“I have always wanted to be a sponsor for a child who is less privileged. When Amanda came back from Nepal stating that she wanted to run this charity, I was very excited. It is fantastic to know that all of my dollar gets to my child, unlike many other charities, and that this charity is well run and responsibly supervised.

I love the fact that I am helping my child with housing, food, clothing, health and education. I get regular letters, updates and photos, so it is great to see her development, and to be a part of her life. I hope to visit her one day.

Sponsoring her is something I will never regret, and when she leaves the nest, I will definitely sponsor another child.”

(Jo Koppens, Punam’s sponsor)

“We feel privileged to be Ranjana’s sponsors since 2006. We are delighted to receive constant updates on Ranjana’s progress at school, news about the orphanage and direct correspondence from Ranjana herself. Our children have loved receiving and sending letters, cards and photos over the past few years.

We visited Nepal in 2009 and had a wonderful experience meeting our delightful sponsor daughter. We were also fortunate to meet Amanda who was visiting at the same time, and felt honoured to have had the opportunity to work alongside her.

Amanda astounded us with her passion, energy and the commitment she shows in ensuring that the children are receiving the best quality care and education that our sponsorship can provide.”

(The Leary Family, Ranjana’s sponsors)

“Words cannot explain the feeling to meet your sponsored child and to share part of their life for a time. It was such a special and rewarding opportunity to not only meet Kalpana and share such a special time with her and her family, but to visit the Home and join with the other children in activities and daily things like walking to school. The atmosphere is truly one of love where the children are nurtured, but busy about their chores, schooling, interacting very happily together and looking out for each other as you would a brother or sister.

To experience what Indira is doing at PA Nepal, visiting Sankhu and rescuing three children from the prison was at times an emotional experience but at the same time a privilege to have been part of. Her love and care for the children is obvious and seeing them settle into life at the Home within a few days was rewarding.

I met up with Amanda in Auckland and feel very privileged to have travelled with her and see not only her passion and energy but love, compassion and dedication to the children and the life of Firefly Children’s Home. She cares about each one of the children and spent many hours talking with them to make sure that absolutely everything was OK and did what she could if it wasn’t.

Since being back home in Christchurch I have constantly been reminded of how blessed we are to live in New Zealand and the experience I had in Nepal will be one I will always remember with love.”

(Jayne Millar, Kalpana’s sponsor)