FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

There are many ways to make a donation to Changing Lenses, Changing Lives (CLCL). Navigate to our  Donate page, where you can direct where you would like to direct your donation and select payment method.

• Paypal/Credit card - redirected to PayPal site where you can pay with your PayPal account OR directly use a credit card of your choice.

Or, make a direct donation via check, Zelle, or a bank draft through your banking institution. The advantage of these methods are no credit card fees charged.

• Check - send by mail to: Changing Lenses, Changing Lives, P.O. Box 23181, Santa Fe, NM 87502
• Zelle – set up Info@changinglenseschaninglives.org as a Zelle trusted recipient and make a donation.
• Bank drafts – use your bank’s bill pay function to make a donation.

You can direct donations in the following ways:

Sponsor a child – this is our primary donation category where a sponsor selects a child they want to sponsor, typically through completion of their education.

General Support – unrestricted funds allow us to direct donations to where they are most needed:

• Keep children’s sponsorship active; if we lose a sponsor, their education can continue
• Provide scholarships to kids who advance their education, and their sponsorship doesn’t cover the full cost of their educational expenses
• Pay our essential Kenyan staff, who ensure the children are well taken care of, and our money is efficiently and effectively spent
• Provide additional funding for some of our special programs

Special Programs - unique opportunities that support our overall mission, some are ongoing, some are one-time needs

• Feeding Program – provides supplementary food for the neediest schools serving our children
• Menstrual Cups – we partner with the Ruby Cup Company, which donates reusable menstrual cups. CLCL provides the training for girls and young mothers to use the cups.
• Solar Lamps – provide a way for students to study at home
• Furniture and Bedding – supplies beds and bedding for our students living in dire conditions
• Books – purchase text books and library books for schools in need

To sponsor one child for a year is $468, or $39 monthly.

For Primary school students, school fees are paid first. After that, we let the child’s guardian work with CLCL’s social worker to determine where the remainder is best spent. Typically, the funds purchase food, bedding and a mattress, school uniform, and/or medical care. For Secondary school students, school fees are much higher than for Primary school, the sponsorship is spent on school fees and uniforms. For University and College students, the sponsorship goes for school fees. Since these fees are much higher, we ask the sponsor to cover the additional cost. If they are not able to cover the additional expense, CLCL typically supplements a sponsor’s giving for the additional expense.  

One of our newer programs has been highly effective in supporting the attendance, performance and nutrition for children at four poverty stricken schools in Meru, Kenya. Food is delivered to each school each trimester where over 1,200 children receive nutritious lunches. Many of these children would otherwise not have a lunch to eat.

Yes! If you wish to send an email to your child, you can send it through info@changinglenseschaninglives.org. Someone in the U.S. will forward it to our social worker, who will then print it, and deliver it to your child. However, since our children are spread out over a vast geographical area without many good roads, it may be several weeks before your letter will be delivered.

Since mail delivery to Kenya is not reliable, and customs charges will be incurred which someone in Kenya will have to pay, we ask that you not. Rather, whenever we have a team visit Kenya we always sponsor a gathering for our children where we give them gifts. We would love for you to contribute to this fund!

Of course! CLCL plans team trips to visit our children every other year. We take up to 12 people with us, including board members and sponsors. You can also take a trip to Kenya on your own and visit your child. Just contact us, and we will help to facilitate you meeting your child.

Financial transparency is a top priority to CLCL. On the U.S. side our books are overseen by our President, our Treasurer, and our Bookkeeper. Our President has a B.S. degree in Business with a concentration in Finance and Accounting. She also has over 20 years’ experience in Corporate Accounting and Finance. Our Treasurer is the CFO for a large, multi-national nonprofit. CLCL’s by-laws state that our Treasurer must approve any expenditures over $500. Our Bookkeeper checks every transaction.  

A financial update for CLCL-Kenya is provided at each quarterly board meeting, where we discuss any large or unusual expenditures. Additionally, since we qualified as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) within Kenya, we are required by Kenyan law to have the CLCL-Kenya books reviewed by an independent auditor annually to review our financial transactions. We also post our financial statements on our website once they are finalized each year.

No one in the U.S. has received any compensation from CLCL. We have been very fortunate to have both generous donors and volunteers—even our US Bookkeeper donates her time!

In Kenya, we have 3 paid employees. Wyclif Gitonga, our executive director/social worker, Fridah Makandi, program associate/social worker and Joshua Barua, our part-time Kenyan bookkeeper. Their bios can be found on our About Us page.

Yes! We have had various groups sponsor special projects that benefit our children. For example, a group of honor students in the U.S. raised money to buy books, desks, and bookshelves for a school library. Other special project ideas are building latrines for schools or homes, purchasing cisterns for families, or financing mentoring programs. We would love to hear your ideas! Please send an information request with your idea to info@changinglenseschanginglives.org, and we will find a way to match your project ideas to our needs!