FCL Fostering Sponsorship to World Vision

 

FCL Fostering sponsor a community of children through World Vision in the Sarlahi region of Nepal. This is a part of our commitment that when you join the FCL Family you are always helping a child in another part of the world.

“What is child sponsorship?

Solving extreme poverty starts with empowering people to help themselves. That’s why child sponsors partner with communities to fix the root causes of poverty for children, with essentials like clean waternutritious foodhealthcareeducationprotection and economic opportunities.

Our 70 years of development experience has taught us that empowering children and their communities to stand on their own two feet is the best way to make real and lasting change.

As a World Vision Child Sponsor, you can make a unique double impact – on a child and their community – so both can thrive.”

Source: Child Sponsorship | World Vision International (wvi.org)

For decades we have personally sponsored children through World Vision and have loved sending and receiving messages. We wanted to share this experience with our fostering families who now collectively sponsor a community in Nepal. We want to use this as an opportunity for learning too.

Ray & Suzanne

Foster Carers & Founders of FCL Fostering

Nepal

Independent research has proven that sponsorship works and helps children and their communities to break free from poverty.

World Vision focus on the following principles:

  • Community-led: Working alongside the community to fix the root causes of poverty! 
  • Child-focused: Empowering children to develop healthy minds, bodies, and spirits, so they can achieve long-term success for themselves and their community.
  • Maximise impact: Combining donations with those of all sponsors helps create community focused solutions – every child helped benefits four more.

Our Sarlahi Sponsorship Programme

The Programme works with the most vulnerable people in the community:

  • Farmers with limited knowledge on improved farming practices.
  • Farmers without having knowledge on livestock rearing practices
  • Migrant Returnees
  • Unemployed youth
  • Dalit Households (Dalits are considered to be “lower caste” and as such tend to be much poorer and subject to severe discrimination)
  • People with disabilities
  • Families without a sustained source of income – i.e. those who are surviving on a daily wage
  • Households who are “food insecure”, and therefore lack access to sufficient food throughout the year
  • Families who have no land, or who have limited land (less than 5 Kattha, which is equivalent to 0.42 acres).

About Sarlahi

Sarlahi is located in the Parsa rural municipality, located in the Province 2 of Nepal. This is situated on the eastern southern side of Nepal bordering India. The municipality has a population of 21,650.

The populations religions are broken down into the following;

  • 85% Hindu
  • 8% Muslim
  • 5.71% Buddhist
  • 0.22% Christian

The literacy rate is 36.66 which is less than national average.

The annual per capita income is only $809 according to the Nepalese Government’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

There are gender-based violence issues including child marriage which is widespread and associated along with the dowry system and poverty. Additionally, child labour is a major issue. There are many oppressed groups such as Mushar, Chamar, Dom, and Muslims. Unfortunately, the suicide rate amongst women in Nepal is seventh highest in the world. Literacy is also a huge problem, in Province 2 where Sarlahi is located 9 out of 10 women are illiterate from the Dalit community.

Health

37.7% of children under five are malnourished

Only 32.5% of births happen with the presence of a skilled birth attendant

Leading causes of child mortality are tuberculosis, meningitis and malnutrition

The average distance from a family’s home to a health post is a 45-minute walk

The lack of public transport and poor state of the roads means it is hard for some people with disabilities and for pregnant women to reach health facilities

Health posts don’t have enough medicines or equipment, so the quality of services is low

Rich households receive preferential treatment by local health services. The poorest and most vulnerable receive the least help and are discriminated against.

Due to the culture of child marriage, many girls become pregnant during their teenager years

97% of households have toilets

Families use a variety of different water sources, including some uncovered wells.

Water that is being consumed has been found to have high levels of arsenic in it.

Sanitation practices are poor.

Many children suffer from diarrhoea, dysentery, jaundice, skin allergies and pneumonia. These issues are believed by community members to be having a significant negative impact on the well-being and growth of children.

Education

Less than half of people in Sarlahi (47%) have completed primary education

Fewer than 1 in 10 have completed secondary education (9.9%)

At the last government census (2011) it was found that almost 1 in 3 children (32%) were not even enrolled in school

School attendance records are reported to be very low

In government schools, it is estimated that there is only one trained teacher for every 460 students.

Many students attend school only until lunch time, and leave after consuming the free school lunch

Some schools do not even have appropriate desks and benches for children to use in the classroom

Appropriate toilets are often unavailable, and separate toilets for boys and girls are generally not provided in schools

 

Livelihoods

75% of households have an income of less than $100 per month

Landlessness is a major cause of poverty

Farmers lack access to markets to sell their products

Local government does not provide training to help people improve their income generation opportunities

79% of families have absolutely no opportunity to save any money

Please note that World Vision does not endorse, control or approve the website linked to ours, or the content of the linked website.