Question: I am interested to sponsor. What do I do to begin?
Answer: Sponsorship is an arrangement where the sponsor supports the child through sending Malaika Integra 20 euro per month. This money is used for the needs of the children in the project where the child is cared for. The donor also has the opportunity to send his child letters and will receive 2-3 letters from the child a year and a new photo yearly.
If you wish to sponsor:
1, fill in the questionnaire on the web site and send it to us – this allows you to choose the gender, age and country of the child you would like to sponsor. Or to choose to sponsor any child in the most need.
If you do not have access to the internet, you can call our office and we can send you the questionnaire by mail. Call 421-2-5720 3518.
2. when we receive your request, we will immediately send you more information about sponsoring details in the post.
3. we will also send you a suggested child to sponsor. We will hold this child for you for 30 days, while you decide if you agree to sponsor him/her. (after 30 days, if we do not hear from you, we can assign the child to another sponsor, as in some cases, there is some urgency as the child is waiting to be able to begin school.)
4. after you have read the information and the child assignment sheet, you need to let us know that you agree to sponsor the child we have suggested. You can do this by returning the response form, or by emailing or calling our office.
5. your sponsorship agreement is activated, when we receive the first 20 euro payment in our bank account.
Tatra bank Account name: Integra Account number: 2625475865 IBAN 1100 000 0026 2547 5865 Swift Code TATRSKBX
You will receive a thank you letter to let you know that we have received your contribution and that it has been sent to the relevant project in Africa.
The regular sponsorship amount is 20 euros per month. A monthly payment standing order with the bank is easier for you and for us. It is important to give regularly as the local African projects wait for the monthly donations to pay for the needs of the children.
Question: I am interested to sponsor. What do I do to begin?
Answer: Sponsorship is an arrangement where the sponsor supports the child through sending Malaika Integra 20 euro per month. This money is used for the needs of the children in the project where the child is cared for. The donor also has the opportunity to send his child letters and will receive 2-3 letters from the child a year and a new photo yearly.
If you wish to sponsor:
1, fill in the questionnaire on the web site and send it to us – this allows you to choose the gender, age and country of the child you would like to sponsor. Or to choose to sponsor any child in the most need.
If you do not have access to the internet, you can call our office and we can send you the questionnaire by mail. Call 421-2-5720 3518.
2. when we receive your request, we will immediately send you more information about sponsoring details in the post.
3. we will also send you a suggested child to sponsor. We will hold this child for you for 30 days, while you decide if you agree to sponsor him/her. (after 30 days, if we do not hear from you, we can assign the child to another sponsor, as in some cases, there is some urgency as the child is waiting to be able to begin school.)
4. after you have read the information and the child assignment sheet, you need to let us know that you agree to sponsor the child we have suggested. You can do this by returning the response form, or by emailing or calling our office.
5. your sponsorship agreement is activated, when we receive the first 20 euro payment in our bank account.
Tatra bank Account name: Integra Account number: 2625475865 IBAN 1100 000 0026 2547 5865 Swift Code TATRSKBX
You will receive a thank you letter to let you know that we have received your contribution and that it has been sent to the relevant project in Africa.
The regular sponsorship amount is 20 euros per month. A monthly payment standing order with the bank is easier for you and for us. It is important to give regularly as the local African projects wait for the monthly donations to pay for the needs of the children.
Question: When I decide to sponsor a child, how is my child chosen?
Answer: From the information provided on your questionnaire, we match your preferences to our list of needy children from the various projects. If there is a child in greater need, they will be chosen first, however, all children offered for sponsorship are in need of sponsor help to be able to attend school. We have found that sponsors often prefer to sponsor younger children, so sometimes older ones are without support. So if you agree to sponsor any child in need, we will often assign an older child who may otherwise to overlooked.
After you receive the initial child assignment sheet, you have the choice to ask us to assign a different child, if for some reason you are not satisfied.
Question: I would like to be able to see photos of the children and their names on the website so that I can choose the child I want myself. Is this possible?
Answer: We realize that some organizations do this, but we in Malaika have decided that our donors normally want to help a needy child, and do not want to choose based on how the child looks.
Also we decided with our African partners to not publish photos with names of children. This is for the protection of the child, their family and their stories. Not all families are happy to have their photos and their financial problems recorded in a public form. Another reason is that occasionally our projects care for children who have been abused and we do not want to aid an abuser in being able to find them.
