Some of the children on our waiting list:
Faith is 5 years old and her parents died of HIV. She lives with a maternal aunt who has no job. Her aunt also has a 2 year old child and tries to support the family by going house to house asking people to hire her to wash clothes as well as begging for leftover food.
Obviously, there is little enough money for rent and food let alone money for schooling. Faith does not know any of her relatives including her late parents who died when she was very young because her late mother was a commercial sex worker, Faith never knew her father’s family.
Faith has had a very tough beginning in her young life and if she can get a sponsor to pay for her education it would enable her to have a brighter future for her and her family.
Saul is 7 years old and was born with HIV. He lives with his mother and maternal aunt as they cannot afford to rent a house on their own. His father died when Saul was very young. His father’s relatives have never helped the family and even though his mother’s sister helps when she can but she has 5 of her own children to support and it is hard to provide the basic needs for the family. The sisters sell tomatoes to earn a living. The little money they make is used to pay school fees for Saul. The family live in a one room house and the rent is expensive and Saul’s mother feels bad that she doesn’t have money to contribute to the rent.
If Saul was able to get a sponsor to pay for his education fees it would be a major relief to the family but also mean that Saul can continue with his schooling.
Sulaiman is 5 years old. His father mistreated and 
abandoned his mother when she was pregnant as he already had several wives. He wanted her to abort the pregnancy but she refused. She then went and lived with her mother. Her mother felt overburdened and this forced her to chase her daughter away, telling her to look for the father of her unborn baby. His mother went to a friend’s home and started working as a maid and she was also provided with food. However, the friend couldn’t continue to pay her and she went back to her mother and where she gave birth. She was in a relationship and became pregnant but her partner left her and she went back to her mother’s house. She looked for a job to support her two children but it was very difficult. She met another man who raped her and she became pregnant. She has 3 children and no support from the fathers. She does some cooking of chapatti to earn money for the family. Her desire is to provide for her family and the children to have the opportunity to go to school and have a better future.
Derrick ‘I am 17 years old and am in Senior 2. My parents died of HIV and I
am living positively with HIV. My eldest brother supports me by paying my school fees. He sells handkerchiefs on the streets. He had to leave school in Senior 2 when our mother became very sick, he had to find work to support the family. We lived in a grass thatched house since we had no money to rent a home but later our grandmother inherited a one roomed wooden house and this is where we all live.
Our grandmother Rebecca not only takes care of me but 4 other grandchildren as well. She doesn’t have a serious job apart from taking care of the neighbour’s children and she is given some little money by the parents when they pick up their children. Often we go to bed with empty stomachs as there is no money for food. Granny Rebecca says her concerns are not having the money to pay school fees and providing them with regular meals as she can’t stand to see the children go hungry.
I want to study hard and get a good job to support my granny who has been there for us during all the ups and downs in life.’
If Derrick was able to find a sponsor to pay his school fees it would alleviate some of the financial pressure on this family.
These children are just a few of the 80 children who are on our waiting list and who would love to go to school.
The lack of access to education is a major predictor of passing poverty from one generation to the next and receiving an education is one of the keys to achieve financial stability and a better future.