Tremendous Growth and Achievement
We had a great visit to Love for the Children Academy in February. The students have all grown so much and it is obvious our teachers and staff are doing a great job with them. Each day, they arrive at school between 8 and 8:30 am and start the day off with a flag ceremony where they sing songs, much like our Pledge of Allegiance! The children then file into their classrooms, divided by upper and lower class and begin their daily work. LFCA's follows the government curriculum which consists of a combination of math and reading lessons in Amharic (the local language) and English. We were amazed by how well the children were understanding and speaking English! Their math and reading skills are superb as well! After the morning lesson the children go outside for "recess" while the cook and teachers prepare for their big meal of the day. Most often this meal includes pasta, rice, or injera combined with vegetables. The children LOVE the pasta! After lunch, the lower class rests, while the upper class moves into the next lesson plan. Towards the end of the day, the children have another meal (large snack), which typically consists of a very large roll or piece of bread. We are still working on obtaining sugar from the local government so that we can provide the children with tea/oatmeal (made with sugar) in the morning. The great news is the children are eating well and look very healthy!
During our visit we were able to meet with the regional/local Director of Education who reviewed our project proposal to build our school from the ground up with the ability to take this first group of students all the way through high school. The project was approved and we have been given the land to build upon! More news to follow very soon!
Next up, we have a huge praise to report! We have surpassed our fundraising goal for spinal surgery for our student Debebe! We will share more details soon, but please keep him and his family in your prayers as they prepare for Debebe's journey to Ghana in April to start the first phase of this life saving procedure.
Lastly, we are asking that you follow Project HEAL on social media if you have not done so yet - and please share with family, friends, co-workers and neighbors! You can access our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter sites from the homepage on our website: http://projecthealethiopia.org/.
None of what we do would be possible without our supporters and sponsors. We cannot thank you enough for your involvement. Together we are changing lives and will continue to "Empower Them Now."