Plant -A-book is an organization that has made and continue making a great difference in the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children in the Soweto slums of Nairobi Kenya, as a person working with these children I have witnessed first hand the positive impact their efforts have made . Children who had no chance in life because of poverty/ lost both parents have been given a chance and a big number of them have done and passed national examinations getting admission in the universities where they are pursuing very good courses i.e engineering, education , pharmacy etc. Plant-A- book has given these children a chance to transform their lives and that of their families and community and they have taken it with both hands. To sustain this initiative many sponsors through Plant-A-book have helped in construction of more classrooms at both Galilee Primary School and Lorna Waddington High school and also facilitated the construction of an orphanage (Holly House) for the orphaned children. In short Plant-A-book is a great organization compared to none in our part of the World.
As a sponsor I can't begin to tell you what a great organization this is. For a small amount of money you can make such a significant impact on these children's lives. Getting pictures and letters from your child(ren) makes you feel like they are your very own. The volunteers who run this spend many hours dedicated to making these children's lives better. Their website is fantastic! Keeps you updated and informed.
I can't say enough good things about Plant-A-Book and their dedication to the children they work with. I have sponsored children at Galilee (a school they work with in Kenya) and have seen "my" first sponsored girl grow from a youngster to a high school graduate…an unheard of accomplishment for an AIDS orphan 10 years ago! I am so proud of her and so grateful for the opportunity to be able to help in such a hands on way. I love the letters and photos I receive, the ability to order items from the online store for "my" kids, as well as the current updates we get on the online blog/board. I know that the money I contribute helps in a vital way because I have seen the progress the school has made over the past ten years during my visits to my sponsored children. Progress that has affected not just the children of the school and orphanage, but the entire community as well. My all-time favorite charity!
I love Plant-A-Book because I feel like the money I contribute to the kids I sponsor really goes a long way. I like knowing every cent is going to help educate and feed kids, as opposed to paying some corporation's outrageous admin, etc. costs. I have personally visited these schools in the slums of Nairobi so I have first-hand knowledge of how wonderful and caring the school director is and how far we've come to create better lives for these incredibly impoverished kids and families. I've always felt that PAB was a real grass-roots charity from when I started sponsoring 8 years ago and it still feels that way. Amazingly, almost all of the people making this charity function are volunteers!
I received my first sponsored girl six years ago as a Christmas gift. Since then she has graduated! I can't believe the dedication of all the sponsors world wide and the school;s director Fanuel. It's amazing how Galilee, Waddington High School and Holly House as grown in the slum area and what sponsors and organizations have been able to accomplish with kitchens, libraries, wells, classrooms, latrines, textbooks, meals, uniforms, etc. Sponsors are encouraged to send letters of encouragement and what a joy to hear from them as they acknowledge and appreciate the value of education as a way out of povetry. Pluses are the online store and receiving photos and letters from sponsored children.
a great charity. it really cares about the children it is helping and the sponsors who sponsor the children. goes out of it's way to encourage continued contact between the sponsors and their kids so that you feel you have a real long term relationship with them. i am now helping my sponsored girl through university and very much hope she will graduate in IT next year. a huge change from the awful situation in which she was found and brought to the school's orphanage as a teenager. an excellent organisation and one i hope to support for many years to come.
Plant-a-book is the most involved, fun and fulfilling way to sponsor a child that I have heard of. You really feel a part of 'your' child's education and life... and thanks to the work of the amazing volunteers, it is VERY affordable and you know your money provides exactly what you pay for with no cut going to sales people, administrators etc. The fun part is that when you get to know your sponsored children, you can send what YOU feel they need... I like to send something fun along with school supplies and general household items. Kids living in this much poverty, helping their families eat and survive, need to have playtime like all children!
I love that by making it easier for these kids to attend school, you not only get them an education but a nourishing meal each school day (government-provided in Primary, built into sponsorship fees for highschool students).
I enjoy the personalisation and creativity of the various drives I have participated in- I once sponsored a science object for final exams and got to provide items that sounded like my name! Great fun! And all lead by passionate, enthusiastic people.
