Child Sponsorship
It costs only $400 per year
- less that a cup of coffee a day -
to make a major difference
in the life of a child who has so little!
Through IAT's Child sponsorship Program you can provide assistance to a child whose economic circumstances deny him or her adequate diet, health care, and educational opportunities. . . . read on . . . .
The primary way children can escape the poverty into which they were born, is through education.
Many marginalized children are, however, either unable to attend or remain in school due to lack
of financial means. Reasons for children dropping out of school can be as basic as parents not
being able to provide them with notepad or pencil. Since its inception in 1980, IAT has focused
upon assisting the poorest of the poor in the Philippines, many of whom are orphan children.
IAT's Child Sponsorship program is unique in a number of ways:
- The selection of children for support is conducted by IAT's staff and not contracted out to another agency;
- Applicants are screened and house visits are conducted by staff to ensure that the family situation warrants assistance;
- Sponsorship is considered a joint effort involving: the student, the sponsor, the parents and IAT;
- Apart from providing indigent children with the opportunity to go to school, IAT provides for each child under its program to participate in workshops and seminars to increase their confidence, competence, practical skills and leadership abilities;
- Students are encouraged to take pride in, and maintain the positive aspects of their indigenous culture;
- In addition to the academic education, the special training provided by IAT gives students that X-factor that sets them apart from others and in most cases ensures them success in whatever they undertake to do;
- If students are capable of going on to higher education, IAT's seeks additional support to enable them to obtain a college or university degree, rather than drop support when they finish high school;
- Students are closely monitored and the staff makes sure that a sponsor's support is being used in the most cost effective way.
Most sponsorship programs terminate a child's support when he or she completes high school.
While this helps a child or its family for the few years while support is provided, it does
not address sustainability or the bigger picture. A high school education no longer ensures
a better life. We have seen how frustrating and disempowering it is for a bright child,
keen to go on to college or university, to be denied that opportunity because he or she
is no longer a cute little kid with eyes and face pleading for help. If a young man or woman,
in a developing country, is going to be an instrument of positive socio-economic change, it
is important that they are educated beyond secondary school level.
IAT has always focused upon a sustainable approach to development and to its sponsorship program, which has enabled
hundreds of indigent children to graduate from schools and universities during these past 30 years. Our program
has produced a number of skilled technicians and the following professionals: teachers, nurses, midwives, medical
technicians, accountants, college professors, agriculturalists, foresters, accountants, lawyers, and one doctor.
IAT now has young graduates from more than fifty villages in several areas in the Philippines. Many are now in
their respective communities working to improve the conditions of their people.
Apart from our main target area of Kalinga province, IAT has provided educational opportunities for children
from: Ifugao, Mountain Province, Zambales, Abra, Mindoro, Fuga Island, Manila and outlying lowland areas.
Your sponsorship dollars go to provide for your child's: |
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- tuition and school fees;
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- books and school supplies;
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- room and board;
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- transportation;
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- leadership training workshops and seminars.
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Your support can positively impact young lives in the Philippines
or Costa Rica and, in return, can enrich your life as well. |
TESTIMONIAL
My name is Irene Kopel and my wish is that everyone interested in sponsorship can experience
what I have as an IAT sponsor-the soul satisfying transformations that sponsorship can bring
about in a child when it is done through an outstanding charity. I am so enthusiastic about
IAT that I have sponsored more than ten IAT students so far. As a result, today I am the
EXTREMELY PROUD sponsor of a newly graduated accountant, a high school history teacher, a
Rotarian president, a writer/future anthropologist and a lawyer who is specializing in women's
rights, tribal law and environmental issues. Thanks to IAT, I truly feel as blessed as my
sponsored children! I am available to talk with any interested person about why IAT is
different and the myriad reasons for its success .If you would like to talk to me, please
send me an email at irene@kopel.com
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Click to Sponsor Me!
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Junior Gimba:
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Birthdate: June 9, 1998
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Junior, 12 and in grade 6, is the eldest of 4 sons in the Gimba family.
His father left the family 6years ago and he and his brothers are being raised
by their mother who struggles, as a seasonal laborer on the farms of others, to
feed her famly. The family lives in a one-room hut, without electricity or toilet
facilities. Water is fetched from a public faucet. Their diet consists primarily
of rice, boiled rice, supplemented with greens. Junior is an intelligent boy who
dreams of becoming a Doctor someday so he can help the sick members of his village.
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Click to Sponsor Me!
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Arshel Tiwang:
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Birthdate: November 14, 2001
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Arshel, 8 and in grade 3, is the first of 4 children in the tiwang family.
They live in a small nipa hut of with a grass roof,sleep on the bard floor
with a couple of old blankets and defecate in the village pig pen. The father
supports his family as a seasonal farm laborer earning approx. $3 per day.
Arshel, touched by seeing how much sickness there is in her remote village,
hopes to become a nurse.
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Click to Sponsor Me!
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Khensie Bula-at:
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Birthdate: February 27, 2001
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Khensie, 9 and in grade 4 is the third of 4 children. The father is community
organizer receiving a small stipend that is not sufficient to provide for the
needs of his family. The family lives in a small two room hut. Khensie is a
bright kid, and has been on the honor roll during her previous years at school.
According to her parents she is a responsible and helpful child.
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Click to Sponsor Me!
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Rodrick Lammawin:
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Birthdate: January 12, 2000
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Rodrick, 10 and in grade 4 is the second of four children in the Lammawin family.
His father works as a seasonal farm laborer. His mother is a women’s organizer,
striving to help women improve the conditions of their families. This family lives
in a small two room hut, fetch water from a public faucet and defecate in the
village pig pen. Their rice diet is supplemented with vegetables they grow in a
small mountain garden and snails gathered from the fields and canals.
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