Thank you for supporting Beyond a Generation – Ghana Child Sponsorship Program.
A sponsorship is a long-term, effective way of enabling poor, orphaned, and at-risk children to enjoy the security of a family and receive a good education and skills/ apprenticeship training.
We welcome you to our family of sponsors who enable us to meet the needs of so many children. This policy document gives you the opportunity to learn about our work and provides you with important information about your sponsorship.
Sponsoring a child/ Children
As a child sponsor, you will follow your sponsored child on his or her journey through childhood and into an independent life.
We provide you description and a picture of the sponsored child or village. In addition, we send you general information about the specific village where your child lives or the village that you support through a village sponsorship.
We allocate sponsorships to vulnerable children with the highest financial need based on the availability of funding.
Funding that is not to specific children will be assigned to new children with the most needs.
Your only commitment as a sponsor is your continuous financial and/ or material contribution. You may cancel your sponsorship at any time. When doing so we would appreciate a short note with feedback.
WHY SPONSOR A CHILD THROUGH BEYOND A GENERATION – GHANA
We share in community life and respond to the social development needs of society’s most vulnerable children and young people. We establish facilities and programs that aim to strengthen families and prevent the abandonment of children. We join hands with community members to provide education, training, and health care.
We aim to make a lasting impact in the lives of families and to create a cycle of education, training, service, and empowerment to give back to society. We are one of the only organizations providing support to poor, vulnerable children and their families to achieve self-sufficiency and break the cycle of poverty.
Your contributions make a difference
Thank you for choosing to uplift a vulnerable child from poverty, with your contribution you enable us to cover the costs of school uniforms, materials/ tools that your sponsored child(ren) needs, as well as all additional programs in the area; e.g. afterschool programs, health and sanitation, family strengthening programs. Your supports help us meet the daily needs of the children in our program and guarantees that they receive education, training, and medical assistance.
Beyond a Generation – Ghana seeks to reach as many vulnerable children as possible. To prevent child labour and forced marriages, strengthen families at risk of breaking apart. Therefore, through our family strengthening program, we increasingly focus on helping families in the local community find the skills and resources to become self-sufficient and to give their children the proper care that all children deserve.
While supporting our work, you help to improve the living conditions of exposed children and their families in the locality.
CHILD SPONSORSHIP POLICY
The purpose of this policy is to provide standards to ensure that the implementation of Child Sponsorship is in alignment with the organization’s values, aims, mission, and strategy.
Beyond a Generation – Ghana’s strategy is to end poverty in the North Mo Traditional Area through partnership and empowering the indigenous people living in poverty to claim their rights through educational sponsorship, skills/ apprenticeship/ vocational training and provision of tools. Our work is holistic leading to gainful employment/ self-employment influencing passage of knowledge/ skills set to family members to end the cycle of poverty.
We are committed to accountability, learning and planning systems to achieving greater involvement, transparency, and accountability with our partners, communities and supporters and purposeful impacts in the lives of sponsored children, their families and the community at large.
The increased emphasis on transparency, accountability and impact reporting has changed perspectives on child sponsorship, requiring timely reporting and to ensure supporters/ funders remain well informed and that an ‘information gap’ does not develop between sponsors, and sponsored child/ parent or community. The need for procedure is therefore addressed here.
Beyond a Generation – Ghana steps in, linking individuals, trustees, cooperation, institutions and poor/ vulnerable and at-risk children, their families and communities. The organization encourages and builds strong bonds between supporters, child and community with the recognition that when empowered, through the availability of resources; poor people are strengthened with required skill set and experiences to meet their basic needs and rights to enable them overcome poverty.
Every part of the organization is required to comply with these policies. Volunteers, Staff, Interns, Ambassadors and/ or fundraising personnel are employed to maintain compliance with these policies. We make commitments in how the child, parents/ guardians and community will be partners in the process of their empowerment, what rights will be ensured for the children, what funds are being raised and how the funds are being spent and what changes the sponsorship program will seek to bring in their lives.
