Sponsoring a Child at Destiny Garden School
Click on this link for questions on sponsoring a child - Frequently Asked Questions
Destiny Garden School, Mtongwe, is in one of the poorest suburbs of Mombasa, on Kenya’s coast. Many of the children are orphans and a high proportion of them are HIV positive. Families of the children struggle to find regular work in this area where jobs are scarce, and very often the food they are able to afford is inadequate.
To provide these children with an education, Destiny Garden School relies heavily on sponsors – their donations will cover the running costs of the school, ensuring it can deliver a high standard of education and provide the children with a nutritious meal each school day, together with training and care on HIV/AIDs, and counselling to those orphaned.
In brief, sponsors usually donate £10 a month per child and this amount will ensure a child 
receives a good standard of education at Destiny Garden School, together with a healthy lunch. The Sponsorship Programme is run by the UK charity, Destiny Children, who cover the administration cost to ensure that 100% of the donations, including Gift Aid, go directly to the school. Sponsors will have regular contact with the school and will receive reports on how their child/children and the school are progressing.
A small donation has huge value in Kenya and £10 per month for each of the 300 children is all it takes to run the school efficiently. Every penny donated is sent directly to finance the school in Mombasa.
If you would like to help ‘Educate a Child’ at Destiny Garden School, please contact Destiny Children on destinychildren@live.co.uk who would be happy to answer any queries you may have. Or complete the attached Sponsorship Form and return to the address thereon.
For more details of the sponsorship programme please see the following questions and answers.
What does sponsoring a child mean?
Why should I sponsor a child at Destiny Garden School?
How is the sponsor money used?
How are Payments Made?
Can I choose the child I sponsor?
What about visiting Destiny Garden School?
What about letter writing, Christmas & birthday presents?
Can I sponsor a child with my friends or work colleagues?
How often will I hear from the school and child?
How long do I continue to be a sponsor?
Will my details be kept confidential?
How many Children still require sponsors?
What is sponsoring a child?
The word "sponsor" ought to mean the money is for "supporting" or "helping to pay for" a child’s education at Destiny Garden School by covering the running costs of the school. We think it should be changed to ‘Educate a Child’, but the term ‘sponsor’ is widely used and known. In effect you are supporting Destiny Garden School and taking a particular interest in one of the children and following their educational career.
The sponsor will get information about the child. They can write or even visit the school to see what difference their money makes.
To sponsor a child at Destiny Garden School, you make regular monthly donations of £10 per child - please see question below for the conversion to other currencies. You can sponsor more than one child.
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Why should I sponsor a child at Destiny Garden School?
Sponsoring is a personal way to support deprived children and there are many organizations that do this. They all work in different ways and sometimes it is difficult to know exactly how your donations have been spent. Many are large organizations and their overheads are high, so a percentage of your donation goes towards administration costs.
By sponsoring a child at Destiny Garden School, you can be sure that 100% of your money will go directly to the running of the school to provide a child with a good standard of education. There will be no administration costs as the sponsorship programme is run by volunteers. The size of the school is small, 245 pupils, and there will be complete visibility on how the sponsorship funds are spent. The school is directed and managed by Jacob, who is an experienced businessman and also having previously worked in education, he has successfully set up a similar charity school. He has the welfare and education of the children uppermost and his vision is ‘to get the children to escape poverty through education.’
Destiny Children’s aim is to get every child in the school sponsored, as this income would provide sufficient funds to cover the ongoing cost to run the school at a high standard.
As a sponsor, you will see the difference you are helping to make. Through the child you sponsor, and through Destiny Garden School, you will learn about a culture very different to your own and gain an insight into lives of children being educated in Kenya.
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How is the sponsor money used?
The money you give doesn’t go directly to your sponsored child or family, it goes to the school to cover its running costs and to ensure that it meets the high level of education it wants to deliver to its children – e.g. well qualified teachers and small classes of no more that 30 children. This ensures that your sponsored child receives the best possible education, one that they would not receive if there were no such school.
The Sponsorship Scheme is run by Destiny Children who cover the administration costs, so that 100% of the donations go directly into the school funds. These pay for the teachers’ and staff salaries, the school stationery & exam papers etc, and the lunches for the children.
Sponsors usually donate £10 a month which can be paid monthly or quarterly or annually by Standing Order.
