Grace

Linda was telling me about the Christian Heritage School, which is associated with the International Baptist church they attend - it is located on the same grounds. It was originally intended to be a school for disadvantaged children, but due to financial constraints, they ended up taking in paying children as well. Over time, the balance has shifted, so out of about 300 students, only 48 are from the slum areas. And because money is so tight even in the families who are able to pay, they are now looking for sponsors for the 48 kids. There was a special church service which was dedicated to bringing this situation to the attention of the congregation, in the hopes of finding sponsors for the 48 kids. The children even put on a special re-enactment of the Christmas story, which was written by the Grade 6 teacher.

Despite the need, only one child received a sponsor. Linda is going to sponsor a child, and it seemed like something I could and should do - it's 650 USD per year.

We went to the school last week so I could meet the child I was going to sponsor. The woman who runs the place was very happy to know I would sponsor a student, as they only found one sponsor after the church service.

I told her that I would like to sponsor a child, boy or girl, about age 11 or 12, as that is the age of my Church School students.

Meet Grace, the child I am sponsoring:

Grace is the girl in the middle, I had suggested she bring some friends along for the photo shoot. I am told she is outspoken, although she was very quiet around me. She has an interest in Hannah Montana! Her father is a cook at a local health clinic and her mom is a housekeeper. She is the youngest in a large family.

Here is a look at Grace's classroom:



This is Grace's teacher, holding one of their textbooks:

Here's the outside of the school:

I did a walk-through and met some of the teachers and students. The school is small, but all the staff are friendly and committed. The library was very small - not much larger than a large walk-in closet, crammed with books, many of which look well-read! And they don't have any computers for the students to use, as the ones they had were old and in disrepair.

The preschoolers were cute - I loved the Pippi Longstockings-style hair on the girl in orange!