5 Reasons to Sponsor a Batwa Child with Redemption Song Foundation

Older student Evidence helps her younger brother Shivan with his homework as part of our Student Internship project.

My husband and I began sponsoring one a young female Batwa student with Redemption Song Foundation (RSF) around three years ago. I confess: At first, I was thinking that we’d help out a friend, RSF's Director Wendee Nicole, who I'd met a decade ago at a writer's retreat in Colorado. Since she began the organization in 2014, I'd kept up with her posts and knew Wendee worked hard to keep this grassroots nonprofit organization afloat. Yet as time went on and I learned more about the Batwa people, the challenges they face, and, most importantly, how RSF is helping change kids’ lives, my motivations changed.

Myself (right) and my husband with RSF Director Wendee, her Batwa daughter Joyce Orishaba on a hike in Colorado.

Though Wendee is still a great friend, I’d now continue supporting RSF whether or not I knew RSF's director personally. Probably the best evidence of my conviction is that, as we were able, we started to donate more, which helped to cover costs for unsponsored children and other aspects of their holistic program. I also started to serve on the Board.

I gathered five reasons to sponsor a Batwa child with Redemption Song Foundation based on my experience:

1. A Clear Need: The Batwa people were evicted from their native rainforest homes in 1991, separating them from their nomadic way of life. Suddenly and without resources, they were forced to live on donated lands where they struggle to survive doing agriculture, which was never part of their culture, begging for money, or dancing for tour companies that exploit them.

   
   

   Plagued by poverty, few can afford to send their children to school. Investing in their children is the Batwa peoples' greatest hope for the future—since education opens up doors, economic opportunities, and more. Education requires two sponsors per child in primary school to cover school fees, uniforms, shoes, transportation to and from school during breaks, and other things their families can’t afford.

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   Batwa kids in Kalehe in 2014 when Director Wendee first encountered the community's urgent needs.

3. The Program's Effectiveness: In a previous post, Wendee shared the disturbingly high dropout rates among Batwa children: 96% drop out before finishing primary school and 99.5% drop out before completing secondary school. However, RSF’s annual dropout rate is around 1% annually.

   
   

   This year has actually been our roughest for school dropouts, with 5 leaving school — for now. In the past, we've had great success getting kids back in school once they dropped out. For example Moses, Luke, Jonas had all dropped from school in primary school. Jonas was around 8 or 9 when he dropped and was the first kid sponsored by Wendee directly, and he's stayed in since. Moses dropped during the pandemic around primary 5, and Luke left in primary 5 also, but we tutored him at the RSF House, enabling him to return to school; the incentive of a new cell phone didn't hurt.

   
   

   Our director Wendee worked with each one to get them ready to return and they started again. Now all three are attending secondary school (high school) and Jonas will be RSF's first Secondary School graduate if he completes Senior 4 next year!

   
   

   

   Luke, Jonas, Andrew, and Moses hold Ugandan shilling notes that they received as part of their student internship work.

4. The Holistic Approach RSF Takes: RSF doesn’t simply throw money at problems. The team takes a big-picture approach. For instance, rather than just spending money on school supplies and uniforms, they’ve also developed programs to support these kids outside the school environment.

   
   

   

   Batwa students eat plantains ("matooke") and beans with vegetables at the RSF House as part of our Educational Soup Kitchen.

   For instance, our biweekly “Educational Soup Kitchen” provides activities and nourishment for children during school breaks. RSF also holds Soup Kitchen once weekly during the year for students attending schools in Buhoma town, near the RSF office. Other kids attend schools further away. RSF also supports the children's families at home. That means many of them have received new brick-and-mortar homes, solar power, clean water, agriculture support including goats, rabbits, fruit trees, and so much more.

   
   

   

   Prayer is an important component of our work with the Batwa, who attend Christian schools as their families and most people in this region of Uganda are of the Christian faith. We teach songs, lessons, and prayers.

   Families receive regular visits from RSF staff during which we check on needs, concerns, and maintenance needs for the water and solar systems. Staff hold community meetings where Batwa share needs and desires, like their interest in starting a honey bee project.

   
   

5. The Joy of Getting to Know the Kids: I love the fact that sponsoring a child with RSF means we regularly get letters from her. Several times a year, Daisy writes to share how she’s doing in school and what she’s interested in. There’s incredible joy in seeing these kids grow, learn, and mature over time. The drawings are so fun to see!

   

   Mum Zawadi stands with her kids Daisy, Bosco, and Mackline.

6. Helping the Next Generation Thrive: Ultimately, these kids are the ones who will be best able to change the Batwa’s plight in the world. Giving them access to education has many benefits for the kids—education has been shown to impact individuals’ health, economic situation, and more; but the impact will extend beyond the kids to positively impact their entire community.

   
   

   RSF brings in all secondary kids as student interns and later, as they get experience, as paid workers over the school breaks. This allows them to gain experience in everything we do, from cooking and cleaning to working on computers, doing budgets, and shadowing staff on field visits. It's our desire and plan to hire Batwa students after graduation to run our programs.

Director Wendee gives Angel a big hug.

I hope you’ll consider sponsoring one of these children. Their needs are real—and although many issues demand our attention these days, when you sponsor a child with RSF, you see where the money is going and how you’re helping. You get letters from your child showing you how they’re growing and learning. It's really heartwarming and meaningful! By helping one child get an education, you’re helping to improve the entire community's health and future.

Read more about the Batwa kids of Kalehe Village and a few other locations who we sponsor and support, or just make the plunge and SIGN UP today!

Sign Up Today!

At the Donate page, set up a recurring donation of any amount and you can be matched with a child. The optimal amount is $45 per month, but if you have less to spare, you can write kids for any amount and we'll fill the gaps.