Grace’s Visi n
a Children of Grace newsletter
Spring 2011
Hope for a Better Future ONE GIRL’S OPPORTUNITY FOR A NEW LIFE
Fourteen year old Ruth awoke in total darkness in a windowless room, lying upon pieces of foam spread on a dirt floor. Shifting restlessly beneath a tattered remnant of a blanket, she listened to the gentle sound of her four siblings breathing beside her. As the birds began their morning chorus, the drudgery of the day loomed before her. Rising quietly, she donned her only threadbare dress and stepped into an adjoining room occupied by a drunken uncle. As she stepped over his body, she was overcome by the smell of alcohol and vomit. The early morning light silhouetted ten 20-gallon cans lined against the side of the house. Ruth’s first chore today was to go to the city water tap a half-mile away to fill each can with water for her grandmother’s distillery. This morning, the five trips to the tap and back seemed overwhelming, and the hopelessness of her future overwhelmed her. As tears slid from her eyes, she picked up the first two cans and headed to the tap.
the hopelessness of her future overwhelmed her.
Only a few months before, Ruth had completed Primary Grade Seven and sat for the government-mandated Primary Leaving Exam. The results of this exam had been released a few weeks earlier, and even though Ruth scored in the top 3% of her entire district, there was no money for her to continue in secondary school. Without an education, Ruth was destined to a life of hopelessness, poverty and early marriage. Unbeknownst to Ruth, shortly after the release of the exam results, her seventh grade teacher began searching for financial support for her.
One day, the teacher arrived on the doorstop of Children of Grace and pleaded that Children of Grace consider sponsoring her. The staff of Children of Grace responded by accompanying the teacher to the destitute village of Maga Maga, known for its distilleries. Continued on the next page