In 2018 we’ve started the partnership program for the children of Cradle of Love Baby Home. It is made for the children who have the opportunity to return to their families after completing the Cradle of Love Baby Home. Some of the children can go back to their fathers, to relatives or to those who found them when they were abandoned.

Most of the children come to Cradle when they are just a few days or month old. They are nursed up at Cradle and when they are old enough and no longer dependent on baby food, they go back to their families.

As already mentioned, the program started in October 2018 when Katherina was in Arusha and was able to take this opportunity to visit some of the children who are already living with their families. Coming back home, after living for 2 – 3 years at Cradle can be very difficult for the kids. The living conditions are very different to the one at Cradle. Many of the families have no income and used to live from their own small farm. In some cases the families manage to earn some money with it. However, there is often not enough money to send the children to school. These families are dependent on support.

Giving Smiles e.V. would like to support these families. Education is one of the greatest asset we have, we would like to enable these children to attend school in order to later lead the life they are entitled to. We believe that, through education one day children can find their way out of poverty and be the change for themselves and their families.The sponsorship program is made to cover the children’s school fees. School fees depend on several factors: the location of the school and the class in which the child is placed.

From our experience we can say that the fees up to the end of primary school are usually between € 250 and € 600 per year.The children usually start with kindergarten, then the preunit (preschool), then the primary school (elementary school), the secondary school (secondary school) and the high school (grammar school) and if everything goes well, even the University follows at the end.The fees are paid to the schools once a year in December. If the children are newly registered at a school, a registration fee has to be paid. In addition to the school fees, there are usually also costs for the uniforms. Every school has its own uniform and it is compulsory for every child to wear it. At some schools, the uniforms are already included in the fees. However, this also differs from school to school.

If a child finds a sponsor through Giving Smiles, we make sure that the kid can start school with the new year or as soon as possible. We accompany the families with the registration at the school and help with the initial equipment and also with ordering the uniforms.A close contact with the godparents is very important to us. We usually visit the children twice a year and send the latest updates to the sponsors after the visits are done. In this way, the godparents will be kept up to date on the development of their godchild.

Are you interested in a sponsorship or do you have many other questions? Then feel free to contact us by email through info@givingsmiles.org or take a look at our FAQs about the sponsorship program in advance.