Sponsor a Child and Change Their World
When you sponsor a child you are giving their entire family the opportunity to escape the bottomless pit called poverty. You will receive a card with your child's photo and will have the opportunity to write and receive letters as well as an open invitation to visit your child in Kenya. For only $40 per month your child will attend school and receive an excellent education, as well as a hot lunch and clean drinking water.
Get the facts about sponsorship Get the facts about Hope for Kenya
Virgil Ouma Ongare
Virgil Ouma is a 10 year old boy in 3rd grade. He lives with his grandmother who does the cooking at Dago school.
Dago School
James Odhiambo
James Odhiambo, a 12 year old boy in the 4th grade, he is the last born in a family of 12 children. His parents are elderly and still struggle with a small business to support them. He also has five siblings in secondary schools. With this overload and very little profits, they are not able to pay for James’ school fees. His father is so generous, he is among the people who donated the land to build the Dago school because he knows the benefits of education.
Dago School
Rooney Regan Olouch
Roomy Reagan is an 11 year old boy in 4th grade and the second born in a family of six children. He is staying with his grandmother right now, because his parents cannot afford to support him and his school fees.
Dago School
Edwin Onyango
Edwin is a day student at Odera Secondary School. He and his sister, Lorna are living in the Dago village with their mother who is HIV positive and their father who is elderly and cannot work. They depend mostly on their older brother who supports his siblings by doing taxi work with a motorcycle.
Odera
How do I begin?
You have two options.
Option 1
- Use Paypal (our preferred method of payment) by filling in the form below.
- Choose monthly or yearly donations from the drop down menu, entering the name of the child (by clicking "sponsor now" on the bottom tab of their picture) you would like to sponsor, and then clicking on "NEXT".
- You will then be taken to the Paypal website to complete your sponsorship. A PayPal account is required for recurring payments, but not for one time donations. Just click the link under the login button that says, "No PayPal account? Pay using your credit or debit card" and fill out the form.
- Paypal will show Hope for Kenya that this is a “child sponsor” donation and provide us with your address so we can send you pictures and letters from your child.
Option 2
- If you would like to sponsor a child using a check, please contact changinglives@hopeforkenya.org with the child’s name, class, and school. You can also pay by check through PayPal, which is preferred.
All donations are tax deductible and 100% of the funds we receive go to caring for your child. If you have any questions please email us using the “contact” page.
Start Sponsoring Today!
Get the facts about sponsorship
Will I be the only person sponsoring the child I’m helping?
Yes. The child you’re helping has just one sponsor: you. That’s why your prayers, letters, and support mean so much to your sponsored child. Even if you choose to sponsor a child as a family or a group (for example, a youth group or a Sunday school class), the child you help will still be relating to your family or group as his or her only sponsor. No other group or individual will also sponsor the child you help.
How long should my child sponsorship last?
Hope for Kenya’s child sponsorship offers you the opportunity to stay with a child for a number of years, usually through the school year in which the child reaches the age of 18 to 22. While we hope that you will be able to continue in your support of your sponsored child until he or she completes High School or College, we recognize that sponsors’ circumstances sometimes change. You may discontinue your sponsorship at any time. We ask that you notify us if you are unable to continue your sponsorship.
Please understand that a sponsored child’s circumstances may change, too. We will inform you as quickly as possible if any such circumstance affects the child you sponsor, and we’ll transfer your support to another child in need of your help.
Hope for Kenya focuses on the full development of the child. Because of that, our goal is to release children from poverty, not merely sustain them through it.
Will I always be sponsoring the same child?
