The Newest Additions to Our Sponsorship Programme

From L to R: John & James' Uncle, James, John & Cordelia

Every time I walked to the school I walked through Ndali village to be greeted by the familiar sound of children, and in fact adults, of all ages calling “Muzungu” (meaning white person) at me. However, one trip was particularly memorable - I was walking home just before lunch, and so the village was quieter than it often is when a small boy came and asked me “What is your name?" This in itself may seem fairly unremarkable, however, the majority of children, and indeed a lot of the teachers, don’t seem to grasp the word “your” and so instead will ask you “What is my name” when meaning to ask for yours.

Already impressed I promptly answered him and asked for his, to which he replied John. He then proceeded to ask me where I was going, where I was coming from, what I had been doing there and a variety of other questions. He ended the conversation with a “thank you” and a huge smile and then ran off. The more I considered the conversation the more impressed I became with his confidence and level of English, but realized that since he was at home in the middle of the day and not wearing school uniform he must not be attending school.

Some of the students from the sponsorship programme with
Cordelia, Aubrey, Bill & Jill (Who sponsor 6 students) 

 The next day I asked Aunt Susan (who lives in Ndali village) about him, she knew exactly who I was referring to – she explained that him and his brother had both been attending her school but their father had left home and their mother couldn’t afford to pay the school fees so they had to drop out. She said that John had been top in his year (P2) and his brother, James, was also very nearly top in his (P3). 

Although most of the students who are sponsored through the Ndali Ventures programme are in secondary school, in special circumstances, and if a sponsor is found, then children can be entered into the programme at an earlier stage. John made such an impression on me that him and James have become the most recent additions to the Ndali Ventures Sponsorship programme – they will go back to school at the start of this academic year in February. If you are interested in sponsoring a child or would like more information about our programme then please get in touch.