Child Sponsorship - Save the Children

Child Sponsorship
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WHO WE ARE
3 Our Mission
4 How Sponsorship Works
OUR WORK IN THE FIELD
6 Where Sponsorship Works
8 Sponsorship in Action
12 In Times of Crisis
13 For the Future
ABOVE: Nine-year-old sponsored
child Lauren in her school library.
She is in the fourth grade in a
Sponsorship-supported school
in Kentucky, United States and
“loves her sponsor.”
ON THE COVER: A group of
sponsored children beside their
school in the West Sumba District
of Indonesia. In 2014, we focused
on training teachers and leaders
in early childhood centers like the
one these boys and girls attend
to help build a strong foundation
for future school success.
OUR COMMUNITY OF SPONSORS
15 Corporate Partnerships
16 Sponsor Spotlight
OUR STAFF
18 Global Sponsorship Steering Committee
19 Country Office Leadership
Child Sponsorship
Transforms Lives
Save the Children’s Child Sponsorship program
began working in the rural, hard-to-reach areas
of the United States in 1938, helping the
country’s impoverished youth by providing
school supplies and access to healthy food.
We have now expanded our reach, improving
the lives of millions of children around the
world. Our rich history gives us a wellestablished framework for using sponsors’
contributions efficiently and effectively.
Children like Guilene in
Haiti are grateful for
Sponsorship programs —
and sponsors — who are
helping transform their lives
today for a better future
tomorrow.
In 2014, we continued our mission to transform
the lives of children by growing our global
footprint. We are working hard to ensure more
children have the healthy start, opportunity
to learn and protection from harm they
deserve — giving them the best
chance for a lifetime of success.
Last year alone,
more than 168,000
sponsors helped
Save the Children
reach over 2.1 million
children in 21 of the
neediest countries
in the world.
Photos: Above, Susan Warner; Cover, Save the Children
Photo: Save the Children
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The average girl in Afghanistan‬
drops out of school at the age
of 9. Our Child Sponsorship‬
programs work to keep all
marginalized children —
especially girls — healthy,
protected and learning.
LEFT: Juan David and Jhoel Alex in
Bolivia are all smiles as they learn
about the importance of keeping
their teeth clean.
BELOW: Our programs in Zambia
protect children like Zangwa with
treated mosquito nets and education
on malaria symptoms and treatment.
2014 By the Numbers
We reached
2,184,731
children
with our
life-changing
Sponsorship
programs —
more
than
in 2013!
17%
HOW
Sponsorship
Works
Our innovative Sponsorship programs
address the unique needs of children
where they live by empowering them
and others in their community to
create sustainable change. Sponsorship
builds relationships with partners and
community members to provide tools
that help them become more selfsufficient within a matter of years —
breaking the cycle of poverty
for generations to come.
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Photos: Save the Children
One Sponsor,
Twenty Lives Changed
Sponsor
Sponsored
Child
By combining
sponsorship
donations, the
generosity of a
single sponsor
can go even
further.
Sponsorship Gifts
at Work
20 Children and Adults
1%
10%
8%
21%
Our sponsors contributed
17%
43%
Early Childhood Care & Development
Basic Education
School Health & Nutrition
Adolescent Development
Emergencies
Other (e.g. Child Protection, Livelihoods)
over $69 million
in 2014, increasing our
investment in children by
16% from 2013.This means
even more lives are being
transformed for a better
and brighter future.
Total revenue is represented in U.S. dollars and includes all money raised for
Sponsorship by Save the Children member offices.
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Afghanistan
United States
WHERE
Sponsorship
Works
Dominican
Haiti Republic
El Salvador
Honduras
Israel
Egypt
Mali
Ethiopia
Uganda
Zambia
Bolivia
Nepal Bhutan
Bangladesh Vietnam
Philippines
Indonesia
Malawi
Mozambique
Our Growing Footprint
By participating in communitybased preschool programs in
Mozambique, these children
are now better prepared for
primary school.