We work in real communities, with real families in, oftentimes, difficult situations. We strive to provide a safe environment for children to learn, grow and play, but sometimes situations change and children have to leave our programs – for example, because the family has moved to a new home in another community. If your child leaves our sponsorship program, your sponsorship will be moved to a new child, so that you can continue helping children in need. Your new sponsorship signifies an important part of our ongoing work and is a sign that we’re reaching even more children, families and communities in need with our sustainable programs. You’ll also have the opportunity to send a goodbye letter to your previously sponsored child. Saying goodbye can be hard, but a letter can help bring a sense of closure to your relationship and let your
child know that your care doesn’t end with the program. We’ll make every effort to deliver your letter. We sincerely hope you’ll see this move as an opportunity to say hello and be a friend and champion to your new child. If you would prefer to sponsor a child other than the one we have chosen for you, you can email us at changinglives@hopeforkenya.org. The child we had assigned will become eligible for sponsorship by someone else as generous and kind-hearted as you
How can I send letters or gifts to my child?
Developing the relationship between a sponsor and a child is of utmost importance to Hope for Kenya. We greatly encourage you to write letters to your student and send photos of you and your family. You can email letters and pictures to changinglives@hopeforkenya.org. We will print those letters and photos for your student and bring them to Kenya on our next trip. If you'd like to send something handwritten to your student, please send it to Hope for Kenya, PO Box 300, Lake Luzerne, NY, 12846.
Many sponsors also like to bless their student with extra gifts. Due to travel and baggage restrictions, and to support the local economy in Kenya, we prefer to purchase items in Kenya that we can give to your child. If you'd like your student to receive special items, you can purchase a "gift package" from our donation portion of our website under that option. A gift package is $20.
It is important for sponsors to note that in Kenya, it is culturally acceptable to ask for gifts from other people. While that is understandable, it is contrary to our goals in Kenya to create a generation of people dependant on the charity of westerners to survive. Longterm success in Kenya can only be achieved when Kenyans have the tools needed to provide for themselves and their society. For these reasons, we have instructed the students not to ask for specific gifts from their sponsors. Be assured that all of your sponsored student's basic needs are being met, and at a standard that far exceeds expectations for that area. We will constantly work to provide MORE items and opportunities to the students as Hope for Kenya grows.
Get the facts about Hope for Kenya
In Kenya
Peter Midodo and his wife Rachel created the Joy Schools International in 2004, to which they give nearly all their time. Their mission is to provide the poorest children of Kenya all they need to get a good education, including clean water, food, clothes, protection, and shelter.
In the US
Derek Bevan and a team of volunteers created the Hope for Kenya in 2006, whose mission is to support Peter and Rachel’s work and surrounding schools they are involved with. Read more about Hope for Kenya, and how it all started...
Hope for Kenya focus on 3 essential ways to support the children and the work in Kenya:
Bi-annual visits on the ground
In February and October of every year, a group of sponsors, donors, and volunteers visits the schools in Kenya for 10 days. The goals are multiple:
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Help current projects in person: construction, renovation, training, etc.
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Connect with the children and the staff. Nothing is as powerful as meeting the children and teachers, talking to them, and, when possible, teaching some classes.
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See the reality, on the ground, with no filter. See what has been done, what still needs to be fixed or built. Measure the impact of the mission.
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Witness that the money is being spent effectively and appropriately. See that projects are happening the way they should. Understand what needs to be done next.
Project-based fundraising
Projects like building a classroom, a water well, or a dormitory is how Hope for Kenya has been raising most of its money since 2006. It remains an essential part of what the organization does.
The student sponsorship program
Since 2014, it is possible to sponsor a child directly. The team interviews children in need and posts short videos or stories on the website, describing briefly the situation of a child needing a sponsor. Sponsors can then choose a child to support in the long run, establishing a personal relationship, exchanging mail and photos. Sponsors are strongly encouraged to join a trip, and meet the student(s) they have chosen to support.
Where is the money going?
Your donation goes entirely to the project you have chosen, except for the unavoidable PayPal/bank payment and transfer fees. Hope for Kenya is run by volunteers who all donate their time. All advertising, like the Facebook ads that we run sometimes, are contributed directly by volunteers who have chosen to help. There are no “management and advertising fees.” In other words, the only people receiving money from you are the teachers and staff on the ground, and the contractors and providers of the services required to provide what you have chosen to support: education, food, construction and maintenance, equipment, etc.
Still have questions?
Contact us via email: changinglives@hopeforkenya.org.
