Children, both boys and girls are the primary beneficiaries in this program. The children who
are under the support are usually referred to the program by community leaders who are
familiar with their life circumstances. Such community leaders include Local Administrators,
Church leaders, School Teachers and Children Welfare Officers among others.
Once admitted into the program, the children continue to receive support as long as they
are in school or until they attain the age of 25 years, after which they are retired out of the
program. This retirement, however, excludes children with disabilities who once admitted
into the program continue to receive support beyond 25 years. Retirement of one child
creates an opportunity for another child. 

The Nutrition and Health Project is designed to respond to the nutritional needs of the
children in the program, their parents and the community in which the program operates.
The program conducts community health education outreaches working with the MicroFinance Groups which help to mobilise the community. It also serves the community
through the St. Joseph Dispensary in Kangeta where health checks are conducted, cases of
malnutrition identified and attended to, and advice and guidance on feeding and nutrition
given to parents/guardians.
The Program has also run a school feeding program in five schools which has greatly
contributed to the wellbeing of children in those schools. The approach of managing and
resourcing the feeding program is set to change over the plan period with parents expected
to contribute more into the program

The micro-finance project is focused on the parents and guardians of the children in the
sponsorship program. The project runs by establishment of Family Circle Groups (also called
Faith Circle Groups) into which parents and guardians of sponsored children are expected to
take membership. Each group of parents/guardians receives savings from members against
which they may borrow to pay school fees, or use for other family-development activities.
There are a total of 64 groups in the three locations, with a total membership of 1,509
(1,362 women and 147 men) as at October 2021. Most of the groups are registered with the
Ministry of Labour and Social Protection as Self-help Groups and have Bank Accounts. Each
group has organised leadership with a Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer and have a
system for recording contributions received and disbursements made to members.

Different program sites work with community leadership to identify and undertake projects
that help a large population in the community. Examples of projects that GSP has
undertaken include:
• Building of ablution blocks in eleven (11) schools in the region
• Sinking boreholes/wells in two (2) of the drier areas in the region
• Renovation of facilities such as classrooms and libraries in four (4) schools
• Construction of dining halls, kitchen and store in three (3) schools
• Buying of books and stocking libraries in two (2) schools
• Constructing a library and computer laboratory and equipping them in St. Joseph’s
Boys High School
• Assisting groups within the community with tools to enable them carry out incomegenerating activities e.g., purchase and issuance of wheelbarrows to enable them to
offer “transport services” such as moving wares at a fee
• Purchase and issuance of water storage tanks for schools, churches, families and
community.

Each of the three Program Sites have a department of Agriculture with staff who conduct
training on effective farming methods for people in the community, especially
parents/guardians of sponsored children. Activities in the project includes the following:
• Teaching households better farming methods
• Educating farmers on environmental conservation, which includes planting trees
• Running Agriculture Clubs for school pupils Agriculture Clubs dabbed 4-K Club
through which they teach children effective methods of agriculture which they are
expected to practice as well as to teach others
• The 4-K Clubs are run as part of the demonstration “farms” that are run in the
schools to teach children from the community on agriculture
• Farmers who have large parcels of land are also identified and are then trained on
good farming practices (e.g., organic farming without chemicals); this enables them
to produce food for their families and generate an income.
The different RGS Community Centres and Sisters’ Houses also carry out some farming
activities which produce food that has supplemented the school feeding program.

The program also runs a project for HIV positive parents. This project started in the year
2020 and has about 12 participants two (2) men and ten (10) women. It was started with
financial support from Chalice Canada as support to parents/guardians of children in the
Education Sponsorship program. It provides a forum for encouragement and peer support
for HIV positive parents.
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Through this project, the parents/guardians have undergone training on health and
nutrition to enable them maintain better health status supported by nutrition. They have
also been trained in business skills such as business financial record keeping and marketing.
The project has initiated an income-generating activity for the members where they have
been trained on bead-work and other productions. Through this project they produce a
variety of items including ornaments, religious articles, bags amongst others for sale.
Many otherwise needy people have found encouragement and purpose for living and have
been able to raise some minimal income that contributes towards meeting their daily needs
through this project