Sponsorship Project
In Kenya, 10 percent of children grow up as orphans. This is due, in part, to the high HIV rate in this East African country. Often, they are taken in by close relatives or live in children’s households, where they care for one another. There is often no money for school. Instead, children and adolescents have to start working at a young age to support their foster families. By becoming a sponsor, you can offer a new future to a child in Kenya who has no access to education—mostly orphans or half-orphans.
As a sponsor, you’ll see firsthand that your help reaches its destination and makes a difference.
- With every sponsorship, one more child can attend school or complete vocational training.
- Your sponsored child gets the chance to grow up healthy, educated, and with prospects for the future.
- With your financial support, you are actively fighting against child labor
“After my parents died, I lived with my sick grandmother at my uncle’s house, along with his three children. There was no money for school. On many days, my uncle couldn’t even afford to feed us all. But I was lucky: Thanks to the help of Dentists for Africa and my sponsor, I was able to start school at age six. Today, I’m studying pharmacy at Mount Kenya University. My uncle now has a steady job, too, and is able to take care of his children and provide our grandmother with medication. My dream is to open my own pharmacy so I can help others and create jobs.”
Gervas Pulcheria Kavishe, 20 years old
What makes a sponsorship with Dentists for Africa special?
Absolute Transparency
The Sisters of the Franciscan Order of St. Joseph and our DfA Kenya team, as our local project partners, ensure that your financial support is used in a transparent manner. We ensure that the funds are used exclusively for your sponsored child. Three times a year, you will receive a personalized statement detailing the activities and associated costs. All expenses are documented with original receipts. In addition to tuition and living expenses, typical items include smaller amounts for school uniforms, books, and notebooks.
Personal Contact
Who doesn’t love getting mail? To help you follow your sponsored child’s growth and progress, we enable you to maintain direct and personal contact with them through letters.
We also organize trips to Kenya for sponsors at regular intervals. Together with other sponsors, you can get to know the country and meet your sponsored child in person.
Help Where It's Needed Most
Local people know best how they can be helped and who needs support. All of our projects are structured according to this principle. In our sponsorship program, too, we have been working with local partners from the very beginning. While our DfA Kenya team handles the coordination of the project, a committee from the St. Monica Village Widows’ Cooperative selects the children most in need. They know the families in the Kisumu region, where our organization is particularly active, and know who needs outside help.
For the children waiting for a sponsor from Germany, our organization is currently covering the associated costs. Some of them are already attending school. Others will begin their schooling once their sponsorship begins. Children in Kenya attend primary school for eight years. Afterward, they either complete a three-year apprenticeship or attend secondary school for four more years. This is followed by three to four years of college or university education.
The goal of the sponsorships is to provide children and young people with a high-quality education and vocational training. Only in this way will they have prospects for a job or successful self-employment later in life.
Whenever possible, we send them to boarding schools, where they can learn and live in a peaceful environment without having to work for their families in the village on the side. Our partners manage the project on site and maintain direct contact with the children. This ensures that they are always well cared for. With a good education and vocational training, the children gain prospects and have the chance for a better future.
How much does a sponsorship cost?
As a sponsor, you will cover the individual costs associated with your sponsored child. These costs range from 450 to 650 euros per year, depending on the child's grade level.
Three possible options for a sponsorship:
Module 1
Become a sponsor by contributing 450 Euros annually toward a child’s school education (approximately 37,50 Euros per month) or 500 euros toward vocational training (approximately 42 Euros per month). Any additional costs incurred for your sponsored child will be covered by the organization.
Module 2
Sponsorship with an annual maximum contribution of up to 650 Euros, which makes it possible for a child to attend a boarding school. This amounts to approximately 54 Euros per month.
Module 3
Sponsorship covering the actual costs incurred (to be arranged on a case-by-case basis).
A donation receipt is issued for each donation received and included with your next statement. If you donate on a monthly basis, you will receive the receipt once a year.
We Provide Long-Term Support: Success Stories from the Sponsorship Project
A young doctor from Nakuru in western Kenya was given the opportunity of a lifetime thanks to Dentist for Africa.
