Meet Joy

Aged 6, Kenya

Joy lives with her parents in a rented one room house. Her father does casual labour in a small shop at the shopping centre while her mother does casual jobs like doing laundry for people. Joy’s mother also has a chicken and some chicks and is hoping to grow her brood to be able to sell eggs. The family hang bed sheets to separate the sleeping area from the other areas of the house. Joy’s mother uses a small charcoal burner just outside the house to prepare their meals and fetches their water from a community well within their compound. There are thirteen such houses and they all share two pit latrines, two bathrooms and a borehole. With the support that will come through Stand by Me and the sponsorship programme, Joy will be able to receive, along with her education, other help with things like medical care, food, clothing and other practical and material provision. Joy is a very confident young girl who loves playing. She and her friends like to play pretend cooking, doctors and school. Joy would like to be a doctor when she grows up.

Where Joy lives

The Open Arms project is joining the Stand by Me family in January 2022. Open Arms International was founded in 2006 to meet the immediate needs of orphaned and abandoned children in western Kenya who were suffering from a wide variety of life-threatening diseases. After the 2008 political violence left thousands of children orphaned, abandoned and homeless, the project grew to support more children. Today, the Open Arms Village is now home to over 150 children with 10 purpose-built family homes.

How your donation is used

88% of your donation will be used to directly provide the best care possible for Joy . We'll use the remaining 12% to support the work of Stand by Me and find a sponsor for the next child.

What you receive

When you sponsor Joy you will receive a pack in the post with his story and photo. Every year you will receive an update about his/her progress, a new photo and at least one communication from him/her.

Real relationship

We know our kids love to receive your letters and write back so we encourage you to write as many letters as you like, along with photos and birthday gifts to develop a genuine relationship.

Stand by... almost there...