School’s out forever?
The BMS projects fighting to keep kids in school
The past two years of on-off school closures have brought home one thing: how important it is for children around the world to have access to education. In the run-up to the International Day of Education on 24 January, we’re shining a light on BMS World Mission projects fighting to make that right a reality.
Uganda
Grace’s big dream is for her son to go to school. He’s not yet three years old, and for many children at that age and stage, primary school might seem a little way off. But Ephrahim’s not just any little boy. In his early life, he struggled with speech delay, and Grace knows that schools in Uganda are very reluctant to take children with disabilities or additional needs. These concerns for Ephrahim’s future used to fill Grace with fear, until she explained her worries to a friend at the market. “She said there are some people,” says Grace. “An organisation that is helping people with this problem.” That organisation was a speech and language therapy clinic in Gulu, Uganda that BMS supporters have enabled to open and run.
Thanks to specialised therapy at the clinic, Ephrahim has started to ask for what he wants and needs – and Grace feels confident about enrolling him in school. BMS-supported speech and language therapist Isaac is also working to make links with schools and tackle the stigma the children he works with can face. “We are lucky to have this organisation,” says Grace. “Because it used not to be there.” Thanks to BMS supporters, children living with disabilities in Gulu are no longer being left behind.
Nepal
A little boy sits outside a classroom on a bench. He’s not in time-out – this is October 2021, and he’s doing his best to access his school lesson while staying at a safe distance, as Covid-19 surges across Nepal. Inside the classroom, two girls sit metres away from their teacher. They don’t own a computer or mobile device to join the lesson like some of their other school friends who are being taught from home on Zoom.
Now that the threat of Omicron is forcing schools in Nepal to close again, all these children will be at home, where they’ve already spent 18 months of their education. They come from a community where 85 per cent of people don’t have access to a smart phone or the internet, and where 70 per cent belong to the most disadvantaged people groups in Nepal’s caste system.
Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. Although schools are closed once more, BMS’ partners aren’t shutting up shop. A grant funded by BMS supporters is providing a computer lab for a school in Lamjung district, so that teachers can host online lessons, and children can access essential content while gaining valuable computing skills. Plans are also in the works for the computers to also be made accessible outside of school hours, for job seekers who have lost their daily-wage income. Thanks to BMS supporters, this small suite of equipment could have a life-changing impact.
Bangladesh
A class of girls is sent home from school as the pandemic puts a stop to everyday life in Bangladesh. By the time school re-opens, hardly any of the girls return. The rest have been married off by their families during an uncertain and frightening time for the community, where the threat of Covid-19 looms large and flooding has destroyed hundreds of livelihoods and homes. Their chance at an education has come to an abrupt end.
Having seen this tragic story play out in other villages, a pastoral superintendent in Rangpur, Bangladesh reached out to BMS with his plan for keeping girls in school. With the support of BMS workers Louise and Peter Lynch, the partnership of Asia Pacific Baptist Aid and the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha, and the generosity of BMS supporters, the village was able to hand out school bags, pens, paper and food packages to 160 children from six villages, as well as helping with school fees. Each family also received a strong waterproof bag to keep precious items and documents safe during flooding in the monsoon season.
“The families involved in the project live at the poorest ends of a very poor village, closest to the rivers and the greatest flood risk,” explains Louise. “We helped 160 kids through the project and all except one came back for the second part of our training and were ready to re-enter school.”
All around the world, school closures due to Covid-19 have presented huge challenges by disrupting education and exacerbating inequalities. But in vulnerable communities, there are other things keeping children away from their essential right to an education. Poverty, natural disasters, stigma and a lack of access to technology all play a devastating role, too – one that BMS supporters are working to weaken and overcome through projects like these. Could you give regularly to BMS to make work like this possible? Find out more by visiting the BMS 24:7 Partners page today.
Words by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage magazine
