Each child has a sponsor for school, with all of that sponsor's money (£130 per annum) going into an individual fund for that child to cover school fees, uniform, books etc - everything they need for school itself.

The child also has a sponsor for his or her individual needs within the hostel. The £10 per month covers non-school clothes, toiletries, medical costs, and a small amount for recreational activities and outings. Any money left over is used for the collective benefit of all the hostel children e.g. to purchase books for the hostel library, or the occasional special treat in which all can share.

The individual child hostel sponsorship does not cover rent, food, heating, staff salaries and all the other major costs involved in housing and caring for 40 destitute children. Approximately £1 per day per child in sponsorship is required to cover the running costs of the hostels. It is possible to sponsor a child to live in the hostels for a certain number of days per month. Most sponsors who do this opt for 10 days and we try to ensure that there are no more than 3 hostel sponsors per child.

All sponsors are given details, photos and regular progress updates of the children they are supporting and are able to communicate with them if they wish by email or post to the hostel.

Child sponsorship not only provides an education, it also provides some of the joys of childhood to children who have known nothing but the hardships of hunger, disease, begging and scavenging.

If you would like to support Tong-Len's sponsorship programme, and know that every penny of your money is being used to benefit a child in one of the above ways, then please contact anna@tong-len.org.