Beyond a Generation – Ghana makes commitments as to how supporters’ contributions will be spent, the expected outcomes as a result of this partnership and how they can engage with the child and community, how they can visit sponsored children/ communities and what communications they will receive.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILD SPONSORSHP
The overarching mission of all programs is to reach the most deprived and marginalized. The child sponsorship program seeks to improve access to education to poor, orphaned, at-risk and needy children through the provision of learning materials, uniforms, bags, shoes and lunch. Providing conducive and safe environment for an after-school program at a center where computing, literacy and numeracy will be taught. Sports facilities will be provided to encourage team work and development of talent among sponsored children.
Poor and excluded girls, boys, women and men will be sponsored through apprenticeship, vocational, technical and skill set programs through the provision of tools, equipment, period in training and establishment to ensure there are no ‘idle hands’ in our program communities.
Essential to child sponsorship program is the ability to achieve desired outcome – improving the life of poor children, their families and breaking the cycle of poverty to last beyond generation. The minimum duration of funding is 5 years (upon achieving program goal).
All sponsored children, men and women must put in the necessary effort in their priority areas of education/ skills training upon enrollment in the sponsorship program to ensure their continued sponsorship. Improvement in sponsored children’s learning outcome is expected to continue to be on the program. Higher levels of self-esteem, aspirations, self-expectations and lower levels of hopelessness is expected of every sponsored individual. Sponsored children and their families are expected to be ambassadors living noble lives wherever they may be.
POLICY 1: CHILD SPONSORSHIP FUNDING – IDENTIFICATION OF CHILDREN
In collaboration with schools, sponsorship will be given to ultra-poor families/ most needy children with the maximum number per household/ family being three (3) running concurrently. We possible, we will provide their parents/ guardians with livestock (GOATS), seeds/ fruit tree seedlings, as well as training in trades/ village savings to help strengthen and diversify livelihoods.
Sponsorship will be provided to individuals for whom without Beyond a Generation ‘stepping in the gap’ they will otherwise be unable to go to school and/ or have skills set training. The Chief Executive Officer will give approval to those children, girls, boys, women and men to be enrolled on the program based on their history/ information collated (through Child Sponsorship Forms) and funding available.
1.1. There must be a genuine commitment that the program will focus attention on the poorest people, especially children, women, persons with disabilities and the marginalized.
Core requirements
- Appraisal
- Partner strategies/ strategic plans
- Annual Operational plans and budget
- Fundraising/ secure funding.
- Roll –out / implementation
- Annual review, learning reports and audit
- Communicate impact report to supporters.
1.2 It must be possible to demonstrate impact and change to the lives of poor and vulnerable children, women, families and the communities as a result of the child sponsorship program.
1.3 Data shall be collected on the sponsored person (child) before, during and after sponsorship with the individuals’. Respect of privacy and data protection is key to all work and any volunteer, staff, intern shall be bound to not disclose these information without prior approval by the Chief Executive Officer or by law.
1.4 Selection of persons into the sponsorship program will be based on policy number 1.1, and approved by the Chief Executive Officer or his/ her assignee.
1.5 Sponsorship identification numbers will be assigned to sponsored children.
1.6 The Child Sponsorship process and funding mechanism must be understood and accepted by partner community and other stakeholders, including relevant authorities. This understanding with stakeholders must be sufficient to ensure that difficulties do not later emerge when the linking activities are carried out and that program is able to meet obligations of supporters/ funders.
1.7 Sponsored children and their families must be stable for a minimum period of 3 years to ensure continuity ( for instance in terms of migrations).
1.8 Sponsored children must not be enrolled in other sponsorship program with other or similar charity organization(s).
1.9 Through an annual review and reflection process, we will learn with the sponsored children, their families and partners with whom we work, the progress and impact being made, so that we can improve the quality of our work, impact and also communicate these changes to our supporters.
Creating space for the community to tell their story in their own words
1.10 Poor and vulnerable women, children, men girls and boys and their families in the program must be given the opportunity to tell Beyond a Generation – Ghana and our supporters in their own words the impact, both positive and negative of our work on their lives.
Adhere to Child Protection Policy
1.11 Volunteers, partners, and staff in contact with children must adhere to the guidelines of behavior set out in the Child Protection Policy.
1.12 Sponsored children will be assigned unique codes for identification, correspondence, funding and reporting.
No exclusive benefits to participants of Child Sponsorship Program
1.13 No exclusive benefits will be provided to linked children and their households by virtue of their being part of the Child Sponsorship Program.