“I was incredibly lucky, and the help I’d been waiting for finally came: Dentist for Africa’s orphan project took me in, and Christel Hainer became my sponsor. She was willing to support me throughout my high school education. At first, I couldn’t believe it! A huge burden was lifted from my family. From then on, I was no longer sent home because the school fees weren’t paid or because I didn’t have a proper school uniform. It was a time of happiness and peace. In 2012, I graduated and applied to DfA for a scholarship to study medicine. Once again, my dream came true: The Walter-Gastreich Foundation supported me, and I was able to enroll at Kenya Methodist University. Today, I am able to serve as a doctor in my home community.”
Support Your Own Success Story Today
Mark Wekesa has finished his studies in dentistry at the University of Nairobi.
“When DfA came into my life, it was an absolute turning point for me,” says the 26-year-old. “No one would have thought when I was a child that I’d ever make it this far. I grew up in a rural area in western Kenya and was raised by my grandmother after my mother passed away. Thanks to my sponsorship through DfA, I was able to graduate from high school with good grades. At a career counseling seminar, I was asked if I’d be interested in studying dentistry. I said yes right away! I graduated in 2026, I want to help improve dental care in East Africa and also treat patients who can’t afford it.”
How long does the sponsorship last?
The sponsorship begins as soon as you return your signed consent form to us. It ends as soon as your sponsored child has completed vocational training or college. Accordingly, the duration depends on what grade the child is in at the start of the sponsorship—or whether they are even in school yet.
If you wish to end the sponsorship early, you can contact us at any time, and we’ll work together to find a solution.
How do you ensure that the money reaches its destination?
The sponsorship contribution is managed by our sponsorship team in Kenya. This team is already deeply involved in the children’s lives even before the sponsorship begins. Sr. Seraphine, who has managed the program since 2007, and her staff gather information about the children’s family situations and pay the school fees directly to the schools. In addition, the team transfers funds for health insurance and forwards payments from sponsors. It then sends all documentation to our office in Weimar, where the financial statements are prepared for you as a German sponsor. Through this direct accounting process, we ensure that your sponsorship contribution reaches your sponsored child directly.
The sponsorship team also meets with the children several times a year during school breaks to discuss important matters regarding their education and the sponsorship program. The children then come in person to the DfA office in Nyabondo to drop off their report cards and the letters they write to their sponsors. They are also offered career counseling there. Sr. Seraphine knows each of the children personally and closely monitors their development.
If you wish to terminate the sponsorship early, you can contact us at any time, and we will work together to find a solution.
You can also find a detailed breakdown of our expenses in our annual reports. Click here for the 2024 annual report. For the latest information, visit our press page and blog.
Our organization places great importance on transparency and has therefore joined the Transparent Civil Society Initiative. As part of this initiative, we consistently provide the most important information about our work in our Statement of Commitment, which is kept up to date.
The sponsorship team also meets with the children several times a year during school breaks to address important questions regarding their education and sponsorship. The children then come in person to the DfA office in Nyabondo to drop off their report cards and the letters they write to their sponsors. They are also offered career counseling there. Sr. Seraphine knows each of the children personally and closely monitors their development.
If you wish to terminate your sponsorship early, you can contact us at any time, and we will work together to find a solution.
How to Become a Sponsor
- A committee made up of widows and Franciscan nuns selects the children most in need to be included in the project.
- Getting in touch: You contact us to request more information and a suggestion for a sponsored child.
- Declaration of Consent: You send us your written consent to the sponsorship, which takes effect immediately.
- Contact: Your sponsored child is informed of the sponsorship, and you can begin corresponding by mail. You also have the option of visiting the child as part of a sponsorship trip.
- New Opportunities: Your sponsored child can now attend school or boarding school, or complete vocational training with peace of mind. This gives them the opportunity to build a better life for themselves.
More information and a proposal for your sponsorship
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please fill out the contact form below. We will then get in touch with you and send you more information, as well as a suggestion for a suitable child.
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Background on the Project
36 percent of Kenya’s population lives below the poverty line. Due to low life expectancy—which is attributable, among other factors, to the high regional AIDS rate—many children grow up without their parents. They receive little care and often do not receive an adequate education. Growing up in poverty robs them of the chance to shape their own future. In the Kisumu region, the AIDS rate is nearly 20 percent. Orphans are raised by relatives who often barely have enough to feed their own children and send them to school. Poor health and the consequences of poverty limit the children’s potential. Through its sponsorship program, Dentists for Africa is committed to ensuring these children receive proper care.