Share With a Child With Special Needs
Your act of sharing helps transform the life of a child with special needs and provides the loving, nurturing home every child deserves.
Why Share With A Special Needs Child?
As you can imagine - or may have experienced yourself - caring for children with special needs often requires more time, resources, and specialized support than caring for able-bodied children. With over 150 little ones currently in our care, many of whom require full-time care as well as ongoing medical attention, therapy, and hospital visits, the costs naturally add up quickly.
Your act of sharing makes a real and tangible difference. It enables us to provide essential care - like food, dedicated staff, and medical support - for the children already in our arms. Without this support, it simply wouldn’t be possible. Two people alone can’t meet the needs of 150 children.
But your support also does something more: it keeps the door open. Open for the next child in need of a safe, loving home - whether they are alone in the world or with a struggling single parent.
In a country where there is little to no formal support for people with disabilities, we are committed to standing in that gap. Together, we can keep reaching children who would otherwise remain unseen, unheard, and unsupported - the invisible children.
What Does It Cost & What Does It Provide?
Raising a child with special needs requires round-the-clock care, medical support, nourishing meals, and many other essentials. On average, it costs us around £55 / $70 per week to cover the basic needs of each child in our care.
We understand this may feel like a big commitment for one person, which is why many of our sponsors choose to share the cost. Often, two, three, or even four kind-hearted people come together to sponsor one child - each contributing what they can to help provide a stable, nurturing home.
Every child at our center receives 24-hour care, tailored nutrition, and the support of a deeply committed team. We are blessed to have on-site doctors and nurses, teachers, physiotherapists to assist with therapy and rehabilitation, as well as occupational therapists who helps each child grow in areas such as speech, sensory development, and emotional regulation -especially vital for those with visual impairments or complex needs.
Your support directly helps make this level of care possible.
Where Do Our Children Live?
Our special needs children live in loving, purpose-built children’s villages designed to meet their complex needs in a safe, nurturing, and stable environment.
Many of the children currently live at Featherstale, our children’s village nestled at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. Here, they receive 24-hour care, medical support, therapeutic services, and the love of a dedicated team that treats them like family.
We are also now developing a second children’s village in Dodoma, which will become the heart of our Masterplan for the Invisible Children. This new site will be a fully self-sustainable village and a sanctuary for even more children with special needs - especially those abandoned, orphaned, or living in dangerous situations without any support. This new village will allow us to expand our reach and provide long-term solutions for children who are often overlooked by society.
Both villages are built with a strong commitment to protection, holistic care, and sustainability - places where children can simply be children, and receive the safety and love every child deserves.
For more information, please visit the dedicated Featherstale page or look out for updates on the development of our Masterplan.
Security Measures at the Village
To ensure the safety of the children in our care, especially those with special needs, we’ve had to implement significant security measures at our children's villages.
Unfortunately, there are still deeply harmful traditional practices in some parts of Tanzania. Among these is the disturbing targeting of children - particularly those with albinism and special needs - by witch doctor gangs who believe these children possess supernatural powers that can be "harnessed" through ritual harm.
These practices have resulted in tragic disappearances and violence. One of the children in our care, Nimzana, was rescued by the police during an attempted abduction by such a group. Nimzana is sadly not the only child in our care with a story like this. Stories like hers are not isolated and highlight the very real danger faced by vulnerable children in this country.
Due to these threats, we have installed panic alarm systems, hired extra night guards, and maintain heightened vigilance at all times. A UN report once noted that children with albinism can be sold for as much as $50,000. While no formal data exists for children with disabilities, the risks they face are equally severe.
Our top priority is to provide not just love and care - but safety and protection to every child who calls our children's villages home.
