|
Grace Third World Fund |
|
Helping us to help others |
|
THE LEARNING CENTRE In 2009 a ‘Training
Centre’ was opened in one of the larger rooms on the first floor of GCH. The purpose is to teach the older children
a means of earning their living. They
will ultimately be able to learn tailoring, I.T. mechanics and other
skills. All the stores and
little shops where material is sold have seamstresses or a tailors working
for them. A lady can choose material
and an outfit can be beautifully made and returned in twenty four hours. Most of the machines are manual. THE SCHOOL In 2010, the work expanded to include a school
which is incorporated into the Grace Children’s Home building.
It caters for children of primary school age. The school’s aim is to
‘seek to develop and to bring out the best potential in every child, to train
them in good citizenship and to equip them adequately to face the numerous
challenges of the future’. The management is committed to running the
school with ‘good discipline and to international standards’. The school is
run on Christian principles and seeks to offer pupils irrespective of
community, background or creed, a complete education. Pupils are taught computer studies,
physical training, general knowledge, environmental education, art and craft,
singing, English, maths, science, social studies, Hindi and Telugu. Most of the ground floor of the Grace
Children’s Home will now become the new school. The school is ‘English Medium’, which basically means that the
curriculum is taught in English. Most
of the children in Grace Children’s Home do not have a good enough grasp of
English to be able to cope with this, and will therefore continue to attend
other local schools. However, the
younger ones, and all new admissions will attend the school and be taught
English from the outset. ‘King’s Ideal
School’ has been registered with the Indian Education Authorities, and meets
all the very stringent conditions required by the authorities. It is run by the Principal and a staff of
highly qualified teachers. The children have a uniform, which is grey with stripes and cream, in
addition a special Friday Uniform, which is
white. They are exempt from
wearing uniform on his/her birthday which makes them special for that day. Education must be paid for in India and our
Sponsorship Scheme includes school fees for all the GCH children. GCH and the
School are separate entities, but it is envisaged that the school will
ultimately assist the Home in its ultimate goal of self sufficiency.
ADULT LITERACY CENTRES There are twenty
small villages dotted about beneath the trees, just a few minutes’ drive away
from the Home, and the people in these villages are in the main,
illiterate. Timothy Babu and his team
set up evening classes in one of the villages, to which the adults can come
and learn to read and write. They
proved to be so popular, that another has been started in one of the other
villages. It is hoped that eventually
all twenty small townships will have one of these learning centres. This is dependent upon raising the money
to pay for the hiring of the hall, equipment etc. So far, there are only the initial two
centres. The western world
has seen remarkable things happen as a result of education, and it is hoped
that great things will come about in the midst of these tiny
communities. The centres are another
important monthly commitment as the charity pays for the hire of a room and
educational equipment etc. |