Creating Lasting Impact
We enter a community with the goal of empowering and equipping community
members with the skills needed to continue the work we’ve started once we
leave — ensuring sustainability and an improved future for many more children.
Having transformed the lives of some of the neediest children in
the Gaza Province of MOZAMBIQUE, we have now phased
out our Sponsorship programs in this region of the country.
We’ve left behind exciting and sustainable change, evidenced
by a nationwide program supported by the World Bank,
an organization that conducted the first-ever randomized,
controlled trial of a community preschool program
in sub-Saharan Africa. This groundbreaking impact
study showed that our community-based preschools
are improving the education outcomes of boys and
girls in Mozambique. As a result, our approach to
early childhood education has now been adopted
by the Ministry of Education and is being used in
more than 600 Mozambican communities.
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Photos: Save the Children
We entered 93
new communities
around the world
in 2014, growing the
total number of
communities where
we work by 20%!
In December 2014, Save the Children, in partnership with
local leaders, teachers and caregivers, launched a new
Sponsorship program in Uganda that will bring desperately
needed health and education services to children in one of
the world’s poorest places — securing a better future for
entire communities of children and families.
Sponsorship programs which began in late 2013 in Lao Cai
Province, Vietnam are now helping children in 10 communities!
By partnering with community members, we’re already seeing
visible improvements — teachers have been trained, a school
lunch program is being piloted for children who live far from
school and 40% of schools where we work now have potable
water (up from 15% last year).
We also finished our first full year of Sponsorship in the West
Sumba district of Indonesia, reaching a total of 17,191 children
and adults directly with our early childhood development and
education programs. This is over 13 times the number reached
in 2013! In addition, we signed a 10-year agreement with the
local government, setting the stage for sustainability of our
programs into the future.
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A Child Ambassador for Change
Thi, a child benefitting
from our programs in
Vietnam, is on her way
to a lifetime of success.
Sponsorship
Programs
in Action
The ‘Here We Are’
initiative changed my
life, and I am very grateful
to Save the Children.
I’m glad people like
me are of interest
to them.”
Our programs help ensure children
in need have the best chance for
success with a healthy start,
the opportunity to learn
and protection from harm.
Sponsorship is significantly
improving the lives of boys
and girls around the world,
now and for our shared future.
Mahmoud* is 12 years old and lives in Abnoub,
Egypt with his family. From infancy he has suffered
from paralysis of his left hand and foot. Mahmoud
loves football, but struggles to play like his peers
due to his impaired mobility. Save the Children’s ‘Here
— Mahmoud
We Are’ program helps children like Mahmoud by
increasing peer and teacher awareness about the positive
role children like Mahmoud can play in their community.
Before joining the program, Mahmoud had little selfconfidence and thought his condition would hold him back in life.
A Save the Children trainer encouraged him to give ‘Here We Are’ a
try. Now, Mahmoud is much more confident and better able to face his
peers. He has even been named the ‘Here We Are’ student ambassador
in all Abnoub schools, speaking out about the importance of accepting
all people, even if they are different than you.
*Name changed for protection
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Photo: Jordan J. Hay
Photos: Save the Children
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Making a
DIFFERENCE
Adolescent
Development
Basic Education
The opportunity to learn gives children
the best chance for a lifetime of success.
We provide teacher training, support
literacy and numeracy programs and
foster community engagement to create
a positive learning environment.
Early Childhood Care
and Development
Nine-year-old John Mark lives in the PHILIPPINES,
where the students in three Sponsorship-supported
schools participating in our Literacy Boost activities
showed significant improvements in reading and
writing. The success of this pilot led local government
officials to request all teachers in district schools be
trained on Literacy Boost.
Thanks to the important strides being made by our
education programs in EGYPT, 85 percent of teachers
in the Abnoub district where we work are now applying
effective teaching practices in classrooms, up from
55 percent in 2008. That means more of Egypt’s children
are receiving the quality education they deserve.
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School Health
and Nutrition
Children remain in school and learn more
when they’re healthy and well-nourished.
