Walking into the Remember the Poorest kindergarten is like walking into a beehive. Once you step out of your vehicle you are swarmed by 3-to-5-year-olds wanting to greet you, to touch you, to shake your hand, to touch your skin. The kindergarten is an MCC-sponsored school for some of the poorest children in Nazareth, a city an hour and a half southeast of Addis.When my sister and my mom visited us from Canada we visited the kindergarten together. My sister is an early childhood educator in Ontario and I thought she would be interested to visit her counterparts in Ethiopia. The children were very excited to have us visit and they spent much of their recess singing songs and chanting for us. They seemed especially taken with my white-haired mother and once she gave one child a hug there were at least 50 others stepping up in line.
Remember the Poorest is a school for some of the most disadvantaged children in the city. Many of them are orphans and living with neighbours or relatives. They may attend the kindergarten for free and are supplied their school uniform and school supplies. At the school the children are given a loving environment to begin their early years of learning. As we visited each section the class presented us with a song or rhyme in English. They were very proud to display the English they knew.
The school is typical of Ethiopia — a lot of concrete and wooden benches and tables. There are few teaching aids so my sister brought with her a number of alphabet sets and other posters for the teachers to use in their teaching. The setting is very different from what we are accustomed to, as the concept of “learning through play” is not used or understood in the vast majority of kindergartens in Ethiopia. The students sit in their rows, often four to a bench, and learn by writing and memorizing. I continue to wish we could find more ways to influence the style of education here but the system is highly regulated by the government.
We’re happy that MCC can play a small part in helping the poorest children of this city. Through the Global Family sponsorship program MCC is supporting the school’s entire budget. The children, even though they are poor, can get a good start to their education that can influence their ability to succeed in the future. Many of them would be playing in the streets if it were not for this kindergarten program. Instead, their faces are bright and their goals for the future are high. If nothing else, the kindergarten offers a window into what life can be and offers hope for a better tomorrow.
I won’t soon forget the picture in my mind of my sister and mom in the middle of a sea of kindergartners. The children were lifting our spirits with their smiles and their gestures of friendship even as our presence offered them a bright spot in their day.
May God bless each one.
