When I was a young girl I loved gym class. Why? I was the best. Each year we had physical fitness tests, and I loved trying to beat my score from the previous year. I loved science class because we got to do experiments and really see what we were learning. I loved reading because there was a new discovery behind each cover. What did you love about school?
America is great isn’t it? Every child gets an education; rich or poor. They don’t call it the land of opportunity for nothing, right! However it would be fair to say that Swaziland, Africa is the land of little opportunity. Everything from the structure of the government to the structure of the family is set up for kids to have little chance to attend school and even then to graduate from high school.
There are no public schools in Swaziland. School fees range from eighty Dollars a year for first grade to six hundred dollars a year for twelfth grade. Because Swaziland is a polygamist society many fathers have twenty children all supported by one bread winner. There is no way families can send all their children to school. Not to mention orphans to whom eighty dollars might as well be eight thousand.
The need in Swaziland is overwhelming. I don’t think lots of money is a good fix to the problem, though it is a great temporary fix. I think that standing in faith for these kids is the beginning to the fix. As I pray for the children of Swazi I am starting to realize the need to pray for this government and for the families as well. I wonder how many westerners have come with lots of money to throw at this problem become overwhelmed and left.
I don’t have the answer. As of now I am a well meaning westerner sponsoring twenty six out of the millions that need to go to school. I don’t know the solution, but I know THE PROVIDER! I know God’s plan for these kids is for a hope and a future. I am not giving up on that. Because shouldn’t each child in Swaziland have an answer to the question, “What did you love about school?”
