Dear Sponsor!

Thank you for your kindness and interest in “adopting” an elderly person. Sponsorship is a wonderful way to experience the joy of helping someone in need and will make a lasting difference in the lives of those in dire need of your support and attention.

EXCHANGING LETTERS

Exchanging letters with your beneficiary can build a wonderful relationship that will be rewarding for both of you. Through the letters you will learn about their life and country. In return, the elderly love to hear who you are. You may even like to include pictures of yourself. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee a reply to every letter, because the health condition of some of our babushka’s does not permit them to do so.
The quickest and easiest way to write to your beneficiary is by email to info@babushkaadoption.org. Alternatively you can post a letter. Please include your sponsor number in all correspondence. Our staff will translate and deliver your letters for you.

SENDING GIFTS

You can also send gifts for special occasions to address specific needs or simply as an act of love. If you wish to send additional monetary gifts, please inform us by email about the amount and transfer the money to one of our bank accounts or via credit card or PayPal (see an overview of our payment options here). Indicate that your donation is an additional gift so we apply your donation correctly and do not forget to mention your personal sponsor number. Your monetary gift will be given to your beneficiary during the regular money distribution.
Parcels can be send to our office. We will deliver your present to your beneficiary and send you a photo of her/him receiving it. Please include your sponsor number on the parcel. We kindly ask you not to send fragile products as they may brake. We suggest that you send something general, like clothing, scarves, socks or gloves, which would be very welcome in our freezing winters.

PARCEL - BABUSHKA ADOPTION

VISITING

Meeting your adopted babushka or dedushka can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and an opportunity to see with your own eyes how much your sponsorship is helping your beneficiary. Your beneficiary would be delighted to see you!
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you are interested in visiting. We will make arrangements related to your visit, including interpretation assistance and transportation from our office to your beneficiary’s home. Apart from visiting your beneficiary, you are very welcome to meet with the staff of Babushka Adoption Foundation.

Video

Are you considering to adopt a babushka? In this video Myriel Reuteler from Switzerland tells you why she has adopted a babushka in Kyrgyzstan. Watch and get inspired!

Frequently Asked Questions

 

You can choose whether you would like to adopt a grandmother or grandfather. Our sponsor coordinator will send you a profile from our database. If for some reason the chosen profile is not suitable, please let us know and we will do our best to find a suitable alternative.
Yes, we would welcome your generous support.
Adopting a babushka or dedushka in Kyrgyzstan for one year costs EUR 180. From this yearly amount, EUR 144 goes directly to your beneficiary, at two-monthly intervals, and EUR 36 goes towards advocating for rights of the older people on the national level, the running costs of the Babushka Adoption Foundation including staff costs, communication expenses (internet, post correspondence), transportation costs for delivering cash transfers and all social projects Babushka Adoption is implementing.
If you contributed for one year, your adoption lasts one year from your first payment. Therefore, we kindly ask you to renew your adoption every year through our donation page (credit card or PayPal), direct bank transfer or standing order with your bank. We ask this  of you because it is the best way to make our adoption programme more affordable and efficient and our sponsor coordinator will be most grateful. If you choose to renew your support annually, we will send you a reminder that the year is coming to an end when your balance is EUR 40. We kindly ask you to reply as soon as possible to inform us if you will continue your adoption. If we do not hear from by the time your balance is reduced to zero, we will have to cease the financial support to your beneficiary.
If your circumstances change and you can no longer continue the sponsorship (“adoption”) of your babushka or dedushka, please inform us as soon as possible but at the latest 2 months in advance.
 
If you decide to discontinue your adoption we will try to find a new sponsor for your beneficiary quickly so that we can continue their financial support without interruption. In any case, we thank you for your generous support.
If a babushka or dedushka dies, he or she will be automatically replaced with another person from the waiting list. The sponsor will be informed of the death and change. When there are only EUR 40 on the sponsor balance of the new beneficiary left, the sponsor should be asked if it is possible to continue/renew the sponsorship or not.
Babushka Adoption Foundation is a Kyrgyz non-government organization (NGO), which was officially registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic in 2000. The work of Babushka Adoption Foundation is overseen by a Supervisory Board consisting of professionals working in international agencies in the Kyrgyz Republic, local experts, and representatives of international and local organisations. Furthermore, non-staff members, auditors monitor the two-monthly money distribution process each year. At Babushka Adoption Foundation we adhere to the highest standards of financial accountability. We have established stringent accounting and financial reporting procedures to ensure that the funds are used for the purpose specified. Babushka Adoption Foundation conducts audits yearly to make sure funds are properly received, tracked and managed. Accountability is a commitment and a value that drives our whole organization. We are committed to earning and keeping your trust. In addition, staff members conduct financial and programme reviews. We work hard to monitor and evaluate our programme effectiveness and long-term impact — right down to the individual elderly person. Any time we see an irregularity, we take immediate and appropriate action. Our Executive Director and the board members are happy to respond to any queries/complaints/suggestions you may have.
To keep administrative costs to a minimum we only have a small team of dedicated local staff, which constrains our ability to reply immediately to all enquiries. Our single sponsor coordinator manages almost 600 beneficiaries. We will, however, try to respond to all queries within one week. There is also a time lag between when you, the sponsor, sign onto the program and make a payment to Babushka Adoption and when we receive confirmation of this. Babushka Adoption is investigating ways to reduce this time lag. We appreciate your patience in this matter.
We send our sponsors a financial report when there is EUR 40 left on their sponsor account, along with a request for sponsorship renewal. Upon request we can also send you a financial report at any time. In addition, once a year Babushka Adoption Foundation sends a New Year Letter to all sponsors, which gives a full report of the achievements and activities of our organization. Our Annual Programme and Audit Report are available on our website. Once per quarter we send newsletters to all our sponsors, informing them about our Foundation’s activities.
Yes! Your words of encouragement will make a big difference to your beneficiary. We will be happy to translate and deliver your letters. In addition to letters, you can also send additional monetary gifts, presents or parcels, and even visit your babushka or dedushka.
Yes. We encourage sponsors to send additional monetary gifts, presents and parcels to their beneficiaries for special occasions, to address specific needs or simply as an act of love. These gifts are another effective way for you to reinforce your care and commitment to your beneficiary. We will give your present to your beneficiary and send you a photo of her or him receiving your present.
Babushka Adoption Foundation has three bank accounts, in Kyrgyzstan, Switzerland, and Germany. You can choose whichever bank is most convenient for you.
For more information on the banks, please check the question “Payment Options”.
Unfortunately, all banks charge some amount of money for (international) transfers. Babushka Adoption Foundation is not able to cover the bank transfer charges and cannot offer any other bank accounts for the transfer. We ask for your understanding and have also found most banks are sympathetic to waiving the charges if you tell them the transaction is for charity purposes.
Alternatively, you can also donate through our donation page via credit card (currently unavailable) or PayPal.
By transferring the whole amount at once you will save the cost of bank transfer charges and reduce administrative costs.
 
Of course, if this is not possible for your, you may transfer your money in instalments. However, we would ask you to cover at least 4 months at once (i.e., EUR 60).

If this is not at all possible for you, please feel free to contact us.
Our sponsor coordinator will confirm receipt of your payment as soon as possible. Please note that our Swiss bank sends statements that detail transactions up to the 15th of the previous month. Therefore, if, for example, you transfer money to our Swiss account on September 3, we will only be able to confirm receipt of your payment after October 15. We kindly ask you for your understanding.
You can find an overview of all payment details here.

 

 

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