Although SSCF is only a small charity there are lots of ways that you can be involved:
We sponsor 30 children at the Primary School. Some of the sponsors continue year on year but sometimes it will be a one-off one year sponsorship so there are always children who need help. The main reason that the children need their school fees to be paid is that, due to HIV/AIDS, many families have only one parent or grandparent. Increasingly frequently they may have no adult in their family. We believe that education is the way forward in Swaziland and making sure that these children get the chance of an education is one of our most important objectives. Going to school also gives children the security of structure and discipline plus the social advantages.
Sponsors who wish to continue year-on-year will receive the school report for their child/children and photographs whenever we visit. Last year when we sent the container we also sent shoe boxes to the sponsored children. For details of how to get started sponsoring please visit the Child Sponsorship page.
Fundraising
The life blood of every charity is their funds and we are no exception. We fundraise as much as we can in the local community but are always in the situation where we could do more in Swaziland if only we have the money. If you can hold an event for us we would be delighted. We have some leaflets that show different aspects of SSCF that we can send you to show your supporters and we will always help in any practical way possible. Please contact us if you need any more information.
Project Participation
We are interested in taking a group/groups to Swaziland on working holidays and are exploring this idea for 2009. These types of holiday have become very popular in recent years and we could certainly do with some extra pairs of hands. It would be on the basis that you pay a fee/contribution before departure then we meet in Swaziland (you pay your airfares), take you to the community where we would be staying in local standard accommodation (hotels would be expensive and not in the spirit of the trip), each person taking their turn at the domestics e.g. shopping, cooking etc., daily work parties on a specific project that may require you to carry out manual labour and some informal evening relaxation. There could be local visits to places of interest, have a go at teaching English or soccer etc., stay on a game reserve or National Park. There is lots of scope but we need to know if there is any interest before we develop the idea. Please let us know.
Community Friendship
We started from scratch with SSCF and it is just amazing to see the results achieved. You could start a Community Friendship in your own area (not Sleaford of course!). We would be very interested to meet anyone who may want to do this and will answer as many questions on email etc. as you can ask. There are communities in Swaziland that we could put you in touch with and will help all we can. Our charity is run by people who all have full time commitments as well, and it is run on a flexible basis that suits all those involved. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you like the idea. |
