Dinkinesh has been in FOVC’s Shanto sponsorship program since the very beginning. She came to FOVC ten years ago as a six year old. She attended the Kamfourd School of Excellence through 8th grade. Now she is 16 years old and going into 10th grade attending the local high school in Shanto. Our friends at FOVC sat down with Dinkinesh to ask her a few questions about what sponsorship means for her.
Dinkinesh says the number one way sponsorship helps her is to ensure her education. Sponsorship provides her with all the supplies she needs to attend school. FOVC says she is one of the top students in her grade and is a good role model for the other children. Because Dinkinesh is from a poor family, she says she would not have been able to afford to attend school on a regular basis. She also believes she would have been married by now.*
Better access to hygiene materials has also helped Dinkinesh to stay healthy and retain her dignity. FOVC’s Shanto Center of H.O.P.E. not only gives her access to clean water, soap and bathing facilities, but also provides her with feminine hygiene supplies. Many girls in rural Ethiopia must miss school during their period, but Dinkinesh says she is grateful for the supplies the sponsorship program provides for her. Because of this she is able to attend school every day.
Kamfourd School of Excellence is a private full day Pre-K-8th grade school which is supported by funding through Partners With Ethiopia as well as tuition paying students. 90% of our Shanto sponsored children attend Kamfourd School. We are looking for monthly partners who would be interested in helping us fund Kamfourd each month. If you’d like to partner with us on a monthly basis visit give2pwe.org and click ‘monthly recurring donation’.
To break the cycle of poverty for a child like Dinkinesh visit pwesponsorship.org to view our waiting children in the Dale area. Your $38 a month provides six hot meals a week (or supplementary food if the child lives far from the Center of H.O.P.E.), tutoring, homework help, hygiene training, medical care & more! There are currently 70 children waiting to be sponsored.
*UNICEF recently released a report on child marriage in Ethiopia which can be viewed here.