FAQs

Question: Can we visit the child?
Answer: Yes! It brings such joy. Please come and visit.

Question: Do we receive a photo? and how often are they updated?
Answer: Yes, you get a photo. We try to update them every month when the children send their letters that teach them how to write and also how to take pictures of each other. Both helpful skills, in addition to learning about a world so different from their own, it feels like a dream. 

Question: Do we get the exam results or a report on how they’re doing  at school?
Answer: Yes, we will send for any sponsors, and we are thankful for this interest, as will be the children. Please be sure to express your pride that they are in school, because remember many of these kids are far behind when they start and are even teased so they easily think that they are not smart when it simply is not true. Please find their specialness rather than their feeling shamed for being so far behind other children who are not as poor.

Question: Can we keep in touch with them after they finish schooling studies, providing both parties agree?
Answer: Absolutely!

Question: Are children encouraged to write? If the child had two sponsors, would both be able to write the child? How is correspondence to and from the child done?
Answer: Please be sure to correspond with the children through regine@fej-canada.ca or office in Montreal postal address and not directly. We request this in order to protect our sponsors from relatives or others getting their emails and trying to get money in this manner. Yes! We encourage our children to communicate with their sponsors because it is part of our mission to educate people about the poor, but also to give children a voice, because so many of them have been conditioned to stay as “invisible” as possible. Corresponding with the children can be done via e-mail or postal service. A center director or volunteer helps the children write their letters in English.

Question: How did you come with this amount of $37.00 a child per month?
Answer: We added up the monthly costs of all school expenses per child over twelve months, then divided by the number of children attending school.

Question: What does the $37.00 pay for?
Answer: Your money for your child pays for the child’s food, clothes, house help, simple medical, utilities and water, once a month simple activity or outing, grooming supplies such as soap for cleaning clothes and body etc.

Why your support goes so far?
The reason we’re able to do so much with so little is simple: our dedicated team of locally paid employees work at local wages, not inflated “charity wages.” These passionate individuals, along with community volunteers and volunteers from around the world, come together to teach, nurture and love our children.

Additionally, we’re fortunate to own the school compound, so there are no costly rental fees. This means more of your support goes directly to what matters most that is providing education, care, and hope for the children we serve.