A new letter from Zanele makes my day

“I wanted my godchild to be a South African girl for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because apartheid was forbidden only a couple of years ago. Secondly, aids is a huge problem in South Africa and finally, because girls have less employment opportunities.

I quickly wrote a small letter to Zanele in which I briefly introduced my family and myself. I also sent her a couple of pictures, so she could have an image of the person she was exchanging letters with. Zanele’s native language is Isizulu.

Even though she does not know any English, we still use it as our language of communication. Someone in Zanele’s direct environment translates my letters to her. All the things that Zanele wants to tell me, are also written in English. Her letters are fairly superficially written, but that is because of her age. They mostly contain easy sentences like “How are you?” and “Here is everything fine.”

Now and then I get a more recent picture of Zanele. That makes my day! It reminds me of the fact that someone actually receives the money. Zanele will have a diploma on her 18th birthday because of this sponsorship.

I have four godchildren at the moment. A testament to how much I believe in Cunina.”

Becoming a Cunina godparent is a long-term commitment. You play an important role in the life of your godchild and you see them become a young adult with opportunities. 

Testimonies of godparents

Becoming a godparent is not something you do every day. Thankfully you are not on your own. Since the foundation of Cunina, over 13.000 children have been sponsored. Here you can read the experiences of different godparents and their opinion on child sponsorship.