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July 18, 2005

What is a girl's education worth?

So, it seems my car is not worth repairing. Fine. If I can sell it for scrap for a couple of hundred pounds, it will enable me to do something about the following:

A friend in Burkina Faso has been asking me if I could help send his daughter to a Christian school.

She has finished junior school, and is now moving up to "secondary" school (called high school in the US?). There is a local school she could attend. We have helped send a number of orphans to the local junior and secondary schools, who would not otherwise have been able to attend at all. The junior school costs about £20/year, and the secondary school about £50/year (fees, books, materials). Many people cannot afford that much, in an area where most live on less than £1/day.

So she could just go to the local secondary school. But there are a few issues. The teaching level is often not the best there. More significantly, the school is in an area where girls often get pregnant before marriage and at an early age, because of the sexual pressures put upon them by peers.

200 miles away, there is an all-girl Christian college. The girls live in, the teaching is to a higher standard, and the school environment is one of discipleship. Cost : about £400/year all-in.

I really wanted to do this, but I had a few qualms. Is it right to take her away from a situation where there are so few Christians anyway? How could I do this for her, when I can't do it for everyone? Could I afford to?

Then I read this challenging post over at biscotti brain. Apart from the need for stuff like Make Poverty History, which challenges our governments to do the stuff we can't - to change the structures of injustice that oppress the poor - there is also the need for us as Christians, not just to give, but to give sacrificially - and to renounce our self-satisfied materialism. She says: "I am painfully aware that some brother or sister is suffering because I've been content with token giving; because I am so slow in understanding what it is to love as Christ. I am completely convinced that the world could be changed to God's glory if we loved generously, one person at a time. I can't help everyone. I can help someone."

Of course it would be better if Christian children stayed as light among their peers. But there are also times that vulnerable plants need nurturing in a safer, more controlled environment.

Of course I can't help everyone as much as I would like, but that shouldn't stop me helping those I can. And this family mean a lot to me.

Of course I can afford it. I can afford a lot more. It will just cost me a bit more. And I can hopefully continue to do something for the others too - to help put more orphans through school. God, free me from my selfishness.

So, I'll be back on my bike. I'll be fitter. The planet will be a tiny bit healthier. I'll be spending a little bit less on car tax, fuel and insurance. And my little friend will get to go to a Christian college.

Maybe it's good my car broke down.

Posted by Keith at July 18, 2005 11:32 PM

Comments

Posted by: wilsonian at July 19, 2005 12:51 PM

Posted by: czar at July 21, 2005 10:27 AM

Posted by: Jschutt at July 29, 2005 03:09 AM