Sponsoring a child in another country cannot be done as easy and most enexpensively done than through Plant-A-Book. Plant-A-Book is in California and does all the paperwork and money transfers to Galilee Primary School, Wadding High School and also their two orphanages.
For a little as $12.50 a month for the school children, and then up to $30.00 a month whic is school and room and board, one can sponsor a child. Plant-A-Book has also set up an On Line Store where clothing, book, and other needed items can be purchased at a low cost.
As a Sponsor, one can just Donate or pick a child to sponsor. One can do nothing more than that or write them as often as they like and also send small gifts. Any item purchased for over $7.00 in the On Line Store will get a photo of the child with their new item. There is the opportunity to choose to help with any of the many project drives that go on through the years, like buying textbooks, lab equipment, and building classrooms.
Please so check out Plant-A-Book and see what is happening and view all the available children for sponsorship. If you never have sponsored before the Galilee Primary School and Wadding High School is a great place to start. You always have direct contact with Brenda at Plant A Book and can always ask questions about your child and get a fast reply. You also will receive at lease two letters per year.
I myself have been with them for over seven years and had many children. Two that have completed high school and will be going on to college! The letters from the older children are amazing to hear how appreciative they are to have sponsors that care about them, and they love to learn from what they read in their letters.
Plant-A-Book is now the only sponsor site that I use after 15 or so years of sponsoring close to 30 children with different sponsor groups. GO GALILEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This organization does great work supporting two schools and a children's home in Nairobi, Kenya. The volunteers at the organization are helpful and responsive and the children are great, too. The test scores the children get (which are disclosed to sponsors) are very high, even on the very difficult standardized tests set by the Kenyan government. For only $12.50 a month you can give one of these kids a chance to show the world what they're made of and help raise them out of the slums.
Galilee School in Nairobi, Kenya, benefits from Plant-a-Book International. You can sponsor a child for very little money and help them get their education at this very amazing school. Unique to this organization is the online store: Purchase items for your sponsored child, they are purchased locally (supporting the local economy), and you get a photo emailed to you of your child with the item! This is truly a grass-roots effort that has succeeded WILDLY!
I now sponsor 5 children with Plant a Book international. This organization is wonderful- I know my contributions are well used. Management is responsive to questions- very personal and accountable. The letters I recieve from my sponsored children are not the typical "thank you for being my sponsor" . They are much more. I know when they have exams. I know what hthey are doing for the holidays. I know who there friends are. I know what there hopes and dreams are and that I share a small part in helping them to achieve. This is a very rewarding organization to be a part of. Thank you Plant- a Book, Brenda, Lorna, Fanuel for all that you do!
I sponsor a sweet and cute little girl that that stole my heart right from te moment I saw her picture.(Galilee Primary school)
The work this organization Plant A Book has done over the years is really breath taking
Living in Europe, with kids and grandkids, knowing our kids and or grandkids have all the things they need compared to these youngsters in Kenya made me realise we ( ovehere ) are the lucky ones so I need and and wanted to share some of my luck with at least one of the kids overthere.
Loving them by helping them, making them feel loved & "important" enough to letting them know we care with the help of this wonderful
organization. is more then enough for me and beyong my immagiantion......
I am a recent sponsor of a darling little girl at Galilee school. It amazes me the work this organization has achieved in such a short time. The interaction between sponsor and PAB is so satisfying to me.
I am used to writing out a check, putting it in the mail; receiving a thank you; end of story.
I received a photo this week, of the child I am sponsoring , wearing the school uniform , I bought her,
with a big smile on her face. I cried. As a Mother of three, Grandmother of three; I am getting such satisfaction of working with PAB.....It could never be that way without the open communication
between the sponsors and PAB....They are wonderful.
Everything is made very easy for a sponsor to participate. I am talking it up all over the place!
We are helping innocent children rise above their poverty level , with the help of this wonderful
organization......The satisfaction I am receiving is beyond words. The good we are doing together
is helping me as much as it is these innocent children.
