Our sponsorship program serves over 5000 indigent children in Andhra Pradesh. Through the program, a family or individual commits to support a destitute child. For most of the children, who generally live with their families, the yearly sponsorship fee is US$365 (€270; Rs. 15,500). The money only covers the most basic necessities: clothing, school tuition, books, and uniforms. We have also set up sponsorship programs for street children, disabled children, and abandoned babies.

The hallmark of our program is that we encourage sponsors to keep in close touch with their sponsored children through regular correspondence. Many sponsors write and send packages multiple times a year.* In addition, we encourage our donors to come and see with their own eyes the reality on the ground; each year, dozens among them come to India to personally meet their children. The children are always thrilled to get news from their sponsors and to get to know them, whether in person or by letter. Sponsors can expect to receive letters and photographs from their children at least thrice a year; we collect correspondence from the children in July - September, October – December and January – March. Our Newsletters are mailed out twice a year.

The Sponsor is expected to help the Child until his/her studies are completed. In India, children go to school at age 5 and attend 10 years of basic education. They go to school from June 15th to April 15th; summer holidays typically run from April 15th to June 15th. In Andhra, children have the option of attending a Telugu Medium School or an English Medium School. If the Child is a particularly brilliant student, we encourage him/her to continue until 12th class and then on to college and beyond. Some of our sponsors have continued to help their children through the completion of a Master’s degree.

Most of the children we help live in or around the city of Vijayawada. We help children of all creeds - Christians, Hindus, and Muslims - but the majority are low caste. They are “untouchables.” “Untouchability,” in principle, should no longer exist - it was banned by the Indian Constitution after independence was achieved - but still remains a powerful stigma. “Low caste” Indians remain at the lowest rung of the social ladder. There is little intermarriage between high and low castes; interactions are kept to a minimum. In rural areas, the huts inhabited by low caste families lie outside the villages; in many cases, these people are not allowed to drink water from the same wells as everyone else. Mahatma Gandhi strove to remove such stigma and he lovingly called the people of the low castes “Harijans” – Children of God. In reality, though, untouchables remain the children of a much lesser God. Only about 18% of the harijans are literate. Child mortality is high (one reason why families have many children) and the average life span is only 50 years. Most of the men (and women) are “coolies” - an Indian word for “laborer.” These people own no land of their own and work mainly as farm laborers in the fields of wealthy landlords. The men earn about US$1 a day; women make even less. The families live mainly in straw huts, which are often blown away during the monsoon season. They sit on the ground, sleep on the floor, and eat with their hands. Those who don’t have the luxury of owning a metal dish eat on leaves. If they’re lucky, they get a bowl of rice twice a day.

To sponsor a child, please write, call, or email any of the Care+Share offices in India, Italy, or the United States. Click here>> to sponsor a child online.

*All letters should be addressed to our India office, which will make sure they are delivered to the child. Sponsors may also send packages with whatever they wish. Postal pilferage is a problem, but 90% of the postal packages do arrive. It is preferable to send packages by Registered Post. MONEY SHOULD NOT BE PUT in the envelopes, as this is against Indian law. Should the child unfortunately decide to drop out of our program, the sponsor will be promptly informed. Should the Sponsors change their address they are requested to inform the India office; if for some reason they decide to discontinue their support, they are kindly requested to notify us in a timely fashion.