Sponsorship and scholarship

Sponsorship is an opportunity to help from wherever you are. Read below to find out about sponsorship opportunities to help restore hope to vulnerable youth. Anybody can sponsor a child, and every dollar helps provide that child’s basic needs.

As you read this, we have empty beds waiting for children who are sleeping on the streets of Kenya tonight. For less than the price of a daily Starbucks latte, you can save the life of a child. Based on analysis of our past three years of experience, we can accurately say how much it costs to sponsor a child with Arrive. Every dollar of your sponsorship donation is used to cover the costs of supporting that child. Financial transparency is important to Arrive; complete financial information is available on our website. Once all of the children currently living at our home have sponsors, our commitment is to have a child rescued from the streets and in one of those empty beds with every new sponsorship from our valued donors.

Donors can choose to sponsor a child living at our home and/or a child who is attending secondary boarding school or vocational training.

Option 1 - Sponsoring a child from our home - Donors may choose to sponsor a child living at an Arrive-sponsored home and attending our primary school (grades preschool - 8). The sponsorship fee goes toward helping your child along with the other children at our home. Full sponsorships include: school and exam fees, school supplies, food, shelter, transportation, etc. While this fee includes basic medication such as ringworm and malaria medications, it does not include hospital bills if the child becomes seriously ill. It also does not include initial, one-time purchases such as a new mattress, blankets and pillows, shoes, a school uniform, etc. Sponsors harvest a personal relationship with their child via letters (either scanned or sent by mail), along with photos and other forms of communication.

Sponsorship Opportunities

  • Malaika Status (full sponsorship, $1,800, paid either in full or quarterly) – Malaika means “family” in Swahili and you are just that in the eyes of the child you are sponsoring. By empowering your child and sponsoring him/her to receive everything he/she needs to live happy and productive childhood, you literally saving his/her life. You will receive quarterly updates about your child, photos, and letter corresponded to develop a personal relationship.

  • Jamaa Status (1/2 sponsorship, $900, paid either in full or quarterly) – Jamaa means “friend” in Swahili and your money goes directly to helping to sponsor a child at our home. If you are not in a position to fully fund a sponsorship, we will be happy to search for someone to meet the other half. You will receive quarterly reports about your child.

  • Msaidizi Status (1/4 sponsorship, $450 paid in full) – Masaidizi means “mentor” in Swahili. This quarter sponsorship option pays for a child’s care for 3 months and is perfect for groups who wish to sponsor a child together.

Option 2 - Sponsoring a secondary school student - While we support a very successful primary school which all of our children attend, we do not directly support or operate a secondary school (high school). Donors can choose to sponsor a child from the Light Home of Hope to attend secondary boarding school (high school).

Getting girls educated is essential for development in this part of the world. Girls face many challenges and rarely get an opportunity to go to secondary school. In Kenya, there are about 51 girls' secondary boarding schools and 49 boys' secondary boarding schools deemed as "national schools." To be a national school, the school must go through and pass a series of tests - academic, infrastructure, skills of the teachers, etc. It is these national schools, however which produce graduates who are ready to take their next step to further their education. Competition to get into national boarding schools is fierce but we support eight girls who are currently in a national boarding school (click here and here to read past blog posts relevant to scholarship).

Sponsors still harvest a personal relationship with the girl or boy they are sponsoring for secondary school. This relationship is through letters to one another, photos, and phone conversations. By this age, the child you are sponsoring will be able to speak and write fully in English. The academic year has three terms. Costs are:

  • First Year

    • The first term beginning in January has a one time fee of US$547 for shopping, tuition US$300, pocket money US$19, and transportation US$37. Total first term tuition and misc fees = US$903.

    • The second term tuition and misc fees total US$300, needed by April.

    • The third term tuition and misc fees total US $300, needed by August.

    • 1st year total (January Year 1 - December Year 1) is US$1503.

  • Subsequent Years (2, 3, and 4)

    • Each subsequent year, (Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4), tuition, fees, transport, and shopping, as of today, total US$750 per year.

    • Total 4 years of secondary boarding school as of today, tuition and fees, is US$3753.

    • Secondary School Sponsorship is a 4 year commitment