First and foremost, through your sponsorship, all of your sponsored child's needs will be met – food, shelter, education and medical care. Sponsored children never receive direct cash payments, but instead, Shelter Them pools all sponsorship funds and distributes them where they will achieve maximum benefit to the children, their families, and the community. We made this decision because the expenses incurred by each child are not the same, and we must ensure that every child can have the opportunity to attain their full potential in life.

In many ways, the personal relationship that can develop between a sponsor and his or her sponsored child is an even greater gift than the financial support provided, and sponsorship is a gift for both the child and the sponsor. So yes, there are many ways to build a relationship with your child - writing directly from this website here, sending letters through the mail or through social media, or even visiting your child in person! In return, you will receive at least two letters each year from your child. Please click on Tips to Build a Relationship with your Child on the side menu of the sponsorship page for helpful advice on getting to know your child. The beautiful thing about sponsorship is that it is a gift both to the sponsored child and to the sponsor, who receives a gift of love from a child on the other side of the world

The answer to that question depends on the child and on the financial circumstances of the sponsor. A younger child, for example, will require sponsorship for a longer period than an older one. We do not have a particular age at which we cut off sponsorship because we want to ensure that every child has been given the opportunity to achieve to their fullest potential.

On the other hand, we realize that a sponsor’s personal or financial circumstances might change over the term of a sponsorship, and that sometimes a sponsor may unfortunately need to end a sponsorship before that goal is realized. In that case, Shelter Them will thank the sponsor for their generous support and find another sponsor for that child as soon as possible.

Yes, there are. For $15 per month, you can join the ECDC Club. Your contribution would go directly to the support of our preschool children enrolled in our Early Childhood Development Centre in Gateko. You can just click here or go to the Shelter Them home page to learn more about the ECDC Club. Or you can click here or at the top of the Shelter Them home page to make a one-time or continuing donation in any amount. You will always receive a tax receipt for the full amount of your donation to Shelter Them

If you still need further information about the sponsorship program, please contact David Jenkins, Shelter Them’s sponsorship co-ordinator, at davidjenkins@shelterthem.com. David can tell you almost all there is to know about the sponsorship program with Shelter Them. But what he cannot fully explain to you is just how much each child appreciates the support they receive from their sponsor, and how much satisfaction and joy you can receive yourself by being a sponsor. To fully understand those things, you need to be a sponsor!

Writing to your sponsored child here is completely voluntary, but it does mean so much for a child to get a brief note or photo from their sponsor. It also provides you with the opportunity to get to know your child better and to see the lasting impact sponsorship has on a young life. Getting started is sometimes the hardest part about writing a letter. Here are some suggested topics that you could write about:

-Your family

-Your favorite season and what the weather is like where you live

-The city or town where you live

-What you wanted to be when you were in school; what you do now

-Your hobbies and interests

-Simply sharing that you care for and are praying for them

Remember that letter writing might be difficult for your child too, especially if they are younger or if they do not have a good grasp of English. So, you could also ask them questions, to give you something to write about but also to make it easier for them. You could ask about:

-Their family

-Their school, or their favorite subject

-Their friends

-Their favorite sport or activity

-What they want to be when they grow up

If you write directly from the Shelter Them website here. These letters will get directly and quickly to your child. On the other hand, you might want to use the postal service to send a letter, especially if you want to include a photo, or some small gift that would fit in an envelope, such as stickers, a bracelet, a bookmark, etc. If you wish to use the postal service, here is the address to send the letter:

Shelter Them Rwanda

P.O. Box 1705

Kigali, Rwanda

Shelter Them staff will ensure the child receives the letter. But please remember that the Rwandan postal service is not quick, and that mailing anything overseas is not always secure. For this reason, sponsors should never send cash to their child.

You will receive at least two letters from your child every year. One of those letters will arrive in the weeks leading up to the Christmas season, and that one will include a recent photo of your sponsored child. Shelter Them staff will help them to write the letters and will translate them if your child is not yet proficient in English. It is very rewarding to read their letters and see how they have progressed over each year.

If you sponsor an older child, many of them are more comfortable with English, and like young people everywhere, they are very savvy with social media. Some of our sponsors keep in touch with their sponsored older child more frequently through social media, such as Facebook or WhatsApp. In addition, every two years, in normal circumstances, a team from Shelter Them travels to Rwanda. Sponsors who are able are welcome to join the team, at their own expense, and meet their sponsored child in person. Or they can send larger gifts to their sponsored child with a member of the team.