SHARE Orphan Sponsorship
The SHARE Orphan Sponsorship (SOS) program is a cornerstone of SHARE’s commitment to provide total care. SOS, through the generosity of individual sponsors and corporate donors, provides schooling, boarding, health care, and social care to children orphaned by AIDS. The children receive quality education, healthy living and have opportunities for productive lives. For only $1.64 a day ($600 a year), you can make a difference in the life of a child through the SHARE Orphan Sponsorship program.
Why sponsorship is needed
The AIDS epidemic has produced over 1 million orphans in Kenya, and the numbers are rising rapidly. It is estimated that nearly 30% of the population in Kenya’s Homa Bay County is infected with HIV. SOS is a SHARE Program established in order to provide hope and a future to Kenyan children who are orphaned because their parents have died of AIDS.
How your sponsorships can change the life of a child
Isdor BEFORE he was sponsored, walking to an overcrowded, understaffed school, with limited resources for text books and school supplies. When relatives cannot pay school fees, children are sent home.
Isdor TODAY in his new uniform at his new boarding school where he is an excellent student. Now he lives in a safe, healthy and nurturing environment and studies in a school with high academic standards.
In an orphan’s words:
“… I must thank you for your kind assistance. You have brought back my hope in life since both my parents died some years ago. I know you as my parent. Because of my going to school I will one day be making many things in future. I am happy with my school, because I get everything there, e.g. food, books, education, and other things I get from you….”
Moses, age 15, writing to his sponsor
How much it costs and what it covers
For just $1.64 per day, a sponsor is able to pay for education, boarding, school fees, books, school supplies, school uniforms, mosquito nets to prevent malaria, basic social services, and an annual physical evaluation.
You will get updates about your child
Sponsors are able to monitor the progress of their orphan(s) through annual school and health reports that are prepared by our SHARE social workers in Kenya. Our social workers are highly trained professionals who personally oversee the well-being of every SOS orphan.
Sponsors are encouraged to exchange letters with their orphan(s)
Interested sponsors can exchange letters and photos with their child. English language is a part of the children’s curriculum and this allows for ease of communication between orphans and sponsors. Some sponsors also send gifts (such as books or clothing) to their child.
Letter Sent To Sponsors
Who raises the sponsored children?
The children are raised by guardians. Where possible, SHARE identifies relatives who may be able to house the children during the school holidays to nurture kinship and social bonds. In cases where there are no family members, the guardian will be a member from the community.
While most orphans are placed in boarding schools, where they live during the school year, during school holidays, the children live with their guardians. Our Food for Guardian Program provides food for the guardian and his or her family, as well as the orphans, who stay with them during those holidays because the abysmal poverty makes it difficult for these guardians (many of whom are aging grandmothers with no income) to feed the children. Accordingly, SHARE delivers food enough for the whole family during the orphan’s stay.
Social care and health care
The SHARE social workers oversee the well being of each orphan and monitor their progress. They visit the orphans in schools, meet with teachers, and visit the guardian’s home to make sure the children are living in a safe and healthy environment. The children get an annual medical examination and receive health care they need.
Our Vocational School program provides two years of vocational schooling after high school, for the children who cannot get university/college admissions. This enables the orphans to have ability to lead sustainable adult lives and contribute to the society.
Sponsor a child nowIf you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.