Question: How will my monthly child sponsorship donation be used?
Answer: In all our projects, sponsor money is used for school costs and food costs. In some cases, the child is also provided with a school uniform from Malaika support. The money sent is spread among the needs of all the children in the project, since not all children have sponsors and we want to care for all equally. If a child is in a residential care center, the donation may also help with their food, care, and personal needs.
When you pay 20 euros into our account, 4 euros is kept in Slovakia to help pay for the costs of running the program – marketing, communications etc. (more details in question no. 7.) 16 euros is sent to the project which cares for your child.
We do not give the money to the child himself. This would cause many problems in a poor society and it would be very difficult to control how the money is actually used. The money is used in the project according to the contract agreement between Malaika Integra and the local African project.
Question: How does Malaika Integra choose their local partners?
Answer: We usually meet new potential partners through recommendations from reliable contacts within the country.
Before we begin to partner with an African project,
we make several visits to see the project and assess it.
We contact local references and check how the project is perceived in the local community.
We talk to staff, children and parents connected to the project.
We also contact any other donors to the project to find out if they have any concerns about the project management and if they are getting adequate and accurate financial reports.
We check audit reports and financial statements.
All our African partners:
Operate under a contract with Integra – a Memorandum of Understanding.
Under this contract, the financial and reporting requirements are described. If this contract is broken, our partnership with the project, will end.
Must have a local, active and independent board of directors, who have decision making power. We will not work with an individual who controls the whole project by himself.
Must have a yearly audit, completed by a reputable auditing firm.
Must provide Malaika Integra with regular financial reports and access to the financial books if required.
Ongoing assessment:
Each of our projects are visited several times a year by an Integra Malaika staff person. During these visits, compliance with the contract in all details is checked. Financial statements and receipts may be checked. We interact with the director, staff and children to make sure the program is running as projected and those involved are well treated and cared for.
Each project must send us regular financial documents, photos, and updates about the project. These are followed up and if necessary checked during local visits.
In the event of a project failing to keep their contract:
we will offer training and sometimes expert help, to help the project to make the needed changes.
If this does not bring the required results after a couple of months, we will cease our partnership with the partner. If we have evidence that they are not using money as directed in the contract, no more money will be sent. The local project will have plenty of warning and help and opportunity to change, but if progress is not made within a few months, then all donations cease.
If, we have concerns about a partner, we will let the sponsors know our concerns and that we are working with the project to make some improvements. Then if we must cease donations, all sponsors will immediately be informed about the situation and given opportunity to change their sponsorship to another project.
This was the case with one partner, with whom we ceased partnership and stopped all donations in 2010 after irregularities were not corrected. We let donors know about the situation, informed them when we had to stop sending donations and kept them informed about their child’s situation, as much as was possible.
Our commitment to the children however, did not end. In this case, many of the children were sent away from the project by the management and so we have been able to continue to support and care for 60 of the children within our scholarship project. This will not always be possible but we are happy that in this case, we have been able to continue care for so many from this project.
Question:How can I be sure that the money I donate goes to the needs of the child?
Answer:Please also read question 5 for more information about this topic. As explained in question 4, Malaika Integra is committed to send 16 euros of every 20 euro donation to the Local African project, where the child is cared for (for more info about the 4 euro admin charge, see question 7).
Each of our African partners have signed an agreement with Malaika Integra detailing how the money they receive from Slovak donors must be used. In all cases, this money is used for the child’s school and food and sometimes health needs and school uniform. If the child is also placed in a residential care center, the donations can also be used for their food, care, and personal needs.
During our regular visits to the projects, we check how our donations were used, by checking financial documents and reports (see question 5).
Question: Are siblings of my child also cared for in the project where my child is educated?
Answer: In all our projects, siblings are welcome if they are also in need and if the school can provide the school class needed. We endeavor to make the opportunity available to all children from the family who are in need.
As a case in point, recently we observed a family with 4 children come to apply for admittance to our Ethiopian project, Bishoftu. The father requested that the 3 younger children be allowed to attend school but stated that the older girl (about age 10) would be kept at home to care for the baby. However, the project director insisted that this older girl also be given the chance for school, along with her brothers. Read more...
