Our Sponsorship Program

We have found that it is very helpful for both donors and sponsored persons if there is an identifiable face behind the sponsorship: It is much more tangible for sponsors to support a specific person than to donate money to an institution or project in general. In this way, it is possible to track where and whether the money arrives; the donation is earmarked for a specific purpose. It is valuable for the sponsored persons or children to know who is providing the support. At the same time, it shows them that even in the “western world” there is a real person behind every euro who works for it and actively chooses to help someone else with it. At the same time, we also consider the intercultural exchange to be valuable, especially for the children, who often seem to be so far removed from the globalized world and can therefore look beyond their everyday horizons. We hope that the sponsorships will give the children a sign of being seen and personal relevance, something they often experience very little of in their everyday lives. We want to focus on the individual, because this is where we can help within the scope of our possibilities and make a small difference to the life of this person and perhaps even beyond.

As a sponsor, you decide whether you would like to support a child in the upper school or elementary school and whether you transfer your donation monthly or annually.We will send you the profile of a child who is on our waiting list.Once the money has been credited to our association account, the sponsorship starts – so it is possible at any time – and we then inform our local staff, who in turn contact the child and their family.The child is then registered at the nearest school by our social worker or school fees are paid if the child is already registered at a school.Uniforms, shoes, books and other materials are also provided and given to the sponsored child.As soon as the child is firmly in the sponsorship program, regular meetings and home visits take place to closely accompany the child.As a sponsor, you will receive an email newsletter three to four times a year, including photos and news about your sponsored child.All communication with the association is by email.

If you wish, you can contact your sponsored child. This means that we will send you a profile including a photo of your sponsored child and the child will also learn something about you. You can write letters and receive letters back from your sponsored child.  

However, you also have the option to sponsor a child “anonymously”. This means that we will assign you one or more children who will be able to go to school thanks to your donation, but you will not receive any information about the child or make any contact with them.

This is particularly helpful for sponsored children who are about to graduate and only need support for the last few months, or for several children who only need small amounts and can therefore share the sponsorship money. 

Would you like to support a child in Zambia and finance his/her school attendance? You can contact us HERE and let us know how much you would like to support a child and when. We will then contact you immediately by email and, if you wish, send you information about a child on our waiting list.

In English! And preferably with a photo so that the sponsored child knows who is actually behind the support.

You can write a letter at any time, either digitally or by scanning the analog letter and sending it to us by email to info@pamodzi-sambia.de. We will then forward the email to our members in Zambia, who will print out your message and give it to the child. You are also welcome to send your letter directly to Zambia by email to ifepamodzichristianorg@gmail.com. 

If any of our members are flying to Zambia from Germany, we will inform all sponsors in advance by email so that you have the chance to send us a letter or even a small parcel (max. A4 size).

If your sponsored child replies to you, it will reach you in the same way.

In 2022, Zambia’s president announced “free education in all state schools”.

In theory, this means that all children will actually be able to attend school free of charge. What at first glance seems like a huge, wonderful milestone has unfortunately turned out to be a major problem, which in reality is almost causing the system to collapse: the already overcrowded classes in the government schools are now so full that there is neither physical space nor room for real learning or individuality for the children.

In addition, the waiving of school fees has unfortunately meant that state schools are barely able to cover their running costs, if at all, as the state does not (or cannot) adequately cover the additional costs. As a result, the schools are forced to pass on all additional costs to the children: parents now have to pay for the school uniform with its various items of clothing as well as for all learning materials used in lessons.

At the beginning of each school year, children are also given a list of things they need to buy and bring with them within the first two weeks of school: A pack of printer paper, two bars of soap, three rolls of toilet paper, … So it’s fair to say that while the actual school fees at state schools have been abolished, the cost of all compulsory materials is now almost back to the level of the former school fees. 

And if a family cannot pay for this list (for each of their children), this is grounds for expulsion. Accordingly, we are very critical of “free” schooling.

As a result of these developments, almost all of our sponsored children attend private schools. Although these schools continue to charge fees, in our opinion they also create incomparably better learning conditions and a higher quality of education. This is why we continue to pay for school fees with our sponsorships, even though “education in Zambia is now free”.

As we have two associations – one in Germany and one in Zambia – we also have two association accounts. You donate to the German association account, from which you also receive a donation receipt. We then transfer the money to the Zambian association, either immediately after the start of a sponsorship or once a quarter at the start of each school term. Our association members in Zambia withdraw the money and pay the school fees, buy school materials for the child or pay the seamstress to have school uniforms made. The families of the sponsored children do not receive any cash, but our employees pay everything directly. In this way, we ensure that the donations are only used for the intended purposes. Every expense is documented with receipts; these receipts are digitized by our Zambian partners so that we also have access to all invoices and receipts from Germany.

All the children and young people on our waiting list know our employees in Zambia personally and have put them on the list. The children come from families who do not have the financial means to pay the school fees and are willing to cooperate with us as part of the programme and send their children to school every day and prioritize the children’s education. According to our German understanding, almost all people in Kabanana and the neighboring so-called poor districts (“compounds”) in Lusaka are so poor that they need support. We therefore leave the assessment to the local schools on the one hand and to our employees on the other, who live there and therefore know the structures very well. 

