Sponsor A Child

To read the story of a featured child, click on their name. If you wish to sponsor a child, click on the button marked sponsor. Use the reference code next to the button when registering for a sponsor child. Click here for Child Sponsorship Programs in the Middle East

Child Sponsorship Program in Armenia, Karabagh & Georgia
General Information • FAQ

Child Education Program in the Middle East
General Information • FAQ

FAQ: ARMENIA

What Will It Cost Me if I decide to sponsor?
Sponsoring a child in Armenia costs U.S. $250.00 per child per year.

Can I Pay In Installments?
Yes. You may pay quarterly (U.S. $60.00 per quarter) or monthly (U.S. $21.00 per month).

Is My Payment Tax-Deductible?
Yes. Your payments are fully tax-deductible.

Can I Choose The Child I Wish To Sponsor?
You may state your preferences (age, sex, etc.), and we will take them into consideration when assigning children to sponsors.  

Do I Get Information About My Sponsored Child?
Yes. You will receive a recent photograph of the child, and information about the circumstances of the child and his or her family.  

Can I Sponsor The Same Child Year After Year?
Yes. You may continue to sponsor the same child as long as you wish and as long as the child remains in the program. Children are dropped from the program when they reach the age of 16 or 17 or graduate from a secondary school.  

Can I Write To My Sponsored Child? Yes. Send your letters/cards to the AMAA for forwarding.  They will be collected and hand-carried or airmailed to the AMAA office in Yerevan, where they will be translated and delivered to your sponsored child's home with his or her next cash delivery.  

Will I Get Letters From My Sponsored Child?
Each sponsored child is urged to write a letter to his or her sponsor at least once a year.  Letters written by sponsored children are picked up at the time a cash delivery is made.  They are then collected at the AMAA's Yerevan office and translated into English, then are airmailed to AMAA headquarters in New Jersey where they are sorted and mailed to the designated sponsors. Please bear in mind that each step in this process involves unavoidable delays.  

What Happens When My Sponsored Child Leaves The Program?
Every sponsored child gets older and eventually grows out of the program, and gets replaced by another child from the waiting list.  When your sponsored child leaves the program, another child will automatically be assigned to you and your sponsorship will continue without interruption.       

How Are The Sponsored Children Selected?
The names and addresses of indigent families with children are obtained from government offices, individuals, and other relief organizations.  AMAA representatives then visit and interview each family to ascertain the pertinent facts.  The only criteria applied in the selection process are the degree of poverty and the presence of one or more children under the age of 17.  

Can Two Or More Children In A Family Be Sponsored?
No.  Only one child per family may be included in the sponsorship program. In this way the benefits of the program can reach more families.  

How Long Does A Child Remain In The Program?
A sponsored child who reaches the age of 16 or 17 or who has completed his/her secondary education, is removed from the program and replaced with a child from the waiting list.  As a rule, children complete their secondary education at age 16 or 17.  Exceptions may be made in special cases, such as a severely handicapped child.  

How Much of A Sponsor's Payment Reaches The Child's Family?
100% of a sponsor's payment in the form of goods and cash reaches the sponsored child's family.

Why Don't The Children Attend Public Schools?
In most of the Middle East, public schools are substandard and often geared to Islamic values. The only academically acceptable schools are private ones, and such schools are sup-ported primarily by tuition fees.  

How Does the Program operate?
Each sponsored child is assured of a place in the classroom.  A sponsor's do-nation represents approximately one fourth of a child's tuition for an academic year.  The balance of the child's tuition comes from other sources.  

How Many Schools Are In This program?
How Many Children?
There are 12 schools in this program: eight in Lebanon (one of them a boarding school) and four in Syria. Currently there are about 845 sponsored children in these schools. Since the program's inception in 1946, more than 36,000 children have been helped.  

How Are Sponsored Children selected?
Selection of the children for this program is made by the administrators of the schools. Children are selected strictly on the basis of need.  Currently, about 90% of the sponsored children are Armenian Apostolic.  

How Long Does A Child Remain in The Program?
As long as a child has a sponsor, that child remains in the program until he or she completes secondary school.  

How Much of a Sponsor's payment is Applied to the Child's Tuition?
A sponsor's entire contribution is applied to the tuition of a sponsored child.  

What will it cost me to sponsor a child in the Middle East?
The cost of sponsoring a child in this program is U.S. $240.00 per child, per academic year.  

Is my payment tax-deductible?
Yes.  All sponsorship payments are fully tax-deductible.  

Can I choose the child I wish to sponsor?
Not exactly. You may state your preference (age, sex, etc.) and we shall take that into consideration when assigning available children to sponsors.  

Do I get information about my sponsored child?
Yes. You will receive a recent photograph and a letter.  

Can I sponsor the same child year after year?
Yes. You may continue to sponsor the same child as long as you wish, and as long as the child remains in the program.  

Can I write to my sponsored child?
Yes. Your letters should be sent to the AMAA office; they will be forwarded to the Middle East and delivered to your sponsored child at the child's school.  

Will I get letters from my sponsored child?
Each sponsored child is urged to write to his or her sponsor once a year.  Letters are collected by a teacher, and sent to AMAA's office in the United States for delivery to the sponsors.  

Can I send gifts to my sponsored child?
No. We discourage such gifts in the interest of perceived fairness by the children, because some would receive gifts and others would not.  Since contact with the children is through the schools, such disparities would become immediately apparent.  

What happens when my sponsored child leaves the program?
Every sponsored child gets older and eventually leaves the program, to be replaced by another child needing a sponsor. When your sponsored child leaves the program, another child will be assigned to you, and your sponsorship will continue without interruption.