The impact we are able to make through Plant-a-Book International is incredible! We see lives changed through the efforts of our volunteers and donors constantly. The children we serve are born into the pit of poverty in the slums of Nairobi -- I've visited there so have seen first hand the horrible conditions. Through Plant-a-Book International we are providing an education and some basic necessities (such as clothing, blankets, food) so that these kids can move forward in life. It brings us great pleasure when we see kids graduating from high school -- something that was a dream for these kids a few short years ago. It is an honor and joy to be associated with this organization and know that I am making a positive difference in the world.
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It has been a life-changing experience to be involved with Plant-a-Book International and the work that we are doing in Naiorbi, Kenya. The needs of the children are tremendous. The schools and orphanages we serve are an oasis among the Kayole-Soweto slums. Through the tremendous generosity and efforts of our donors, sponsors and volunteers we have contributed toward the education of hundreds of primary school children, helped lend support to the Holly House orphanages and Waddington High School, aided in the provision of a fresh water well and electricity to the campus. But there is still so much to be done. The kitchen was a rusty shack that the Health Department said had to be rebuilt, and we need to finish this work. There are not enough latrines for the student population and children become ill with typhoid fever. Plant-a-Book Int. is striving to make a difference in the lives of children who just a few years ago would never have dreamed of a high school education.
Wonderful charity! By far the best sponsorship program for children in poverty with which I've ever been associated! SO MUCH more "hands on" and individual involvement than any other. Not just your usual one-letter-one-picture-a-year type of charity. Over the period of years that I have been associated with this group (about 7 years,) SO many wonderful things have happened for these children. Try it, you'll like it!!
plant a book has done some excellent work to help some of the poorest kids in the world step out of poverty and look forward to the future. they have worked tirelessly in the slums of nairobi and have made a big difference in the lives of many kids.
Plant-A- Book International has and remain instrumental in changing lives for the better in the slums of Nairobi. The work the organisation has done is immeasurable looking at how many children have been able to go through their Primary and secondary education and many who have joined universities studying in different faculties. Their efforts are slowly transforming the slums community. The organisation has been very successful in developing the infrastructure for the schools and children homes and thus given the children very good learning environment. All this possible due to high professional prowess that been put to good use and course
When I first became involved about six or so years ago with the school that Plant-A-Book (formerly another name) helps out, I was so sad at the conditions the children of this Nairobi slum had to dwell in. Soon we were able to get them books and UNIFORMS. It was as if the WORLD changed for them that day -- the children and the community adults suddenly were given an infusion of HOPE for these otherwise hopeless children. We've been able to have kids graduate not only from grade 8, but even HIGH SCHOOL, offering them a much higher earning capability in their poverty-stricken world. Plant-a-book uses all the money for the children - it's all volunteer. I have helped a "lot" and a "little" at times with my time and resources, and believe in the high integrity of this organization.
I have been involved for many years with the Plant-a-Book program and the Kenyan schools it supports, Galilee Primary School & Waddington High School. This is an outstanding organization for many reasons: First, those who are in charge are genuinely caring people who want to help the "least of these". Second, almost 100% of the funds raised go directly to the care of the children. The fundraising costs & administrative costs are extremely low. Third, this is an international effort of many, many loving people who have come together via the Internet to help the very poorest children. And lastly, the impact that this organization has had on the lives of the children it has served, as well as their sponsors, is profound. New school buildings have been constructed, as well as a library, gardens and latrines; a water well was drilled and now provides fresh drinking water not only to the children at the school but the community and most important, the children have been given hope, knowing that they have a sponsor that loves & cares for them. This is truly a special organization that has blessed countless lives.
I have sponsored at least three children at Galilee Primary School and/or Waddington High School for the past several years. I am so proud that one of "my" boys graduated and passed the state final exam two years ago, which will enable him to get a decent job and reverse the cycle of poverty that denies so many children in the Nairobi slums. We get personalized letters from our kids and have close contact with the board members and volunteers. Even though i support children through Plant-A-Book International, I feel I am the one who has received a gift through the joy of supporting these children in Kenya and the friendships I have formed with fellow supporters throughout the world.
Plant A Book as a non profit is giving Opportunities and a Way to help. I found the Galilee Primary School Sponsorships seven years ago. I especially like the very reasonable Sponsorship Fees, but what I liked the most is, that I found I could have immediate returned contact with the Director of the school; on any questions etc. I found I could put my ideas, with their approval, into action to get things done. Photos were always coming to show where any money I donated went to. There is frequent contact with the kids through letters.
