Give a child hope for only $12.50 a month!

UPDATED POST (Feb 2012):  We are sorry to announce that this $12.50/mth sponsorship option mentioned in this post, for children at Raila Educational Center no longer exists.  The government took over the school and the whole program has changed.  Plus there was some misusing of funds and it is too hard for First Love to monitor how the money is being used, reinforce letter writing, follow-up with each individual student (who sometimes just never show up at school one day and are never seen again), etc.  If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please consider sponsoring one directly through First Love (children that have been rescued from the slums, most of them from Raila, and now live in the dorms on the First Love property).  You can be guarenteed that 100% of your $30/mth will go directly to the child (for education, medical needs, school fees, clothes, food, housing, etc.)

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That's right! For only $150 a year you can pay for a child's education from the Kibera Slum.  First Love asks the families to pay for the school uniform, so they have some sort of investment/commitment to their child's education, then your donation pays for their school fees, books/materials, and the feeding program (porridge in the morning and lunch in the afternoon)....the only food most of these kids get the entire day (and they usually take home leftovers to their families).  Putting a child in school keeps them off the "streets" (they can hardly be called that in the slums) and reduces their involvement in all sorts of unmentionable activities (either because of their own idleness or by force).  Many families want to send their kids to school, but simply can't afford the school fees ($150 is HUGE to them, but nothing to us here in the US...if you go through the Starbucks drivethru just once a week at approx $3 a drink, there's you're $12 by the end of the month!)

You may choose a Primary boy or a girl and even their approximate age (if you want to match it with your child's age).  You will get a photo and profile of the child.  This is an on-going committment/relationship and you will write letters back and forth with the child.  If you want to sponsor a Secondary student it is $335 for the year.  Again you may choose a boy or girl and approx age.
All your funds are funneled through First Love, Int'l (out of Rockford, Ill...check out their website) and of course, are tax deductable. You can rest assured that 100% of you dollar goes directly to the child.

To clarify confusion about the 2 options for sponsoring through First Love:
1. $150/year for a child at Raila School in Kibera Slum Nairobi where First Love operates a feeding program, a women's trade center, an internship program for HS graduates, etc.  These children live at home with their families (or next of kin). You are only paying for their education, NOT their living expenses.
2. $120/month for a child who has been rescued out of the Kibera Slum (abandoned or abused by their families, in a dangerous situation, left orphaned or homeless, etc.) and is now living on the First Love property in the dormatory with loving, caring "house moms" or "house dads".  You are paying for their education as well as their living expenses.  First Love is a non-profit organization that operates entirely on contributions from generous donors and the childrens' sponsors.

We stayed in the guest rooms in the First Love dormatory during our 2 weeks in Nairobi, did devotions with these kids (from option #2) every night at 7pm, played games with them, helped with homework, etc.  During the day while they were in school, we took vans into the Slums to do Kids Club at Raila School in Kibera (the kids from option #1).

Hope this helps clarify. :)