What is the Kaffrine equivalent of a school bus?

Sisters, both on Scholarship (5th gr. and 4th gr.)

We have eight elementary school children in our Scholarship Project who live in a poor neighborhood on the far edge of town, where many of the buildings are simple thatched-roof huts. Thanks to the Scholarship Project, these Wolof boys and girls are attending the best school in town. We praise God that this private Catholic school has not been closed at all for student or teacher strikes this year (as opposed to the public schools in town which have just now - in February! - started classes.)

Riding the "bus" home

So how do these youngsters get to school in the center of town and home each day? They pile onto a buckboard, planks fixed together - like a raft centered over two wheels, which is pulled by a donkey. Because of the Scholarship Project, we have gotten to know a certain Wolof donkey cart driver. He is paid $10 a week to bring these eight kids to and from school each day, about a half hour trip each way. He is grateful to have this steady income, particularly as his wife just had another baby and the money he was paid for three weeks of this work helped covered the cost of her hospitalization. It touches my heart to see the unforeseen effects of the Scholarship Project on others in the community, in addition to the obvious benefit to the children themselves.

Malle, a highschool Scholarship
student and a youth leader
in the local church

We believe that God has begun a special work in each one of the 19 young people on Scholarship this year, and we are praying and trusting that God will continue to provide for their education. If you feel led to give, click here. A donation of $30 is enough to pay for one student’s educational needs for a month - but a gift of any amount is greatly appreciated. We are seeing firsthand the beginning of a ripple effect which we believe will reverberate for years to come in this town, and we invite you to throw a rock in the water and watch what happens with us! 


Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the project account was in the red. This was a mistake; there is a $300 deficit in another project we manage, The Kaffrine Wolof Children's Christian Camp Project, and since the two projects are listed side by side on the accounting report...  Sorry about that!

New School Year Begins With 19 Students on Scholarship

We have accepted 19 students into the Scholarship Project for the 2011-2012 academic year. This includes 2 little boys starting kindergarten for the first time (both wearing blue in the photo to the left) and 8 children in grades 1 through 5* at the Catholic elementary school in Kaffrine.  The Scholarship is also enabling 7 middle/high school** students, some at public schools, some at private schools. In addition, one young man from the Kaffrine area is attending the University of Dakar on the Scholarship, and one young woman is going into her second year of a 2-year nurses’ assistant training program in Kaffrine. We are also excited that the University student, who is the only baptised believer in his family, was also able to complete the entire Emmaeus (French Bible correspondence) course last year.


In our work with these youth and in our conversations with their parents, we stress the importance of seeking to gain knowledge and wisdom about the world through schoolwork (i.e., learning French, math, etc.) but also through studying God’s Word. As we read in 1 Corinthians, knowledge can so easily “puff us up”; we are to seek to know and love God above all else. For this reason, all of the young people who are part of the Scholarship Project are expected to be part of a weekly Bible study group. They are also invited to participate in other events and activities within the Christian community; for example, this September, 17 out of the 19 Scholarship students participated in SIM’s annual Wolof Christian Children’s Camp. During this year’s camp, five of our older Scholarship students took on significant leadership roles, showing evidence of spiritual growth and increasing maturity and leadership skills.

We praise the Lord for the work He is doing in these young people's lives and we pray that He will continue to provide for their education and grow each one in wisdom and understanding. We are thankful for all of your prayers and support for this Scholarship Project!

First photo: Elementary school children ready for the first day of school, wearing their new uniforms and backpacks full of school supplies provided by the Scholarship.

Second photo: Katie Garrett organizing school supplies for the Scholarship students

Third photo: Three of the older Scholarship students leading the singing at our Wolof Christian Camp a few weeks ago

* The Senegalese equivalent being C.I. through C.M.I.

** "Collège/lycée" in French.

New Students Accepted into the Scholarship Project

One of the most exciting aspects of this year’s Scholarship Project is seeing two of the younger students begin school for the first time. Last year, these children, one a 9 yr.-old girl (see her photo at left), the other a 6-yr. old boy, were only attending occasional neighborhood Koranic lessons, where Arabic letters and Muslim prayers are memorized. Although the head of the household of these two children is himself a baptised follower of Jesus, the vast majority of the large extended family is Muslim. Last year, we were told that these two children were being sent to Koranic school to appease the Muslim members of the family, while the other children in the family had the privilege of attending French school through our Scholarship Project.

