.: Community-Based Orphan Support :.

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After two years of working with orphaned, abandoned, and destitute children in Kenya, I have seen the ever-growing crisis of parent(s) dying and leaving their children with no hope for a future. The crisis has grown out of hand to the point that children's homes and orphanages can't be constructed quick enough to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding population of orphaned children. I have also seen that there are some major downfalls to the "children's home" model:

- Children's homes have a high start-up cost for construction
- Children's homes have a high monthly overhead due to the obligations of upkeep of the home/property and staff salaries
- Children's homes institutionalized children, leaving them unprepared for life outside of the home
- Children's homes disconnect children from their own tribe, culture and community
- Children's homes have very strict governmental requirements and registrations

A more innovative approach for caring for orphan children is community based care. A few groups in Kenya have begun this type of care and are finding it successful. Many orphaned children are left with their grandparent(s), aunts or uncles, neighbors or older siblings. Although they desire to take that orphan into their home, often they are not able to financially meet the needs of an extra child. They feel burdened and helpless. Community based care provides for that child while he/she remains in a home with family or close friends; in this way, the child receives more individual care, while still remaining in their culture and still facing many of the hardships they will need in order to develop skills for their future. In addition, the overhead/administration cost is minimal.

Community-based care provides:
- A uniform and basic school supplies so the child can attend public primary school
- Food and basic household goods (soap, tooth paste, etc.)
- Clothing
- Immunizations: Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Polio
- Once a month check ups by a qualified social worker

Money needed:
$30 a month individual child sponsorship with 100% of the money going to food, education, care of the child and the salary of 1 qualified social worker per 100 children.

Expenses:
- Full immunizations: Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Polio
- School uniform and supplies
- Food/Household Goods
- Clothing
- Staff Social Worker

Priority Children:
- Orphaned children and children of widowed mothers
- Those children between the age of 2 and 10 years old.

Method:
Transformed will be operating under its own Non-Profit organization registered in the U.S. The Transformed team along with the social worker will buy food and other goods and distribute them to the guardians of the orphan children.

The supporter will receive a semi-annual update and picture of their child via e-mail. They will also be able to send letters to their child via snail mail. Transformed International's goal is not to enable children or to make them dependent, but to prepare them for a better future. Transformed will commit to supporting a child through primary school (class 8) and then providing some kind of vocational training, depending on the interest of the child. Once the vocational training is finished, the (now teenager) will be taught skills in money management and will be assisted in finding a job. During this time, the support will be slowly withdrawn until the young adult can provide for himself. It is our goal that by the time the child is 18 years old, they will have been educated, trained in a skill, taught money management and be able to provide for him/herself through their own job. In the case that a child is academically inclined, an effort will be made to support that child through secondary school and University training as finances are available.