Things are tough, but we know God did not bring us this far to shut the schools down! So, we are fighting to keep the doors open and the children safe, fed, educated, and loved.
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Over the last few years, we have had a number of barriers come our way leading to a financial crisis. First, Covid hit and many of our donors stopped giving as they faced their own financial battles, leaving our project hanging on by a thread. Then, as a result of covid combined with failed crops, and fear of being in lock down without any food, families have decided to move to seek food and a better life outside of the village. Sadly, many kids who have sponsors were among those to leave over the last year. In 2024, we have seen another influx of families leaving the area out of desperation. When a child leaves the school, we notify the sponsors as soon as we can confirm that they are not returning. Some sponsors happily sponsor another child in need, but others have opted out. Over the last 6 months, we have lost more support and sponsors than we have been able to gain.
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During the crisis, Jenn Karina our founder and only US based employee found no other choice than to forgo most of her wages and put between $1000-$1800 per month into the school to keep the doors open. She has spent all of her savings, and is now also facing a personal financial crisis.
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What is the answer? The best option our board has come up with is to send out an SOS to our donors and to those who follow us. If we can get 66 children sponsored, the fees they will be contributing to the school will be just enough to help cover the very basic needs such as food, teacher pay, and staff pay (we have 65 paid staff on the ground). Right now, we are at risk for losing teachers due to our insufficient funding, which will shut down our school and put over 1000 children back into the village life, we worked so hard to rescue them from.
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What happens to kids if they are not in school? Sadly, the situations at the homes are also very desperate. Some will need to move to live with relatives away from their home. Others will be force to work the fields. Some will be sold into child marriage and early marriage. Others will potentially die of starvation. There will be no way to monitor child neglect and abuse without the school. And no daily meal means many will go without any food or only have a small meal a day at best.
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Sponsoring 66 will save the lives of over 1000. And it will allow our dedicated staff to continue to work for Hands of Action, and provide for their own families. The 66 sponsored will no longer have to worry about their school fees, and they can freely come to school and learn.
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Our monthly inclusive budget for this organization to run is $9000. This is our bare bones, no emergencies, no maintenance, no expansion budget. We are currently needing $2500 a month to meet that bare minimum.