The “Educational Fund” of the Dentists for Africa sponsorship project ensures that the organization’s goals of “sustainability” and “helping people to help themselves” become a reality: Through it, former DfA godchildren can become godparents themselves. The idea corresponds to the basic idea of many Kenyans that they want to give something back when something has been given to them.

The sponsorship project enables particularly vulnerable children and young adults to receive schooling and vocational training. However, when they join the project, they agree to give back 10% of this support once they have an income themselves. They then pay into a fund that aims to bring more orphans into the project. Thus, once the project is completed, the DfA sponsored children themselves become sponsors and mentors to destitute, vulnerable children. In doing so, they choose the sponsored child themselves, who can then attend school or receive an education thanks to their payment into the fund. So far, 19 children and young adults have been able to attend school thanks to these funds. Their education is financed exclusively by payments from young adult graduates of the sponsorship project.

The “Educational Fund” thus functions according to the snowball principle. If a German sponsor supports a child, he or she can later finance other children, who in turn can finance even more children. Therefore, a sponsorship with DfA does not only mean support for one child, but the sustainable support of several children and the handing over of responsibility to the Kenyans. Through a DfA sponsorship, they enable a sponsored child to become a sponsor themselves.

• To date, more than 72,000 € have been paid into the fund.
• About 24,500 € has been spent so far on schooling and vocational training for the children and young adults who receive support from the fund.
• This leaves a balance of about 47,500 €.

From Orphan to Auditor

Handroline Atieno Odongo was one of the first children to be accepted into the sponsorship project through the Educational Fund in 2015. She is an orphan and has three brothers and two sisters. Before joining the fund, she could only attend school irregularly due to lack of money for school fees. As a result, she could not keep up with her classmates, which hurt her self-confidence. There was no thought of her continuing her education. Today, Handroline is 23 years old and is training to become a certified public accountant. Once she finishes her education, she wants to find a good job that will allow her to support her family and live a self-determined life.

“After my parents died, I saw the world as a cruel place. The Educational Fund changed my perception. I now know that there are still good people out there,” Handroline explains.