Orphan care
Sponsor an orphan
Orphan and child care
Founded to meet the needs of vulnerable children whose parents lost their lives in the conflict. The program is primarily engaged in establishing orphanages and providing health care, education, financial support and other in-kind support to the host families looking after orphans. It has expanded over the years and now manages and sponsors over 12,000 orphaned children across the country.
Social development and income-generating programs provide healthy livelihoods for the orphans and host families. For example, a 100 business start-ups for orphans were launched by Zamzam in 2020.
14,000+
Orphans under care by zamsam foundation
100+
Orphans under care by zamsam foundation
In addition to education and health care, we provided dairy cows, goats, sewing machines and cash payments to impoverished host families as well as emergency food distribution, Eid clothes and fun activities including art and play.
19% of Somali
households are home to at least one orphan
Zamzam Foundation exists to improve the lives of vulnerable people affected by human and natural disasters and other threats to their well-being. We began our work in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1992 as a non-governmental, not-for-profit humanitarian and Mogadishu, Somalia in 1992 as a non-governmental, not-for-profit humanitarian and development charity soon after the collapse of the Central Government of Somalia which coincided with a severe drought that affected millions of Somalis.
50% of children in
Somalia work to help
feed their families
Founded to meet the needs of vulnerable children whose parents lost their lives in the conflict. The program is primarily engaged in establishing orphanages and providing health care, education, financial support and other in-kind support to the host families looking after orphans. It has expanded over the years and now manages and sponsors over 12,000 orphaned children across the country.
Success story
Women are pivotal to Somali society and the economy, so our programmes empower women and girls
Our sisters are the ones most likely to miss out on education, most likely to die prematurely because of inadequate healthcare, most reliant on subsistence farming for their livelihoods, most responsible for finding and fetching water, and most likely to be displaced and left caring for children on their own because of conflict and climate change. We are taking practical action to improve food security, education, healthcare, livelihoods and protection for women and girls across Somalia.
2 Women are pivotal to Somali society and the economy, so our programmes empower women and girls
Our sisters are the ones most likely to miss out on education, most likely to die prematurely because of inadequate healthcare, most reliant on subsistence farming for their livelihoods, most responsible for finding and fetching water, and most likely to be displaced and left caring for children on their own because of conflict and climate change. We are taking practical action to improve food security, education, healthcare, livelihoods and protection for women and girls across Somalia.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I and the one who looks after an orphan will be together in Paradise like this," and he (ﷺ) raised his forefinger and middle finger together, illustrating how close they will be.
Narrated Sahl bin Sa`d: | Sahih al-Bukhari 6005
Water Project
706 000
people enabled to
access clean water
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Orphan Sponsorship FAQs
Here’s a list of frequently asked questions to provide you with more information
about our Orphan Sponsorship Programme.
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Our Partners and Supporters
Orphan care
Sponsor an orphan
19% of Somali households are home to at least one orphan
3 million children are out of school
Half of children aged 5-14 in central and southern Somalia work to help feed their families
Zamzam Foundation supported the families of 11,502 orphaned children in 2023.
If you sponsor an orphan in Somalia through us, your regular donation of £50 a month will enable the orphan you support to go to school and ensure that their guardian can meet the family’s basic needs.
Orphans are mentioned 23 times in the Qur’an, which emphasises the responsibility of all believers to care for orphans in need. Our orphan care programme is a practical response to hard economic reality: children who have lost one or both their parents are more likely to be living in poverty, and less likely to get the education they need.
The Somali Health and Demographic Survey of 2020 found that 32% of households were home to a foster child and/or orphaned children, with at least one orphan in 19% of families. We extended our support to 532 new orphans in 2023, and enrolled 75 more of our orphans in school.
Financial assistance is the main support we give. Our donors enable us to provide regular cash sponsorship to those caring for an orphaned child alone, whether that be a sole surviving parent, another family member, or a guardian from the wider community.
The money can be used to meet whichever of each family’s needs are most pressing, an element of choice that respects their dignity, but our primary purpose is to fund educational costs – fees, books and uniforms – so that children can go to school. Orphans who live near Zamzam health facilities and schools can access free education and healthcare. In 2023 we also provided grants or loans to 17 families to support income generation and increase self-reliance.
11,502
orphans supported across Somalia
532
more children enrolled in our orphans programme in 2023
Your donation of £50 per month pays a monthly stipend to the family of an orphaned child to support the child’s education and help meet the family’s basic needs
Success story
Sacdia, 37, has lived in a poor neighbourhood of Mogadishu all her life. Thanks to our orphans and social care programme, she has been able to send her seven children to school and establish a small shop to earn an independent income.
“Zamzam’s sponsorship of my children’s education has relieved me of the financial burden of school fees, allowing my children to pursue their studies without hindrance,” she says. “With the shop provided by Zamzam, I have a stable source of income to support my family’s daily expenses.”
