Save the children. Years after a boy's death, an American family still received messages from Abdoul Kone, the child whom they had sponsored. Their case shows how donors can be betrayed by the sponsorship system.

"Hello!" began the New Year's message forwarded by Save the Children Federation Inc., the agency through which the Dixons had been sponsoring Abdoul since 1990. "I was very happy to receive your card along with a nice picture! We think of you day and night. We are all doing well, and happy to meet yours. We pray for them. Happy New Year 1996 to all of you. May God bless you. Now it is very cold here."

The Dixons had no idea they were reading a message from the grave. Abdoul Kone, in whose name Clover Dixon was sending Save the Children $20 a month, had died nearly three years before, the victim of a donkey cart accident.