Question: If all children in a project do not have sponsors, does this not result in jealousy among the children?
Answer: We recognize that this is a possibility. In small projects, it is possible that quite quickly all children will have sponsors, but in our larger projects this is not always possible, though it is our goal that all children would eventually all have a sponsor who writes to them.
So we do the following to help with this problem:
When we bring letters (and only some children receive a letter from their sponsor) we also bring something that the whole class can share – sweets for everyone for example. We also tell the child that this letter is for him and for his class.
Actually all children in all our projects benefit from donors - even though they may not have their own sponsor. (often other donors give to whole project and not through the sponsorship model). So project directors sometimes explain to the children, that all children have donors and some children are the representatives who will receive and write letters on behalf of the rest – so that no one feels left out.
This is also why we ask our sponsors to not send gifts to their child, as we will not give a gift to one child while others receive nothing.
Also to deal with this problem, we would like to begin the possibility of class sponsorship, where a group of friends would sponsor a whole school class – thus ensuring that no one is left out. For more information about this, please contact our office at malaika@integra.sk.
Question: Can I support the project even if I am unable to send a monthly amount?
Answer: Absolutely. All donations whether regular or one-time, go to the projects to help with the children’s costs. If the donation is not designated, we send it to the project with the most critical need. Sponsorship does not cover all the needs of the projects and so your donation will still go toward the needs of the children: their food, health or school needs. Occasionally we have a special project to raise money for a particular need and in these projects both regular and one time gifts are appreciated.
All donations, both for child sponsorship or for general needs are sent to the account:
Tatra bank Account name: Integra Account number: 2625475865 I BAN 1100 000 0026 2547 5865 Swift Code TATRSKBX
Another way to support - If you believe in the power of prayer, we would ask you to pray for the children in the projects. From time to time, current needs come up. Please contact us if you would like to be informed about specific prayer needs.
In any of these cases, when we hear from the African partner that the sponsored child has left the project, we contact the sponsor to let him know why the child has left. We understand that this is sometimes disappointing for the sponsor who has bonded with the child, but these cases are beyond our control. However, in each case, we then offer the sponsor the opportunity to transfer their sponsorship to another needy child.
Occasionally sponsors send a gift which they would like us to take to their child. Of course, because we have many sponsored children, we can only take small things. Also we ask donors if they send a gift to choose something that can be shared with the child's class and we give the gifts to the class, particularly mentioning that it was a gift from the sponsor of the child. The best way to do this, to avoid us having to carry many items, is to give an extra gift donation and that money is then used in Africa, to buy something for the class of the sponsored child.
If sponsors give a present that can not be shared, we save those gifts to be given at Christmas time. That is because we would like to treat all children fairly, so we would like to give gifts when all children can receive something. So if a sponsor sends a gift to their child and the child does not mention it in their letter, this is because we have kept back the gift to be given at Christmas.
Answer:Sponsors are given the opportunity to send letters to their child usually 3 times a year. In this letter they can include photos, post cards, or drawings. (nothing of any commercial value – as this would cause jealousy and unhappiness). The sponsor will also receive letters from their child, 2 or 3 times a year.
Occasionally, sponsors ask to send gifts to their child. We understand the motive behind this is to do something nice for their sponsored child. But in discussion, with the project managers, we have agreed that we will not give gifts for children in the project. The only exception to this is that occasionally in a small project, we may collect money donations to buy all children a small present for Christmas. We will inform you if this happens.
This may be disappointing for donors, but the reason we decided to stop taking gifts to children is because inevitably, one child was made happy, while another child felt left out and uncared for. This is too high a price to pay to take gifts to some.
The other reason, is that the children now really value getting letters and photos and value the relationship with the donor. For some this relationship goes for several years and as time goes on, the sponsor and child begin to share on a deeper level. However, if some children start getting gifts, then a letter alone loses its value, as the child longs for a gift as other children receive and the gift becomes more important than the relationship.
So our policy is to give letters and photos and not gifts. If a gift is sent to our office, for a child, we will not be able to deliver it to the child, as requested by the project managers. If it is school equipment, it may be turned over to the school to be used in a class which is short of school supplies. We ask for your understanding in this.
Occasionally we have a special Christmas project to provide gifts or clothes for children in a project, if that is a need. We will notify you if we will do a special collection in your sponsored child’s project.
