_SPONSOR_
_A NEW STORY_
_Help Ekisa serve the most vulnerable._
Are you looking to make a long-term impact that you can feel good about? Have you considered sponsoring a child at an organization, but felt concerned about the ethics behind it all?
You've come to the right place.
Rewriting Sponsorship is about making a high quality long-term impact on children with disabilities and changing the way we support them.
Your impact is diverse. A monthly gift to either the Transitional Care or Community Care Program will give children access to life-changing services like medical care, assistive devices, therapy, and specialized Christian education. Your donation combines with gifts from all of our sponsors to fund our programs and impact every child and family we work with!
Your impact is ethical. There's no one-to-one connection between sponsor and child. That means there's no chance of unhealthy attachments, jealousy between children, or negative interactions. Instead, a sponsor is assigned three focus children to pray for and receive updates on, as well as quarterly newsletters about various children in the program, in order to see how your support of that program impacts a variety of children within their unique circumstances.
"It is so important that we are trying to move away from a one-to-one connection and more for the impact."
- Emily, Ekisa Sponsor
SPONSORSHIP Option #1 . . .
COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP:
Starting at $35 A MONTH, FAMILIES RECEIVE:
COUNSELING
COUNSELING
MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
PHYSICAL THERAPY
THE GOSPEL
THE GOSPEL
It is our greatest desire to see children with disability celebrated in families. When you sponsor our Community Care Program, you're helping keep families together!
Your support provides holistic services to the children we serve and their families. These services help alleviate some of the stress and extra challenges that come with raising a child with disabilities and empowers parents to love and care for their child despite a pervasive stigma surrounding disability.
SPONSORSHIP Option #2 . . .
TRANSITIONAL HOME
_SPONSORSHIP:.
Starting at $35 A MONTH, CHILDren RECEIVE:
LOVE
24/7
CARE
EDUCATION
A
BALANCED DIET
THERAPY & ASSISTIVE DEVICES
A SOCIAL WORKER
MEDICALCARE
THE GOSPEL
We are “home” to 14 vulnerable children with disabilities. Your support provides these children with a loving, temporary home until we are able to find them a forever family.
Each child receives individualized care and holistic services to help them thrive. Our social work team works diligently on family permanency for each child. Placing children with disabilities in families is hard work, but our team has proven it is possible by helping over 20 children get back home or be placed into new families.
WHY "REWRITING" Sponsorship?
"...Our sponsorship program is now less focused on one-to-one connection, and more focused on fostering one-to-many impact."
At Ekisa, we're always seeking to follow best practices, which is why our sponsorship program is now less focused on one-to-one connection, and more focused on fostering one-to-many impact. Many child sponsorship programs facilitate unhealthy attachments between supporters and vulnerable children and perpetuate a mindset of paternalism and saviorism. Reflecting on this, we realized our sponsorship program could do even more to prevent this. At the same time, we believe it's important to hear the individual stories of children to see what long-term progress looks like. To that end, every sponsor is given updates on three focus children/families. Why three children? Because all of the children in the program you sponsor benefit from your monthly gift and we are excited to get to share with you how your support of that program impacts a variety of children within their unique circumstances. Together, we can rewrite the way sponsorship is done — seeking the absolute best interests of the children we serve.
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What are the minimum requirements to become an Ekisa volunteer?Ekisa volunteers must be 18 years of age and love working with kids with disabilities!
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How long do volunteer positions last?There are exceptions, but in general, a minimum commitment of six weeks is necessary. We accept long-term volunteers for professionals specializing in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, or special education.
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When are volunteer positions available?While we do our best to be flexible, we usually accept volunteers with a start date in January, May, or August. We accept applications on a rolling basis.
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What is the support-raising process like?Volunteers are responsible for raising the funds to support their time in Uganda. If you are considering volunteering for six months or longer we'll talk to you about how we can help in this effort.
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Who will organize the logistics of my volunteer placement?Once accepted, our Volunteer Coordinator will work with you to coordinate the logistics of your trip including flights, visas, living arrangements, etc.
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What does the average day look like for an Ekisa volunteer?There's no typical day! However, volunteers are required to work from 9:00-5:00 Monday through Friday, with an extended break during the kid's nap time. You might spend your morning at Ekisa Academy and your afternoon doing one-on-one activities with the kids.
