FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
Sponsorship
Q:What does my $30 a month provide?
A: Your monthly contribution provides for your child’s education, meals at school, schoolbooks, pens, and pencils. A portion is saved each month to provide for basic needs for your child such as blankets, mattresses, mosquito nets, shoes, soap, etc. Your child will also receive provision for any medical needs that arise. Above the basic needs and education you money goes towards monthly Bible studies and mentoring programs for your child. Many receive the foundation for their faith as well as counseling and love from our Ugandan staff on various issues they may be facing in life.
Q: How much of my monthly donation goes directly to the child?
A:We work very hard to ensure all of your $30 a month goes directly to Uganda for your child. We raise funds for administrative costs through short term mission volunteers and income generating businesses in Uganda, like View Africa Tour Specialists, a safari company that gives 100% of it’s profits to Empower A Child.
Q:How do I make my monthly payments?
A:You may pay at the beginning of the month, middle of the month or end of the month. You also have the option to pay 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year at a time. Whatever is easiest for you! Monthly payments can be done 3 ways regardless of currency you are paying in.
- 1. Mail a check made out to:
Empower A Child
P.O. Box 1505
Ridgecrest, CA 93556
- 2. Sign up with your bank's website online and pay by automatic bill pay each month.
- 3. Make payments through our website: Donate here
Q:Can I write to my sponsored child?
A:Yes, you can write letters or emails to your sponsored child. We highly encourage it as a way to build a relationship between you and your child. All letters can be mailed to our office in Uganda:
Child’s Name
c/o Empower A Child
P.O. Box 33273
Kampala, Uganda
Letters are very special to the children as they are handwritten and something they can save for years. We realize you have busy schedules and email is sometimes more the convenient choice so you many also email your child:
info@empower-a-child.org
We will print off your email and give it to your child.
Q:How many letters will I receive from my child each year?
A:On average, you will receive between 3 or 4 letters from your child every year. You’ll receive even more if you write back to your child and they will respond to your letter each time they receive one.
Q:Will I receive yearly updates on my child’s progress?
A:Yes, at the beginning of every year you’ll receive a recent photo of your child as well as a progress report from Uganda. These reports will include such things as your child’s progress in school, home and spiritual life.
Q:Can I visit my child or can my child come visit me?
A:We do realize that taking on sponsorship of a child for years is a big commitment and your child will greatly appreciate what you are doing for them through sponsorship. Committing to a trip to Uganda can be a big commitment as well. While it’s not required for you to visit your child we do encourage it, if such a trip is possible for you. It’s a wonderful way to see first hand what your child talks about in their letters and put faces to names. If you are interested in a trip to Uganda contact us. We do however; discourage your child visiting you. Your child likely lives without running water and electricity and a trip to the U.S., UK, Europe or Australia could be very overwhelming for them and difficult to process at a young age. However, once they’re graduated and are traveling on their own we will do everything to connect you together during their trip.
Q: Can I send extra monetary gifts?
A:Yes, you may send extra monetary gifts twice a year. One time for your child’s birthday and one time for Christmas. You may also send a monetary gift for your child’s family. This allows them the ability to buy something they may be of greatly in need. You may also send physical gifts to your child other times during the year. If you contact us ahead of time we may be able to help you know what your child needs the most. If you are sending a package to your child please address it to our administrator and put a note inside marking who is your child. Packages require photo IDs to be picked up from the Ugandan post office and the children do not have government issued IDs. Address your package to:
Empower A Child
c/o Sarah Mwondha Ganafa
P.O. Box 33273
Kampala, Uganda
Q:How long does my sponsorship last?
A:We wish to see children in the program complete their education through university or vocational training. If you start sponsoring a child in Primary 1 and you stay with your child all the way through your sponsorship will be 13 years and 3 years of university. If you’re unable to commit for that long try and select an older child, for example a child beginning secondary school you’re sponsorship will last 6 years for secondary school and 3 for university. We ask you commit a minimum of two years to sponsoring your child.
Q:What happens to my child if I’m unable to continue my sponsorship?
A:If you are for any reason unable to continue sponsoring your child please contact us. We will begin to look for another sponsor for your child and ensure they are able to stay in the program and stay in school.
Q:What happens when my child graduates or leaves the program?
A:When your child graduates secondary school you’ll receive a final letter and progress report from them and be offered the chance to sponsor them through university, with details about that program.
Ultimately, the child’s parent or guardian has full authority over them and if they relocate to an area that we do not operate we are unable to keep them in the program. If this were to happen we would connect you to another child of the same sex and age.
