Frequently asked questions about Promise Packs

Who receives Promise Packs?

Promise Packs will be distributed to orphans and vulnerable children. At World Vision, we define orphans as children who have lost a mother, a father, or both parents to any cause. This is not an attempt to overlook the fact that the majority of orphans are as a result of AIDS; rather, ‘AIDS orphans’ will not be singled out because parents rarely know of their HIV status. We also define orphans in this way because this helps to prevent stigmatization of children with parents who are HIV+, as well as preventing discrimination against orphans whose parents are not HIV+. Vulnerable children include those whose parents are chronically ill (and thus likely HIV+). These children are often even more vulnerable than orphans, because they are coping with the psychosocial burden of caring for dying parents, while simultaneously bearing the family economic burdens stemming from the loss of parental income and increased health care expenses. Other vulnerable children include those who are living in households that have taken in orphans. When a household absorbs orphans, existing household resources must be spread more thinly among all children in the household. It is more difficult to quantify vulnerable children, however, it is estimated that the number of vulnerable children is at least 2-3 times the number of children who are orphaned.

What is the purpose of a Promise Pack?

The purpose of a Promise Pack is to provide orphans and vulnerable children with the basic supplies they need to get them back into school as well as meet their basic health and hygiene needs.

What countries will receive the kits?

World Vision is currently sending kits to countries in Africa, that are able to receive Gift-in-Kind (GIK). These include: Zambia and Zimbabwe.

How will they get there?

Kits are assembled by churches, companies, philanthropic groups and schools. Once the kits are assembled, packed up and ready to go, World Vision schedules a pick-up at the event location. The kits are sent to either our distribution center in Denver or Pittsburgh, where they will be packed for international shipping. They will then be trucked to port where they will be loaded and shipped overseas. Once they pass through customs, they will be trucked to the multiple nations where World Vision offices are located. The entire process takes approximately 3-6 months.

How much do the kits cost to put together?

The kit including all supplies and shipping is $25.

Is it okay to include additional products in the kits?

Especially with bulk orders it can be common to end up with some extra product. In this case, it’s ideal to include these additional supplies in the shipping boxes when you ship the assembled kits out. Please do not add additional product to the kits themselves. We will use these additional items to complete other kits that are missing product when they reach our distribution centers. Sometimes groups want to add items to the kits that are not on the contents list, but we cannot accept any additional items because they have not been approved or accounted for in customs.

How long does an average kit build take?

This depends on a number of variables. Not including the time it takes to write the encouragement card, it takes an average of 3 minutes to assemble a kit. We recommend that each person build at least 3 kits to make it a meaningful experience (more than this is great too!)

Here are a few key questions to help you determine an estimated time on your event:

1. How many participants do you expect? Will many of those be children?
2. How many kits will you be assembling?
3. Will you have a presentation and/or guest speaker?
4. Will you have a certain area set aside for note card writing?
5. How many volunteers will be available for set-up, during and after the event?

What items should I have on hand for an assembly event other than the product and tables?

• pallet jacks (needed on a case by case basis)
• box-cutters
• packaging tape and tape guns
• shrink-wrap (only needed for assemblies of 120 kits or more)
• note cards and pens
• posters
• name tags
• projector for a presentation
• signs to direct participants