Child Sponsorship Program
Children are particularly affected by the AIDS crisis. Today, 1.5 million orphans live in South Africa, in poverty and without care. Throughprivate sponsorhips these children can go to school and receive basic food supplies.
Together with our partner Heartbeat, GoAhead! offers a Child Sponsorship Program. Aim of this program is to empower children from rural areas and the townships of big cities like Johannesburg or Durban to go to school.
The Child Sponsorship program is targeted at people in the western world who wish to get involved long term. In line with our sustainability concept, we co-operate with established, well recognized local partners only - like Heartbeat who are running the Child Sponsorship program.
GoAhead! was given the opportunity to observe Heartbeat's engagement for the rights of orphans and abused children. We were extremely impressed by their efficiency and whole-heartedly recommend their Child Sponsorship Program! The program is designed to fit the needs of children in their development phase.
Your donations provide the child with precisely what it needs to successfully attend school:
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By supporting a child you also support the entire community. Sponsored children who successfully conclude a school career stand much better chances to find a job in an economy dominated by unemployment. Furthermore, new employment is created for care takers, teachers and so on. This way, the vicious cycle of unemployment, drugs and violence can be replaced by a new dynamic. Such a mechanism is the only way to stop the migration into the cities and their slums - a core aspect of sustainable development.
Details of the Heartbeat Gold Sponsorship
Your support enables a child to go to school and gives it a perspective for life. But those children, many of them psychologically damaged by violence and abuse, need more than a school uniform: they need counselling and care from loving people.
The Heartbeat Gold Sponsorship includes the wages of social workers who visit the orphans 3 times a week in their home communities. This care is what distinguishes the program from most others!
The Heartbeat Gold Sponsorship covers the following:
- school fees
- school uniform
- stationery and other materials
- individual counselling by social workers
- regular home visits by social counsellors
- psychological counselling by qualified personnel
- academic tutoring
- monthly food packages
For just 25€ a month you can become a sponsor! You will receive the child's personal profile, two updates regarding the child's progress a year as well as yearly financial report.
How we use your money
The Heartbeat education fund
In order to support sponsored children past the actual school career, Heartbeat has established an education fund. The amount of the yearly funding depends on the number of successful school leavers who wish to further their education. According to academic achievement, available funds and co-operations with the academic or private sectors, scholarships are assigned. Part of your monthly donation is assigned into the education fund. This way you secure the children's tertiary education.
Contacting your child
We encourage all sponsors to get in touch with "their" child via email. Direct contact with the child is possible if agreed with GoAhead! and Heartbeat.
Please keep in mind that the goal of the program is to support your child such that it can grow up in a normal family environment. If the situation of your child improves rapidly enough for it not to need any more support, we consider that good news! In this case we reserve the right to introduce you to a new child who needs your help more urgently. Of course the decision whether to continue the sponsorship remains with you.
If you want to support a child with a Heartbeat Gold Sponsorship from GoAhead!, please fill out our Online Form or get in touch with us.