Trying to Make a Difference

In the midst of opening the new school year at CGA, getting 90 students off to their various secondary schools and dealing with the death of a former student, I have had the opportunity to try to make a difference in a couple of young girls' lives. With our Suba Laker Football Club I have the opportunity to coach many talented players from around the district. I also have a chance to connect with them and their families. One of my favorites is a young girl named Akoth. I have coached her for about 3 years now. She is so disciplined, respectful, hard-working and obedient. Unfortunately due to her primary school and home situation she scored really low on her 8th Grade National Exam. With the marks she got, she wouldn't be able to join secondary school and there are very few options for her, except getting married like most girls around this area do when they don't pass their exam.

Our club officials met with her widowed mother and former teacher to discuss other options. The only other option was looking for a chance to repeat at another school, possibly around Mbita. Akoth was given the opportunity to take some entrance exams at Mbita Primary and after a lot of discussion and persuasion she was given the chance to join 7th grade. In America most 16 year old students would be devastated if they were forced to go back two years in their education. Akoth was overjoyed at the chance to rewind her education which gives her hope for a better future.

Another young girl named Josphine has had a difficult life. Her mother died when she was young. A few years ago she ran away from home because her father and older brother were abusing her too much. She stayed with her cousin for a while, but then a neighbor sent her to Mbita to be a maid for a family with some young children. When she reached Mbita, she quickly informed the family she was working for that she wanted to go back to school. They agreed and helped her get a chance in a local school.

We have been encouraging the players and their parents/guardians to try and get their birth certificates and also death certificates of their parents if they are orphans. These documents are essential to acquire a national identity card, help them gain financial assistance from the government in higher education, and many other things. Josphine was determined to travel back to her homeplace in December to try and get these documents. When she arrived, she found that her father and brother had also passed away (presumably from AIDS). The local chief tried to ask her for a bribe so that he could help her. She didn't have money and so was now forced to come back to Mbita empty handed.

We are now trying to work through local chiefs, her school principal and other government officials to get these necessary documents.

Please continue to pray for Akoth, Josphine and the rest of the girls in our football club.