Sponsor a child’s education in Jamaica

We believe that Education is every child’s right and is essential to the development of every country.

We seek to raise awareness of the educational needs of the many poor children in the Caribbean and to sponsor the education of Jamaican children.

Poverty in Jamaica

Jamaica has a population of 2.7 million people and 1.1 million of those live below the poverty line.

Poverty is so bad that some parents abandon their children because they cannot afford to take care of them. Many other children are the breadwinners of the family often seen weaving in and out of cars selling fruit and juices or washing windscreens.

Secondary education starts from age 12 to 17 in Jamaica. Children attend public high schools but it is not free. Many children miss out on this fundamental part of their education because their parents don’t have the resources.

The minimum wage in Jamaica is $48 (£32) per week for a 40-hour week. That’s $2507 (£1,664) per year. It costs around $1,355 (£900) each year to send 1 child to high school. This would explain why the literacy rate in Jamaica is 88%. Parents simply can’t afford to buy the schoolbooks, pay for school fees and fares and provide lunch for their children to attend school.

We seek to redress this by fundraising to sponsor the education of at least 10 children each year to go to high school.

Through fundraising we aim to improve the lives of these children through access to education. The children we help to educate today could one day become future leaders who will go on to improve the quality of life for countless more people.

Through education we seek to alleviate poverty and prevent young girls turning to prostitution and young men turning to gangs.

It was Nelson Mandela that said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

We want to empower Jamaican children to change their world for the better. You can help by making a donation.

OUR GOAL:

Our overall goal is to raise $22,000 (£15,000) to send 10 poor children to high school for the 2015-2016 Jamaican school year and buy school supplies and computers for our chosen schools.

90% of the funds raised will sponsor the children and provide supplies, because 4-10% goes to Gogetfunding and PayPal processing fees.

In times of austerity it is difficult to ask one person to donate $10 or $20 every month to sponsor a child’s education. Through crowdfunding the more people who donate to our project the easier it is to raise the funds needed to sponsor a child’s education for the whole year.

We've chosen not to isentivise potential sponsors to donate as any gifts we give will reduce the amount we raise for the students and supplies. We hope you understand and choose to donate regardless.