At The Kindu Trust, the heart of our work is our Child Sponsorship Programme through which we help disadvantaged children with the simple mission to improve their well being and quality of life and enable them to go to school and so improve their opportunities for the future. We also support their families and the wider communities through Community Programmes designed to meet their needs.

Our programmes operate in the towns in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, we work in disadvantaged communities where many people struggle with basic living standards such as having a home, food to eat and water to drink. The families we work with are hardworking but opportunities are limited, especially as many of the parents are illiterate. With little household income, children are often expected to help generate income for the family by working, which means they’re not able to go to school. When The Kindu Trust was founded many of these children had even left their homes to live independently on the streets as their parents or relatives were unable to support them.

We approach this issue through a Child Sponsorship Programme that meets the varied needs that contribute to this difficult situation. Sponsorship provides families with direct financial aid which benefits the whole household, enabling them to buy food, water and pay rent, as needed. This means that the child is able to stay at home with their family, where they are best cared for, and have their basic needs met. In addition to this we provide school support. State school in Ethiopia is free but many of the families cannot afford to by the exercise books, pens and uniform the children need, severely impacting their ability to learn at school. Sponsorship provides a new uniform, books and pens once a year for each sponsored child. The uniforms are even made by the parent of one of the previously sponsored children who was supported by The Kindu Trust to learn sewing and set up his own tailoring business! We also encourage high attainment for all children with a training fund that some sponsored children can benefit from to go to vocational training when their schooling is complete, if they so choose. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, sponsorship covers a medical fund for each household so that the child, their siblings and relatives can access healthcare when they need it. All these measures are designed to create a firm foundation on which the child can thrive, go to school and build a brighter future for themselves!

“If The Kindu Trust hadn’t supported me through my education, no one else would have done so. I can’t explain the way they have helped me to change my life. If I hadn’t had any support from The Kindu Trust my life would not have been like this. The Kindu Trust is the light of my life.” Ashageru, former sponsored child, now a Nurse

Our Community Programmes build on this mission through projects which aim to support varied needs of the communities. One of our key programmes is the Kindu Klub and Playgroup which provides after-school educational support and play opportunities for the sponsorship children as well as ‘school trips’ to visit the national attractions of Ethiopia! We run numerous income generating projects which have established cooperatives that run the businesses for themselves like our women’s injera baking group, hairdressing salon and our very own jewellery shop! Our recent initiatives have focused on issues such as sanitation and girls empowerment which we are very passionate about!