Sponsorship Programme
FAMILY TO FAMILY SPONSORSHIP! by Rev. Meleney Kriel
We are in the process of launching an exciting and rewarding
sponsorship programme on par with the trends and developments
world-wide, in the area of Orphans and Vulnerable Children care.
This trend is to provide support to family units as opposed to
isolating and labelling children individually.
BACKGROUND
In our communities, African children who are orphaned, are taken up into family units, or they are still in child-headed households, where the oldest sibling take over the role of care-giver. Usually a grandparent, relative and sometimes even a neighbour immediately take in the orphans of AIDS victims and other-wise deceased parents. These families provide care and nurture that cannot be found or duplicated in traditional orphanages. In most cases, these families are underprivileged and in desperate need of assistance.
We have been providing family care even before it became a trend, due to the fact that the orphans who are in our care, are mostly in rudimentary family units that need our help as much as the orphan does. When we bring food parcels or other aid, we consider that the whole family, and not only the orphan, is in need and know that the food we bring, feed the extended family and obviously not only that one child!
INTRODUCING VIRTUAL FAMILIES AND VIRTUAL FAMILY-TO-FAMILY ADOPTION
We are drawing up a plan to connect 'virtual' families to needy families for care, prayer and support. Such a virtual family can consist of a group of friends, a Bible study group, a Home-Cell, school class, bridge club, sports team... the list goes on. On the other hand we assess the needy family in terms of the composition of the family (siblings, relatives, accommodation & school needs, medical situation etc.) We place that family in a category ranging from Child-headed, to Desperate, Vulnerable, Under Privileged and those who are in tact, but in need of support and education. We make an financial assessment and calculate what it will cost to provide that family monthly with food, education, support and the other needs that can be met financially.
The Virtual Family adopts the needy family and begins to pray and support their new adopted family financially through our care-delivery network.
HOW IT WORKS
The Virtual Family is introduced to one such needy family, they know their names and if the family agrees, they may even get a photo and the details regarding the needs of the family. The amount needed to care for the family on a monthly basis, is made known to the Virtual Family and what care & goods will be delivered to the family with those funds. That amount is divided into single amounts of R 150 (e.g. if it costs R 900 for us to provide care, food and visits, the Virtual Family needs to find 6 families or individuals within their group, that will each sign a debit order of R 150* per month).
The Virtual Family is encouraged to divide the financial responsibility among themselves, but also to carry their adopted family in prayer. It will be possible to arrange special volunteer days where the Virtual Family can visit their adopted family and help plant a vegetable garden, fix the house or take the family on outings and be involved in important events, if they so wish. If it is not practical due to the location of the Virtual Family, they can also inquire if there are special needs and sponsor these. We give a monthly feedback on the food parcels delivered, the school fees paid, the school uniforms/stationery purchased, the care given.
The Virtual Family is also asked to spread the news about other
needy families, to their friends and their social circle and thus the
support is increased to include more families that desperately need
it.Someone in the Virtual Family becomes a 'team leader' and contact
person with us, mobilising the support from his/her group and
monitoring their involvement.
Unless the number of children are higher or there are serious medical
needs to be met, the average amount to sponsor a family is R 900
(aprox. € 80/USD 100).
Anyone interested in pulling together some of their
friends/colleagues/team mates, to adopt a needy family, can let me know
per email at meleney@berakah.org.za and I will give the details of the
family and provide bank details and set up the reporting system.
The Virtual Family will receive regular reports about their
'adoption'.
Kind regards
Meleney Kriel
OPTION TO STOCK A SILO
Some sponsors and donors prefer a simpler form of support and to those we give the opportunity to simply assign their monthly donation to one of 3 "'Silo's". These are three main expense categories that we incur constantly: Feeding Scheme, Education and General.
Feeding Scheme - We provide warm, cooked meals for hundreds of children daily in our education programmes. Pre-schoolers get breakfast and lunch daily and school-going children receive a warm meal when they arrive at our centres after school for tuition and help with homework.
Education - Our education programmes are resource intensive in terms of the teachers, administrators, care-givers and volunteers we employ as well as the materials used, outings and special workshops, seminars and training events we conduct.
General - Our administration, transport, maintenance and organising costs are kept to a minimum, but form the back-bone of our operations. The newsletter, website, event planning, governance processes and controls** and reporting (finance, legal status, board meetings etc.) all fall under this category.
Sponsors wishing to make regular donations to one of these three 'silos' or who want to keep their donation unassigned, to be used where needed most, are likewise invited to complete a Debit Order Instruction form, that will be processed independently.
* Donations are tax deductible in South Africa
** Our income and expenses are independently captured and balanced monthly and independently audited annually. The bookkeeping is open to the public and interested parties are welcome to attend the Annual General Meeting, where a detailed financial report is given of the previous year's finances and a printed copy of the audit made available for inspection.