Each year, the family will write a letter to update you on how they are going thanks to your support, which we will translate and send to you via email and WhatsApp.

Throughout the year we will also share through WhatsApp stories on other families that are being supported through the village by other backers like yourself so you can see the power of the giving village you are a part of.

We believe in a hand up and not a hand out. We use an evidenced-based model that runs for 24 months which looks at key areas for a family living in poverty and their needed support.

This means that you will support a family for two years, and in that time you will not be creating dependency by having them rely on your support, but rather give them the dignity to lift themselves – with a living income, social networks, savings, and access to critical services so that they can feed themselves and educate their children.

We have a tailored model which goes for 24 months. First we begin with the basics – food security. In the most extreme cases there may be a period of direct food aid but this is quickly transitioned to more sustainable food solutions like home gardening and raising chickens.

We then move them to a small livelihood – to rebuild their confidence and their skill sets. From this we grow their business slowly, connecting them to the needed services. While this is occurring, we connect women to village banks that we establish in their village – this is a place for them to save, access loans and be connected to other women.

For the families we work with, typically there are many other challenges they may be facing, from violence to health challenges to disengagement of their children in local schools. Over the 24 months, through a systematic approach, we look at each of these core areas, so they are unblocked and can move from barely surviving to being on the path of thriving.

We identify a vulnerable location with the engagement of many local leaders and government. We then work with a large body of local groups and institutions – from schools to hospitals – to identify left out families based on a set of criteria that help us to identify their context.

All families selected for this programme will be unable to eat three times a day, or if they are eating, struggling to afford the very basics beyond that (which puts them at very high risk to slip into not eating three times a day).

Typically most of the families selected are women-headed families. Our team individually verifies each of the families and then we record the family’s name at the local government so that the family isn’t duplicated with any other aid programme.

Poverty is complex, it is deep and it is entrenched. In some instances, it may take more than 2 years to graduate the families and if that is the case we will let you know so you can be on the journey with them until they graduate.

For a small percentage of families, graduation may not be possible. We may have reached them too late – where we are not able to spark what is needed to lift them. If that is the case we will ensure there is no harm, that they are safe, we will inform you and allocate you to a new family.

Our work over 24 months is gradual – it is not like we are holding their hand fully for 2 years and then on the 24th month we let their hand go. We do that slowly within the first 6 months so within the two years we are able to see that they are sustainably able to earn an income, manage their families needs and that they have the social networks should tough times arise.

As we work in a targeted location we will be able to stay informally connected to these families after the 24 months.