Uganda (MNN) — Dozens of international ministries have gotten on board with child sponsorships, allowing people to help children across the globe with school tuition, basic nutrition needs, medicine and the Gospel. The children are well looked after and supported, all the way through their schooling years.
By the time they graduate, they should logically have the skills and education to do alright for themselves. What happens though, when they want to do more than "alright?" What happens when they want to attend university?
On a recent trip to Uganda, Roger Thomas and Pete Lafarkis with AMG International saw the effects of ended sponsorships firsthand. The team of ten was on the trip to help with a youth camp, but they were also able to visit several AMG-supported families. In the process, they met Fred.
Fred was an AMG -sponsored child growing up, but he recently graduated. His sponsor ceased his sponsorship, as most do since the commitment ends with high school graduation. Now Fred is working in a stationary store to eke out a living. Some of his friends have gotten scholarships to attend college, occasionally from their former sponsors. Fred has not.
"A lot of his friends have gone on to school, and he has this tremendous desire to go on and to make a difference not only for his family, but also to make an impact for Christ and his country," says Lafarkis of Fred.
Seeing his need, AMG decided to do their best to provide Fred with the $700 per semester he needs to attend university. "We're trying to raise a scholarship for him to go."
Fred was not alone. Thomas says kids at the youth camp they helped with were already worried about what the future held when their sponsorships ended. "Some of the kids there were very apprehensive about ‘What happens when I graduate from high school? Will someone help me go down to university?' This was big in the minds of some of them. And some of them will make it, and some of them won't."
AMG is now trying to get as many as they can to "make it" with the help of college scholarships. College is relatively cheap in Uganda — only about $300 to $700 each semester. This could be a huge amount for a student who has relied on outside help his whole life. For others, this amount it fairly doable. AMG has embarked on a mission to connect the two camps of people.
AMG has set up a scholarship fund specifically for graduates in Uganda. AMG has over 1,300 sponsored children in the country, many of them eager to continue on their education. When you help provide the opportunity for these students to enter higher education, they will undoubtedly gain more knowledge of the world, specific fields and Jesus Christ. Many of these students desire, like Fred, to make the biggest impact for Christ, their country, and their families that they can.
