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Click here to find out how to sign up as a child sponsor.
What is a Sponsor?
A sponsor is an individual who gives life and hope to a needy child. For
just $24USD/month, a sponsor can give the opportunity for a meaningful
education, proper health care and vocational training to a specific child
in Vietnam or Mongolia. CNCF provides the biography along with the
original photograph of the sponsored child to the sponsor. Through your
help, you can play a vital role in assuring quality, loving care for a
child in need.
What does Sponsorship pay for? How does it work?
Each child in the Sponsorship program receives the basic necessities of
appropriate education, primary health care and vocational training -
something we consider to be the basic rights to life, but which are only a
dream for many in Vietnam and Mongolia.These activities are done within
the context of the child being part of a family and a community. As such,
the needs of each individual child and family are different and there is
not a set "package of benefits" for all. A Sunshine school child who works
on the streets part of the day needs a special alternative education
program to allow for the needed work as well as education and health care.
Older children need meaningful vocational training, health care, AIDS and
family life education and job placement assistance. All of this is done
however, recognizing the child is part of a family and of a community. We
must at times work with the family and community to achieve the best
results for the child.
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VIETNAM CHILD PROFILE
Tuyet Nhi is nearly ten months old. She is the only
child of a poor family and is suffering from HIV+ & Tuberculosis.
Nhi's mother (Lan) was an orphan and spent 3 years in an orphanage before being
adopted by a Vietnamese family. Lan later ran away from her adopted family in search
of her real parents and was subsequently found on the streets & placed back into another
orphanage where she remained for 5 years. Upon reaching the legal age of independence,
Lan left the orphanage and not long after, met a man whom she later married.
It was not long after Lan became pregnant with baby Nhi, that her husband was convicted
and imprisoned for drug dealing. He was later diagnosed to be suffering from Tuberculosis
and HIV+. Tragically, in October 1998 Nhi's father died from Tuberculosis.
Fearing for her daughter's health, Lan brought baby Nhi to The Christina Noble Children's
Foundation Medical Centre to undergo a full medical examination. Nhi was admitted to the
ICU where the doctors discovered that she too had contracted HIV+ and tuberculosis. Lan
had contracted the disease from her husband and had subsequently passed it onto her child
during the pregnancy.
The Christina Noble Children's Foundation immediately placed baby Nhi into the sponsorship
program as well as providing Lan with enough funds to establish her own business and become
self supporting. All treatment and medical costs are being paid by the Foundation and Baby
Nhi and Lan are presently receiving treatment at the Pham Ngoc Thach Tuberculosis Centre.
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How Long Does the Sponsorship Last?
For as long as the child remains in the Foundation program of care or until the sponsor wishes to withdraw. Children may progress from the Sunshine school or regular primary school to high school or vocational training over a period of years. When an older child completes training and is able to become self-supporting or a child leaves the program for some other reason, the sponsor is offered another child to assist. Our sponsorship program is progressing very well with more than 500 children in Vietnam, and more than 450 children in Mongolia, receiving social, medical and educational assistance thus far. In Vietnam, these children are usually at high risk of having to leave school to help subsidize their family income, and in Mongolia the majority of sponsored children would have no opportunity for schooling at all without outside assistance. This sponsorship often means that the child will receive the opportunity to be educated when normally they would not get that chance. We are receiving these sponsorships from all over the world with some people being very creative this year in giving a sponsorship to family members and friends as an ongoing Christmas Present. For $24 USD per month, a sponsor can give a needy child the opportunity to grow, develop and be educated like other children.
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MONGOLIA CHILD PROFILE
CNCF discovered Erdenchirmig, a single mother and her 4
children, living in appallingly bad conditions in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Their "home" was a wooden structure 2m x 2m without windows and with holes
between the planks of wood. Inside there were 2 shelves which were used as
beds and took up half the floor space, and a stove. When our staff first
visited them the third child was perched on the upper shelf
concentrating on his homework and the two elder daughters were on the
bottom shelf cooking buutz (traditional Mongolian mutton dumplings) for
sale at the black market. This was the sole source of the family income
and raised enough daily for them to purchase two loaves of bread. Despite
the hard conditions, the home and all of the children were very clean.
The oldest daughter had graduated from school but had been unable to find
a job; the second daughter was at college but was subsequently expelled
for her inability to pay fees; the third child was an excellent student
and taking a special english language class; and the youngest (Boldoo) was
just not quite old enough to start school.
The Foundation invited Erdenchirmig to live at the ger village, where she
could live in better conditions with her children and act as a ger mother
to the street children. Her oldest daughter also agreed to act as a ger
mother and took to caring for the children like a duck to water. After
some months, the Foundation assisted Erdenchermig to find a job as a clerk
at the prison, where she could earn more money, and found her a cheap
hasha (house) large enough for the whole family. Her three youngest
children moved into the hasha with her immediately and the eldest daughter
stayed on at the ger village for another three months to earn a little
extra money and then moved back with her family to assist her mother.
Boldoo, who by this stage had started school, was put on sponsorship, and
like the rest of his siblings is proving to be very bright.
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How Do I Find Out More?
Your sponsorship can make a huge difference in the life of a child and
his/her family. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please
sign up! If you would like more
information, please contact your nearest CNCF office.
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DDSN Interactive.