(Pastor Navice with the children outside the school)
Today I was able to go to one of the elementary schools in Serenje with two of the men from Brookside, John Alford, the executive pastor and Chris Clihle. Their church is sponsoring 16 of the orphans to attend school. Currently, the Hope Center is supporting 50 children, so it is a good start to getting everyone into school. We met with the Deputy Headmaster and the Headmaster, who were both willing and very supportive about letting the children into the Boma Elementary School.
Boma was selected by Navice as the best school in town for the orphans to attend, because he feels the level of education is superior (most of his children have also attended school here) and it is only a two minute walk for the orphans to receive their lunch at the Hope Center.
Most of the children will be starting in Grade 1 regardless of their age, because that is the level they tested into upon their application process. It is not uncommon to have 10 – 12 year olds in Grade 1, because they were not able to attend school at an earlier age. We asked the Headmaster how older children in Grade 1 interact with younger children and he said that it works, because they follow strict rules and guidelines. Children here are held accountable for their actions and respect the rules of the school.
I was impressed by the school today, because I think the students receiving a good education. Most of their subjects are being taught in English and they have a large staff to support the number of children in the school (70 teachers and 1,500 students). It costs about $38,000 Kwatcha ($8 and does not include supplies or uniforms) for a student to attend the school for a term, which doesn’t sound like a huge expense for us, but for a family with multiple kids in school and limited income it is huge expenditure. It was a great morning at the school and the children seemed really excited to start soon!
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