Sometimes donors ask about sending used clothing or school supplies to their child. This is often difficult because of the luggage limitations on airlines. Also used clothing is easily purchased in Africa. It is preferable if the donor sends an extra money gift through the Integra account and lets us know that this is for school or clothing. Clothing gifts can only be given to children who live in a residential program – if you want to send money for clothes, please contact our office to find out if your child lives at home or in a residential program. All our school projects already provide the child with school uniform and shoes and sponsor donations help with this cost.
To start to give some families clothes and not others, would cause a lot of disruption in the local projects.
If your child is in a residential program, and you send money for their clothes, we do not just buy for one child but share the money among all the children in the sleeping room of the child.
Question: Can I write direct to my child, or have telephone or email contact with him/her?
Answer: We understand the desire of the sponsor for contact with the child, but based on discussion with other sponsorship groups and with African project directors, we request that all correspondence goes through our Integra office. So we do not pass on to children the sponsor’s email, postal address or phone number.
This is mainly for donor protection, as experience has shown that if a child has direct contact to a donor, they will often begin to request money and goods from the donor. If not they, often their extended family members will and a donor may find requests coming from many people he has never heard of. The individual donor has no way to determine if the story they tell him is true and if he is actually meeting a real need or not when he send things or money to an individual.
So to prevent this happening and to ensure that all donations go to meet important needs, we request that you send all letters through our office. We have promised the project directors that we will check all letters both coming and going to make sure that the content is appropriate. This is not to invade privacy but to prevent the possibility of inappropriate content reaching a vulnerable child.
Question: Common questions about letters and photos:
Answer:What can I write to my sponsored child? What is interesting to them? What should I avoid talking about?
Children like to hear about you and your family. They enjoy seeing your photos, so that they can imagine easier how their sponsor looks. They enjoy hearing about things you enjoy, facts about Slovakia. They like to hear about local sports and teams you support. Its best not to talk a lot about expensive holidays or expenditures.
Some sponsors have done some very creative things to make their letters interesting. Some illustrate them with drawings, some make simple games to enclose, some make hand made cards to enclose. All these things make the letters interesting for the children.
My sponsored child doesn’t write interesting letters to me – they usually sound similar to the last letter.
Once or twice, we have received a comment from a sponsor that they are disappointed that the child does not write better or more interesting letters. We try to work with each of our projects to help the children to improve their letters, but here are some reasons why the letter may not contain a lot of new information.
The older children are all encouraged to write themselves, even if the letter contains mistakes. Younger children may be helped by a sibling or friend.
Sometimes the sponsor expects the child to write like Slovak children might. However, it is often very hard for a poor African child to know what to write about to their sponsor. They do not have the opportunity to visit cinemas, to read a lot of interesting books, to make trips and take holidays, go to zoos or shopping malls. Their life is usually the same every day: get up, go fetch water, help with the younger children, go to school, after school to maybe play or help their mom, to do homework and go to bed. So it is hard for them to find new and interesting things to tell their sponsors.
African children assume that Europe must be similar to their life, and so can not imagine what would be interesting for a European to know. It is also possible that some children know that they live in very poor conditions and they are embarrassed to write in detail about that.
in Kenya the children try to write in English but for many of them English is their 3rd language, so it is not surprising if they struggle to find ways to express themselves in a letter.
you may compare a child to a child in Slovakia who at age10 has likely been in school already several years. Some African children had no opportunity to attend school in early years or attended schools where the learning was very poor. Perhaps they did not even have paper and pens – so their writing and even learning skills may be delayed for their age.
often the children in our projects have been through a lot of childhood trauma which always interferes with the learning process – so again, they may not write as well as the sponsor expects.
Sometimes sponsors are disappointed that “the child does not answer a question which I wrote to them”. Often this is because they had to write the letter before they received the letter from their sponsor. Or because they do not find writing easy and so they were unable to formulate an answer by themselves. In some of our projects we have more than 100 children sponsored, so it is hard for the project coordinator to help every child answer every question. It does not mean that they did not receive the letter, as we always distribute all letters sent by sponsors to all children, unless the child has moved and left the project.
