Orphanages are places where hurting children are being fed, sheltered, clothed, educated and cared for. Most of them are orphaned by victims of HIV/AIDS, natural disasters and war, abused and abandoned children. The orphanages are doing their best to create conducive living and learning conditions for the children. However, they are constrained by the shortage of material resources to create ideal environments. Beds, beddings, chairs, tables, lamps are often in short supply. Rooms are overcrowded. Toilets and washrooms are either inadequate or substandard. Washrooms/showers, Sport grounds and libraries are lacking. Shoes, uniforms, clothing, books, medicines, computers, TV and video sets and other learning aides are in short supply. Water and electricity supplies are also erratic. All these affect negatively the overall learning ability and wellbeing of the children living in the orphanages in general and those in rural areas in particular.
You can help the children by sponsoring orphanages (the children’s homes) in at least three ways:
(i) You can give a donation of any amount once or repeated times for meeting any of the above needs by indicating what you would like your donation to be used for.
(ii) You can also donate or lend to an orphanage to do sustainable economic activities undertaken by the orphanages in order to enable them generate income locally. These activities include: vegetable gardening, crop production, poultry, carpentry, tailoring, bakery, trading (grocery). This type income generation will enable the orphanages to create employment in the communities they operate and also to finance their operational expenses with internally earned income on a sustainable basis. The children will also be engaged in practical ways by working on these projects as and when appropriate.
You also help finance orphanage networks and conferences whereby the various orphanages operating in a village, town, region and country could come together once or twice a year to interact, dialogue and learn from one another and work together in the best interest of the children being cared for.