St Chad’s Church commit to ten years sponsorship
of a child in Kenya.

Ostine Odhiambo Ronga

St Chads P.C.C. have agreed to embark upon on a ten
year project to sponsor a six year old child called Ostine.
The sponsorship money will be used to provide basic
essentials such as clean water, adequate food, healthcare, farming tools as well as educating Ostine through his
school years.

Ostine will be sponsored by the P.C.C. via an organisation
called World Vision, which offer a unique opportunity to
change the lives of children in developing countries. This sponsorship should
make a huge difference, not just for Ostine, but for his community.

World Vision
World Vision is a Christian organisation who help poor, oppressed and marginalised people irrespective of their religious beliefs. It is one of the worlds leading relief
and development agencies and a member of several major agency groups including
the Disasters and Emergency Committee, British Overseas Development and the Consortuim for Street Children. In 1950, World Vision was legally incorporated.
In 1982 it became a UK registered charity. Today World Vision UK is a growing organisation with funding from both voluntary and government sources running
community development projects in over 40 countries.

Our child sponsor - Ostine Odhiambo Ronga
Ostine was born in July 1999, he lives with his father in Winam, Kenya. Ostine
has to help out at home where his special job is looking after the animals. He
also loves to play when he has the chance.

Winam is an area of the growing city of Kisumu,
which lies close to the equator in Western Kenya,
near lake Victoria.
High levels of unemployment mean people often
cannot afford the essentials for their families.
Those who try to grow some of their own food
on small plots of land often find their crops
destroyed by floods.

There is little access to health services in the
crowded slums. Many people suffer from Malaria, which can be fatal, especially
for young children. The area also has the highest HIV/AIDS prevelence in Kenya.
As well as educating people about the prevention of these diseases, this ten
year project plans to dig wells and boreholes, and construct good pit latrines
to help reduce the spread of water-borne diseases.

Sponsoring a child in this manner will hopefully be a very positive experience for
us all, particularly for the children attending Sunday School. Children and adults
from the congregation will have the opportunity to correspond with Ostine if they
wish and exchange information about the communities in which we live. We look forward to corresponding with Ostine over the next ten years to see him and his community's development.

A notice board in church will display further information about Ostine and his community.

Sue Bellingham

Children of all ages in Winam Area Development Programme are enjoying the
benefits of Child Sponsorship. The youngest children will soon have their own educational centre where they can begin to develop skills. Meanwhile, older
children have better access to recommended schoolbooks the community
library is now stocked with hundreds of textbooks linked to their school syllabus.
hese books are helping students with their studies and improving their performance
at school, giving them better opportunities for the future.

In Winam Area Development Programme (ADP), your sponsored child's community
has had another successful year Many different activities joined together to
build on the work of previous years, giving further opportunities to children and
their families. Located in the growing Kisumu City which suffers from high unemployment, the programme is helping local people to develop their urban community and bring about lasting improvements.

The introduction of free primary schooling in Kenya has given children more opportunities. The community want to improve educational standards for their
young people, but many school buildings are in need of repair and lack equipment.
In 2005, 200 new desks helped to improve the learning environment for children
at I 3 schools in the area. Child Sponsorship also helped 300 children, who have completed their primary education and are keen to continue studying, with a contribution towards their costs. This investment in their future will help to
improve job prospects for these young people.