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Sponsoring a Child in Nepal or Cambodia

What Does a Nepcam Child Education Sponsorship Cost?

 

 
 
 
 
The monthly cost is AUD$27.00, fully tax deductible.

 
 
 
 
 
         
One of our sponsored children stands outside her house 
 
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How Do I Start a Sponsorship?
 
You can download the Sponsorship Form  and start your sponsorship - the detailed arrangements are described below.
 
At anytime, you can make further enquiries by emailing us at enquiries@nepcam.org.au or you can contact our Child Sponsorship Coordinator, Peter Culligan on (02) 9939 0785
 
 
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How Can a Sponsor Pay?
 
Sponsors can pay by bank transfer or cheque. You can elect to pay the full annual fee of $324 as one lump sum in advance or you can set up a recurring transfer of $27 per month which is payable on the 1st of every month.
 
Bank Transfer 
 
To sponsor a Nepali child, bank transfer to:  Nepcam Trust, ANZ Bank, BSB 012-349, A/C 487031895.
 
To sponsor a Cambodian child, bank transfer to:  Nepcam Trust, ANZ Bank, BSB 012-349, A/C 527513312.
 
Important: (When conducting the transaction, please ensure that you include your surname and indicate on the transaction the donation is for 'SAC'  an abbreviation for Sponsor a Child)
 
Cheque 
 
Please make cheques payable to "Nepcam Trust Aid Fund" and mail to the Chief Finance Officer, 1 St Andrews Close, Belrose, NSW 2085.
 
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When Can the Sponsorship Start?
 
 Sponsorships commence on 1st September or 1st March each year. 
  • Requests for payment are sent in early May and due 1st June for sponsorships starting 1st September
  • Requests for payment are sent in early November and due 1st December for sponsorships starting 1st March  
 
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Arrangements for Nepcam's Child Education Sponsorship Program
 
The following is a brief summary of the arrangements that our group of sponsors has found to work smoothly and efficiently.
 
The money each Nepcam sponsor provides is for the benefit of the child and the child’s mother in full, every cent.  There is no middle organisation or person that deducts charges for administration etc..  This is possible because other sponsors specifically pay for such charges both in Australia and overseas. 
 
(Please note that when sponsorship money is given to many charity organisations, a percentage of these funds is deducted for administration purposes).
 
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 Selection of a Child
 
In communities within Nepal, many children in poor economic circumstances are unable to obtain a quality education without support and development aid.
 
Following the procedures and processes encouraged by AusAID, the Nepali communities themselves nominate the children to be sponsored from the poorest families. Nepcam has further developed the traditional sponsorship model through our local indigenous social workers visiting the homes and schools of the children to assess and check the information provided on each child by his or her community to ensure the following criteria :  
  • the child comes from poor economic circumstances,
  • the child has a caring mother who values education and who will encourage the child while he or she is at school, and
  • the child is willing to attend school regularly and is determined to try his or her best, both at home and at school, to achieve good results.
In effect, Nepcam sponsorship means a sponsor is linked to a specific child such that his or her future education can be supported and closely monitored through direct regular contact (letters, e-mails, photo, school attendance and academic progress reports) and the opportunity to visit the child and the relevant school.  Nepcam has policies in place for all sponsor-child contact according to ACFID guidelines.
 
Nepcam emphasises that individual needs are best met through long term and sustainable community development programs.  Notwithstanding this, direct assistance may be provided in certain circumstances to individual mothers and children (such as your sponsored child): for example, there may be needs for short term support for school necessities such as fees, books, uniforms etc..  Funds for this program are accumulated as a percentage of each sponsorship dollar such that in cases where a street child or an exceptionally disadvantaged child need one or more of these items in order to attend school, our local overseas NGO partner will provide this support from within our Child Education Sponsorship Program, based upon its social workers' on-the-ground observations and assessments.  These direct assistance activities are not considered welfare, as they ensure participation and commitment of communities to education and longer term integrated sustainable community development as well as the protection of the children's rights and interests.
 
Another unique Nepcam initiative, which has drawn universally high praise from families in Nepal, is the provision of funds (accumulated as a percentage of every sponsorship dollar) for higher / further education for children wishing to continue their education to gain trade or professional qualifications.  Too often this is not possible because of a lack of funds within the families after sponsorship comes to a halt when the child leaves secondary school.  Nepcam provides funding for children who progress well at school and who are ambitious to proceed to tertiary study, upon application to our indigenous partner. Because the NGO's social workers have already had some years of contact with the family, it is in a position to assess each application on its merits.  When a child is educated to reach professional or trade status, the result is not just the improved lot of one child and his or her family but there is a multiplying effect for the community, and indeed their country.
 
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Local Schools
 
Efforts are made to ensure that the school to be attended is a very good school that is empathetic with the poor, that nourishes children in a caring environment, and one that emphasises the teaching of English.
 
Nepcam works with both government and non-government schools.  (We believe that a good chance of a family breaking the poverty cycle is for a Nepalese child to speak English and if it is not taught at the child's school, where possible, staff from our indigenous partner in Nepal, the Socio-Economic Welfare Centre for Energetic Women (EWC), encourage the child to make arrangements to compensate with after-school English tuition).
 
Children may change schools and the sponsorship will continue.  However, before a sponsorship can be transferred to a new school, a meeting must be held, to be attended by the mother, child, EWC staff and the current school Principal, during which reasons for the proposed change must be given.  Also, a new school must include English lessons and teach to a high standard.
 
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Your Choices
 
A sponsor is asked to nominate a preference to sponsor a girl or boy and to choose his/her approximate age range.  Perhaps a majority of our sponsors have tended toward sponsoring females because, in struggling Nepali families, the boys are traditionally favoured for education. 
 
 
The age range of 10 to 12 years is often chosen because, at this age, the child’s abilities and character are becoming known.
 
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Distribution of Funds
 
Your sponsorship payment is allocated into three components:
  • Component A (55% - up to 700 NPR per month) provided directly to the child’s school to utilise for infrastructure projects.  In return for this support, Nepcam has arranged with all of our participating schools (now over 50) for Nepcam sponsored children to attend free of fees and charges — whether the school be public or private.
  • Component B (15% - approx. 200 NPR per month) provides a source of funds for school resources.  It is accessible upon application by your child to ensure that he or she does not miss going to school for the want of school necessities such as books, uniforms, shoes etc. - particularly at the start of a new school year.
  • Component C (30% - approx. 400 NPR per month) provides a source of funds for Nepcam's Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS) as explained above.  
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We believe that no other aid agency can give better value for a sponsor’s dollar!
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At anytime, you can make further enquiries by emailing us at enquiries@nepcam.org.au or you can contact our Child Sponsorship Coordinator, Peter Culligan, on (02) 9939 0785