India has the highest number of malnourished and undernourished children (57 million) of any country in the world. 40% of the country is illiterate with little chance of education. One area of concern for Kiwis has been the children – especially breaking the cycle of poverty, by focusing on health and education to enable later earning opportunities. Orphans are one group who especially suffer, as they don’t have a family to care for them.

Children Have Hope began in 2003, with a trial group of 11 slum children. Rather than placing these children into an institution, the Kiwis team placed them with family members, and enrolled them in schools, paid for their uniforms and book supplies, and ensured the children’s medical and dietary needs were taken care of.

This pilot was so successful, and had the effect of up-lifting the whole community as they found hope through the children. The number of slum and village children now in the programme is bursting at 300, with 30 additional children who’ve been identified as needy recipients.

Children Have Hope is a two-pronged programme for disadvantaged children in North-East India with a goal to change the course of their lives through education. The first part is community-based within the villages, where orphan children are placed in families where they are cared for and educated. This scheme means we can lower provision costs to  approximately 25% of that provided through traditional orphanages. The second aspect focuses on slum children and their education. These children are labourers (aged 5-10 years old) with no hope of education. They work to help support their families breaking rocks at nearby rivers. The purpose of this part of the Children Have Hope programme is to assist these children at grass-roots level to get them out of the poverty trap by educating them at no cost to their families.

 

We do not have any built-in overhead costs so 100% of the funds raised go directly to the children in the scheme. We have children who are in desperate need of our help. We are asking for sponsors at NZ$300 per year ($25 a month) per child.This is an average per child, as the cost to support an orphan is $375, made up of education $200 and $175 living costs. To support a slum child, the cost is $ 200 per year for education. Slum children are already in families, hence the lower cost to support. We work on an average, because we are asking to support the overall concept and have an involvement in every child’s betterment, through education and practical daily support. Administration costs can be lessened because sponsorship is corporate and not individual.

 

Children Have Hope is about breaking the cycle of poverty through education and meeting needs in a practical and efficient way. For just NZ$25 a month, these children are given private schooling, books, uniform, food, clothing and medical care – and hope. Who will give these children a future and hope away from the rock pile and the streets? Now that we know about them, we can make a difference. It’s not about saving the world; it’s about changing the life of a child and making a difference for their present and ultimately their future.