CHILD SPONSORSHIP: 2016 YEAR IN REVIEW Drexzy Jian plays with building blocks in a sponsorship-supported early childhood care and development center THE POWER in the Philippines. OF CHILD 2016 YEAR SPONSORSHIP IN REVIEW In 2016, we put your Photo: Save the Children in the Philippines generosity to work, giving the world’s children what every child deserves — a future. Photo: Save the Children in Malawi Sponsorship Reaches Children In Nepal, children build strong Our pioneering sponsorship programs address the foundations in sponsorship programs that will set them unique needs of the world’s most vulnerable children, on a path to success. THE POWER OF CHILD SPONSORSHIP 3 Sponsorship Reaches Children giving them a healthy start, the opportunity to 4 Numbers to Know learn and protection from harm. We empower local YOUR IMPACT 6 Together, We Make a World of Difference communities to achieve immediate and lasting change 8 Our Sponsorship Community Impact for girls and boys in desperate need. Because every 10 Our Work in the United States 12 Pioneers in Sponsorship child deserves the best chance for a bright future. 16 Innovating for the Future A COMMUNITY OF SPONSORS MIRACLE HAPPY 18 Sanyu Comes Home Save the Children 20 Girls Light Up the World staff in Haiti help children write letters 21 Partnering for Good Their Names Say It All to their sponsors, an We dedicate this year’s report to Miracle, Happy and all the sponsored important part of WHO’S WHO the sponsorship children whose names remind us of the joy of sponsorship. Nine-year- 22 Our Dedicated Team experience. old Miracle lives in South Carolina. Save the Children’s afterschool 23 Country Office Leadership literacy program has boosted her love of reading and writing so much that she now writes her own poetry (check it out on page 20)! Happy is a fifth-grader from Malawi who aspires to be a banker someday. He once struggled in school and missed class frequently due to malaria, but with the help of the sponsorship-funded health ON THE COVER: Children in our newest sponsorship program at his school, today Happy is healthy and on his way to a country, Niger, are now getting the educational tools lifetime of learning. they need to succeed in life. It’s children like Miracle and Happy who inspire us to keep doing all Photo: Victoria Zegler we can to protect and empower children everywhere. 3 2 Photo: Save the Children in Nepal Photo: Save the Children in Haiti Numbers to Know % 7% 3 2,549,842 CHILDREN benefited from YOUR SPONSORSHIP % 9 our sponsorship programs. GIFTS AT WORK 15 % THANKS TO YOU: We entered 43 NEW COMMUNITIES. HEALTHY MOMS AND BABIES HEALTHY GIRLS AND BOYS Over 37,000 parents EARLY LEARNERS learned how to best Our sponsors around the world support their children’s contributed more than $70.7 MILLION SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS % early development, giving EMPOWERED TEENS 19 them a strong foundation for FOR CHILDREN. OTHER % a brighter future. (E.G., EMERGENCIES, LIVELIHOODS) 47 We trained more than 6,000 teachers so that girls and boys can receive the quality education they deserve. We treated over 418,000 children for parasitic infections that lead to malnutrition Dr. Biden visits a classroom and anemia, meaning that in rural Tennessee, where we’re working to instill a love now they can focus more of learning — so important in school. to children’s success in school and life. Our health centers logged more than 208,000 visits “As Second Lady, I was from teens, keeping them healthy and informed for fortunate enough to travel a successful transition to adulthood. all over the world and hear from families who are facing unimaginable challenges. Thanks to our sponsors, these girls in Indonesia have the support they And at each of these stops, need to stay in school — and pursue their dreams. Save the Children was there.” Dr. Jill Biden, Save the Children’s new Chair, Board of Trustees 4 5 Photo: Save the Children in Indonesia Afghanistan A huge part of learning is about United States Israel Bhutan having fun! Children in our Myanmar sponsorship programs in Malawi Dominican Egypt love playing the drums and Nepal Vietnam Mexico Haiti Republic dancing to traditional music. Mali Niger Bangladesh Honduras Philippines El Salvador Ethiopia Uganda Malawi Zambia Indonesia Bolivia Mozambique Child Sponsorship supports programs in 24 countries across the world. New country in 2016 You’re helping us reach every last child. YOUR NEW SPONSORSHIP COMMUNITIES: 43 SELF-SUFFICIENT SPONSORSHIP COMMUNITIES: 38 IMPACT URBAN/PERI-URBAN COMMUNITIES: 9 RURAL COMMUNITIES: 495 Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. In posuere felis nec tortor. Pellentesque faucibus. In 2016, we extended a warm SAY “HELLO” TO OUR welcome to Myanmar, where NEWEST COUNTRY OFFICE! we’re spearheading brand new sponsorship programs. Among the poorest countries