“This is a photo of a different child” - There has been a case, where a sponsor told us that the photo they received was not the same child, as the photo they received last year. There are 2 possibilities:
- we have over 1000 children in our projects, so there is the possibility that a photo has been mixed up, often with a child with the same first name.
- in almost all cases, the photo has been of the same child, but looking different. A smiling face and a sober face can look very different, or a photo taken from a different angle. Girls can change their look by adding hair pieces to their braids, to make them suddenly have long hair. And we know a few months can also change a child’s look significantly.
However, if at any time you suspect that the photo is not of your child, please contact us and we will check to make sure. We want to make sure there has been no error on the administrative side.
Answer: Generally we ask the sponsor to consider sponsoring the child for at least 3 years and hopefully until they are finished school and sometimes finished some vocational training. This is because unless the student finishes basic school and sometimes high school or some kind of trade training, they will still not be able to earn their own income and become independent.
However, the sponsor is not bound to continue any pre-arranged length of time. Sometimes sponsors must stop due to change in their circumstances, and in this case we ask them to please let us know that they must discontinue the sponsorship arrangement. We understand this and there is no pressure placed on the sponsor to continue to sponsor.
In these cases, some sponsors ask friends or relatives to take over the sponsorship arrangement if they, themselves must stop and this is very helpful. In this way, the original sponsor still retains some relationship with the child, through the new sponsors.
Answer: We in Integra understand that sponsors must occasionally stop to sponsor, due to change in their circumstances, and in this case we ask them to please let us know that they must discontinue the sponsorship arrangement. We understand this and there is no pressure placed on the sponsor to continue to sponsor.
In these cases, some sponsors ask friends or relatives to take over the sponsorship arrangement if they, themselves must stop and this is very helpful. In this way, the original sponsor still retains some relationship with the child, through the new sponsors.
Many donors tell us that if they have had to stop sponsoring, that they continue to pray for the child and this is much appreciated.
Question: What if my child leaves the project where I am sponsoring him?
Answer: When we assign a child for sponsorship, we endeavor to choose a child who will stay long term in the project. However, in spite of this, sometimes a child leaves the project unexpectedly. In poor communities, unemployment is so common, that often families must move to secure work or to live with relatives because they have no income. So in these cases, the sponsored child must move with their family away from the school project where they are sponsored.
This is disheartening, both for the local project, as they have hoped to see the child grow to independence, and for the sponsor. Of course sponsors are sad when their child leaves, but we know that it is an unhappy affect of poverty that people must be more mobile, always looking for better circumstances.
Malaika’s commitment to the sponsor, is that we request our partners to let us know when a sponsored child leaves and we immediately pass on this information to the sponsor. We will then offer a new child for sponsorship, if the family would like to continue. We do not continue to send your money to the project, unless the donor gives us permission to do so.
Question: Can I legally adopt the child that I am sponsoring?
Answer: All countries have their own rules for adoption, which must be complied with. We in Integra are not an adoption agency and we are not organizing adoptions. If you have interest to adopt a child, you must check with the legal adopting agencies of the country concerned. Do not in any case, accept information or children from individuals, who do not have legal permission to organize adoptions.
Question: Can my child come to Slovakia to visit me?
Answer: Occasionally donors inquire about paying for their child to come to Slovakia. Under normal circumstances this is not possible and donors should not offer this to their child. It is not always helpful for a child who lives in a poorer country to visit a richer one, as this can lead to discontent and unrealistic expectations of the child. Integra does not encourage and will not assist in such visits.
The only exception was when a drama group from one African project was invited to perform in Sweden and we were also able to host them in Slovakia for a few days. However this is unusual and not our normal practice and very different from a sponsor bringing one child for a visit.
Question: Can I travel to Africa to visit my child?
Answer: Travel to visit your sponsored child is possible and must be arranged well ahead of the trip with Malaika staff who will communicate with the local project. All costs and travel arrangements are the responsibility of the sponsor himself. Arrangements to visit are subject to the approval and availability of the local project staff and subject to the rules and requirements of the local project. Contact the Integra office for more information.
Answer: Yes, we assign only one Slovak sponsor to each child. However, our sponsorship payments do not cover all costs of the children’s needs, so our African projects have other donors from other countries as well. So in some cases a child may also have a sponsor from another country, if needed to pay their costs. We always coordinate with these other donor groups, to make sure that there is no overlapping of payments.
