children exist in our world, facing hunger, disease, and hopelessness. Through child sponsorship, Matsiko Children International provides a complete education that can transform their lives, lift them out of poverty, and give them a better life.
The Matsiko World Orphan Choir harnesses the innate talent of these children to bring joy to audiences in the USA, give visibility to their plight, and raise funds to help even more children achieve their dreams.
Learn more about our vision, mission, core values, history, financial accountability, and sponsor services.
Our Vision:
Our world’s most vulnerable children are empowered to achieve a hope-filled future through a complete education in their own country, with the result that:
- They are protected from child trafficking and exploitation;
- They are placed on equal footing with their nation's most privileged children;
- Career opportunities that once were beyond their reach are now achievable;
- The cycle of poverty is broken for their own lives and families and is replaced by a cycle of hope and prosperity as they give back to their community and share this blessing with others.
Our Mission
To transform the lives of our world’s most vulnerable children through a complete education which helps them grow in wisdom, character, and opportunity.
Our Core Values
Buried beneath the trappings of child trafficking, poverty, hunger, disease, and abandonment, lies the talent and potential of 600 million children who make up 7.6% of the world’s population and are considered orphans. We recognize that our world's most forgotten, neglected, and disadvantaged children are bearers of God’s image and they deserve dignity, value and worth. They also deserve the opportunity to improve their lives by receiving a complete education that lifts them from poverty to prosperity, not just financially, but in mind, body and spirit. We consider it an honor to partner with these children in their journey to a better life by financially supporting their education and other critical resources needed for them to thrive.
The Educational Partners/Sponsors of Matsiko Children International are viewed with the highest honor. Sponsors deserve to know how their sponsorship impacts the children. Therefore, sponsors and friends are always welcomed on every MCI Service Trip so they can see firsthand the great impact their sponsorship provides. We endeavor to always be available to personally answer any questions or concerns.
Our board and leadership aspire to the highest standards of financial accountability and transparency, and have received the highest possible ratings from outside organizations like GuideStar, Better Business Bureau, EFCA, Network for Good, United Way and many other outside groups. All of our finances are available at any time because we value our sponsors as true partners that deserve to know the great success their support provides to our world’s forgotten children.
We aim to provide as many of our world's 600 million orphaned and at-risk children sponsorship for a complete education through their nation's highest university or vocational levels. Once educated, every child will be on equal footing with their nation's most privileged children. They will return to their villages to help other children who are in the same condition they once were in order to break the cycle of utter dependency and despair and replace it with empowerment and hope! The sponsorship program of ICN is the absolute best method of preventing child trafficking!
Our History
Founded in 2005 by Don and Jennie Windham, the Matsiko World Orphan Choir became an international phenomenon. The Matsiko World Orphan Choir is made up of sponsored children from Liberia, Peru, India, and Nepal. Matsiko is the first choir to allow children in the sponsorship program to come to the US and tour as ambassadors for the world's 600 million orphaned and at-risk children.
Having performed at major league sports events, Disneyland, and even the White House, the choir has given countless children an opportunity to travel and perform, meet American host families, and then return to their home country with a greater vision for themselves and their place in the world.
The parent organization was originally named the International Children’s Network (ICN) but has changed its name to Matsiko Children International to provide a more consistent brand with the Matsiko World Orphan Choir, and to reach a broader audience of child sponsors.
The Matsiko sponsorship program is unique in that it provides every sponsored child with a complete education.
All research findings show that the greatest prevention for child trafficking is the possibility of a complete education which supports the child through the highest possible university or vocational levels in their country. This gives your sponsored child the opportunity to rise from the lowest social level to equal footing with the most privileged children in their country.
There is no other work where such a small amount of money can do so much good for so many!
Financial Accountability
- Matsiko Children International (formerly International Children’s Network) has been ranked at the highest possible premium standard with GuideStar for the last 10 years for financial accountability. GuideStar is the only non-profit watch-dog that is trusted by America's Fortune 500 companies. Approval from GuideStar automatically allows a non-profit to partner with any Fortune 500 company, and our platinum ranking shows that we have earned a factor of trust regarding our financial accountability that is matched by few.
- In addition to GuideStar, all of the other "watchdog" organizations like Better Business Bureau (BBB), Network for Good and United Way, have also listed Matsiko Children International at their highest accountability levels.
- Your sponsorship support is solely dedicated to your child's education. Your support does not go into any type of child support "pool" to be shared by many children and projects for our organization.
Sponsor Services
Meet your child face-to-face
Every sponsor, family, or group supporting Matsiko can join any of our annual service trips to our partnering nations each year. This means that every sponsor can have the rare honor of actually meeting their child face-to-face and personally seeing the tremendous, life-changing impact their sponsorship is making. Service trips with MCI can be organized at any time for you, your family and friends, school, church or business group. Contact us at servicetrips@icnchildren.net to learn more.
Write and send gifts to your sponsored child anytime
Sponsors are invited to write letters to their sponsored child anytime. It is also very easy to send extra support for gifts for your child.
MCI exists to empower children through sponsorship
As we fulfill our mission, we pride ourselves on being able to connect with our sponsors when they ask. If you ever want to know more about your child or have any questions about them, please contact us. MCI will contact the director overseeing your child to find out anything you want to know.
MCI's sponsorship program is the greatest program to prevent child trafficking worldwide!
The greatest lure for desperate families to sell their children is the false promise that their children will receive an education. With MCI's empowering sponsorship program, the chance for a free and complete education for their child no longer entices parents to sell their children, because they are already receiving one! In addition, for the first time in many families' existence, they have a place of refuge and encouragement and a strong advocate for the growth of their child. Now MCI's sponsored children can stay with their families, better their lives with the hope of a future, and end the chance of being trafficked.