We hear a lot of questions about our child sponsorship program, so we created this article to answer some of the most common ones.

1. What does my $38 monthly sponsorship cover? 
   
Your monthly giving provides your sponsored child with uniforms and school supplies (books, paper, pencils, etc…), as well as a daily snack, vitamins and a nutritious, hot lunch. It also covers staff salaries and insurance. That’s a lot of stuff!

2. Why is an educational ministry so important?

Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Ciudad Sandino, where Centro Escolar LifeLink (LifeLink School Center) is located, is the poorest urban area in the country. Families there typically live on less than two dollars per day. While attending public school in Nicaragua is free, families will still spend between $40 to $50 per child on required uniforms – shoes, pants, shirts, socks, and underwear. That’s more than half a month’s salary for the majority of families in our area. These figures don’t include the cost of basic school supplies, such as books, paper and pencils.

Oftentimes, this level of poverty creates a cycle that looks like this:

I’m poor, so…
I can’t afford to go to school, so…
I can’t get a job, so…
I’m poor, so…
I can’t afford to go to school, so…
I can’t get a job, so…
And, on and on.

By offering a free education, we’re giving them an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty.

3. How does the level of education at the LifeLink School Center compare to a Nicaraguan public school?

Unfortunately, due to a lack of standardized testing, it’s very difficult to say. Here’s what we do know:

Throughout the year, several children and parents want to leave the public school system and register at the LifeLink School Center. To verify the child’s level of education, we administer entrance exams based on the most recent tests the students in the respective grade level have taken. If a transferring student can’t pass the appropriate grade-level test, we will test them at the next lower grade level.

Sadly, most of these students can’t pass the entrance exam up to three grades lower than where they want to register. This means that a student enrolled in the fourth grade at a local public school oftentimes can’t pass a first grade entrance exam at the LifeLink School Center.

4. Is the LifeLink School Center a faith-based school?

Yes. The LifeLink School Center practices biblical integration into daily curriculum. That means that we discuss biblical morals and use biblical examples in every subject area – not just in Christian Education classes. We also have a Bible curriculum that is taught to all students on a daily basis, culminating with a contemporary service every Wednesday. Children are taught to pray, worship and act in accordance with biblical morals and standards daily, as well as lead worship onstage during weekly services.

5. Do you provide the children with health care services?

Yes. LifeLink runs a comprehensive wellness program under the direction of Registered Nurse, Susan Hamilton. Susan monitors the growth of every student, diagnoses illnesses, administers medicines, and performs in-home visits when students miss more than two days of class.

These are a few of the most common questions we receive about the LifeLink International Child Sponsorship Program. If you have a question that’s not listed here, leave us a comment, send us a message, or drop an email to sponsorship@lifelinkint.org.

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