Where your child lives
Kampala
Kampala is the capital city of Uganda with a population of approximately 1.4 million. It’s estimated that around 1 million people live in the slums or slum like conditions around the city. Most of the children from Kampala live in these conditions. Many live with a single mother, an aunt or uncle, or grandparent along with brothers and sisters and cousins all living under one tin shacked roofed room about the size of a small guest bedroom in America or UK. Most of these guardians live on approximately a dollar a day, which is just barely enough to pay rent and buy food for the family, leaving education for the children just a dream. Many children in our program from Kampala have seen that dream become a reality through sponsorship.
Rakai District
This is a district in the southwestern part of Uganda about 120kms from the capital city Kampala. Rakai is remote and underdeveloped because of the family structure, where children below the age of 18 head the majority of the families. This is as a result of killer diseases, such as AIDS, that robed them of their parents. In Uganda, the first case of HIV/AIDS was diagnosed in 1982, however by 1970 there were suspicions of a similar disease in Lukaya and Kaseselo landing site (Rakai district). At this time the disease was not know, to some it was witchcraft, to others a curse while the Ministry of Health attributed it to poor hygeiene. It was not until 1986 that the disease was defined as AIDS. By this time it had infected many people. As parents, aunts, and uncles died children were left on their own. They had to care for themselves and younger siblings, cultivate the land for farming and some struggled to attend school. Empower A Child saw a need. We have embarked on giving a better life to these children. We are doing this through support them with animals to rear, education them for a better future and building for a few, a home to shelter against rain.
Luwero District
Luwero is in the southern part of Uganda about 90kms north of Kampala. Between 1980-1986 Luwero was characterized with ruined buildings, single families and children making up 80% of the population. This period of time Luwero was a war zone for the liberation war by the National Resistance Movement led by, Mr. Museveni, the current president. Men were enrolled in this movement while others died as a result of attacks. Women where also taken to give services to the army. The instability also created prime opportunity for HIV/AIDS and other diseases to make their way through this district, leaving many children orphaned and vulnerable. This history, which involves both the destruction of lives and communication channels, has kept development a wish and a future hope for Luwero and has taken away many opportunities. However, not all opportunities, Empower A Child has come up to bridge the gap by improving this society through empowering the young children with education and assisting their widowed mothers with animals to rear and raise.
Gulu District
Gulu is in the northern part of Uganda about 200kms from the capital Kampala. Gulu has been a battleground for over 23 years, under the threats of a rebel army, the Lord’s Resistance Army, lead by Joseph Kony. To date this has been the longest war in Africa. Schools and other social services were destroyed during the war, children were abducted from their homes at night and sometimes even schools in broad daylight. They were forced to join the LRA as child soldiers and sex slaves. In 1996 the government created “protected villages” and forced all civilians into these villages, more commonly known as internally displaced persons camps (IDP camps). By creating these camps the army could protect the citizens, leaving most of the northern countryside unpopulated and easier to spot the rebel army. At the peak of the war nearly 2 million people lives in these camps suffering from disease, malnutrition, and unsanitary, abject poverty conditions. Many international organizations have claimed the situation in Uganda as the worst humanitarian crisis as the time. Through international efforts Uganda’s army forced the LRA into Sudan and has held tight security on the border since the summer of 2006. Slowly, peace has returned to the region and nearly half those living in the camps have returned home. Rebuilding from this war has just barely begun. Those who’ve returned home are starting over with no home, no infrastructure, just their land and painful memories. Many in the camps fear returning home as Kony refused to sign a peace agreement in 2008 and fled to Congo and is believed to building up his army. Many children are still held captive by the LRA, while those who have escaped face years of psychological and emotional re-building. To go some way to help re-building the people, Empower A Child started outreaches to Gulu in 2007 identifying families in need of rebuilding their home.
Masindi District
“She cuddles herself up, gets up but stumbles and falls to the ground. In a wink of an eye, she is on her knees. Her hands in the air and her eyes focused on the sky. Why me? Why me? But no answer. She cannot erase the memories of the warm comforting hugs and of love she held each single day. So suddenly, the rebels have put a halt to life! She is like a puppy in a show; her lips tremble as tears roll down. There is no one to help”
This was a poem that came from Masindi, a district that borders Gulu to the south. The rebel activities were not as intense there as it was in Gulu. Though attacks were common in the early 1990s, children were left with no help as care takers died as a result of war.
Mukono District
Mukono District is located about 30kms from Kampala. It is one of the biggest districts in Uganda. Despite, its proximity to the city Mukono is very underdeveloped and the people are living in extreme poverty. It is argued that its present situation is a result of many peasants who occupy it and their involvement in rituals, witchcraft and child sacrifice. However, others attribute the extreme poverty to the district’s size, which makes it hard to govern effectively. The majority of peasants, many whom are widows due to AIDS, can barely provide basic needs for their children let alone keep them in school.