In starting this blog, we at Global Partners in Christian Education are keeping you updated about the ongoing work we are doing with our partners around the globe. It is our hope that a couple of times each month we will send you a notice of a new post. If you think there may be others who are interested in these partnerships, feel free to share this blog with them or have them fill out contact information and we will add them to our contact list.
The last year has been a very difficult one for our partner school, Kabala Christian School in Sierra Leone. You will, no doubt have heard about the Ebola Crisis that has impacted several countries in West Africa. Several thousand people have lost their lives in this epidemic that seems to be abating, though Sierra Leone has still not had a 42 day stretch of no new cases. We are marking the days on the calendar as we move closer to this marker of renewed health for the country. This tragedy is not just the loss of life but the enormous economic setback that this is as well. The country had been making good post-war gains and that has now been set back considerably. We are grateful that no students lost their lives though some families were impacted.
KCS started up operations again late last Spring, took a short holiday break during the rainy season and began classes again at the beginning of September in an attempt to not lose a whole school year. At KCS the children and teaching staff are also enjoying the blessings of a beautiful new Senior Secondary Wing and the recent establishment of a bona fide library.
We are still in need of child sponsorship funds for the 2015-2016 school year for children at KCS. All of our funds get transferred into US dollars as they go to Sierra Leone. With the current state of the Canadian dollar you can imagine the challenge we face. If you have sponsored in the past and would like to renew or have never sponsored a child but would like to, please visit this link: Sponsorship
This past March we were able to send our first team of students and teachers to Juan Calvino Christian School in Choluteca Honduras. This was an amazing experience for the six grade 12 students and their chaperons. We stayed with families in the school community, interacted with the children and teachers each day and got to see some of the great joy and wonderful learning that is happening in this school. The school has some enrollment challenges since it accepts some students with learning disabilities, and as a result other families have chosen not to send their children because of the stigma attached to those with disabilities. We laud the school for this courageous choice and we want to work with them to overcome these difficulties.