The Breakdown of child’s sponsorship per month:
• Tuition - £6
• Food - £2
• Stationery - £2
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Payments can be paid monthly by Standing Order but, if you prefer, you can choose to make your payments quarterly, half yearly or annually rather than monthly, or by another method. They are collected into Destiny Children's account and then transferred to the school’s charity account in Mombasa at the beginning of each month. Details of the bank and account will be advised when joining the scheme.
For more information please contact Destiny Children on destinychildren@live.co.uk.
Can I choose the child I sponsor?
We need to protect the children at Destiny Garden School and therefore cannot put their details or photographs on the internet for sponsors to view.
You can however choose to sponsor either a girl or boy from Destiny Garden School, and if you would like to sponsor a child of a particular age, or any other preferences. Please let us know and we will try to match your requirements.
The sponsor will then be sent details of the child with photographs. They will get regular information about Destiny Garden School and on the child they are sponsoring. They can write or even visit the school to see what a difference their money makes.
What about visiting Destiny Garden School?
You would be very welcome to visit Destiny Garden School by arrangement - contact Jacob, the School Director, on info@destinygardenschool.com . You could also consider undertaking some voluntary work at the school.
What about letter writing, Christmas & Birthday presents?
You are welcome to write to the child you are supporting and they will be encouraged to write or draw pictures for you in return as we see this as a good way of broadening their education – see question below. However there is no commitment on sponsors to write back and in fact most choose not to. We emphasis to the children that the sponsors are supporting the school as a whole and in doing so following their progress.
As far as presents are concerned, it is expensive to post items to Kenya and they can incur customs taxes and duty which are only applied at the point of entry into the country. It is much more cost effective if the school purchases something appropriate on behalf of the sponsors. We are also very keen to ensure that all the children are treated the same and we do not want to create "haves" and "have nots" between the children or indeed "sponsored" and “not sponsored ". We would encourage sponsors therefore to make a contribution towards the school Christmas fund rather than buying an individual present. This fund will hopefully be sufficient to buy all the children a present before they break up for the Christmas holidays.
The same applies to birthday presents - the school would like to have a birthday fund from which it buys a child a gift on their birthday, but at present does not have the spare funds to do this. When we are better placed, we would like to make a special occasion on a child’s birthday and buy biscuits or cake and orange juice at break time for all the children and of course sing Happy Birthday! Some children’s date of birth are not known – so an appropriate date would be selected for them to have a celebration.
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Can I sponsor a child with my friends or work colleagues?
Yes. This is a good way of being involved with Destiny Garden School if you are unable to commit yourself to the full monthly payments. Destiny Children would welcome having schools or youth groups sponsoring the children – one child or indeed several children - and this would be a great opportunity to exchange cultures and gain an insight into the lives of children being educated in Kenya.
If you decide to sponsor as part of a group, we need to have one point of contact for all the school and your sponsored child’s communications.
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How often will I hear from the School and child?
When you first sponsor, you will receive a welcome letter with further information, together with details and photos of the child you are sponsoring. You will then be sent regular reports on how your child and the school are progressing. The children will write a letter or a note or do a drawing, depending on their abilities, and this will be sent to you via Destiny Children.
There will be regular updates on the school website so you can see at anytime what is happening at Destiny Garden School.
You can choose to write to your sponsored child or indeed to the school as a whole. We see this as an excellent way of broadening the childrens’ education and a good way for you to learn more about the culture in Kenya. However, there is no commitment on sponsors to write and in fact most choose not to. We emphasis to the children that the sponsors are supporting the school as a whole and just following their progress.
How long do I continue to be a sponsor?
To help us see your child’s education through to conclusion, we hope you can support
Destiny Garden School for a number of years. But, we appreciate that your circumstances could change and you can withdraw your support at any time. We would, therefore, endeavour to find another sponsor for the child. Once your child completes their education, we would hope that you would continue with your interest in Destiny Garden School, in other ways if not by further sponsorship.
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Will my details be kept confidential ?
Yes. Your home and email addresses and telephone numbers are not disclosed to anyone except the Destiny Children Coordinator. Likewise, Destiny Garden School do not let sponsors have home contact details of the children they are sponsoring.
How many Children still require sponsors?
At the present time there are 150 children on the sponsorship programme and over 150 children still requiring sponsors. To keep Destiny Garden School running we desperately need more sponsors, so please consider supporting the school by joining the sponsor programme - for further details please contact Judy Roper on destinychildren@live.co.uk.
