The sponsorship programme was founded by 19-year-old Laura Paris in 2016 with the help of friends and family in collaboration with The Daughters of the Sacred Heart, an international Missionary Congregation founded in Malta in 1903. The congregation in Kenya currently form the operational team whilst management is conducted at the Sponsor My Future Headquarters in Malta where the organisation is registered as an International NGO (VO registration number 1105). Initially, the sponsorship programme only supported a handful of children but now caters to around 100, as well as members of the wider community.
Where is the project based?
The project is based in Ruiru, Kenya which is approximately 25km away from the capital city of Nairobi. It is a densely populated and semi-industrial area, with people coming from other parts of the country in search of job opportunities. Most people live in single rented rooms with their families, often in substandard conditions due to poor maintenance, lack of electricity, water, and drainage systems. This leads to a highly unhygienic and polluted environment leaving the population vulnerable to several diseases and violence which can lead to deaths, and parentless children.
What exactly are donations and sponsorship fees used for?
The Kenyan government provides some assistance towards child education; however, this is not enough for most families. To attend school, families must provide their children with uniform, bags, books, shoes, stationary as well as tuition and exam fees. Unfortunately, for most living in Ruiru this is not possible as many parents/guardians are casual labourers and often find themselves without a job and sometimes even without food. This results in children dropping out of school and taking to the streets in search of money, food, and something to do.
How are guardianship funds spent?
- School Tuition and Public Exam Fees - The programme ensures that children are not only able to attend school but complete official exams all the way through primary and secondary school and where necessary vocational training and university.
- Overcoming Barriers to Learning - We do whatever we can to ensure that our children can attend and fully benefit from being at school by providing uniform, shoes, books, school bags, stationary, hygiene essentials and decent nutrition through a daily meal.
- Supporting Caregivers - We ensure that all children enrolled on the sponsorship programme live with an approved guardian. This can be the child’s birthparent/s, grandparents, an aunt, older siblings or even a kind neighbour. Caregivers from this community often struggle to make a living and we support them with practical things like food and medical supplies where necessary as well as job seeking assistance and food-aid packages once a month.
How long does sponsorship last?
Sponsorship may last until the child completes his/her education or vocational training. Our objective is that the children will be better equipped to find employment upon reaching adulthood and will be able to care for themselves and eventually their families independently.
Additional activities
Any surpluses of funds generated by the project are used to support a wider group of individuals within the community. This includes distribution of food packages and medicine to single mothers and the elderly as well as a feeding programme which caters to all our primary school children and some 30 street children every day besides Sunday.
Street children refers to children and youths for whom "the street" has become their home and source of livelihood and are often found sleeping in small groups in culverts and on street corners. There are various reasons for this; some children are pushed onto the street following the death of their parents – sometimes due to HIV/AIDs – or after running away from violence at home and others live on the street simply because their families are too poor to look after them. Many of these children leave their rural areas, where traditional community ties have loosened, for towns such as Ruiru where they have more chance of surviving though begging, doing odd jobs, scavenging rubbish sites, or prostitution. These children generally form groups for safety and end up substance abusers from a very young age.
This project aims to provide these vulnerable children with a daily meal in a safe place where they can relax and play together away from the dangers and stresses of street life. As well as feeding them we also attempt to reunite them with their families, admitted into rehabilitation centres or orphanages that are specialised in caring for this vulnerable group and get them admitted into schools.
