Johannesburg, 17th November 2022: According to a report by UNICEF, three in ten South African children are undernourished. To compound this issue, the World Bank lists South Africa as the most unequal country in the world meaning that while some children have access to the best care and education money can buy, others are left in a painfully vulnerable position. With World Children’s Day on the horizon (November 20th), Rays of Hope is doing its part to combat the impact that inequality and malnutrition have on the children of Alexandra through its long-running ‘sponsor a child’ campaign.

Bafana Mohale, Education Programmes Manager at Rays of Hope, says “We often talk about how children are the future, yet we see so many South African children who, thanks to being born underprivileged, are forced to face the realities of a bleak future. Through the programme, we hope that our fellow South African can help us improve the lives of our community’s kids.”

‘Sponsor a child’ is a donations-based programme that allows ordinary citizens to help fund the care, development and education of a child who is part of the Rays of Hope programmes. The children who benefit range from toddlers to young people who have just left school (known as Trailblazers) and each sponsor gets bi-annual reports on the progress of the child or young person that they sponsored.

From as little as R500 per month, sponsors can cover age-relevant services including but not limited to the following:

• Career building input (Grades 9 – 11; Trailblazers)
• Work readiness and financial literacy training (Trailblazers)
• Nutritional meals (Everyone)
• Saturday school classes in English and Maths (Grades 4 – 11)
• Values-based leadership training (Grades 9 – 11; Trailblazers)
• Computer literacy (Most ages)
• Mentoring (Grade 11 and Trailblazers)
• Psychosocial support (Everyone as required)
• Educational toys (Ages 3 – 6)
• 5-day a week Early Childhood Development centre attendance (Ages 3 – 6)
• Libraries (From Grade 1 – 10)
• Fun days (Everyone)
• Camps (Grades 4 – 11) and so much more

Mohale concludes, “From climate change, education, and mental health to ending racism and discrimination, children and young people are raising their voices on the issues that matter to their generation and calling for adults to create a better future. Through this programme, we give this group of children a chance to access the learning and development needed to join their voices to those of the rest of their generation.”

For more information. the details of all the services provided to each group and to sign up, go to www.raysofhope.co.za/sponsor