It might be easier to understand this if you know that is extremely common in Muslim households in Senegal to choose one child to “give” to the Muslim religious leader. This is seen as a fulfillment of a religious duty, like tithing one out of the ten children in a family. The Senegalese government does not make school attendance obligatory so any choice regarding education is entirely up to each family. Many Senegalese see more value in having their children help with the family’s farming, housework or other work to contribute to the family income. Others simply can’t afford to buy even the most basic school supplies and to pay the $10 registration fee for the public school. The official statistics cite that less than 60% of children attend primary school, but these statistics include Koranic schools, which provide not so much an education as religious training and which are criticized by human rights groups for their exploitation of children as the schools are characterized by physical neglect and abuse and the “students’” primary daily responsibility is to beg money for the religious leader.

So we were surprised and thrilled when this Christian father came to us asking if these two youngsters could begin attending the local Catholic school on scholarship this year! Somehow, he has overcome the fears and family issues that were keeping these children out of school and is taking advantage of this opportunity. It is clear that if the Lord had not guided the SIM Kaffrine team to begin this Scholarship Project, and if generous donors had not given the money needed, these two children would not be attending school this year, much less the best primary school in Kaffrine! The tuition at the Catholic primary school where they are now enrolled is $16 U.S./month. This amount is beyond the family’s means but it seems a small price to pay to see these youngsters become literate, learn French, and have the future open up before them with a myriad of new possibilities! Praise the Lord for this dramatic turn in the direction of Babou and Ndèye’s lives!

First photo: 9 year-old Ndeye, enrolled in school for the first time!

Second photo: 4 year-old Ganda, our youngest Scholarship student, is starting kindergarten this year.

Third photo: The two second-grade girls in the middle are both new Scholarship students this year.

Young Swiss Missions Intern Mentors Scholarship Students

Silas Rupp is a 19-year old Swiss Christian who speaks English, French and now, Wolof. He has been living in Kaffrine this year, working with the seven Scholarship students of one Wolof family in particular. He writes about what he has seen happening in the lives of these students:

Bringing the kids to school and helping them study in the afternoons has been my main task over the last few months here in Senegal. I now have great relationships with them and most of the kids have improved their results in school. On the other hand, I have been confronted with different views of time management and efficiency (I`m Swiss!) which has caused misunderstanding and frustration. That seems to be part of being a teacher in a different culture; in the end I feel both sides have grown to understand each other better.

For example, Fatou, my oldest primary school student, seemed to have a lazy attitude about math lessons. I didn't enjoy teaching her because she was not motivated and thought she would never be able to understand what I tried to explain in my broken French. Six times a year the students receive test results; Fatou wasn`t even earning half of the total points overall, so I decided to focus on her math. It was hard work and took longer than with the other students. I had to learn math vocabulary in French; she was working hard and I gave her more homework. We prayed a lot for her. When we got back the results of the last big tests recently, we saw that not only her math grades, but also her marks in all the other subjects, have improved! I agreed with her teacher who told me that he thinks that Fatou’s attitude has changed for the better. She was one of the highest-scoring students in her class during this last marking period and she more than doubled her points!

When the afternoons are long and hot, the kids and I start to feel tired and lazy. The heat sometimes just kills our motivation and then the lessons end in traditional chanting or dances. Once, when the household was totally busy, we weren't able to stay concentrated and my oldest student Abdou and I climbed the tree in the middle of our compound to study up in the branches. It wasn't long before all the students were up in the tree! When the lesson was over we decided to “borrow” all the shoes we could find and hang them on all the branches, so that it ended up looking like a Senegalese Christmas tree. After a while all the shoe-searching people started to come looking for their flip-flops. We gave them back to their owners from up in the tree. We had great fun together that afternoon.

Besides the progress the students are making in school and the great fun we are having, I see God working on the kids and on myself as their teacher or older brother. He leads many of our discussions and has destroyed many cultural barriers. Without His help all of this would not have been possible. Let`s never stop praying. Thank you for your support!

(1st photo: Big smile from a 1st grade Scholarship student; 2nd photo: Silas up in a tree; 3rd photo: A high school Scholarship student studying hard)

2011 Update

Since 2007, this project has been enabling youth from the Christian community of Kaffrine, who are otherwise at risk of not getting a good education, to go to school by paying their tuition and associated school fees and costs. We see this project as a strategic investment in the next generation of leaders in the Wolof church in Senegal and are excited to see how God is working to equip these young people for the future.

During this 2010-2011 academic year the Scholarship Project is helping 13 young people to attend school . This includes five elementary school-aged children in grades 1 through 6 at the Catholic school in Kaffrine. The Scholarship is also helping six middle/high school students attend the secular schools here in town. In addition, one young man from the Kaffrine area is attending the University of Dakar on the Scholarship, and one young woman is in her first year of a 2-yr. nurses’ assistant training program in Kaffrine.

