If you’ve spoken to anyone on our team recently, you’ve probably noticed that we’re in one of the busiest, but also one of the most special, times of the year. Photos are being selected, letters are being translated, answers are being reviewed and, of course, lots of emails are finding their way into inboxes around the world.
Our annual sponsorship updates are currently making their way from our sponsored children in Kenya to their sponsors.
For us, this is one of the highlights of the year. A sponsorship is about so much more than supporting a child’s education financially. It creates a genuine connection between two people who might otherwise never have crossed paths.
That’s exactly why we want these updates to do more than simply share information.

You may remember that at the beginning of this year we shared some changes to our sponsorship update process.
In the past, sponsors received three or four personal updates each year. From this year onwards, every sponsored child will send one detailed annual update, complemented by regular quarterly updates that give you a glimpse into everyday life at our school, exciting projects and the many little moments that make our community so special.
And do you know what?
The feedback on our first quarterly updates has been wonderful. 💛
Many of you told us how much you enjoyed hearing from the children throughout the year, even between the personal updates. Honestly, that’s exactly what we had hoped for.
Because this new approach doesn’t mean you’ll hear less from the children.
Quite the opposite.
It means we can invest our time where it has the greatest impact.

One of the biggest changes actually happened in Kenya rather than Germany.
In previous years, our team spoke with the children in a very open and informal way. Sometimes those conversations turned into wonderful stories. Children would excitedly tell us about school, their favourite subjects, their friends or their dreams for the future.
And sometimes… the answer was simply:
“Good.” 😄
If you’ve ever talked to a child after school, you’ll probably know exactly what we mean.

Not because they have nothing to say.
Sometimes they just need the right question.
Together with our Kenyan team, we developed a new interview guide. Not to make the conversations more formal, but quite the opposite.
It helps our team know when to gently ask another question if an answer is very short. Sometimes all it takes is a simple “Why?”, “How did that make you feel?” or “Can you tell me a little more?”
And suddenly, one word becomes a story.
A story about a new friendship.
A favourite subject.
A dream for the future.
Or the one thing a child is most excited about during the school holidays.
Those are the stories we want to share with you.

Of course, we’ve also simplified many of our internal processes.
And no… not because we suddenly wanted less work. Quite the opposite. 😄
We simply wanted to spend our time more wisely.
Instead of preparing several smaller personal updates for every child, we can now invest much more time in creating one detailed annual update. At the same time, our quarterly updates keep every sponsor connected with what is happening throughout the year.
The best part?
Every child benefits from these improvements.
Not just the ones whose updates happen to be written that month.

As you’re reading this newsletter, the first annual updates are already arriving in inboxes around the world.
Behind every answer is a conversation.
Behind every photo is a smile.
And behind every update is a great deal of care from both our Kenyan and German teams.
We truly hope you’ll enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed creating them.
And if you notice that this year’s updates feel a little more personal, a little more detailed and a little more alive, you’ll now know why.
Sometimes, all it takes is the right question. 💛