When I Sponsor a Kid from Africa, What Happens?

When a person chooses to sponsor a kid from Africa, it helps the child, their family and their community break the cycle of poverty. A sponsorship provides vital assistance according to the needs of the community like educational opportunities, healthcare, food, hygiene training, clean water and sanitation facilities.[1] When GFA World provides clean water or a sanitary toilet, the whole community feels blessed and sees God’s love at work. And when kids can go to school, they are given a chance at a better future. The World Bank estimates that there is a 9 percent increase in hourly earnings for every extra year of schooling.[2]

One example of this was 8-year-old Neale. Neale lived with his parents in a rural mountain village. His father and mother worked in the tea fields, like so many others in the area. Their house was paid for by the tea estate, but the family struggled to meet other needs. Neale’s father often stumbled home drunk, having wasted his small daily earnings on alcohol, which left Neale’s mother to pick up the slack. She could not cover everything alone, though, and hunger frequently threatened the family as she consistently struggled to put food on the table. Neale wanted to help his mother, and he knew the best way was to finish school so he could find a good job. However, the only way to get to the school was by bus, and Neale often could not afford the fare. He missed a lot of school, and even when he did make it, Neale had to play catch-up, making it hard to learn. If his education continued to suffer, there would be no well-paying job in the future. All he would know would be a life of poverty and hardship like his parents.

Then, one of Neale’s teachers visited his family. She had noticed Neale’s falling grades and had the solution. There was a program designed to help kids in his shoes get the help they required to succeed. Neale was quickly enrolled in GFA’s Child Sponsorship Program, and it was just the opportunity he needed. Every day, he sat with dozens of children, paying rapt attention to the tutor. He also received nutritious meals, school supplies and tips on proper hygiene, which relieved his mother of additional financial burden. The staff knew about Neale’s goal and offered guidance, encouraging in him the discipline to advance his education and thrive. His grades rose, and so did his hope. The well-paying job didn’t seem so far off anymore.[3]


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