Back to School

School started back here in Cote D’ivore (CI) and I got to see firsthand how expensive it is to send a child to school. It is not just private school that is expensive, public school is too.   Did you know they have like 25+ different kind of Cahiers (Notebooks). Really is that necessary?  Realizing this made me grateful for the 3 main options in the US: Manuscript (for kidos), regular rule or College Ruled.  You get what you need and you put it in a 3 ring binder. Voilà your done!  None of this carrying 5-8 different cahiers stuff.  Simple just the way I like it!

Well here in CI after you get the needed school supplies, you have to get a uniform, pay for each book the child uses that year in each subject and then you have to pay for the student to go to school. This adds up people! I can’t even imagine having multiple children like most African families do.  I did the math, for an average Ivorian family to send two children to school for the year it cost about 4 to 5 months of their salary just to send 2 children to public school this does not include transportation and lunch.  This helps explain why every child does not go to school and why many girls are not given a chance at an education.  If you are currently or have already been privileged to receive the chance of getting an education, go hug or call your parents and say Merci beaucoup (Thank you very much)!

Below are photos of two different Mercy Projects that happened this month. One was aimed at helping Widows with needed school supplies for their children and the other was to help Orphans with their School Supplies. While the physical and educational needs were met during these two events, my greatest hope is that these precious people were able to see, hear and understand Truth above all.