The schools are closed in Sierra Leone, both for the Christmas Break and for a country-wide census. Many of the teachers in the country are employed for this work given their level of literacy. School will begin again mid January. I am pretty excited about my upcoming visit to our Christian School in Kabala and will be sure to bring greetings from you, the group of faithful supporters who make this little miracle happen from one year to the next. If all goes well I will arrive in Sierra Leone on the 22nd of January and return on February 16th. The main purpose of my visit is encouragement. To change the educational system in this country is no small task but step by step this is happening. Our school is out performing most schools in the country and though there is much still that needs improvement, the children that attend are getting a far superior education that will be for them, the Christmas gift of a lifetime. With this kind of education they will be able to raise themselves and their families out of poverty toward a sustainable way of living. Thank you for your support and blessings in the year that awaits us.
We give great thanks to God that at long last Sierra Leone is Ebola Free. There was much celebrating as this milestone was marked last week. Forty-two days have passed without a new infection and the World Health Organization has declared the country Ebola Free. There is much relief also in our Christian School community in Kabala. We were fortunate that no students lost their lives in this epidemic though families were certainly impacted. The crisis has left a devastating impact on the economy and we pray that this will slowly rebuild as investors feel free to travel again and life returns to a new normal. This Guardian article gives you a sense for the jubilation and relief and the road ahead.
It's that time of year when various charities send out their 'gift' catalogs. There must be a magic date by which these need to arrive at your home in time for Christmas gift giving decisions to be made. Within a week's time we received about five of these and they are filled with amazing charitable causes to give toward: a pond full of fish, a flock of chickens, a classroom filled with learning materials, a milk cow or goat and many more very good worthy causes. This certainly is a tangible way for individuals and families to participate in global development efforts. If Global Partners in Christian Education were to produce such a catalog it would have only one item on its pages. We would be asking you to give the gift of Christian Education.
So that is what I am going to do. The pictures on this blog are of real children who attend two schools that we support. There are about 70 children who attend Juan Calvino Christian School in Choluteca, Honduras and about 400 who attend Kabala Christian School in Kabala, Sierra Leone. Our sponsorship program supports these children and schools so that these children have a brighter future ahead of them. That costs about $250 per child. We know from those who work in the field of global development that education is the biggest change factor for a country's future positive growth. On top of that you are helping to nurture the future leaders of these countries given that their education is far superior to most children in the country. Take some time to discuss this with your family and consider giving this gift from our Gift Catalog. Your $250 will support this child's education for a whole year. It's the same gift you are giving your children. Consider giving one to a child in Sierra Leone or Honduras. Cheques can be made out to Global Partners in Christian Education and sent c/o of GPCE - Surrey Christian School 8930 - 162 Street Surrey BC, V4N 3G1. Or you can go to our SUPPORT page on our school website and pay online. Thank you for paging through the catalog. In the US a portion of all immigrants that are allowed entry into the country are brought in through a lottery system. Persons may apply from outside of the country to have their names put in a lottery and if selected they may enter the country and begin the citizenship process. This was the case with Alusine Bundu who is the principal of our Christian Secondary School in Kabala, Sierra Leone. He applied and in 2011 was selected to come. He ended up on the east coast of the US where he began to upgrade his teacher education degree and felt at a loss as to what he should do next. He remembered that at one time, when he was still in Sierra Leone, he had attended a workshop conducted by Dr. Jo Kuyvenhoven, professor of Education at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Jo has spent many years working in the education sector in SL as well as being a founder of our school in Kabala. In his wallet he still had her business card. He gave her a call, one thing led to the next and he found himself at Calvin College doing his MA in Education. Alusine came alone, leaving his young family in SL. He was wondering what to do next when he was approached by our organizations to take up the role of Principal of our growing Secondary School. He humbly accepted that job, committed to serving for two years and returned during the height of the Ebola Crisis to take up his responsibilities in Kabala and move his family there as well. Frederick Buechner says, "The question is not whether the things that happen to you are chance things or God's things because, of course, they are both at once. There is no chance thing through which God cannot speak... He speaks, I believe, and the words he speaks are incarnate in the flesh and blood of our selves and of our own footsore and sacred journeys." I know that Alusine believes that God has had his hand in this. We met this past weekend in Grand Rapids and it is wonderful to hear the reports of his challenging work at the school and how God has indeed used his gifts to further the mission of the school. He is a true and humble servant. I only wish we could keep him longer. He was also able to update Global Partners and our US counterpart, Schools for Sierra Leone, of the need to increase our funding in order to meet some of the urgent needs they face in securing qualified teachers and bringing them to the north of the country. If you have a heart for this work, please join us with your financial support as well. When I hear the stories of students lives being changed, I am truly inspired to carry on despite the hard work ahead. 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. |
Global Partners in Christian EducationIn partnership with Surrey Christian School, GPCE supports the work of Christian Education in the developing world with particular focus in Sierra Leone and Honduras. Archives
January 2016
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