We work within local education systems
and with governments to provide health
education and care.
Children with access to early learning are
far better prepared to succeed in school.
We support quality preschools, early
literacy programs and parent training to
give young children a strong foundation
for a brighter future.
In EL SALVADOR, the government has adopted
Save the Children’s curriculum aimed at helping
children like Fatima, age 4, successfully transition
from kindergarten to grade one. We have already
trained one-third of the teachers in the country,
and the remaining will be trained by the end
of 2015.
Last year in the UNITED STATES, 86 percent
of three-year-olds in our early childhood programs
scored higher than the national average on preliteracy tests. This is an impressive 14 percent
increase over 2013 results and a step closer to
ensuring the most vulnerable American children
meet critical development milestones.
A positive transition from childhood to
adulthood is important to the success
of young adults and their communities.
We work with adolescents to help them
build life skills, manage money, develop
peer relationships and understand
reproductive health.
In NEPAL, over 6,000 adolescents participated in
interactive sessions to increase their understanding
of important leadership and social skills and lay
the foundation for a better future. More than 17,000
adolescents also received reproductive health services,
an impressive 35 percent increase over 2013.
Child marriage and school dropout rates are high
in Meherpur, BANGLADESH. Save the Children
organizes sessions to educate fathers on how these
behaviors negatively impact communities, especially
girls, and provide motivation to speak out against
the behaviors publicly. In 2014 alone, 2,660 men
participated, an important step forward for children
and families across all of Bangladesh.
In BOLIVIA, Save the Children advocated with the
municipal authorities in Cochabamba to offer free
dental service to schoolchildren 6-18 years old. By
the end of 2014, more than 15 of the 30 public health
clinics in the area followed suit.
Forty-four teachers in West Showa, ETHIOPIA
were trained on how to make soap using local
materials and the importance of hand-washing for
good health. By empowering communities, we’re
ensuring the impact of our work continues long
into the future.
TOP: Fatima is a girl with a dream: “I want to be doctor to cure
kids and animals. When they are sick, I will give them medicine.”
ABOVE: John Mark loves going to the library but struggles with
reading. Our Literacy Boost program can help him read better…
and make his library trips even more enjoyable.
Photos: Save the Children
ABOVE: In Ethiopia, boys and girls learn about the important
role hand-washing plays in keeping them healthy and germ-free
in school and at home.
RIGHT: Adolescents in Nepal learn the life skills needed to grow
into strong and healthy adults.
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HELPING
For the
FUTURE
Where It’s Needed Most
While our Sponsorship programs
address the everyday needs of
children, Save the Children is also
there when disaster strikes, responding
to the immediate needs of children
and communities. In 2014, Sponsorship
funds were used to support emergency
response efforts in seven countries.
Through Sponsorship, Save the Children
is able to develop innovative programs
to meet the unique challenges faced
by children in the developing world
and, by partnering with regional
healthcare, education and government
authorities, build the foundation for
a successful future.
Following reports of Ebola in MALI, we
launched an education initiative with the Ministry
of Health. The goal was to train communities,
including children, on ways to recognize and
prevent the spread of this deadly disease. While
there have been no reported cases of Ebola in
our Sponsorship areas to date, we are working
hard to ensure it stays that way.
We also train communities so they are prepared
to avoid future disasters. In Dessalines, HAITI,
over 550 parents from 59 schools were trained
on disaster preparedness. During a risk analysis
activity they found their area is prone to flooding
and are now working on an action plan to keep
their communities — and children — safe.
Numeracy Boost, first piloted in Malawi in 2012 to
develop math skills in young children by involving
the entire community in the learning process, is one
such groundbreaking initiative. In BANGLADESH,
students who participated in this program performed
significantly better on a number of basic math skills
than students who had not participated.
