Uganda (MNN) — Uganda is one of the
poorest nations in the world, with over a third of the population living on
just over $1 a day.
Poverty remains deep-rooted in the country’s rural areas, which are home to more than 85% of Ugandans.
Among these, women and children are the poorest.
Adults in these areas know
that education is the key element for anyone wanting a better future. The secondary challenge is access to a quality
education, which is where Worldwide Christian Schools finds its opportunity.
Steve Geurink with WWCS says
they're coming alongside a school in rural Uganda because they're uniquely
positioned to grow within a Muslim community. He
explains, "Edusabu School is a rural community about five miles off
of any tar road. Our partners in Uganda identified this school as a significant
need in the area."
The population of the community would
be estimated at 5000-7000 people. In fact, about 400 yards from the
school property there is a Muslim Mosque.
Construction started
well, says Geurink. The community has
the land and even began some of the construction. They've outgrown their older facilities with
the 426 students that are currently enrolled from nursery school through primary
seven. The community is meeting in the
church and some small classrooms. One of the buildings looks more like a pole
barn that you might keep livestock in: dirt floors, very few benches, and the
roof rattles when the wind is blowing."
Because the school has a good reputation,
nearly everyone wants their children to attend, including most of the Muslim
families. "We need more classrooms; we need more facilities for these
children. The key behind this–which makes it so unique–is that it's a
community with hope. They're looking forward to a new day when they can have a
school. They've already built a foundation; they've built columns and pillars
to hold the roof, but they've just literally run out of money."
This community has stepped forward in faith that the Lord would provide the
school. Geurink
says, "There is nothing more
available in that community to build the school, so they're looking to
Worldwide to help partner with them and churches, communities, and volunteers to
literally come over and help them finish building this school."
Worldwide Christian
Schools is looking for volunteers, churches and mission teams to partner
with schools like Edusabu in Uganda. The goal of this partnership is for
the community and church and WWCS to work together.
These communities many times can make clay bricks and dry them for future
construction. Other communities will cut brush or lumber for the construction
if it is available locally. Their desire is to create both a
partnership and local ownership in each school in which everyone has a hand–a
fact that is important to the long-term survival of each school.
Hope AND a future are coming together to change this
community. "The one thing that's
unique about the Christian faith is that our God is a God of love. That will
come out in the instruction and will be something that is very attractive to
the families in the community, and will also help change lives."
The immediate need? Guerink
explains, "$1000 goes a long way on a project like this in
this community, but we really need to get toward $10,000 before we start this
project, so that's kind of a target."
We have the video of this project at our Featured Links
Section.