I have seen the children count go from 300 to 1700 students. The photos of kids started with children terribly dress and almost no shoes, to almost all in uniforms or better dress clothes, and I have not seen a child barefoot in recent photos. There were rusted tin and dirt floor classrooms where now all the tin is replaced and there are cement floors. A whole new eight room cement double story building is in use as as Waddington High School. A well and water towers have been installed. There is now a Library and Lab and now with some electric they are having computer training too! There are three orphanage building with over 70 children who live their full time.
All improvements and Sponsorships have been done with just individual people, who by word of mouth, have found the Galilee Schools Sponsorship Boards on Yahoo or at web sites such as www.nairobikids.org and the www.plantabook.org. All of the changes have been done just a few dollars donated at a time in donations.
The high school has now graduated a few years of students now. Students who take the final exam in their fourth year whether they pass or not receive by the state a Certificate that will help them to get a better job. Those who passed with a B+ average are able to go to University for Free; there have been over 30 kids now accepted into the University!
None of the above would have happened with out Plant A Book being the non profit we all could go through to reach another part of the World. For anyone who wants to Sponsor this is the Best place to start because of the low sponsorship fees and immediate one on one contact for questions etc.
My family and I have been sponsoring one child at a time, for five years. I periodically meet with one of the staff / volunteers, so am more than confident in supporting this non/profit.The interactive aspect is one of the keys to the success of this program, ( in terms of our relationships with our students and the on-going dialogue between sponsors, volunteer staff and the program's director, Fanuel). It's what helps keep my family involved and active in the life of the children we sponsor. It is rewarding to see my own teenage sons also willing, to spend their own money to buy 'ourKenya boys', book bags, food and clothing. We are getting so much more than we're giving. When writing to these children, sending them packages and receiving correspondence back, I feel we are actually contributing much needed moral support and some financial help as well. Our small role in this endeavor truly impacts our sponsees, as is evidenced in their improved marks/grades. These young people face unbelievable obstacles. Anything we can do to encourage them to dig deep, to study and get the education that will pull them out of the slums is gratifying.
An miraculous amount of progress at the schools and orphanage has taken place.
This is an amazing organization. I have donated with them for over 5 years and what they have been able to accomplish without any corporate backers, celebrities, or wealthy financial donors is mind boggling. They are a completely volunteer organization, yet they have raised the funds to rebuild a primary school, completely build a brand new high school and orphanage in the slums of Nairobi Kenya. In addition they have brought water, electricity, food, textbooks and a sense of hope to an area that most people have abandoned and forgotten. They have united people around the world and given thousands of children a chance to break the cycle of property, leave the slums and change their future.
I sponsor a child from the Galilee Primary School for more than a year now. She is in grade 8 and through this sponsorship her marks got better and better. This year she will graduate from Primary School and I hope that she can continue with High School. Without this sponsorship and without the work of Plant-a-book and so many, many, many others my sponsorchild would never be able to even go to Primary School! Now she can have a better future thanks to all those helping hands, that made her education come true!
Plant-A-Book is dedicated to helping children in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, get an education. Education is the best hope for these children to lift themselves out of poverty. PAB is all volunteer. No one gets a salary. I have been a supporter and volunteer for several years and have seen the amazing work a small, but dedicated, group of sponsors and volunteers can do.
I have had the opportunity to develop a relationship with the various children that I sponsor. It is a true joy to read their letters....especially as the children get older and their English improves. It takes such a small amount of money to make a drastic difference for these kids.
I have been a sponser at the Galilee Primary School and Wadington High School in Nairobi Kenya for several years. It is now though Plant-a-Book International and they do a really great job.
The school has been build from almost nothing to today being a large well organized school with high school, electricity, water well, orphanage etc. But there are still lots of work to be done and with Plant-a-Book International the school and we sponsors are in very good hands.
The people behind Plant-a-Book International are all voluntears that work with a great effort to bennefit the school and inform and serve us sponsors.