Hard Work Never Goes Unnoticed

OZ Project Update, January - April 2008

Little People, Big Dreams

OZ Project Update – June 2008

After a one-month school holiday, where the school grounds were sadly void of the voices of our children, school is thankfully in session again! Here in Zambia the children are in school for three months then off for one-month. Now that we’re back in session, some of our classes have almost doubled in size, with new children enrolling every week! Although some of our children have not returned as their guardians instead opted to sponsor the child to attend a local government school, we rejoice at the new opportunities ahead of them. Tejan, who is in grade one, is nine years old, and is one of our faithful deacons, recently got sponsored to a local government school, but we find him each afternoon running through the gates of the Coptic Mission to rejoin his old friends for a rousing game of football (soccer). He tells us that he misses us because we are like his family, and wishes he could come back to school here.

Right now we rejoice for Tejan and others who are funded because the quality of education and resources available at the government currently exceeds what we can provide for our children, as it is with most community schools. We have dreams, however, to make our community school better than government and even private schools! Yet, this requires a lot of work and resources. But we do not give up hope, because although we are little people trying to help little people, we have big dreams and we know we serve a big God that makes big dreams – especially for His little people – come true!

As an answer to prayers, a generous sponsor, World Vision Zambia, visited our school. They were so impressed with our dreams and our school that they have begun to donate boxes of school supplies, such as crayons, pencils, pens, rulers, glue, and so much more!  The big surprise for us was when World Vision recently donated over 1,000 reading books for our children! Now, our dream for creating a successful reading program is starting to materialize.   Teaching every child to read is one of our top priorities as we know it is essential for them to succeed in the future. Thank God we are now one step closer to achieving our big dreams!

With all the hard work everyone is doing here in Zambia, you must wonder whether there is time for fun – well, of course there is time for fun, especially with 150 kids running around! The school-wide end of term party in April celebrated birthdays and outstanding student achievements with snacks, games, songs, and even special visitors. A team from World Vision joined in the festivities. They taught the children songs, played games, and enjoyed meeting face-to-face the little children whose big dreams they are helping to achieve.

You too are helping achieve the dreams of your children in Zambia.  We pray that one day you can meet your children face-to-face so you can hear their words, “Thank you for making my dream come true.”

Filed under: The OZ Project