Child Sponsorship

For less than $1 a day ($27 a month), you can support the education of a child in Cambodia or Nepal and ensure their future.

Many children in poor economic circumstances are unable to obtain a quality education without support, and for girls it is so often the case that they are the last members of the family to even have a chance to go to school.

Your child sponsorship includes:

  • school fees
  • community support services provided by our in-country partners
  • a personal savings account accumulated and held in trust available for further education after completion of secondary school
  • depending upon family circumstances, siblings may also be sponsored.

Canhelp and our partners follow the procedures and processes encouraged by AusAID. The the communities themselves nominate the children to be sponsored from the poorest families.

We have further developed the traditional sponsorship model through our local indigenous social workers visiting the homes and schools of the children to assess and check the information provided on each child by his or her community to ensure that the following criteria are:

  • the child comes from poor economic circumstances
  • the child has a caring mother who values education and who will encourage the child while he or she is at school
  • the child is willing to attend school regularly and is determined to try his or her best, both at home and at school, to achieve good results.

Sponsor a child in Nepal

Our Nepali partner, EWC, headed by Prabha Pradhan, the ‘Mother Teresa of Nepal’, nominates candidates for sponsorship from the poorest in the community, following input from community leaders and local school Principals.  So that each sponsored child will potentially benefit from an education, Prabha’s staff of social workers check school reports and apply a simple culture-fair test.

Each sponsor is linked to a specific child, for the purposes of letter-writing, photo exchange, receipt of school reports and the child’s savings bank balance statements.

Your sponsorship money will provide:

  1. SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE (specific to your child -School Fees for your child) 700 NPR
  2. HECS (specific to your child -your child’s savings account for future education) 400 NPR
  3. SCHOOL NECESSITIES (specific to your child -payable on application to mothers of sponsored children for books, school uniforms etc., amount of payment assessed on need) up to 300 NPR.
  4. ANNUAL MEDICAL CHECKUP (specific to your child -amount varies according to negations with medical professionals)
  5. COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE (to cover our support for the many services Prabha’s organisation provides which advantage your specific child and his or her mother (and the community in which he or she lives). The amount to be flexible and determined according to rate of conversion AUD to NPR on invoice date:
    • social worker counselling for mother (specific to your child)
    • training classes available (IT)  (specific to your child)
    • routine communications – letter exchange, etc. (specific to your child)•
    • communications with your specific child’s school re attendance and progress (specific to your child)
    • training classes for mothers (budgeting, nutrition, cooking, dress-making, craft etc)
    • for mothers – pap smear, breast X-ray. etc.) (specific to your child’s mother)
    • computer facilities available at Nayabazar (classroom of 25 computers) membership for your specific child
    • if residence is distant – loan of laptop for specified period (pool of 10 available)• visit to family home (specific to your child — once per year minimum, for checking and follow-up)
  6. Also, communications and counselling with mother as required according to changing social situations (marriage breakdown, etc) or financial  circumstances (loss of job etc.)

You will recieve an annual letter from your child, with photos and a school report. You have the chance to also send letters and photo’s to your sponsor child. Sponsorship ceases when the child completes the Nepali-wide Class 10 S.L.C. examinations.

Sponsor a child in Cambodia

Our Cambodian partner, Som Sim, selects candidates for sponsorship from the poorest in the community, following input from community leaders and local school Principals.  So that each sponsored child will potentially benefit from an education, Som Sim checks school reports and applies a simple culture-fair test.

Each sponsor is linked to a specific child, for the purposes of letter-writing, photo exchange, receipt of school reports and the child’s savings bank balance statements.

The monthly sponsorship money is divided into three components:

  1. English Language Classes – all children sponsored by Canhelp attend Cambodian government schools either in the mornings 7-11, or in the afternoons 1-5 (on rotation).  In the vast majority of these schools there is either no English tuition or it is sub-standard. A sum of US$7 per month is given to the family for the payment of fees at a private after-school English Language College.
  2. HECS Child Savings – US$10 per month is deposited into a special savings account for your child, which accumulates until the last day of school in Year 10 (the SLC year in Nepal), at which time the money is provided to the child for further education.
  3. Family Assistance – the balance of the monthly sponsorship money, after conversion into the locally-used US$ currency at the current exchange rate, is applied by Som Sim for the benefit of your sponsored child and her or his family. It takes the form of a cash grant to the mother for provision of school necessities such as books and uniforms or other prioirities for the family as assessed by Som Sim on a case-by-case basis.  Also, as the child progresses through Classes 7, 8 and 9, students who aspire to do well academically in the Class 9 final exams, need to attend “private classes”.  Their performance in this exam predicates the entrance to high school and further study into Classes 10-12.

Sponsorship ceases when the child reaches graduation from Class 9.  The potential for sponsorship for later years, for academically bright students is possible.

Annually, the child’s letter(s), photo(s) and school report(s) for the sponsor, and sponsor letters and photos for the child, will be forwarded via Som Sim acting as the essential intermediary for vetting correspondence between sponsor and child and child and sponsor – necessary to conform to our Child Protection Policy.