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Smile Academy skills training

Smile Academy is part of the Smile Children's Charity Village and it arranges for young people to be trained in skills, including dressmaking, hairdressing, car mechanics, driving, catering and building

We should like to sponsor 40 trainees at the Smile Academy in the coming year. This will enable these young men and women to acquire skills which will provide them with the means not only to make a living, but to give them a sense of identity and self worth. This impacts not only them, but also their families and the communities they live in

The cost of training 40 young people is £5,000, so a cost of £125 per person

The money we raise will help to train a mix of girls and boys who would otherwise have no hope or future. It will also provide them with the equipment they need to set themselves up in business on completion of their training. This is the 4th year of skills training at Smile Academy and the trustees have seen that this training is life changing for the students, their families and the community

Should we not raise sufficient funds to train all 40 young people, funds received will be used towards as many as we can. If we exceed the target of £5,000, the excess will be used towards funding additional trainees

Donate to Smile Academy Skills Training

Donate via Stewardship

Construction of girls' dormitory - project now completed

The trustees were asked to help fund a new dormitory block for the girls

This project started in March 2025 and we are delighted to report that our fundraising enabled the project to be completed in September 2025. We express our sincere thanks for all of our wonderful supporters for helping to achieve this in such a short time frame and raising in excess of £10,000

During our 2025 visit to the orphanage, we witnessed the cramped conditions for the girls. There were several issues arising from this:

1. access to some rooms is very  restricted, creating a risk in the event of a fire and adults not being able to gain quick entry

2. the younger children are 3 sharing one mattress, creating personal privacy and hygiene issues

3. the cramped conditions increase the risk of spread of malaria

The trustees considered this request in terms of the charitable aims of the charity and concluded that it would help with the prevention or relief of poverty for the public benefit. Education is seen as a key component in the future prevention or relief of poverty

We have funded the building of a dormitory to accommodate 100 girls. This allows the orphanage/school to eliminate the cramped sleeping conditions and to increase the number of children who can be helped out of poverty through education

Progress with the girls' dormitory

In March 2025, it was bare land and just a vision of what could be

Mid March 2025 and work on the footings has started

Late April and making great progress on the walls

Early July 2025 and we have made amazing progress - and we only started in March 2025! Walls and roof complete

Completion of the building and furnishing of it is now waiting on further fundraising. All and any amounts of donation are so gratefully received - whatever you can afford

We hope for the dormitory to be ready for use next term - starting in September

October 2025 and the dormitory is completed. Currently accommodating 90 girls, aged 13 to 15 years old.

To all of our supporters, thank you for your love, your donations and your prayers!

Sponsorship

You can sponsor an orphan. This can be for the full amount for primary school of £42 per month currently or whatever amount you want to give. Every contribution is valuable and appreciated. Every contribution helps financially support the child’s education and sends a vital message to all of the children at the school that they are loved and important. Your sponsorship is pooled by the trustees and allocated to requests for funding from the directors of Smile Village and sent to the orphanage to buy food, clothing, medicine, books, supplies, and other necessities. Your donation is pooled with other donations to support all the children in the orphanage

If you sponsor for less than the full amount, we will look for other sponsors to top this up. And if you need to stop your sponsorship, which we know can happen due to circumstances changing, we look to find replacement sponsors as quickly as possible

The trustees apply their stewardship to your financial contribution. This means you have assurance that the trustees apply their discretion, for the maximum benefit of the orphans, of how much money is spent and on what it is spent. The trustees apply their discretion as to whether children are included or not in the sponsorship programme, whether full or partial funding is to be provided, the duration of such funding and the nature of the education or course being one that is appropriate to be funded by our charity

So far as is possible, we use your donation for your sponsored child but your donation is pooled with other sponsor donations, so all the children are cared for equally in the orphanage. We are committed to honouring your stated preferences for sponsorship donations, where we can. In some circumstances, such as an unforeseen event affecting your child or another child, your contribution will be used for the greatest need of these vulnerable children living in poverty

You can select the child you wish to sponsor from the list of children or we can match you to a child if you prefer

As a charity, we are so happy to be sponsoring our first orphan at University, starting in August 2025 on a 3 year Bachelor of Science with Education (Biological) degree course. The intention is to become a science teacher and thence to educate future generations of children

In the words of Francis Candiga

"What I would like to suggest is the sponsor treats the child as though he/she was their own child. I would like us to create that bond of father daughter/son and mother daughter/son relationship, which can be lifelong. We can build that connection for the sponsor to pray for the child, talk to them and even visit them where possible. The child will send guided letters and messages to their sponsors/new parents

We will send photographs and information about the child, their background and how they come to be at Smile Children's Home

Once a year, the child will write to you with an update on their life and schooling and their news. You can write as often as you want"

All communication to and from your nominated child is sent via the trustees of this charity, who exercise their discretion to ensure the content is appropriate and in compliance with our safeguarding policy

Sponsor a specific Child

Donate to all the children

Donate via Stewardship

Spread the Word

You can become an ambassador for the orphans and spread the word to your circle of family, friends and other people you know

Or maybe you could identify groups who are interested to find out more

If you belong to a group or know of groups of people who may be interested in the work of this charity, you can ask them to contact us or give us their contact details and we will contact them. We can then arrange to visit them and tell them more

 

“Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me”
Matthew 18:4-5