The aim of the Distance Adoption of African Children project is to mediate financial gifts for the education of poor children and orphans, the main co-ordinator of the project in Slovakia, Marta Slavičková, told journalists in Bratislava on April 14.
"Since the beginning of the project in 2002, the Humanistic Centre Narovinu has found adoptive parents in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for more than 3,000 children from Kenya," she said.
The parents send Sk730 (€22.55) to children for school fees, as well as payments for examinations, a school uniform, school aids, and other education-related expenses. Moreover, the adoptive parents can exchange letters and presents with the children, or even visit them. By contributing to the school payments, it's possible to help the chosen child to reach at least minimum living conditions.
"The money isn't delivered to the family of a child, but directly to the organisers in Africa, and they buy everything necessary for the children, and see that they are registered in the most appropriate school in the vicinity," Slavičková told the TASR newswire. After the three-month education period ends, the school delivers a certificate to the adoptive parent along with a letter from the child and a recent photograph.
Part of the project is the Island of Hope in Kenya, which includes the construction of community centre on an island on Lake Victoria where some 22,000 people live. Most of the inhabitants are children under 15. Illnesses, malnourishment, and insufficient medical care are causing the number of orphans to increase. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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