Save the Children is also leading the way in
menstrual hygiene management in the developing
world. With limited or no access to private latrines
and sanitary napkins, girls are often unable to
attend school when they are menstruating. In 2014,
sponsorship communities in the PHILIPPINES,
BOLIVIA and EL SALVADOR piloted programs
to address these challenges that helped inform
the development of global Menstrual Hygiene
Management Operational Guidelines, the first
document of its kind. Having clear guidelines
will enable even more countries to adopt similar
programs that ensure girls do not miss out on the
schooling they deserve.
FAR LEFT: Our programs
in Mali were already
teaching children how
important it is to wash
their hands after using the
bathroom. Our Ebola work
reminded them — and the
larger community — how
critical this is for survival.
LEFT: Community members
attended sessions run by
Save the Children in the
capital city of Bamako, Mali
to learn how to prevent and
limit the spread of Ebola.
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Photos: Save the Children
Our innovative Numeracy Boost programs are ensuring
children in Bangladesh have a future they can count on.
“A Path Appears” to Break the Cycle of U.S. Poverty
We’re proud to have our early education programs in the U.S. — partially funded by
Sponsorship — featured in Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s latest book, A Path
Appears. Published in September 2014, the book speaks to Save the Children’s proven
success through our home visit programs in helping at-risk children under the age of 3
score at or above the national average on pre-literacy tests. The book was followed by a
PBS documentary in early 2015 featuring Save the Children Artist Ambassador Jennifer
Garner taking part in home visits in her native state of West Virginia.
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Our Community
of Sponsors
Corporate Partnerships
More and more companies are choosing to support Save the Children through Child
Sponsorship as a part of their corporate philanthropy programs. Our corporate sponsors
find that sponsorship is a unique way to engage employees and build goodwill for their
companies, while changing the world for children. We are grateful for their dedication to
our mission – and for choosing to invest in childhood for our shared future!
We give our thanks to
the more than 168,000
individuals who made up
our worldwide family
of sponsors in 2014 —
and demonstrated a
commitment to securing
a better future for the
children who need it most.
Since 1984,
T.J. MAXX has
partnered with
Save the Children
to support our programs for children in the United States.
Through sponsorship and in-store fundraising, T.J. Maxx
associates in stores and at the home office engage in our
joint mission to make a difference in the lives of children
who live in extreme poverty in the United States.
In 2014, T.J. Maxx and Save the Children celebrated
30 years of partnership for children. The program that
began with 113 child sponsorships has grown so that
today, T.J. Maxx is one of Save the Children’s most
important partners. Their contributions have changed
the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and
their families.
We now have 19 percent
more sponsors than we
did in 2013. When our
family of sponsors grows,
so do the number of
children we can reach —
a shared accomplishment
we can all be proud of!
MIES __container
I signed up for Child Sponsorship
to help my son Jack understand
how fortunate he is and how
important it is to be able to help
those that are not as fortunate.
I want him to be able to
understand the value of charity,
both financially and socially.”
Save the Children Australia
Launches Child Sponsorship!
In January 2014, Save the Children Australia began fundraising
efforts for Child Sponsorship, joining efforts already underway
in Italy, Korea and the U.S. By expanding our global community
of sponsors, we can now offer Australians the life-changing
opportunity to make a lasting difference in the lives of children.
MIES CONTAINER, a South
Korean restaurant chain with
five locations in Seoul and
one in Daegu, is helping
ensure a brighter future
for children through
Child Sponsorship. By
taking out a sponsorship
on behalf of each of their
73 employees — and
proudly displaying those
children’s photos on the wall
as a constant reminder of the
difference they are making in the world — this restaurant
chain is showing their true commitment to transforming
the lives and futures of children.
ABOVE: Jinchul Bae, a managing
director at MIES Container,
is one of the company’s many
proud sponsors.
— Jennifer from Australia,
child sponsor since 2014
ABOVE: Charlene from the Philippines is determined to
not get married early like her older sister. By participating
in Sponsorship programs, Charlene is one step closer to
fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher.
