Go to the website of our partner organization Sahaya International http://sahaya.org/orphan/ for more info on the program, including payment options. If you like to receive some profiles, e-mail Sahaya founder Dr. Koen Van Rompay at koen@sahaya.org. If you are located in Belgium, you can also go to our partner organization Sahaya.eu (http://sahaya.eu/kindsponsoring/). If you are located in India (or have an Indian bank account), you can make payments directly to READ’s bank account.

and a close-up picture at least once a year. You can also write to your child, as they will enjoy hearing from you. If you like to write your child or send a small extra gift for a special occasion (such as birthday, Christmas/New Year, Diwali or Pongal festival), then please send it to the office of READ Contact Number , and they will forward it to your child. Please add the name of the child and the identification number (since we have many children with the same names; if you don’t know the identification number of your child, contact Koen at koen@sahaya.org). Instead of sending a gift, you can also make an extra financial contribution that we can forward to the child so he/she can purchase some item (clothing, toy or whatever is needed).

MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR INTEREST TO GIVE A CHILD A BETTER FUTURE

More general information about the program:
Regular school attendance

Sponsored children are required to have regular school attendance, and must provide to the READ staff copies of the school progress card (like Mark statement) in quarterly exam, half-yearly exam and final year exams.

Monthly sponsorship meeting

Children must regularly attend the monthly sponsorship meeting, which is generally conducted on the first Sunday of every month. Young children need to be accompanied by a relative or guardian, while older children and youth can come alone. College students who study far away are allowed to come less regularly as long as they communicate this properly with the program staff. The monthly meeting is used to distribute the monthly allowance, and is also used for a variety of awareness programs on a variety of topics, such as:

• Child marriage
• Child sex abuse
• Health & Hygiene
• Important of Education and extra curriculum
• Carrier guidelines

a). Standard orphan sponsorship program:

For only $30 or € 26per month….which is only $1 per day, you can make a big difference in the life of an orphan in our programs with the organization READ in Tamil Nadu, India.This amount covers tuition (up to 10th standard), school uniform, school supplies, and food for the child.

Due to additional tuition expenses, a child in 11th standard costs approx. $40 per month, and a child 12th standard is $50 per month. If you are sponsoring a child of that age and your financial situation allows this extra $10 or $20 per month, then you can consider making an extra donation that we will also forward to the child to help cover their education.

If your financial situation doesn’t allow you to sponsor by yourself, then talk to your friends, relatives or colleagues. Perhaps together you can raise $1 per day!

You can expect to receive an update (letter) every 6 months.

Sponsorship for higher education:

Sponsored children in READ/Sahaya’s program are eligible to go for higher education if they have to passed in the 10th standard or 12th standard (Higher Secondary Course) public exams with high marks. If the students failed in this examination, then we will encourage them to rewrite the exam in the next examination schedule announced by the government examination board.It is the responsibility of the youth and READ staff to get approximate estimates from the college per year and for the total course of study.

For some of the youth, the sponsor is willing to provide the funds for higher education (or commits to raise the funds). For other students that are selected based on marks and promise, we use general donations raised by Sahaya to cover their higher education. Higher education fees are generally paid by READ directly to the college via bank transfer, to avoid risk of loss when cash is given to the student or guardian.

Youth are encouraged to also explore loans from banks (these are usually interest-free loans, also based on criteria). READ staff can guide them a bit with the application process.

Some statistics:

2010 to 2019 higher studies completed students list

2019-2020 higher course students list

HIV/AIDS infected and affected children in the sponsorship program

Successful story of Sathiya:
I am Sathiya working as a Math faculty in one of the coaching institutes in India. I am taking care of my family and life is going nicely. But before 8 years ago I suffered a lot to run my life with poor income of my grandmother. I don’t have parents, and my grandmother only raised me and younger brother. So I was about to drop out my studies when I was in 10th standard and planned to go for work in local shops to help my grandmother to run the family. At that time READ/ SAHAYA supported to continue my studies Mr. Prashanth sponsored me till I completed my Master Degree in Computer Science. It took seven years for me complete my high school and other of UG and PG degree. My sponsor helped me with very much love. Without Mr. Koen and Mr. Selvam it would not have been not possible. Today I am earning and taking care of my family and given also support to my grandmother. Now I have to capability to take care of my life on my own. It’s all because READ/Sahaya. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. It lighted up my life. It may me to have the hope that this world is filled with very beautiful hearts with very much love. I am really happy to be a member of this big lovable family. Thank you READ/ Sahaya.