Day 2: Sponsor a Child

Day 2 Sponsor a Child

I’m putting this as the first request because I think it is fairly simple and not out of reach of what most people can do. It will also potentially have a great impact on the lives of the students and on the school. Before I go into more details, I want to clarify that this will be an unofficial sponsorship. It won’t be tax deductible, and will just be me taking your donation, finding a child, and matching you. I will try my hardest to send pics and updates of your child, but you might have to send e-mails/facebook me to remind me to do so.

The last I heard sponsoring a child was either $35 or $38 per month for the year. The good news is that this will be much less and the impact will be about the same. My school has students sponsored by several child sponsorship programs, and I think they are great. The students often show me letters and pictures they’ve received from their “parents” and are super excited to receive news from their sponsors. The two main ones have their students meet every Saturday for tutoring, a snack, and a bible lesson. They also receive part or all of their school fees, and the one provides an umbrella in the rainy season and a new uniform once a year, as well as other things.

That being said, here is my dream for my unofficial sponsorship program. Those programs often have rules that limit one child per household or a partial sponsorship for each additional child. So, I’ve often seen siblings that go to the government school because only one child can get the sponsorship to come to this school. I would like to be able to provide the tuition, and one uniform (as well as other things if the money is available) to siblings and other children who currently aren’t able to attend this school. Tuition currently is 2200 Baht or about $75(depending on the exchange rate). So, my dream is to have people sponsor a child for $100 per year (I could go on and on about where you can find $100/year, maybe one less night of vacation(hotels are expensive), don’t know what to ask for for Christmas? Ask to sponsor a child in your name. Seriously, if you break it down over one year, it is just over $8 per month. Really, there are a lot of ways to find $8 per month, be creative J ). This wouldn’t provide much more than tuition, a uniform, and a few other expenses, but for these children, it would be enough that their family could afford to let them come to the Christian School instead of the government school. The only real cost difference between the two is the cost of tuition. Not only would they be receiving a better education than at the government schools, they would more importantly be receiving a Christian Education.

My main goal in this is to bring students into the school who currently don’t have the opportunity to attend. This would also help to increase the number of students at the school, which would increase the budget the school receives from the government.

Could you sponsor a student for one year? Yes!

Can you sponsor them until they finish at our school? Definitely!

Can you write them a letter/e-mail/send pics? That’s actually encouraged!

Could you send extra money for a birthday or to help the family? Of course!

Could you ask for someone to sponsor a child in your name in place of a Christmas present? I don’t see why not J

Is this an experiment? Yes!

Do I know how it will turn out? No!

Will it impact the lives of children? Yup!

Have I been praying about this? You know it!

Should you be praying about it? I think so!

Are you allowed to tell friends and family? Please do!

What should you do next? Pray, then send me a message(e-mail or facebook) and we can make arrangements if you feel called to help with this project. Sponsorships would start at the beginning of the next school year (May 2016). Yes, I know it’s a long time, but if we want to get students who otherwise wouldn’t receive the opportunity to study here we have to start at the beginning of the year. Plus, I’ll need time to find children who aren’t currently attending the school, and make arrangements for them to attend.