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Lift The Children is an humanitarian organization focused on helping abandoned African children by providing; a safe, nurturing and loving environment. The orphans are given shelter, food, education and proper healthcare. Lift The Children is committed to ensuring the children receive proper education, stating “Lift the Children makes a solemn commitment to the children in our care. A great emphasis is placed on education. Not to do so would only provide a band-aid solution – education is the key to self-sufficiency.” Believing children are the future, the organization is focused on building them up, so that they can be future leaders of their generation.

Can you tell our viewers a little bit more about the aim of your organization?

We are a humanitarian organization called Lift The Children that help orphans in Africa and other places. Our main focus is to provide food, shelter, health and education to Orphans and the most vulnerable. We currently support over 90 orphanages and close to 14,000 children. The majority of our current work is in East Africa and we plan to expand throughout Africa and beyond. The majority of us are volunteers. Our uniqueness is that every penny of every dollar donated goes directly to the children. All wages, administration, airfare, transportation and other expenses are paid for by a generous grant from the John Volken foundation that supports us. Our main goal is to start gaining sponsorship and donation support so we can grow to the other vulnerable orphans in need. We are very passionate about this work.

What African countries are you currently focused on and why?

It’s hard to decide which area of the world to work in as there are so many areas in need. East Africa was an easy fit with 8 million orphans in Kenya alone and 52 million orphans in Africa…what more needs to be said!? The simple fact that Kenya is an English-speaking country made it the easiest starting point for our efforts. We have since expanded to Uganda and are looking into Mozambique and Liberia and possible next countries of support.

Your organization seems to place a huge emphasis on educating the children. Can you further explain why this is so important?

We are a grassroots organization that focuses on sustainability rather than dependency. Our main goal is to give funds that support and sustain children in orphanages but to also encourage, train and support self-reliability through income generating projects and education. Education really is the key to all long-term poverty challenges and our goal of making all children into responsible, social conscious citizens contributing to their societies is paramount.

What do you believe sets Lift The Children apart from other organizations with the same goal?

Here are some of the main differences with our organization and others:

1. 100% of all funds donated to Lift The Children go directly to the children. Every other expense is paid with a generous grant from the John Volken foundation. In addition the majority of us our volunteers that care deeply about this cause.

2. Our focus is sustainability and in so doing do not give all the money needed for everything in an orphanage. We take care of the basics and then through support enable them to reach out and find other means of support through income generation and education.

3. We handle the children in each orphanage as a whole so all can benefit rather than singling out individual children giving them collective benefits with their friends/brothers/sisters/ in which they live with. This was all children have a fair chance rather than just a couple

Tell us a bit about the orphans. What series of events that led most of them to your organization?

Let’s take Kenya for example. With 8 million orphans there are many areas where families care for children in the community. We go out in the slums and poor areas and actively search for these homes or facilities that could be considered orphanages. In some cases we even help them get official status with the government that puts them on a list and for potential greater support. Our target is the most destitute orphanages and in doing so have found the level of nourishment is generally the greatest concern. Our children are like every other boy and girl, that wants to play, go to school and have a loving home. It is a process to take care of the basic needs but many lives have been improved. Partnering with these orphanages has proved to be a crucial step towards self-sustainability.

What do you wish to accomplish through your organization?

Our goal is the lift the children under our watch to become healthy, social conscious people who contribute positively to the societies in which they live.

How can people get involved with your organization?

The main way to be involved if you are a business, club, school, religious institution, family, or individual is to sponsor an orphanage and start developing a direct relationship with those children. We have small orphanages of 10 children or very large ones of over 100. Throw a dinner party to raise funds and awareness for the orphans in Africa, run a social media campaign or just volunteer with us. There are so many ways to give back. Just caring is the first step! For more information or to get involved please email us at  [email protected].