Indonesia
(MNN) — Two years after a massive earthquake rocked Indonesia's
Nias Island, the community is still
rebuilding. But there are few high schools on the island with a population of
60,000.
World Hope International's Keith Norris says they're building
a high school dedicated to agriculture and related vocations. "We finished one school year in a
borrowed middle school, but we're building our own campus now for this
vocational school. We're hoping to finish the construction by the end of
May."
As a Christian school, Christian teaching including business
ethics is central to the young people's development. Key teachers have been recruited from Java–the most advanced island
of Indonesia. The
vocational school focuses on the food processing industry and seeks to train
the Nias people to process the raw food they grow, rather than buy more
expensive goods imported from other parts of Indonesia.
This effort is mirrored by other groups. A recent report
released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) indicates that US$20 million
in funds have been earmarked for school building reconstruction and training
courses for 1,400 teachers in Nias.
However, for them Norris says it's all about building for a
future hope: "The purpose of this school is to teach the young people how
to process food, how to make more things, and then they start their own
business. Our school is located in an
area where there are a lot of Muslims, and in many cases Muslims who come to
Christ have had some kind of exposure to the Gospel by attending a Christian
school."
