Check out plan-uk.org. I've been with them for a few years and have a sponsored child in Northern India. You will get a photo most years showing you how your child is fairing. Mine has shoes in his photos these days......
And I get a Xmas card every February made from hand made paper with a pressed flower on it. You can send notes and get the occasional one back.
Your monthly payment, mine is now £16 per month, does indeed help the whole community and you will also receive full details and a yearly report on how the charity spends its money in the village where, or near , your sponsored child lives.
I strongly believe child sponsorship is a far better way to help abroad. For a start the money actually gets to where you want it to go. If all of us who can afford such a sum each month were to sponsor a child abroad (you can choose which country btw) it helps more than that one child (and the family) away from appalling poverty.