Great Contribution of Church Partners

Pierre Faye - Posted on April 20, 2009

Three classes were built thanks to the funds provided by partners from US Churches from Alaska and Texas.

Three new classes have been built, thanks to the funds provided by two churches: Chapel by the Lake of Alaska and Covenant Presbyterian church of Texas. Pastor Doug Dye and his team were amazed by the warm community welcome they received.

“Thanks for your warm welcome; I have been here three times with one idea: [to show] God’s love and I pray that the partnership with World Vision will continue. We thank you for the time you spent with us to show the tremendous things that are happening in your community,” Noel Durrant, from Texas says.

Pastor Doug Dye, shakes the hand of the chief of the village, Mr. Koundoul, an English teacher and entered into his classroom. He took an exercise book to look at to see what the students are learning.

“They have nice handwriting and they are doing great. Thank you,” Pastor Doug Dye says to Mr. Koundoul.

“Everyday day I walk 3 kilometers (about 2 miles). It would be worse if we did not this school, I could even [need to] walk Five kilometers (about 3 miles) or more in order to get to class [depending on the location of the school in the community]. I am closer to a junior high which covers a radius of 3km,” Mariama, 14, in her first year in junior high says.

“Last year we were loanded a class by the catholic mission. Today, thanks to World Vision, we have new classes,” Demba, 14 years old, says.

With the junior high there are many risks for those who drop out; girls are often sent to Dakar as maids where they can be threatened by dangerous situations as they are alone and there s a chance that they could be exploited.

School supplies and a soccer balls have been given to the headmaster, Thomas Faye.

The headmaster, Thomas Faye, doesn’t have yet an office, he is still a bit away from the school in one of the offices provided by the catholic mission. So, it’s not easy for him to supervise the teachers and to do the follow-up required of a headmaster. This is a worrying situation for the good management of the school.

“Another challenge is the exponential growth of the registration rate in the school. Last year there were about 140 students enrolled. This year, it doubled, reaching 300 students. That is to say that more classes are needed in the next year. “Our classes are overfilled, reaching sometimes 90 students per class,” Florentin, president of the Parent’s Association, says

The challenge is to find more space to be able to build new classrooms and also to help the community so that they may be able to finish the construction on the three buildings they are also building using their own resources.

The visitors brought school supplies (notebooks, pencils) and balls for the school. It was an intense moment of sharing.

“Thank you for the church partnership. Thank you to World Vision,” say the school boys and girls.

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