Child Sponsorship
In partnering with the district government in Visiga, Tanzania, the HPLP selected five at-risk children with either both parents or one parent deceased. Along with representatives from the local government, Elvis visited the extended families of each of the six children to inform them of the HPLP and its new child sponsorship program. Each family agreed to participate.
Under the program, the HPLP provides immediate and ongoing support for the sponsored children. The project and the extended families of sponsored children assume the responsibilities of co-caretakers. The first child officially sponsored by the HPLP is named Ikra. Ikra was born on March 16, 2005. Her mother died only 13 days later, and her father did not accept his role as Ikra's caregiver. Essentially orphaned less than two weeks into her life, Ikra was taken in by her uncle-an impoverished villager who had no means, financial or otherwise, of supporting an infant.
No one in Ikra's life nursed her, or provided her with an acceptable substitute for breast milk. In the care of her extended family, Ikra drank water, the juice of unripe mangoes, and a drink called togwa, which is the early, unfermented, (non-alcoholic) form of a local beer. Ikra's uncle had no way to provide her with any form of milk. The health of the infant rapidly declined. For comfort, Ikra was given uji, a porridge made from water and corn flour, that provided her with little nutritional value. It was the best food available.
In October 2005, Elvis visited Ikra and her uncle at their family home. He observed Ikra's surroundings, took notice of Ikra's overall health, and informed the uncle about the HPLP and its child sponsorship program. Ikra became the first active "client" of the HPLP. Elvis explained the short-term and long-term strategies of the child sponsorship program. The HPLP would assume responsibility of Ikra's most basic needs, while partnering with the extended family to achieve long-range economic solutions. HPLP provided Ikra with a mosquito net, a bathing tub, powdered milk, tea, sugar and clothing. HPLP also arranged to cover the cost of cow's milk-as much and as often as Ikra needs. The arrangements were made with a neighboring villager who keeps healthy dairy cows.
The other four children sponsored by the HPLP area are all siblings-the sons and daughters of Mama Salma and Mzee Said Mfaume. Mzee Said died in 2004 from HIV/AIDS, making his wife the sole caretaker of five children, with no source of income. The district government recommended Elvis visit Mama Salma, and inform her of the HPLP's child sponsorship program. In October of 2005, the children of Mama Salma (Abdallah, Mwazani, Ziada and Simba Mfaume-ranging in age from seven to 14) became addition clients of the HPLP.
The project agreed to cover all the children's medical and education expenses, including emergency hospital visits, school fees, uniforms, books and shoes. HPLP also made a general donation of school supplies to the district elementary school, to show its support for all children in the community.
Even with the help of the HPLP, Mama Salma still had no source of income to provide her children with the most basic needs like food and clothing. After repeated requests to the HPLP for more monetary assistance, Elvis and Mama Salma came up with a more sustainable solution. The HPLP offered Mama Salma a micro-business grant to set up a small food stand in her village. She was then able to support herself and cover more of her children's basic needs by selling rice, beans, tea, and snacks to neighboring villagers.
The HPLP will remain co-caretakers of Ikra, Abdallah, Mwazani, Ziadi and Simba until they have reached the state of self-reliance. A key component of this program is continuing to work with the children's extended families on economic solutions. Child sponsorship can step in where an extended family network falls short, but if the HPLP does not work with families to find their own long-term economic solutions, then the project runs into the same limiting factors it would have encountered as a live-in orphanage. That is, only as many children are served as there are resources available. An underlying issue, of course, is that Tanzania is an impoverished nation with a stagnant rural economy in most parts of the country. But by providing child sponsorship programs and at the same time working within family networks on long-term economic solutions, there is a more dynamic effect on the community as a whole, than by providing economic support alone. Every family in a village cannot set up a food stand-leading to an obvious supply problem-but each success story provides more perspective in the ongoing investigation of economic solutions.