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| Frequently Asked Questions |
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| If you are interested in adopting a child to be their sponsor or you want more information, please write to me at [email protected] or directly to Pastor Phamor at [email protected] |
| 1.� Why child sponsorship scheme for Education Opportunity Program (EOP)? |
| The EOP fund was a common fund. Kind people donated the money to this fund with intend to financially assist children, from poor families, to study in schools and to support the schools' operation in the refugee camps and 'No Man's Land'. The objective of the child sponsorship scheme is to match children to committed sponsors. In this way, the child has a regular education fund for him to continue his study. The child sponsorship scheme is something new. We expect a lot of fine-tuning in term of management of the program and periodical update on the child's progress. If you have any suggestion, it is welcome. In the mean time. Pastor Phamor and I are still working on some of the details, but I really don't want to complicate matter for him because it is a one-man job and he has many responsibilities to take care of. |
| 2.� How much is the sponsorship per month? |
| Depending on the school where the student is schooling in. For children from the refugee camp schools and village schools, the cost is about 4000 bahts or about S$180 annually. This work out to S$15 a month. The money is also used to pay the school fees, school uniforms and for some books and stationaries. For children who study in Chiangmai Adventist School, which is a boarding school, the sponsorship will be a lot more. The cost is about 16,000 baht per year, which is approximately S$720. So, it is about S$60 a month. Apart from paying the school fee, textbooks, school uniforms, it also includes the expenses of living in the campus dormitory and meals. In some cases, we also extended our sponsorship to our EOP students who wish to continue their studies in the local universities and colleges. The cost is approximately $750. |
| 3.� Will every single cent of the donated money go to the sponsored child? |
| Every single cent goes to the Education Opportunity Program sponsorship will be used to help children enrolled in the EOP. We assure that the sponsored child's educational need is taken care of as expected by sponsors. If there is "extra", which seldom happen, it will be used to help other children awaiting regular sponsors. The sponsorship money is NOT used for adminstrative cost. |
| 4.� How can I know if the donated money goes to the child? |
| First, we arrange for the children to write to their sponsors to update on the their progress and their lives in school. This is done once a year. The only troublesome part is we need to have their letters translated if the child is not able to write in English. They do study English in school, but may not be up to the standard similar to Singapore or other English speaking countries. Secondly, sponsors are welcome to visit the children. Remember, accessibility to some of the remote villages makes visiting some children in their hometown difficult and quite impossible. Arrangement can be made to visit children in the refugee camp, but the travelling distance is far and takes almost the whole day for just one way journey. For those children who study in Chiangmai Academy, the easiest way to arrange to meet the children in the school campus. They are residing in the school dormitory after all. Pastor Phamor is very please to make that arrangement. |
| 5.� Which school does all the children enrolled in? |
| We started this program originally enrolling children in Chiangmai Adventist Academy. Chiangmai Adventist Academy is located in Maeteang and about 50km from the main city of Chiang Mai. We have extend our assistance to children in the refugee camps in Thailand. Pastor Phamor had set up many schools in various refugee camps along the Thai/Myanmar border. We realise that there are a lot of helps needed there. These refugee camp schools are run by Seventh-Day Adventist Church. As this sponsorship program is run by the Seventh-Day Adventist, naturally, the children will be placed in Adventist schools where possible. We also recognised that there are parents who do not want their children to study in Chiangmai Academy. Therefore, the children may be enrolled in the local village schools run by the Thai government. Another exception is for those who completed high school and wanted to go to college. These young people will be in non-adventist college because it will be too costly to send them out of Chiangmai. They only need sponsorship for their first year to get started in college. From 2nd year, they may be able to get Thailand government education assistance fund. In such cases, they will need a one time sponsorship of $16,000 baht. However, there are cases where our students were unable to get the government asistance fund, so we continue to help them. |
| 6.� Have you personally visited your sponsored child and confirmed that she did receive help? |
| Yes, I have personally visited my sponsored child, Bumeu Weiyu. I have also visited the village she stays in and her family. Her elder sister, Mee Tei, whom you have seem in the previous page, is also a recipient of the EOP. I have visited the EOP students who study in Chiangmai Academy on many occassions. So, I have somewhat form some good relationship with some of the kids, in particularly Bumeu, my sponsored child. She always looked forward to meeting me. |
| 7.� I want to sponsor a child, but I can't afford S$60 a month. What can I do? |
| There are many ways for kind-hearted people to do this. First you can sponsor a child as a family unit. Involve your sponse and children. Second, you can sponsor a child together with a few close friends, so it cost less for each person. Finally, you can sponsor a refugee camp child. It cost only S$15 a month. All these are ways you can help as a group or family. Remember, the sponsorship can be long term. If you are unsure of your long-term commitment to the sponsorship, but still want to sponsor a child when you can, select older children, like in grade 9. |
| 8.�� What if I am not able to continue my sponsorship half way through? |
| We understand that sometime financial situation of people are unpredictable and can change for whatever reason. Feel free to write to us to inform us that you are not able to continue your sponsorship. We will seek new sponsor for the child. |
| 9.� How can I send sponsor money? |
| I encourage sending a personal cheque once in 6 months because the amount won't be too big. For those who can afford, send once a year. All cheques should be made payable to Education Opportunity Program and mailed to the mission in Chiangmai. A receipt will be issued. You need to include the sponsored child's name, so Pastor Phamor will know the purpose of the cheque, and your name and address so that the receipt can be mailed to you. The mailing address for the cheque is: Education Opportunity Program Attn: Pastor Phamor Phoopichitprai PO Box 79 Maeping Chiangmai, Thailand 50301 |
| Yes, you are welcome to donate money to the EOP. There are many children seeking sponsors. We can use the money to help a child to start schooling while seeking regular sponsors at the same time. EOP also support the operation of schools we setup in refugee camps in Thailand and in No Man's Land (Myanmar side of Thai Burmese border). Altogether, we have over 20 schools. We need about 370,000 bahts (about S$16,000) annually to keep these schools operating for the less fortunate children to offer them education. You are free to donate any amount as God impresses your heart. We thank you in advance. |
| 10. I do not wish to adopt and sponsor a child on long term basis. Can I make a one time donation to the EOP? |