Integrate programs and sponsorship work
1.14 Integrate programs and sponsorship activities when measuring impact, information collected for program purposes should be used to assist in the reporting to funders/ supporters.
Measurement of impact
1.15 Our Child Sponsorship program is focused on addressing empowerment of poor people and the formation of strong community interest groups in order to address the root causes of poverty. Measuring and reporting on service delivery activities presents less challenge in terms of demonstrating results and impact. Assessing our work and communicating effectively the impact, both at community level and to supporters is essential to ensure the sustainability of our interventions and supporter relationships.
Policy 2. THE SPONSORSHIP
As a sponsor (child sponsor), you follow your sponsored child’s progress on his/ her journey to an independent life. You follow everyday life in the community and have an opportunity to visit the village and take part in the lives of children and their family.
2.1 All sponsors receive updates from Beyond a Generation twice a year.
2.2 You are provided with updated information regarding the development of your child/ children between June and September. You will receive a recent photograph of your sponsored child or the children.
2.3 At the end of the year, you will receive a report about what has been going on with our Child Sponsorship Program and its supporting programs. The Annual newsletter will come with news and stories from our various programs.
2.4 As a child sponsor, we entreat you to treat information about children entrusted to you with discretion.
2.5 Protection of the rights of children in our care is essential to our work. We observe relevant data protection regulations, kindly understand that there are details about children we cannot pass to sponsors.
2.6 Cooperations, foundations, schools, organizations/ institutions who wish to sponsor children are encouraged to do so; Policy 2. To 2.5 shall apply to these organizations.
2.7 When your sponsored child leaves our care, you will have the opportunity to continue your commitment by supporting another child.
2.8 We encourage you not to pass on information to third parties outside your immediate family and/ or cycle of friends.
2.9 We sincerely appreciate individuals/ families/ institutions who wish to be ambassadors for the Child Sponsorship Program or mobilizing resources, raising needed awareness, funding and logistics are encouraged to contact us. We love to be partners in making the world a better place.
2.10 We appreciate donated clothing, food, shoes, sports equipment, books, computers (and other electronics). They help make life better for sponsored children, schools and entire communities.
POLICY 3. WRITING TO YOUR SPONSORED CHILD
Children in our Child Sponsorship Program will love to hear from their sponsors. You are therefore warmly welcome to send letters and pictures, it is however not possible to contact your sponsored child via email. Please consider our guidelines when writing to your sponsored child.
Guidelines
3.1 All letters/ correspondence shall be addressed to the Chief Executive Officer.
3.2 Please do not write the name of your sponsored child on the outside of the envelope, only on the actual greeting or letter.
3.3 Kindly write in English, keep the formulation of letters and greetings short and simple.
3.4 More than likely, your sponsored child comes from a different culture. Values, traditions and the standard of living can be very different from what you are familiar with.
3.5 Please write about your everyday life, family, hobbies, pets and things children might be interested in.
3.6 All communications shall be established and maintained through Beyond a Generation – Ghana.
3.7 The sponsored child may respond to your letters; in any case, you will receive confirmation or a reply from Beyond a Generation – Ghana.
3.8 Please always quote your sponsorship number in all correspondence.
POLICY 4. GIFTS TO YOUR SPONSORED CHILD
You have the possibility of sending your sponsored child a gift, we suggest gifts that will be received with no damage due to handling by postage.
4.1 We recommend you consider that, custom cost should not exceed the value of the parcel. If the gift can be purchased in Ghana, we encourage purchasing it here to maximize use of donations.
4.2 You have the possibility to give a money gift to your sponsored child in addition to the regular sponsorship contributions. The money will be held in a savings account and this together with interest will be used as a start into their independent life. Money gifts are used in the child’s best interest and based on the child’s individual development plan.
4.3 You may set up an endowment fund for children in the Child Sponsorship Program or nominate Beyond a Generation – Ghana in your estate.
4.4 In some cases, money gifts are used to cover costs in connection with further training or education. They may also be used to purchase a small plot of land for farming or to start a small business to train children and raise funding.
4.5 In some cases, gifts such as stickers, books, pencils, balls or something similar may be enjoyed by other children in our after-school programs.