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PRIMROSE SCHOOLS,
an early education and
care provider with schools
across the United States,
launched its partnership
with Save the Children in
May 2014. This innovative
partnership uses the Child
Sponsorship program to
actively involve students at more than 285 Primrose
schools in learning about helping others. Each school
sponsors a child in the United States, engaging with
their “Primrose Promise Pal” through letters and
drawings between students. The partnership was initially
launched with a $145,000 donation to Save the Children
which came from Primrose schools and families who
support the Primrose Children’s Foundation through
local fundraising events throughout the year.
“This partnership and the initiatives we’re embarking
on with Save the Children provide us with meaningful
ways to teach our students essential character development
lessons and engage our entire community in a common
cause that supports our mission to forge a path to a
brighter future for all children,” said Primrose Schools
President and CEO Jo Kirchner.
RIGHT: Creed, a first grader in our
U.S. Programs, participating in our
emergent reader literacy program.
Photo: Save the Children
Photo: Susan Warner
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Sponsor
Spotlight
Putting a Face to a Name
Kids Sponsoring Kids
40 and Counting
With a total of 40 sponsorships spanning
across 15 countries, Robert Breard began
his first sponsorship 18 years ago and adds
to his portfolio of sponsorships regularly.
I started
contributing to
Save the Children
in 1997 after doing
some research
on humanitarian
organizations. I
was impressed
with what I found and began making
contributions for general support and
shortly thereafter began sponsoring
individual children.There’s an inherent
sense of satisfaction knowing that
you’re helping improve the lives of
children in need around the world,
even if it’s in a small way. My goal, in
the next two years, is to eventually
reach 100 sustaining sponsorships.
I’ve always encouraged my friends
and associates to get on board.”
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Siblings Kate and Max live in Connecticut.
At our Global Sponsorship Reception in
December, the pair signed up to be the first
sponsors of our new programs in Uganda.
Afterwards, 9-year-old Kate gave this
presentation to her class at school:
I [already]
sponsor
a child in
Ethiopia
and I think
it’s great.
I got to
meet two
men from
Uganda,
Samuel and Oscar, at a holiday party
for Save the Children. I thought it was
really cool because my brother and
I were the first people to sponsor
children in Uganda. When we said we
would do this, they were really excited.
One of the things Oscar said was, ‘I
won’t remember this day for just once,
but for many years.’ He told me that
if you sponsor one child, it helps the
whole community because they know
that you care about them.”
Photos: Provided by each sponsor
Luca Ciatto
is inspired by
seeing first-hand
the people his
contributions help
to support. He
recently traveled
from Italy to
Nepal to visit his
sponsored child,
Chandrakala.
A Special Birthday Gift
On her 24th birthday, Hye ji Ahn wanted
to give herself a special gift and decided to
sponsor a child. Making little money as an intern,
she wasn’t sure if she could keep up with her
monthly contributions. Inspired to not lose
her connection with her sponsored child, Kasu,
Hye ji was motivated to find a better job. Today,
she works as a researcher and has enrolled
in graduate school. She says the letters she
exchanged with Kasu gave her the strength
she needed
to overcome
challenges in her
own life. Happily,
the two had a
chance to meet
during Hye ji’s
visit to Africa
last year.
Kasu is very
special to me.
When the
world lets me down, I think of Kasu and
I feel hopeful again…When his letters
arrive, they are like a gift to me.”
When I signed up to become a
sponsor I wanted to understand
the situation my sponsored child
lives in and see for myself the
work done by Save the Children.
I traveled to Nepal a few weeks
after I signed up and, with the
help of Save the Children staff, I
met Chandrakala and her family.
Meeting her was great. When I
said goodbye, I asked her to write
to me and, using her hands, she
did the same.”
Internationally known singer/
songwriter LeAnn Rimes
joined the Save the Children
family as a sponsor of Renatot,
a little boy in Haiti, in 2014.
Our team traveled with LeAnn
on her holiday concert tour
in December to share the
joy of sponsorship with fans
in the U.S. and Canada — and
to help secure a better future
for millions of children around
the world.