in Asia, Myanmar, also known as Burma, emerged in 2011 from one of the world’s longest-running civil wars. Together, With malnutrition affecting one- third of children under age 5, it we make a world Photo: Victoria Zegler ranks 145th out of 187 countries *Source:on CIAthe World Human Factbook 2016 Development Index. of difference. Photo: Save the Children in Myanmar 6 Photo: Save the Children in Malawi in Mozambique the Children Save Photo: 7 A trained health promoter in El Salvador immunizes a baby during a home visit. YOUR IMPACT BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS Our Sponsorship Community Impact: IN EL SALVADOR Your generosity is also driving change for moms and babies in El Salvador, where we’re helping provide An 8-10 Year Lifecycle malnourished children and families with the food they need to live. In partnership with the Ministry of Health, Your sponsorship commitment helps us achieve immediate and lasting impact we deliver food and information about breastfeeding and appropriate food handling practices. We tracked for children. Sponsors help us build partnerships and provide tools that help exciting improvements by monitoring the weight and Photo: Save the Children in El Salvador height of the 192 girls and 199 boys under the age of 5 entire communities become self- who participated! SPONSORSHIP BEGINS In Nepal, children in our early education program sufficient within a matter of years — in New Community pose in front of their classroom. breaking the cycle of poverty for PROVIDING TOOLS IN NEPAL In Nepal, the doors to six new early learning centers generations to come. have been opened, thanks to sponsorship-led efforts to improve the quality of early education for children. What’s more, education officials have allocated additional resources to ensure the sustainability of the early learning centers. This is fantastic news! It means that girls and BUILD COMMUNITY boys in Nepal will benefit for years to come, even after BECOMES PARTNERSHIPS SELF-SUFFICIENT within Community our sponsorship program ends. and Continues and Identify Needs Work Autonomously of Children 11-year-old Zeinabou plays games with her friends at her home in Niger. Sponsorship success! Formerly sponsored child Bourama now Photo: Save the Children in Nepal works in a clinic providing medical care for his local PROVIDE TOOLS for Success through Sponsorship Programs community in Mali. in Education and Health A COMMUNITY BECOMES SELF- SUFFICIENT IN MALI Together, we can be extremely proud of three decades of ongoing work in Mali! By establishing sustainable programs, we’re equipping community members to continue the work we started. This year, we will finish our sponsorship work in 27 communities in the Sikasso Region. Although this change can be hard, we are excited to see the success that comes from our sponsored children in the years to come. Years ago, we left Bourama’s community in the Kolondieba SPONSORSHIP BEGINS IN NIGER area. Before his seven years of sponsorship, Bourama missed We’ve been rolling up our sleeves in Niger, where we intro- class regularly and couldn’t afford school supplies. Access to duced sponsorship programs in early 2016. Working within clean drinking water, deworming treatments and vitamin A local communities, we piloted reading clubs for struggling supplements helped Bourama stay in good health so he could readers in second and third grade at 25 sponsorship-supported complete his education. His relationship with a special sponsor schools. Together, we’re giving children like Zeinabou a did wonders, too. He remembers his sponsor’s name, the letters chance to shine. Before participating in sponsorship, she could they sent back and forth and the good advice she gave him. hardly read a single word. Despite the challenges her family Today, he works in a health clinic and provides life-changing faces, Zeinabou now attends school regularly and is thriving. medical care to his local community. Bourama looks back at his “I am proud of Zeinabou,” says her mom. “She is the 5th out experience with deep appreciation. “I am what and who I am Photo: Victoria Zegler of 65 students in her class!” Zeinabou, we’re proud of you, too. today because of sponsorship,” he says. 8 9 Photo: Save the Children in Mali YOUR IMPACT Our Work in the United States Since 1938, Save the Children has been doing whatever it takes through sponsorship to reach children growing up in the United States’ poorest places. We protect the nation’s most vulnerable children and give In Colorado, students them early opportunities to enjoy a healthy snack learn so they can succeed in in a Save the Children school and life. Together with afterschool program. our sponsors, we achieved results for boys and girls in eight states last year: Arizona, Colorado, California, South Carolina, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.