The Benefits of a School
There are currently 58 orphanage children, 10 staff children, 70 staff members and 7 ex-orphanage children (now adults) who have returned during the COVID-19 lock-down and are now living and studying on our property. In addition to this number, 14 agricultural laborers and some 725 students are in our programme, studying both online and at school.
School’s in Again
Many of our past children (alumni) who had returned to shelter with us have now started to return to their places of employment. Although there are still some “hot spots” the COVID-19 virus seems to be relatively under control here in India. Our school has also opened its doors again for the first time since lock-down (for Grade 6+ only at this stage). Student attendance is about 75%.
A Necessity called Money
Since the start of the pandemic we found ourselves in need of financial support. Our school, which normally offsets much of our dependency on foreign aid, was closed and with it our source of steady income. Due to the incredible support we have seen from around the world we have not only managed to continue our care of the children but also continue our repairs, development and community support. We are happy to report that our school has now re-opened, though in a much smaller capacity to normal. Fees are slowly but steadily coming in again. Twelve of our college age students have also returned to their respective colleges now that hostels and schools are once again permitted to function.
Highlights over 3 months
- Still no COVID-19 infections within our campus and infection rates in our area have completely dropped.
- Celebrated a wonderful Christmas with our children.
- Our school has re-opened its doors for Grade 6-10. Classes also continue online for other grades.
- 12 of our college students have now returned to their hostels and colleges around the country. All reports from them are very good.
- We are farming sugar cane for the very first time since the 1970s.
- We have just kicked off a major renovation in our main administration building. The renovation will include flushing toilets (which is a big deal for us), CCTV monitoring and new paint on the walls – something we haven’t done since 2006.
You can aid this tremendous project to move forward by using the donate to this project button and following the prompts.