In our work with these youth, we stress the importance of studying both schoolwork (ie, French, math, etc.) and God’s Word. All of these young people participate in a Bible study group and other events and activities within the Christian community, including the annual Wolof Christian Children’s Camp.

This year, we have been able to supplement the studies of these students through the ministries of two SIM short-term missionaries, Silas Rupp and Alexia Bourniquet.

Silas, a 19-yr. old from SIM Switzerland, has spent the year in Kaffrine particularly working with 7 of the children in the Scholarship Project who are from the same family. He has lived with this family and helped the children daily with their school work. Through his service to and relationships with the young people in this family, he has had many opportunities to model and speak about the Christian life.

Alexia, a university student from SIM France, has come to Kaffrine for 2 months to complete a final practicum towards her Teaching French as a Foreign Language degree. She is giving weekly French reinforcement classes to the Scholarship students which have been greatly appreciated by the older students.

Current Financial Needs (as of April 2011)Total Project Cost: $11,180.00 U.S. (to run the Scholarship Program through 2015)
There is a current balance in the project account of about $5,800 U.S.

(First photo: A 4th-grade Scholarship student; second photo: Making a chalkboard on the side of a hut to use for homework; third photo: Silas with some of his students)

I'm so thankful I need to write a blog post about it!

God answered our prayers today.

There is an extended Wolof family here who has a grouping of huts in a village 15 km outside of Kaffrine, as well as a compound with several thatched-roof huts here in town. The family has been farming the fields near their village home for decades. They are a poor family; the husband and his three wives have many children and there is no running water or electricity in either of the family homes. But God has knit this family together with our missionary team over the years. Several members of the family have placed their faith in Christ and all have heard a lot of Bible teaching. It is only recently, because the Scholarship Project has paid for their children to attend school, that the children have moved to the Kaffrine family home. One son is attending high school and the next son is ready to enter high school next year. Five younger siblings have been attending the best elementary school here in town through the Scholarship Project.

We heard in recent conversations that the father was thinking of moving all five of the elementary school-aged kids back to the village, in essence throwing away their scholarship, and essentially, their education, as the one-room schoolhouse in the village provides almost no chance of going on to even a middle school level. He is feeling financial pressures right now and thinking it might cut their family's living costs to move the kids back out to the village and just have them work in the fields and doing housework. Our team prayed that this would not happen. We have seen so much growth and so much potential in these youngsters; the 5th grade daughter has done particularly well and the daughter who is in first grade was near the top of her class.

We are so relieved and thankful that the father just came by our house and let us know that he had changed his mind! No one on our team had tried to convince him - he said that his high school-age son had talked him out of it! Corey assured him that he is planting seeds for the future by making it possible for his children to get an education. We see God's hand on this family and pray that He will indeed raise up these young people to love and serve Him well throughout their whole lives, and that He will use this education to empower them to greater service on behalf of their family, their community, and the Church of Senegal.

Faith!

Six or seven years ago, some of the missionaries from our Kaffrine team began teaching the Bible stories to the children in a village about 15 km outside of Kaffrine. Abdou was around 12 years old at the time. His father was the only baptized believer in the village so the children’s storying group was held at their home. Abdou came to the group each week and was quick to participate, answering the questions boldly. When it came time for him to move into Kaffrine to attend high school, his family wouldn’t have been able to afford it, except that the Lord provided for his education through the Scholarship Project. During the last three years he has lived in the town of Kaffrine in order to attend high school, all the while faithfully attending the guys’ Bible study groups and Wolof church meetings. However, whenever he was asked about his own personal faith, he always identified himself as a seeker who was still studying, looking for the truth.

Last week, Bennie Bonthuys, our SIM Senegal director who has been working with the Kaffrine Wolof guys’ youth group during the last three years, had a conversation with Abdou while they were driving in the car out to a Wolof Sunday morning village service together. When Bennie asked Abdou where he was in his spiritual search, Abdou said, for the first time, that he believes in Jesus! He immediately added that he is afraid of persecution. This declaration of faith is an answer to many years of prayer! Pray for the Spirit to bring courage and boldness, and for strong faith and an understanding of the depth of God’s love that will drive out Abdou’s fear. Pray for Abdou, for his younger siblings in the Scholarship program, and for his mother, to all choose to follow Christ and to be baptized. Pray for his father, who has just recently lost his long-time job. Pray for the family to see that God provides for all of their needs, and for the family to be a shining witness for Christ in Kaffrine and in their home village. Praise the Lord for Abdou’s decision to believe in Jesus and pray that God will use the discipleship and education he is now receiving to further His Kingdom!