Sponsor a child living in poverty in India.

Sunaina, a determined 14-year-old girl residing in Mumbai's Colaba area, faces more challenges than most, she lives in a low-income community and sadly her mother passed away earlier this year. Sunaina looks after her father and brother, taking care of all household duties and cooking. However, her life does have a positive, she joined OSCAR's football and life skills programme. Sunaina's dedication and ambition have made her a role model for her peers, excelling in both academics and football.

Since 2019, thanks to OSCAR's child sponsorship Sunaina has had access to the entire programme, providing her with invaluable opportunities. She has seized these chances to expand her knowledge, grow her confidence, and develop crucial interpersonal skills. Through OSCAR's life skills sessions, Sunaina has gained the ability to express herself with assurance and conviction.

Recognizing Sunaina's exceptional leadership qualities, her coach believes she has a bright future ahead. Grateful for OSCAR's unwavering support, Sunaina dreams of forging a successful career as a professional footballer with the backing of her sponsors. The sponsorship has not only enabled her to pursue her passion but also provided her with a pathway to a better future.

“OSCAR means everything to me. OSCAR is my life, my family” - Sunaina

The relationship between a sponsored child and their sponsor is a special one. Two families from entirely different cultures, languages, and worlds are able to connect, encourage, and love each other. By sponsoring a child through the OSCAR Child Sponsorship programme, one is able to build a relationship with a child through the exchange of personalised video messages, letters, and pictures and sponsors become a part of the change of a child’s life.

Supriya (14) sponsored through a child sponsorship programme lives in Chembur with her parents and two siblings. Her father is a taxi driver and her mother is a homemaker. She studies in the 10th grade and her favourite subject is Maths. She aspires to be a teacher. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, her father lost his job and it made her family life more difficult. They were not able to pay her school fees but with the support of her sponsor, OSCAR enabled her to continue her studies. 

Supriya has been with OSCAR’s football programme for the last 5 years. While her parents are supportive, they would often be concerned about her safety and would not allow her to play outdoors. But, with OSCAR, they feel secure that she is playing under adult supervision in a safe environment. This enables Supriya to live her childhood, whilst keeping her parents reassured of her safety. Supriya enjoys studying and has always scored good grades. However, she would often get nervous and sometimes lacked confidence but football has brought about a positive change by enabling her to be more confident in herself and in turn being able to express herself more openly. It has improved her communication skills and given her a platform to display her talents. Now, she is mentoring younger children and shares her learnings with them. OSCAR life skills have helped her with her time management too.

Supriya credits OSCAR and her sponsor for giving her the freedom and confidence to express herself. She has learnt that girls deserve the same opportunities as boys and she can dare to dream and achieve whatever she wants in life.

OSCAR Child Sponsorship not only enables the sponsored child to complete their education, and have access to all the programmes, but it benefits the entire OSCAR community.

The Child Sponsorship Programme improves the well-being of our most vulnerable OSCAR children. Sponsored children gain a feeling of self-worth: knowing that someone wants to support them. It provides a child full access to all OSCAR programmes, digital learning, football and life skills sessions, scholarships for education, football boots and nutrition. Sponsorship supports the sponsored child and their community. Through this programme 

Hear directly from two of our wonderful sponsors.

“I was invited to join the OSCAR Child Sponsorship programme in January 2019 and am thrilled to be part of such an incredibly worthwhile cause.  I was lucky enough to visit Mumbai and see for myself the work of the OSCAR Foundation and it completely touched my heart. I was taken aback by the commitment, the results and the amazing work that takes place with the children on the programme.

I sponsor a young boy and am in touch with the foundation to learn about his progress – he is a similar age to my son. Not only has he matured, but his English has improved, he is doing well in his studies and his commitment to hard work has been driven by all those involved with OSCAR.  I am desperate to return to Mumbai not only to see his progress but to also support the work of the OSCAR Foundation.

My sponsorship makes a real difference, and it works – he has opportunities that may not have been possible without my donations.  It does not impact my personal financial situation greatly but does have a great impact on his life which is worth every penny.

I would encourage anyone to join the Child Sponsorship programme to enrich these children’s lives and give them opportunities they simply won’t have with their normal lives if it was not for the OSCAR Foundation.” Sara

OSCAR Foundation is grateful to all our GlobalGiving supporters and well-wishers for their contribution to the Child Sponsorship Programme. Through your support, we have been able to help 24 children from the community. The Child Sponsorship Programme is one of the successful programmes and our aim is to reach out to more children in the future with your generosity.