Frequently Asked Questions for child sponsorship

• Your sponsored child receives elementary and junior secondary education.
• Your sponsored child is given a school uniform and shoes, and basic school materials.
• Your sponsored child has access to first aid and basic health care.
• Your sponsored child participates in elementary school breakfast and lunch programs. This nutrition program is supplemented by the school gardens, tended by teachers, students and community members.
• Your sponsored child has access to clean, safe drinking water and composting latrines.
• Your sponsored child benefits from teacher training and incentives – CAUSE Kids works to improve the quality of education for all the children who attend our partner schools.

All sponsored children remain in the CAUSE Kids program until they are finished Junior Secondary School (grade 9), although upon graduation they will continue to benefit through our involvement in their community in other ways.

For a number of reasons it may become necessary to reassign a child. Here are some:

• It is not uncommon for families to leave rural areas in search of other opportunities. If this should happen, CAUSE Kids will notify you and ask you to sponsor another child. We will send to you the new profile of the new student for sponsorship. Should you choose not to continue, we will completely understand. You are always welcome to rejoin the program at any time.
• The child graduates from Junior High School, equipped with skills to pursue a better living.
• The child marries. Early marriage is not uncommon in Sierra Leone but statistics show that girls who receive education marry later in life and have fewer children.

• Sponsorship contributions are used for programs that benefit not only the sponsored child, but the child’s family and community. Nearly 25 years of experience has taught CAUSE Canada that to help a child in a lasting way we must help the child’s family and community become self-sufficient. By improving the facilities and resources in the communities where children live, while also providing the things a child needs for his or her health and education, CAUSE Kids helps give children their best chance of fulfilling their potential.
• CAUSE Kids is a school-based program. We are working with our partners in Sierra Leone to tackle the challenges associated with poverty one school at a time. Pooling resources allows us to help a large number of students gain access to basic education, nutrition and a chance for a better standard of living for themselves and their families. Thanks to the support of our CAUSE Kids sponsors, each year, the families of 2000 children have been relieved of the burdens that make it difficult, if not impossible, to send their children to school.

The length of your commitment is up to you and any contribution you make will positively impact the life of a child. If you must end your sponsorship for any reason, your sponsored child will continue to benefit from community programs and we will find a new sponsor for your sponsored child as quickly as we can. Please keep in mind that sponsorship for less than a year adds additional work and increases the expenses of the program. Short sponsorships also limit your ability to become acquainted with your sponsored child.

Although exchanging letters with your sponsored child can be a rewarding experience, we want to emphasize that there is absolutely no pressure for you to do this if time or circumstances do not allow it. The children generally write letters to their sponsors as a class and in small groups in order that none of them feels excluded. When correspondence is delivered to a child, the other children are content to celebrate with their peers, knowing that they all have the benefit of education thanks to their friends in Canada and other countries.

• CAUSE Canada offers business training, microcredit and savings opportunities to many women in CAUSE Kids villages, assisting them to increase their income, assets and standards of living.
• CAUSE Canada facilitates agricultural support for CAUSE Kids communities, improving food security and nutrition for students and their families.
• CAUSE Canada contributes to the health and sanitation of the community by ensuring the establishment and maintenance of a clean drinking water supply, in addition to latrines.
• CAUSE Canada provides capacity building to community organizations, which contributes to the economic and leadership sustainability of the school.

Yes, CAUSE Kids is a program of CAUSE Canada, an officially registered charitable organization with the Canadian federal government. CAUSE Canada’s charitable registration number is 11884 1428 RP.

• Over the past ten years, CAUSE Canada has averaged less than 12% on fundraising and administrative costs. CAUSE Canada is able to keep overhead low with the assistance of the government of Canada (CIDA), which provides matching funds for many of our overseas community development programs.
• CAUSE Kids and CAUSE Canada have a policy of accountability and openness. We publish an Annual Report containing worldwide consolidated financial statements available at www.cause.ca/annualreport.

You will also receive an annual school report and Christmas greetings from CAUSE Kids. If you write to your sponsored child, you will receive back a letter from them.

You may mail your letter to our head office in Canmore, Alberta, or e-mail it through causekids@cause.ca. Please, remember to include your sponsored child’s full name as well as your own full name on each item you send.

You may write your sponsored child as often as you like. We are able to send letters from sponsors to Sierra Leone each time someone from our office travels to Sierra Leone. Whether you write once or several times a year, your sponsored child will be very pleased to hear from you.

Please send only letters or items that will fit into a flat envelope. Keep your letters simple and include words of encouragement. Write about things your child will understand such as your family, church, and special customs. Here are some ideas to include in your letters:

• Send photographs or postcards. Children love receiving pictures and will often display them in their home.
• Talk about the concrete things in your life: family, work, food, the weather, your neighborhood.
• Try describing your last family gathering. Introduce all the members of your extended family and describe what it’s like when you get together.
• Many sponsored children live in agriculture-based societies, and may be interested in hearing about your garden.
• Simply write that you’re thinking of your sponsored child, and wish them the best. This is a warm reminder that someone far away cares, and one of the most important things you could ever send a child!
• If you are sponsoring as a group, it is better to appoint one person to sign the letter so that the child does not feel overwhelmed.

Avoid things that indicate the vast differences between your world and the world of your child. Remember that he/she is one of the poorest in a community stricken with poverty.

• Do not mention material possessions.
• Do not suggest that your child visit Canada.
• Do not mention financial gifts as these are not given to him/her directly.
• Do not ask your child what he/she would like to receive as a gift. This puts him/her in an awkward position as he/she struggles to find an appropriate answer.
• Do not send packages. Due to excessive customs duties, regulations and risk of loss or theft, we cannot send packages to your child. In addition, it is important to keep the gift giving fair for each of the children.

Because of customs restrictions, CAUSE Kids can only send flat paper items with your letters. You can enclose small gifts such as postcards, bookmarks, photos, stamps, stickers or pages from colouring books. While these gifts may not seem like much, they will thrill the children who receive them. Postcards of Canadian animals and nature are great favourites.

CAUSE Kids does not direct funds toward a single child or her/his family. We have learned through experience that the best use of financial gifts in the investment in schools and communities. This has the additional advantage of maintaining equality among the children.

We are always happy to offer the option of investing in a project that will benefit the child’s particular community. Such projects include: school libraries, community gardens, composting latrines, hand washing stations and wells. Sponsoring a second or third child is also always an option.

CAUSE Kids provides a Global Gift Catalogue that offers you a variety of options for improving the quality of life in your sponsored child’s community.

Gift items found in the Global Gift Catalogue are available to you to give at any time throughout the year. You may also purchase a gift to mark a special occasion for a friend or family member or to honour the memory of a loved one.

CAUSE Kids welcomes the opportunity for sponsors and all Canadians to experience other parts of the world, and to learn how other areas of the world and other cultures live. CAUSE Kids will try to arrange an annual Sponsorship trip for sponsors to visit their sponsored child, provided minimum numbers are met. Contact us at causekids@cause.ca to find out when the next trip is planned.

• Visit Get Involved for different ways you can help
• Share with family and friends that you have become a sponsor and describe what you enjoy about your CAUSE Kids sponsorship.
• Encourage your friends to become CAUSE Kids sponsors and/or to make purchases from the Gift Catalogue on special occasions.
• Learn more about the rights of children and the Millennium Development Goals by visiting www.un.org/millenniumgoals.