Child sponsorship and ways to support orphans - a discussion
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Hope Alive Uganda would like to run a sponsorship programme.
See http://hopealiveuganda.synthasite.com for this.
In this task we would like to start a discussion about experiences with child sponsorship programs, options for sponsoring children, tips and advice, experiences, pros and cons.
Despite the fact that many similar tasks and discussions about child sponsorship can be found on the nabuur site, we would like to explore options, problems and possibilities for promoting this sponsorship program in Kisozi. Tips and tricks are welcome.
Enclosed is the budget for Hope Alive Uganda 2009 which indicates the prices for tuition fees, boarding facilities and so on (see for example page 10).
Attached files:
Project: Supporting Orphans in Kisozi
Hi Esther
Matopeni http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/matopeni/project run a sponsorship scheme (see their latest News item) so you may be able to learn from what they have done. I don't know the full details, just that they have found sponsors for several children at their school.
The biggest challenge is that you are looking for long-term outside support, and competing with many of the well-known international organisations who run large-scale, well-publicised schemes.
Mary
This is a great initiative.
I have perused through your proposal but at a glance i have just a few comments. What exchange rate of the $ did you use ( you must have used a very high exchange rate over 2000=)You have to make this realistic to avoid whoever, may have the interest from becoming suspicious.0
2. What is the contribution of the organisation (monetised) It does show seriousness if you ask for 100% support. Indicate it in the proposal.
3. Physical location of the project offices should be included in the proposal.
4. Try to back your info. with statistics. gives the reader a clearer picture and magnitude of the situation in Buyanza.
5. how does the project work with existing structures. e. g probation office, secretary for children affairs, similar CBOes?NGOs. take advantage of existing structures.......
6.what is the composition of the executive committee/ how do you identify them???
7. how is the orgn. Structure different form org. chart (merge the two)
8. you need to make a more comprehensive detailed budget.
9. I am thinking that you could also have some youth attached to identified propriators/mentors to learn skills (enterprenuering skills) such as tailoring, poultry,...........
Please take these comments in good faith. some of them may help improve the quality of the proposal.
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"If you do not stand up for something, then you might fall for anything"
I have just attached my comments on the proposal. I had forgotten to send them with earlier comments.
Thank you
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"If you do not stand up for something, then you might fall for anything"
Hi Grace!
Thank you so much for your valuable response! Well, since Eddy is the "budget man" I think Eddy will have to respond. I have been in touch with Eddy the past days through sms messages, but I hope Eddy can be online again soon so he can respond. Let's wait for Eddy's answer. Thank you again so much Grace!
Esther
Hi!
I came across this on the Nabuur news page and thought I would pass it on.
http://www.nabuur.com/en/village/budalangi/news/2009/03/stealing-my-brot...
It isn't directly related to Kisozi's sponsorship scheme, but its interesting as it talks about some of the unintended consequences of the OVC support program they run in Budalangi, Kenya. Note that I have never had any direct contact with them, so don't know any more details.
Mary
Mary - I don't know what OVC stands for, but I wrote the woman to find out a little more. I am hoping that I am not doing anything wrong with the projects I have been setting up. In Kyomya we have a committee who oversees all suggestions and decides on priorities - therefore it falls back on the village - not on the donor. When we built the houses for the poorest of the child-headed families, only one man was jealous and wanted a blanket - so we gave him one! The rest of the village was very pleased for these 3 families. I think sponsorships are a really difficult program - the fact is there are sooooo many of them - how do we even Begin to compete? And, people get tired of giving after a year. I will be trying to go to schools here in my neighborhood - elementary age, to see if i can present a program and see if they can put together penny jars, bake sales, etc. If each classroom came up with about $10 each month - $30 in 3 months - that pays for 3 kid's school books for 1 term. I need to find 10 classrooms for 30 kids - and we have about 160 kids - over 50 classrooms!!! That is a daunting task - and I am sad to say, no volunteers yet on our site...
I think there will be more success if we can 'teach them to fish'. I'll let you know how we do in Kyomya and Wakitaka
Regards,
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Ginger :)
I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with this. The Khandbari village has been struggling for 10 years to find sponsors for the children in Nepal. They have found a few, mainly through people who have visited Nepal. I honestly believe child sponsorship is a short-term intervention at best. I think it runs a high risk of inadvertently creating dependency versus self-reliance.
Sponsorship is difficult to maintain long-term. It requires a lot of marketing-you can't simply fall back on a website, a brochure, or a letter. I really believe that focusing on sustainable community-based interventions make much more sense in the long-run and give the community the tools they require to meet their basic needs. As a result, they become better able to look after others who may be too young to look after themselves.
I honestly agree with you Jennifer,it is not an easy walk to getting sponsorship for the children,
Just like you said it brings about dependeny verssus, self relience it is wholesomely true.
I do believe that marketing requires alot of INPUT,so it may also be un affordable as per now.
I do believe i need to come back on ground and converge the coomunity such thatcan agree on various i deas of meeting their demands and caring or their young ones.
This brings a an idea of getting them involved into ,either rearing of animals or farming,
How do you see that.
Thank you so much
EDDY
Hi Eddy,
I think you should do both things. Of course, a lot of effort should be put into PR and marketing, but you need to start somewhere, so I think there is nothing wrong with starting small. That is, setting up a network of people around the world that can promote you by putting up flyers in schools, supermarkets and so on, addressing the local papers to write about you, setting up collaborations with schools (Ginger has great ideas about that!), setting up correspondence projects between pupils around the world, a website etc. etc. You need to start small and then grow, if you understand what I am trying to say.
