October 2019
Faith comes from a very poor polygamist family of 21 children and had never gone to school. She has 10 brothers and 10 sisters. Her mother is one of three wives and has three boys as well as Faith and her sister. Her younger brother was severely handicapped with cerebral palsy and Faith was assigned at an early age to take care of him. Her mother took Faith’s little brother to a rescue center that takes care of handicapped children. The rescue center is also a school, although Faith’s brother was not able to attend classes due to the severity of his illness. Faith’s mother sent her along to be his caretaker (but not to go to school). The first grade teacher at this school felt sorry for Faith and noticed she was interested to learn, so she would often sneak the bright little girl into her class. During the school year, Faith’s brother took a turn for the worse and sadly passed away. After his passing, however, the first grade teacher refused to send her home because without the job of taking care of her brother, she knew Faith would be quickly married off. Faith’s presence, however, had to be hidden from the school principal who would send her home because no one was paying her school fees. With the help of a few other teachers, the first grade teacher bought Faith a school uniform and continued to sneak Faith into her class. To stay undiscovered during the school day, Faith could not go to breakfast, lunch or recess. The other children would combine their food and bring it to her for lunch and the teacher would bring her something from home for breakfast. The first grade teacher also got permission from AIC Primary School to allow Faith to sleep there at nights. After classes, Faith would sneak out and walk to AIC, about 0.5 km away, to spend the night. While at AIC, Faith met our MGEF students. Upon learning that AIC’s MGEF students were coming to the office to get their supplies and also visit with the US Executive Director, the teacher arranged to bring Faith at the same time to tell us her story and fill out a scholarship application. She was accepted in to the MGEF Scholarship Program in the fall of 2019. She now attends AIC Primary school as a real student and does not have to sneak around.
Date of Birth: 8/5/2008
Started Program: September 2019
Start Grade: 1st Grade (Class 1)
Current Grade: 5th Grade (Class 5)
School: AIC Primary School
Sponsored: Yes