Your support fills the gaps so students can flourish

“Families are really excited about sponsorship. They see there is somebody out there who wants to help their kids get a good education,” said Learning for Life Coordinator, Trish.

“For a lot of these children, life is already hard. Without sponsorship, I think it would be a whole lot harder. Their parents would have to make choices about whether they put food on the table, or their children attend excursions. And we all know what decision they would have to make.

“The reality is that these children miss out on things. They may go to school without the proper uniform, which means they look different to other kids. This impacts their whole experience at school. In time, they become disengaged and, in all likelihood, won't finish school.

“You can see that parents are stressing about the fact that they need to buy new school jackets for winter. Or that there's an excursion coming up, but they don't know where they're going to find the money. So, for them, it's a huge relief to know that they have the support of the sponsors.

“There's a family that I work with. Three of the children come along to our Learning Club and they've recently completed student2student. Their mum told me that Learning Club is their favourite time of the week. That's amazing to hear!

“More than that, the mum said that she and her husband didn't finish high school. As their kids are getting older, it's really hard for them to help their kids with their homework.

“But with the support of the Learning Club tutors, the children are flourishing at school. They are building confidence and know that when they go to school, they can succeed. And that is an example of how the support helps to break the cycle of disadvantage.

“For children, there’s something really special about having a sponsor. It’s not just financial support, but that emotional support too. There's somebody in their corner who really wants them to do well.”