sponsored students: samuel and alex

One of the great advantages of having Melissa live and work at St. Mary Kevin is that she is involved up close and personal with the students who are being sponsored by Change the Truth. Melissa helps the children register for school, gather the supplies they need and sees them off each morning (if they are day scholars) and visits on Visitation Days (if they are boarders). Melissa recently shared with me the daily regime that is required of the boarding students, along with some interesting facts about the schools themselves. She also described a typical Visitation Day. I'd like to pass this good information on, but first I want to introduce you to two more of our sponsored kids, both of whom attend Kajjansi Progressive Secondary School. Samuel and Alex are both "half orphans" (one parent is still living).

Samuel is 15. He arrived at SMK when he was 11. Sam's mother lives in a village and sells alcohol. His father was killed by the rebels, and he doesn't remember when. in his words: "I came to SMK because I wanted help. I wasn't going to school, and I knew I could go to school here. A football (soccer) coach, Michael, brought me here. Change the Truth supports me. I want to study and have a better life so I can help my sisters, Charity and Irene. I want to become an aerospace engineer and build airplanes. My favorite subjects are math, physics and chemistry. My talents are football (soccer), acrobatics and yoga. My friends who I study with at SMK are my inspiration."




Alex is 16. His mother lives in a village, and his father died when he was too young to remember. He has a brother, Bob, and a sister, Esther. In his words: "I came to SMK to be helped. I needed school fees to get my dreams in the future. I would like to be a great lawyer. I like to study laws. I came to SMK to make friends. I don’t usually see my mother. If I wasn’t at SMK, I would be home doing nothing. I like to sing, dance, play drums, and I like to play football, volleyball and swim."




In my next post, you will learn more about the school Sam and Alex attend. They are day scholars, which means they come back at the end of the school day to stay at SMK. The schedule imposed on their classmates who are boarders demands a slightly more disciplined life style. (As a new policy put into place this year, CTT sponsored students who are just entering the program begin as boarders.) You will be impressed by what is expected of all these dedicated teenagers.