It has been almost exactly one year since our students were sent home from school due to a rapidly spreading global pandemic. This long season of COVID has been particularly challenging as we’ve watched our children in Africa stop learning all while their most basic needs for survival grew. Our hearts also ached due to the physical separation from the continent we love so much, as our planned trips to visit our students and their schools in 2020 were canceled.
Unlike the developed world where students have access to remote learning, this is not the case in the areas we serve in Africa. While the schools went on shutdown, and learners dispersed to outlying villages as a precaution to protect the children’s health, this disruption of education is predicted to have devastating generational effects. Their economies have also suffered greatly, resulting in schools being underfunded by the government, and leaving even more families lacking financial resources to send children to school. All of this makes our mission more critical than ever— it is now an absolute necessity that resources for education be multiplied and fortified.
Through education, our students are equipped and empowered to become all they were created to be. Many face insurmountable odds at home, but in partnering with well-established teams from their local community, we’ve had the blessing of witnessing the positive impact an education has in these students’ lives.
Schools in Kenya officially reopened in January, and schools in Uganda are preparing to reopen in March. To say our students have been eager to go back to school is an understatement—and we are celebrating with them as they return!
As we look forward with hope to the restoration of the school year our students lost, we invite you to be a part of this journey with us, by sponsoring a student in need here: https://buy.chip-in.us/?nonprofitId=115165
Asante sana, (Thank you very much, translated from Swahili – the official language of Kenya)
Lauren Dean
Founding Board Member and Vice-President