I just wanted to pass on some very encouraging news and photos...
Last fall I posted about the new classrooms and teacher's office at Nkurungiro. Well, those buildings are now fully complete, inside and out! As I look at these first two photos of the completed buildings, I imagine what it would be like to be a teacher or student where your school was closed for a full two years...the longest COVID school shutdown in the world...then seeing these new school buildings with a fresh coat of paint. I think it represents a lot of hope.
In Uganda, school isn't taken for granted. As a child, going to school means you aren't working in a field or elsewhere. And it means you have a good chance at a better future. After two years of school closures, I'd think a lot of kids (and their teachers) were so very eager to be in these buildings...
...and here it is. The first photo we received of kids back in school! This is inside one of the new classrooms at Nkurungiro. The government opened schools this past January. At that time, we read articles that said that a third of students were not expected to return to school. But we are delighted to report that the attendance at all five of the schools we report is slightly higher than their pre-pandemic levels! And just as encouraging is that the number of teachers at the schools is also slightly higher than before the pandemic!
We praise God knowing that He made the way for us to partner with these schools, prompted donors to give so we could help with teacher salaries during the pandemic, and surely worked many miracles to bring kids back to school in Kisoro!
Thank you so much for your partnership with us. We pray you are as encouraged as we are.