Outreach

Student Sponsorship Scheme – Raising Hope despite Rising Prices

Help is sought to continue sponsoring children like these at COSI, so they can attend school.

How good is your memory? Take this test and find out.

(Answers are provided below, but don’t cheat!)

Fifteen years ago, what was the cost for these items?

  • A cup of coffee
  • A plate of chicken rice
  • A loaf of bread
  • The starting fare for an MRT ride
  • The starting fare for a taxi ride

 

Whether or not we know the exact answers, we would surely know the costs for these and for many other goods and services have increased exponentially over the past years.

 

We also know inflation has had and continues to have a particularly devastating impact on developing countries, with families living below the poverty line suffering the most.

 

In 2000, the Methodist Missions Society (MMS) established the Student Sponsorship Scheme (SSS) to provide care and access to education for desperately poor children. This programme has a two-fold purpose: to share the love of Christ and to help break the vicious cycle of poverty.

 

Monthly contribution rates for SSS have remained unchanged since the programme was created, yet costs have continued to rise. For example, the actual cost per month at the Methodist School in Cambodia now ranges from S$38 for kindergarten children up to S$61 for high school students. The actual monthly cost to support a child at COSI is S$134.

 

In order to provide adequate care and continued access to education, MMS will adjust the monthly sponsorship rates with effect from 1 Aug 2015. For non-residential students, the contribution level will increase from S$30 to S$45, and for residential students from S$90 to S$110.

 

For sponsors who have already made advance payments for periods extending beyond August, the increase will take effect only upon the renewal date of their sponsorship. For sponsors who pay on a monthly basis, the increase will take effect from 1 August. MMS has been sending out letters to each donor over these few months to ensure their understanding and to seek their continued support.

 

Over the past 15 years, SSS has provided educational opportunities to more than 1,200 children and youths! Coming from the poorest families in Cambodia, Thailand and Nepal, these boys and girls would never have been able to attend school without the generous support of donors within the Methodist community in Singapore.

 

For orphans or children from broken homes, SSS provides food, clothing, shelter, physical and spiritual care, as well as access to education. Unlike other sponsorship programmes, 100 per cent of all donations goes directly towards the support of the children; MMS does not apply a single cent of SSS contributions towards administrative purposes.

 

By God’s grace and with your continued support, SSS will soon be expanded to help poor children in two of our newest mission fields: Timor-Leste and Laos.

 

If you have any questions about SSS or the increases to be implemented in August, please contact the Rev Teresa Wilborn at teresa.wilborn@ gmail.com or call 6478-4797.

Costs are rising to support children like these kindergarteners in the Methodist School of Cambodia.
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SPONSOR a child – visit u www.mms.org.sg/sss

www.facebook.com/mms.org.sg

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  • 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_ MRT_%28Singapore%29#2002_to_2009
  • 2 https://www.cdgtaxi.com.sg/ mediaviewer;jsessionid=pSnXzI-cjzl4ihqBB94QXA**?mediaid=396

 

Photos courtesy of Methodist Missions Society

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The Rev Teresa Wilborn is a missionary from Aldersgate Methodist Church and the Assistant Director of Community Development in the Methodist Missions Society.

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