Posts
4-11-10
Dear Heroes
Hunger drives us. It pushes hard. It is unrelenting until it is satisfied. I have seen severely emaciated people, literally dying of hunger. I have seen the astounding results that food in their frail bodies achieves. I am seeing the same results as the children of Grippis Farm, who are hungry for an education, are given teachers, books, and a safe learning environment, food and clean water. They change from shriveled, shame filled shells into human beings with dignity and a sense of purpose.
The best example of a young person with a hunger for an education that is now being satisfied is Thomas Bwalya. Thomas’ parents both died before he was 5 years old (presumably of AIDS). His grandparents were also dead. Thomas told me “It was very sad. I kept wondering what am I going to do? I always knew that God would take care of me. He created the world – he made me. He will take care of me.” He lived with his older sister but did not go to school. In 2008 Thomas, age 15, moved to Grippis Farm with his sister and came to one of the GHI volunteer teachers from Canada serving at the Mango Grove Community School and confided in her that he could not read. He begged her to tutor him one on one. She met with him every school day, and he grabbed onto every syllable with gusto. (Pictured above with Dayna Thomas) He continued to devour every tidbit of information given to him in his classes at Mango Grove. “I knew I had to work really hard to make up for all the lessons I had missed,” he said, explaining his extreme dedication to school.
18 months later Thomas did something that took tremendous courage for an orphan from a squatters’ village outside of town. He, in his torn t-shirt and too short pants, wearing shoes with no laces and holes in the soles, sat with the public school students in their crisp, colorful school uniforms and took the seventh grade end of year exam given by the Ministry of Education. In January he learned that he had passed the exams, giving him permission to enroll in the eight grade in a public school in the Chamba Valley.
The elation that he felt was immeasurable. He left Grippis 5th grade class and enrolled in the high school in Chamba Valley. In February, I had the extreme pleasure of taking him shopping to buy his school supplies. He wore his new dark green pull over sweater sporting a sparkling white long sleeved shirt underneath and striped tie with black trousers and shining black shoes which make up the school uniform. Together we walked into the shopping center in Lusaka, and he strode down the aisles of the store with his head held high, his pride evident in every move. I dropped him off in the morning for school – his new backpack slung over his shoulder, his geometry instruments and notebooks and pens tucked neatly inside, and watched him melt into the crowd of students who looked just like him. And for an orphan boy from Gippis Farm, that says it all. He fits, he belongs, he has crossed a huge gap by walking over a bridge that GHI provided for him by your contributions. Imagine how he inspires the younger students in Grippis as they see him walk through the village now!
Reports tell me that Thomas continues to follow his thirst for learning by taking three extra months of schooling during the school vacations. He is determined and thankful. He sees himself in a different light than before – he has a future. He will be an educated man. In addition, a man of God from Texas visiting Grippis with Vincent saw Thomas’ plight, and is providing a monthly supply of food for him and purchased a plot of land for Thomas in Gippis where Thomas, now 17, can build his own home. He is also working part time at Heroes Farm and being discipled by YWAM missionary Ron Chideme, GHI’s representative. I took this picture of Thomas with the group from Heroes Farm and Grippis who attends church together every Sunday. (Thomas is in the center in the tan shirt) God’s love for Thomas flows through his people’s gifts and support. On Behalf of Thomas, a heartfelt thank you for a life transformed!
Tanya