Also, I think you should start making plans on how the community can generate income and get them involved. One of the good plans is the rearing of animals. You can breed cows, sell milk etc. etc. Are there other ways to get people involved? Arts, crafts etc. Are there women in Kisozi that make jewelry and can sell them? I have seen projects where women make beads, make jewelry and sell it. Are there people in Kisozi that are good at arts, crafts an can sell it to provide income? I know that there projects that have vocational training centres where they make furniture or clothing and then sell it.
Esther
Thanks for the pat on the back, Esther!!! But, so far, even here in the U.S. of Wealthy A. people are just not willing to donate any money! Maybe next year - but putting up flyers for example will not get any response - trust me, I have tried that - and the only thing is the really personal approach - writing letters to (I think) Sonja wrote 100 and only got one response from a school! And you offer to come in and teach the children with a slide show, a video presentation - all of which takes quite a bit of time and money. That is why I voted on smaller contributions to the farming endeavor - Ken's info is excellent - setting up a productive bucket drip system (remember the bucket of water must be raised,) and purchase 100' long hose - or use 2 - 50' That should only cost about$25-30 USD at the maximum. I don't know if they have good seeds there - they can always be sent from the states - but I don't know if our seeds will work in such hot dry climate, Ken??? And, of course, the goats - $35 each and I believe also pigs at $35 each. A cow? Don't know - must be quite a bit more expensive to buy AND feed!
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Ginger :)
Hi guys
Ginger, OVC = orphans and vulnerable children (sorry I should have said that at the time!).
I very much support the idea that the only long-term solution is to help families to find ways to earn money for tehmselves, to become independent. Has many advantages, the obvious one that they have money to take care of themselves and their children, but it also gives them control over their lives, they become confident in their abilities, that they can go on to do bigger things if they wish to.
Finding money from outside is always tough. So starting with things that require little or no outside money makes sense. And where money is needed, its easier to find as a one-off than continuing commitment as required for sponsorship.
Eddy, if you have farmers in your area who are interested in improving yields from their crops, or others who want to start things such as small-scale vegetable growing I would suggest that you get in contact with Ken (as already mentioned by Ginger). He can send you a DVD with more information. As far as I can see, he isn't a neighbour of Kisozi at the moment, but you can drop him a message via the link on his profile http://www.nabuur.com/en/user/minifarms/profile
For things where you do need money from outside, I would suggest that you set the projects up in a way that, once started, your organisation can continue to run them without needing more outside money. So provide things as loans, not as gifts. For example, if you give a family an animal, they will be required to give one or more of its offspring back to the project. This can then be passed on to another family. The same would be true if you helped them to set up some other sort of small business, they would need to pay the loan back over an agreed period of time.
Mary
Nice input Mary - thanks! I think some projects could start with a couple of hundred dollars - and set up as a loan, I see no reason why we couldn't raise it - the way KIVA does. I think KIVA is no longer take any new clients - but I had set up a 'mini loan' to the women in Kyomya - and had hoped that showing a success of paying the loan back in 6 months, we could then apply to KIVA. Won't know til the end of April if the women have succeeded - but i suspect they have.
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Ginger :)
HI Mary,
My names are everline were,a community representative of spring valley slum village.
I want to thank you so much for your good opinion on child sponsorship and ways to help the orphans.
People with the projects offering to help the orphans should try to be self reliant.some of them start this projects with an aim of getting funds from abroad.They do not have any link abroad and so they get stuck in the middle of the projects leaving this children to suffer more than before.
Its high time they should try to use our locally available materials to generate money to boast this projects than to put high hopes on somebody abroad.Deeply from my heart,i feel so happy when i help a needy child around me than when somebody who is very far abroad tries to help this child.If you are a volunteer teacher for a needy child,You teach a lesson for a period of time,there after you give some assesment on what you have tought and then you find that this child is not writing while others are writing simply because the child does not have a book and a pen,How do you assit this child at the very moment cause you want to know wether he/she has understood?Do you wait for somebody abroad to bring assistance at the shortest moment?
Let us do something that makes sense in peoples mind.There are people who have gotten suport from various people and organizations abroad, we have admired thier projects cause they have expanded,They look nice and they have a change you would like to see on your projects,But ask yourself where do they start from?Ahundrd miles starts with first step so keep on going.
I have been a member of nabuur community since 2007.Since then i have not gotten any sponsorship but my project can still manage to put on a happy face and afford a smile.Go through my profile and see 150 children i have rehablitated from the streets enjoying thier meals than before.Also i have managed to change the lifestyle of single/widow mothers from prostution to bussiness women.Let us be leaders of sound mind.
Thanks
Yours
Everline were.
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THANK GOD FOR NABUUR AND WHAT YOU ARE DOING, YOU ARE BY OYUR WORKS INCREASING GOD'S GLORY. MAY CONTINUE TO BLESS THE FOUNDERS AND ALL VOLUNTIERS ALL OVER THE WORLD.WE AT ROYALLIFE NIGERIA ARE VERY GLAD TO PARTNER AS WELL AS BEING A VOLUNTIER.
hi mary and every body on nabuurbusoga children center need some help on how it is going to get support for it additional increase of orhans and youth to atain education.on behalf of busoga children center we shall be glatefull if our request is put into consideration
yours anthony