A New Home and New Hope for the Future!

Many of the children at Arise School who are sponsored through ACE live in some of the poorest conditions imaginable. Frequently built of mud blocks and without proper doors or windows, their homes are not only extremely vulnerable to the elements, especially in the rainy season, but provide no safety or security for the children when, as is often the case, they are on left on their own whilst their parent or carer is out looking for work or trying to eke out a living.

Over the years, walls crumble and collapse. The house may be washed away altogether, leaving the family homeless and the children in danger of not being able to continue their education at Arise. In such situations, we always ask Frank, the School Director, to keep us informed of changes in the circumstances of children that might represent a real threat to their schooling.

Recently, we heard that two sisters, aged 12 and 7 years, both sponsored through ACE since they first started at Arise, were struggling badly. After the heat and drought in the area throughout most of 2022, their house had crumbled and started to fall down to the extent that Frank had felt it necessary to step in and rescue the girls from the danger of the mud blocks falling on them! With nowhere else for the children to go, he had hired one room locally for them whilst an alternative was sought.

From personal visits to the family’s home, we knew immediately the extreme level of poverty and vulnerability in which the sisters had been living – a one-roomed house, with just a “curtain” for the door and an earth floor to sleep on.

As has been necessary in exceptional situations on several occasions over the years, our ACE Trustees agreed to fund the building of a new, two roomed house and a pit latrine, along with the purchase of bunk beds and bedding for the girls.

This week, we received photos of them in their new home. The girls look so happy! We suspect it will be the first time that they have ever slept in a bed! Most importantly, the house has proper doors and windows and provides them with the safety and security previously lacking. It will also enable them to continue their education at Arise School. We hope it not only gives the family a new home but, also, new hope for the future.