#44 – Nov 16th 2007

School sponsorship…

Many of you, perhaps in light of the coming holiday season, have been requesting information regarding sponsorship for the African Hearts boys. For those of you interested in learning more, please read on or download and peruse the attached sponsorship form. For the rest, this isn’t technically an official journal entry, please await the next issue.

The basic nuts & bolts of sponsorship is as follows: if you are pondering the idea of becoming a child’s school sponsor, you will be committing yourself to a monthly payment of $35, and, hopefully, regular e-mail contact with the new student. We have set up a bank account with TD Canada that accepts automatic monthly direct deposits from any Canadian banks; after giving your bank the African Hearts account information you just sit bank assured the money is being safely delivered directly to the organization here in Uganda. 100% of the money goes directly towards the child’s schooling, I can assure you of that. You will receive receipts as well.

You may recall the journal entry about Kato Richard, the African Hearts boy who walks over two hours to and from the Organization’s home every day. He was desperate to return to school but there were no sponsors available. A good friend of my mother’s read Richard’s story and decided to help. She has set up a simple direct deposit system through her bank and Richard is now studying hard and preparing to write mid-term exams. He cried when I told him we’d found him a sponsor. Just yesterday he was able to attend his first-ever field trip thanks to his new sponsor’s additional $7 donation. It has been amazing for me to witness this; seeing a family friend’s money go directly towards helping a Ugandan friend. Sponsoring a child through well-known organizations such as World Vision is great, but in this particular situation I am able to be the link in the middle, an eyewitness to the direct effects of the donations, seeing the reactions on my friend’s faces when they find out they’ve been chosen for sponsorship, it’s better than Christmas morning.

I can send out the official sponsorship form to anyone interested; read it through and let me know if you are able to help. I will be more than happy helping you choose which boy to sponsor. Even if you feel like making a one-time donation for Christmas, everything is welcome and greatly appreciated.

~Nicole