Frequently Asked Questions - African Childrens Haven

GENERAL

 

 

In 2016, our projects benefitted 700 children. This includes kids who received school lunches, scholarship students and girls who were kept safe from genital cutting and childhood marriage.

Our mission is to help African children lead healthier, more productive lives. To achieve that goal we provide funding for projects that support orphans and girls, ensure that kids receive an education and make sure that they’re well cared for and secure.

Helping children is the main thrust of our work, but we also help the organizations we work with to operate more efficiently. This means working with them to get their message out to donors, helping them to raise money and manage their funds more efficiently.

We currently work in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania, but in the past we also provided support to a small number of projects in Malawi and Uganda.

We use several criteria. Firstly, we focus on projects that are community-based and are run by local people. We also try to select projects that are small and are unlikely to receive support from large international donors. The most important criteria, however, is that the project is closely associated with a colleague or friend, someone we know who will work with the project on the ground as a volunteer and supervise the use of our funds.

Our mission is to support children, but we’ve found that it’s just as important to support their teachers. The schools that we help finance are desperately poor, but provide vital services to their pupils that are often unavailable in local communities. At the heart of their work are teachers, hard-working folks who sacrifice much to serve their students. What we do by paying salaries and providing health care is inject a bit of stability and help make sure that good teachers stay in their classrooms and do what they do best – teach students.

We engage local volunteers, people who are known to us and are not employed by the projects, to supervise activities on the ground and ensure that our funds are well spent. Each of these individuals have first-hand knowledge of the project and live nearby to provide oversight.

The projects are required to submit periodic reports and provide statements that our funds were used for the purpose they were intended. In addition, our local volunteers work directly with the projects and are there to provide assistance and oversight.

 

FINANCE

 

 

Yes.

Yes.

Our budget in 2016 was $125,000.

90 cents out of every dollar we receive goes directly to projects that help children.

Yes. Click here for a copy of our IRS 501 C3 designation letter

Historically, our largest source of funding has been Aid for Africa, a non-profit associated with the CFC, the Coordinated Federal Campaign of US government employees.  Please consult our Form 990 for details about our funding.

Yes.

 

GOVERNANCE

 

 

Board members are selected for their expertise and for their commitment to African children. There are no formal requirements for board membership, but we try to maintain gender balance and attract individuals who bring knowledge to the board in different areas.

There are currently five members.

No.

I year

The board is self-nominated and elected annually, usually in the month of October.

 

DONATIONS

 

 

There are several ways to contribute. Please visit our donate page for details.

Yes.

Yes.

Our mailing address is:  4012 Pirates Beach, Galveston, TX 77554. Again, please visit our donate page for more information

Please contact us at africanchildrenshaven@comcast.net

 

REQUESTS FOR SUPPORT

 

 

Sorry, we do not.

African Childrens Haven limits its support to community-based, non-profits.

 

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