High School Will Help Banchirga Become a Doctor | An Update from Ethiopia
Can you imagine having to choose to discontinue your education after 8th grade?
This is the reality for many of the orphaned and vulnerable children we serve in Ethiopia. Since our school currently only provides education through 8th grade, just a small percentage of students attend high school.
According to a recent 2022 UNICEF report, in the region where we serve, less than 20% of high-school-aged children attend high school, and only 3% of students make it to 11th and 12th grade.
Banchirga is a bright, young student with a hopeful future.
She currently attends 5th grade at Lifesong schools in Ethiopia. Her mother passed away roughly a year ago, and since then, Lifesong became essential in caring for her during an incredibly devastating time in her life.
Banchirga shares—
“Lifesong, for me, is like my school and my home.”
When Banchirga grows up, she wants to be a doctor. She plans to finish her schooling, attend university, and start work.
Our team in Ethiopia wants to provide Banchirga with a high school education.
That’s why, after years of planning, they are setting out to build a high school that will reach 600 high-school students each year, with your help. For Banchirga, a guaranteed high school education will help her be eligible for university so she can achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor.
Learn more about Banchirga’s story and the plan to build a high school in Ethiopia—
In Ethiopia, our team serves 1,702 of the most vulnerable children in the community from nursery to 8th grade across three school campuses in Adami Tulu and Ziway.
Once students complete 8th grade, however, their only choices are to drop out of school or switch schools where their quality of education diminishes due to large class sizes and a lack of holistic care.
Other schools often enroll over 100 students per class, while Lifesong schools keep class sizes to roughly 36 students. Students who attend schools outside of Lifesong also lack support from Christian mentors during a critical time in their lives. Lifesong is committed to providing students with two nutritious meals every school day. Our feeding program makes it possible for the children we serve to have good health and the energy they need to be alert in the classroom, an opportunity they don’t have in other schools. At Lifesong, God continues to send highly qualified teachers who pour their lives into the classroom. The English, math, and science departments are especially strong.
By the grace of God and through your support, we can help orphaned and vulnerable children like Banchirga successfully transition from middle school into high school and beyond with confidence in the Lord and practical skills for a more promising future.
Will you support construction of a high school in Ethiopia?
Now through August 31, 2023, gifts to construct Lifesong Ethiopia’s new high school will be matched up to $600,000, doubling your impact. Our goal is to raise a total of $1,200,000. 100% of gifts given go straight to helping orphaned and vulnerable children.