In the neighborhoods (“communities”) in Zambia, people know each other – most of the children and families are known to our local employees, and many families contact us directly by word of mouth to ask about sponsorship. At the same time, some schools occasionally contact us and tell us about needy children who are already enrolled at their schools but can no longer afford the fees and would have to leave school. 

Through their work as social workers and volunteers in the local hospital, our local employees get to know children and young people almost every day for whom schooling is not affordable and who we are therefore happy to include on our waiting list. 

First of all: It is our greatest concern and always our maxim to treat the children and their families as equals. We are aware that it is sometimes difficult to avoid feeling an imbalance between donor and recipient. Nevertheless, the children and most of their parents live in disadvantaged circumstances that they did not choose themselves. They have the same dignity and rights as every other person in the world, even if they are materially and financially needier than most people in Germany.

Our association members in Zambia know all the sponsored children personally and are in regular contact with them and their families. The distances in the neighborhoods (locally they are called “communities”) are short and everyone knows where the Sinyangwe family, i.e. the contact persons, live. This means that sponsored children are regularly on their doorstep and know that they always have someone to turn to.

In terms of the school context, the Zambian employees visit all the children in their classes at least once a school year. Although our sponsored children go to different schools, most head teachers are aware that the respective children are sponsored. As a result, there is good contact with many school principals or teachers with short information channels, even beyond the individual children. In addition, all sponsored children must submit their school reports to us at the end of the school year. This is not about control or pressure to perform, but about keeping an eye on the children’s academic performance, recognizing any need for support and showing the children that we are interested in their academic success.

The members of the association regularly visit all children at home, check on the situation in the families and also offer personal discussions, advice or support. This is where our team particularly benefits from its multi-professional background: Titus Sinyangwe Jr. has been volunteering in health education at the local hospital for years and offers advice on sexual education and family planning. His father’s main contribution is his expertise in pastoral counseling.

When we visit Zambia from Germany, we also try to meet with each sponsored child at least once.

Our aim is to support a child for as long as possible – ideally until they finish school after the 7th, 10th or 12th grade. In principle, a sponsorship is therefore valid indefinitely until the child finishes school. In individual cases, we have even been able to continue sponsorships beyond the end of school for training; however, this naturally incurs higher costs, which are discussed individually with the sponsors.

Over the past few years, it has become apparent that sponsorships have repeatedly had to be terminated because the children have changed their place of residence and thus left school. The lives of children who grow up in precarious circumstances are generally much more unsteady than we are used to in Germany. Many children do not live with their biological parents and therefore often live temporarily with different relatives. In addition, many families regularly change their place of residence depending on their job situation.

In addition, it is unfortunately still a reality that guardians take their children out of school despite sponsorships if they cannot do without them for work, e.g. during harvest time or when finances are tight and every helping hand is needed. We therefore try to keep the sponsorships running for as long as possible, but unfortunately we cannot avoid changes. The sponsors will of course be informed immediately and then have the opportunity to seamlessly support a new sponsored child if they so wish.

Our association’s activities focus on Kabanana, a poor district (compound) in the north of Lusaka, and the neighboring districts such as Chipata, Chazanga and Ng’ombe. We try to enrol the children in a school that is close to them. Of course, we also have to make sure that the school fees charged by the respective school match our monthly donation. Sometimes it is simply the availability of school places that decides which institution a child ultimately goes to.

In the opinion of our local employees, all schools meet a certain quality standard, which is important to us. Almost all sponsored children go to private schools, especially the schools run by the Catholic Church in Lusaka, which we consider to be very good and the sponsored children who go to such schools are very well supported. A few children still go to state schools, where we no longer have to pay the fees since 2022, but we do have to pay for all additional costs, which are at almost the same price level as the former fees (see question “Is school education in Zambia not free since 2022?”).

Three types of school have been established in Zambia: Community Schools, Private Schools and Government Schools. Community schools are, as the name suggests, founded by a community of committed people and financed by donations or voluntary work. Most schools of this type make do with the bare minimum, often have no buildings and no trained teachers. However, they fill precisely the gap that the state school system fails to fill: here, all children can learn every day without paying any fees or financial outlay. The academic quality is correspondingly low, and very few are state-recognized. Private schools have the highest quality of education and range from schools run by international NGOs to schools run by churches or religious denominations. There are private schools in the compounds that accept children for a small fee and are financed by private sponsors. There are also international private schools, which mainly teach the children of diplomats or expats. State schools charge a fee for school attendance which varies but is still affordable for the average student. In contrast to the other two types, state schools must accept all children. As a result, most classes are extremely overcrowded with an average of 70 to 90 children; accordingly, they do not have a good reputation.

Zambia does not have a multi-tier system like Germany. The grades of three final examinations determine which qualification a child can obtain. In principle, a child in Zambia can start school at the age of 3 and then attend preschool until the age of 6.

3 years old: Baby Class (Preschool)

4 years old: Middle Class (Preschool)

5 years old: Reception (Preschool)

Grades 1-7: Primary School

Year 7: Final examination to determine whether you are allowed to go to secondary school. The grade determines which school you are accepted to.

Grades 8-12: Secondary school

9th grade: Final exam. Only those who do well here are allowed to continue to high school (“Abitur”). Those who fail here can take a re-examination or be satisfied with this intermediate qualification.

Year 12: Final exams = Abitur, the final qualification is the “Grade 12 Certificate”