New Growth Ministries Update

Last year our school community raised over £2,800 for Project Borehole, to help New Growth Ministries (NGM) to get clean water as their borehole had dried up. A lack of rainfall has affected the water levels, causing further problems. However, there has been answer to prayer and enough rain has fallen to grow a harvest of corn. Further rainfall is needed for them to benefit from the boreholes dug. Please pray.

We have begun to create a relationship with the boys at Keegan Home, through Hilary (co-founder) and Sarah (trustee). When they visited Zimbabwe, they delivered our letters to the boys, and on their return, they showed us the WhatsApp voice message replies. A lack of internet and postal service makes communication difficult.

We are keen to continue this relationship with NGM and to support them for a second year with their latest project, Operation Education. Keegan Home is in a rural setting and all of the children from the surrounding area attend the school but all lessons are in English. The children speak Shona as their first language and have great difficulties accessing the lessons. The locality is a poor area and there are few jobs available, so they need a good education to be able to go to the city and gain further training. Some of the Keegan Home boys have achieved this, becoming lawyers, doctors, farmers and pharmacists.

Hilary and Sarah visited Aldrington on Monday afternoon and spoke to the children about the project. They shared messages from a couple of their teenagers, detailing their aspirations to achieve further education and be able to help their families.   In her talk, Hilary instructed the teachers in Shona, showing our children how difficult it is to understand the most basic instructions if you don’t understand the language.

NGM have employed Agnetta and Lizzy, part-time, to teach the boys English, so that they can understand their lessons at school. Once they get behind with their learning, they never catch up as they are taught as a whole group of at least sixty children in one class with one teacher – no possibilities of intervention groups supporting learning or pre-teaching, as we have at Aldrington.

In Operation Education, we will be supporting NGM to employ Agnetta and Lizzy  - which costs £15/hr per teacher. As well as to help to fund the things they need as schooling is not free, eg per student it costs £79 for each term at secondary school, £205 for uniform, £60 for a set of books and £44 for a pair of shoes.

Together we can help NGM to support the Keegan Home children to make a better future for themselves and their families. By raising funds this year, we can make a difference.

We are always appreciative and wowed by the way our community pulls together to help others. Thank you for all you do and have done. We’ll share more news after half-term, once the teachers and children have chosen how they’d like to raise the money. Our whole school target is £2,000.