First Day of School

I've always loved the first day of school...from when I was a little girl, throughout high school and even as a teacher. But this was a different first day...this time, I experienced it from a parent's perspective! After waking the kids up at 6am, they quickly dressed, ate breakfast, brushed their teeth, and begged me for their bookbags. I had put off passing them out because we didn't know for sure when school would start and by the kids' reactions, you would have thought I was giving out bags of gold! I had hidden a small card in each one with a scripture and a message from us and I think they found them before they left the house.

The school day here is much different than in the states. The children are only in school for four hours and parents choose if they will attend in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Each class has an average of 35-40 students who must only maintain above a 60% to pass. There are no teachers for special needs children, no music or drama classes, no extra-curricular activities or sports. Most teachers are paid so little that they need to work two and sometimes three shifts each day to make ends meet, sometimes seeing over 500 different children in one day. You can see how many children can fall through the cracks. Especially ones like ours where early childhood trauma has resulted in learning delays and difficulties. Thank you for praying for a successful school year.