There is no school like school

Yesterday, James Gihoma - the founder of the community school took me on his motorbike to his school. 

Educating children in an area where 123 000 refugees live is indeed a challenge. On the way, we passed a state school attended by 4 340 children. The teacher has 150 pupils in his class and teaches in two shifts...

Next door is a community school for pre-school and younger school age children (3-8 years), run by James and a group of enthusiasts. They sacrifice all their time, energy and finances for it.

The gatekeeper, like all the kids at the gate, took our temperature. Today there are 536 children in the school, 303 preschoolers and 233 children in the first grade.

They currently have 8 classes. They are just finishing a simple reed and clay building where there will be 3 more classes. When that is done, one teacher will be working with only 46 children. One class is now operating under a tree... 

The school also cares for children who have lost their parents (orphans and half-orphans). For these children ADRA Slovakia is preparing a sponsorship programme of systematic support for schoolchildren, in which you can also get involved. More information will be published soon.

One graduate of the farming course who takes care of the school maintenance has started a nice garden here and thanks to our seeds he is now growing vegetables for the school kitchen. I didn't even know that our project had gone beyond this fence... We also looked around the kitchen, where they were cooking some kind of porridge on the fire for the children. During the lock-down they had a problem because rats chewed their plastic cups for the children in the kitchen, so they had to buy new ones...

Children learn math, English, writing and reading, correct pronunciation, physical education, basic health care and hygiene, religion, natural history...

You too can join our humanitarian mission and join the group of regular supporters through the „Mission Africa“ account: SK65 8330 0000 0020 0179 0154.

You can also support specific help for people living in the area by making a charity purchase in our Helpshope .