2 minute read
New schooling option for the MKs in Liberia
BY DEBBIE SACRA
Planning for the education of kids has always been one of the biggest challenges for families coming to the mission field. Few of us realise how culture-specific our ideas about education (and child-raising) really are until we put our kids in school outside our home countries! For the last 15 years in Liberia, choices have been very limited: an expensive international school, home-schooling, online learning or boarding school.
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While many missionaries in Liberia have chosen online learning, it is not possible for others whose home countries do not accept this as legitimate. Some children may need a trained teacher to overcome a learning disability. And, as many parents are finding during the COVID-19 pandemic, homeschooling may simply not suit their personalities or gifts!
Nearly 70 years ago, the fi rst SIM missionaries in Liberia faced this same problem as they built the ELWA Radio Village. So, they created a small, one-room school for MKs. SIM Liberia’s ‘new’ idea for educating MKs is a return to the one-room school model, updated for 2020.
Dakar Academy, an international mission school in Senegal, is developing satellite locations to support teams like ours and help families minister with us.
Nicholas and Melvina Piaget from Switzerland, with their three young boys, are such a family. Nicholas manages the IT systems for ELWA Hospital and administration, and Melvina is a dentist, one of only three in Liberia. Without this new option, they could not remain with us.
Dakar Academy will provide a teacher and the curriculum. They will support and supervise the teacher, while the missionaries in Liberia will provide logistical support and community. Other missions in Liberia will join in the co-op.
If demand grows, DA will create a school for children up to age 13. Missionary families are excited for this plan to launch in August 2020.
As more families join the SIM Liberia team, including our newest missionaries from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Drs Dieudonné and Christelle Lemfuka, we’re thinking intentionally about how to support the growth of our MKs as part of our field vision.
Caring for their educational, emotional and social needs is a part of being a team and a ministry community.
Trauma Healing lesson for kids
Our kids’ social, emotional and spiritual growth is very much on parents’ minds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disruptions caused by evacuations and sudden changes can leave MKs coping with disappointment and loss and SIM’s Global Trauma Healing Coordinator Nancy Writebol is piloting a kids’ lesson about COVID-19 from the Trauma Healing Institute.
It is educational and fun, and gives kids a chance to talk about their questions and worries. The story of Jesus asleep in the boat during a storm and his power to still the waves reminds them Jesus is present in their situation. It is also practical, helping them think creatively about how they can keep doing the things they love.
Some of the older MKs at ELWA are going to create videos of the skits in the lessons for other kids.