Photo: Susan Warner
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Our Staff
Global Sponsorship Steering Committee
Country Office Leadership
Jiyeon Kim
Save the Children in Afghanistan
Country Director: Ana Maria Locsin
Sponsorship Manager: Ahmad Sohail Azami
Save the Children in Nepal-Bhutan
Country Director: Delailah Perez Borja
Sponsorship Manager: Junima Shakya
Save the Children in Bangladesh
Country Director: Michael McGrath
Sponsorship Manager: Tahmina Haider
Save the Children in the Philippines
Country Director: Ned Olney
Sponsorship Manager: Mona Mariano
Head of Global Sponsorship
Associate Vice President, Resource Development
Save the Children USA
Save the Children in Bolivia
Country Director: Daphne de Souza Lima Sorensen
Sponsorship Manager: Carmen Escobar
Save the Children in Uganda
Country Director: Barbara Burroughs
Sponsorship Manager: Samuel Tusubira
Diana Myers
Save the Children Dominican Republic
Country Director: Carolyn Rose-Avila
Sponsorship Manager: Aneliya Nikolova
Save the Children U.S. Programs
Sponsorship Director: Amanda Kohn
Sponsorship Manager: Polly Sanning
Mike Novell
Save the Children in Egypt
Country Director: Chris McIvor
Sponsorship Manager: Ahmed Abdel Hamid
Save the Children in Vietnam
Country Director: Gunnar F. Andersen Sponsorship Manager: Tuyet Vu Thi Ngoc
Associate Vice President
Dept of Education and Child Development
Save the Children USA
Save the Children in El Salvador
Country Director: Sonia Silva
Sponsorship Manager: Rocio Rodriguez
Save the Children in Zambia
Country Director: Tamer Kirolos
Sponsorship Manager: Agnes Zalila
Daniele Timarco
Save the Children in Ethiopia
Country Director: John Graham
Sponsorship Manager: Alene Yenew
Director of International Programs
Save the Children Korea
Imran Matin
Director of International Programs
Save the Children International
Earl Moran
Vice President, International Programs
Save the Children USA
Regional Director, South and Central Asia
Save the Children International
Daniel Stoner
Head of International Programs
Save the Children Italy
Save the Children in Haiti
Country Director: Kevin Novotny
Sponsorship Manager: Faïmi Moscova
Save the Children Honduras
Country Director: Mariano Planells
Sponsorship Manager: Betulia Zelaya
Children proudly
showcase their
work during a
literacy-building
activity in Ethiopia.
Sponsorship is the
backbone of our
program. It strengthens
our ability to help the
most disadvantaged
children through a solid
framework, and leverages
opportunities to benefit
even more children.”
— Gunnar F. Andersen
Vietnam Country Director
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Photo: Susan Warner
Save the Children in Indonesia
Country Director: Ricardo Caivano
Sponsorship Manager: Silverius Tasman
Save the Children in Malawi
Country Director: Matthew Pickard
Sponsorship Manager: Prince Kasinja
Save the Children in Mali
Country Director: Raphael Sindaye
Sponsorship Manager: Souleymane Djanken Toure
Save the Children in Mozambique
Country Director: Peter Newsum
Sponsorship Manager: Joao Sitoi
Photos: Save the Children
Photo: Save the Children
In December 2014, Sponsorship Managers from
around the world came together in the United States
for training and the chance to share their unique,
hands-on knowledge of how Sponsorship programs
help children in need in their respective communities.
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OUR VISION is a
world in which every
child attains the right
to survival, protection,
development and
participation.
OUR MISSION is to
inspire breakthroughs
in the way the world
treats children, and
to achieve immediate
and lasting change in
their lives.
Save the Children USA
501 Kings Highway East
Suite 400
Fairfield, CT 06825
1-800-728-3843
1-203-221-4000
SavetheChildren.org
Abbie, a fourth-grader
from Kentucky, has
undergone two scoliosis
surgeries, which limits
her ability to participate
in some school activities.
She is a big fan of
Save the Children’s
‘Reading Rocks’ program
because it is an activity
everyone can be part of.
Photo: Susan Warner