POLICY 5. VISITING YOUR SPONSORED CHILD OR BAMBOI VILLAGE
You are welcome to visit your sponsored child or the Bamboi village in Savannah Region – Ghana. When planning a visit, kindly contact us at least a month in advance to arrange a mutually convenient date and time. You will have the opportunity to meet your sponsored child and their family; experience the culture of the indigenous Mo/ Deg Tribe, visit the Kintampo Waterfalls, The Bui National Park (to possibly see Hippos), The Mole National Park (to possibly see Elephants and other animals) and the historic Buabeng Monkey Sanctuary in Bono East Region.
GUIDELINES
5.1 Our staff will provide you with the exact address and other valuable information about the village.
5.2 A staff or worker in the village will be available to show you around and to translate if necessary.
5.3 You will be responsible for the cost of your accommodation, transport, and feeding, sightseeing, shopping, a staff who will accompany you on your travels outside the village and other related expenses.
5.4 You cannot take your sponsored child on a visit outside the village on your own.
5.5 Visits abroad by sponsored children are not possible. They must always be accompanied by an assigned staff on the trip.
POLICY 6. DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD SPONSORSHIP FUNDS AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Beyond a Generation – Ghana makes every effort to ensure transparency and keep administration costs low. We appreciate your donations represent your time, your sacrifices and are keen to using them to support the children in our Child Sponsorship Program; to cover the running costs, budgeted investments and supporting programs.
6.1 Child sponsorship funds are allocated as follows;
a). 70% is allocated to the immediate needs of the sponsored child.
b). 20% is allocated to cover fundraising and administration.
c). 10% is allocated as flexible funds to cover the cost of related activities.
6.2 Additional supporter donations go to the Gift Fund.
Supporters, partners and donors are advised to send donations to the Gift Fund of the child’s community. The fund must be spent each year to purchase items or organize events that can benefit as many children as possible in the project area (such as sports equipment, expeditions, special events, pens etc)
6.3 A well-documented accounts, audited financial reports are produced annually and shared via newsletters and our social media pages.
6.4 For earmarked donations that are not charged by credit card, please find our bank details below
Account name: Beyond a Generation – Ghana LBG
Account number: 7111180000839
Swift code: GHCBGHAC
Bank name: GCB Bank PLC
Branch: Wenchi
Bank Address: GCB Bank PLC
Post Office Box 49
+233(0)352195282
Wenchi, Bono Region
MTN Mobile Money Number (Accepts Local and International Donations): 0598947066 (Beyond a Generation – Ghana LBG)
MoMo Pay ID: 736881 (Beyond a Generation – Ghana LBG)
POLICY 7. WHEN CHILDREN LEAVE OUR PROGRAM
Generally, children stay in our care until they have finished their education or vocational/ skills training and are independent enough to look after themselves, their families and become ambassadors for Beyond a Generation – Ghana.
It is impossible to name an exact age when children leave our care due to differences in education and training systems, in most cases young people become independent between the ages of 18 and 25 years.
7.1 Beyond a Generation – Ghana offers more than clothing, food and education. The children receive mentorship, training, care, extra support and security for healthy development.
7.2 Children will leave our care after they have gained employable skills and become gainfully employed and self-sustaining.
7.3 If your sponsored child leaves our care or the sponsorship program, you will be informed immediately.
7.4 You will be given the opportunity to continue your commitment by supporting another child. If you choose to accept this suggested sponsorship, you do not need to do anything else. Should you not wish to continue, we kindly ask you to inform us.
POLICY 8. PERSONAL DATA
In order to register your sponsorship, we will save and process the personal data you provide in accordance with accepted data protection laws. Once your sponsorship is allocated, your data is then kept.
8.1 You are always welcome to check the data kept by Beyond a Generation – Ghana and correct any mistakes. Beyond a Generation – Ghana ensures that everyone who has access to personal details works in strict accordance with data protection requirements.
8.2 Please inform us of any change in e-mail or postal address or a change in your personal data, as we want to make sure that you receive all updates on your sponsorship, as well as our annual newsletters.
Contact us
If you have any questions, or you need to partner with us; please contact us.
missions@beyondageneration.org
+233(0)544166445/ +233 (0)591426565
Visit our website: www.beyondageneration.org
Write to us by post
Beyond a Generation – Ghana
Post Office Box KH85
Kintampo, Bono East
Ghana, West Africa.
WE SINCERELY APPRECIATE YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR WORK
YOUR DONATION MAKES A DIFFERENCE