Back To School ... Take 2!

Back in August I started writing our “Back to School” blog post. Momentum had definitely been building for our kids to finally return to in person classes on August 30th. We were very busy shopping, planning, preparing, attending school meetings, etc. When it was all said and done, we felt like we had a great game plan for our 3 girls, attending 3 different schools with, 3 different schedules. Carolina started her senior year of high school, Natalia started her 1st year of junior high (7th grade) and our daughter Ayantu started her final year of elementary school (6th grade).

As we anticipated the first day of school, we received some incredibly sad news that one of the beloved teachers had passed away from COVID. A man at the age of 48, leaving behind his wife and 3 little kids. The government decided to postpone school for another week for a time of mourning.

September 6th came and the new school year had officially begun. The girls have classes 2 days a week from 8:00-1:00 PM. Unfortunately the schedules are all different. We’ve got a Monday and Tuesday, Monday and Wednesday, Tuesday and Thursday, and then sometimes a Friday depending on the work load. After the first week, Jackie and I were talking about why in the world this felt more complicated then when we would just pile 13-15 kids into a van every morning and haul them off to school for a regular schedule of 8:00-3:00, Monday thru Friday.

The first week of school was a success. The girls adapted very well to the new protocols, smaller classroom sizes, seating arrangements, face masks, no recess or lunch, etc, etc. Sadly though, that only lasted a week for our daughter. No sooner had school begun, that it had to be shut down for 2 weeks due to individuals getting COVID. Hopefully this doesn’t become the new norm. 2 days of school, 2 weeks of shut down.

Our health and wellness program continues to be a blessing. We started this when the orphanage shut down back in March of 2020. This has been an incredible way that we can partner with kids and their families to help bring assistance through financial aid, clothing and supplies, encouragement, tutoring, etc. Rather than have kids return to the orphanage, we have been able to help keep them with their families. One of those boys, Edgar, lives with his mom Lucia about 15 mins away from us. There are no good school options for him out there so we were able to work out a schedule and plan to get him to the elementary school here in town. He is in 6th grade and has classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Lastly, I wanted to give an amazing report regarding the House of Blessing Golf Tournament we had on September 11th. It was truly an amazing and special day. Golfers, volunteers, churches and businesses from all over helped make this event possible and a wonderful success. We were able to raise over $8800. Please check out this short video recap we put together.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Until next time!

Jason