Where they come from...

January has taken us by storm - though, not in polar vortex form.  We have officially stepped into overseeing all of the activities at The Well!  Before After We're enjoying the varied personalities of the children at The Well and are having fun remodelling spaces into family style homes.  We opened the Well school for grades five and under.  The first few weeks, we met in the freshly painted 'big' room while the classrooms were being updated. Last week, we moved to the completed classrooms! We also started with seven students in the school and doubled in size this week!  Before After

This is the story of four of the children who joined Oasis this week. "This year, on my birthday, I (Ann) spent a good part of the day walking through the slums of a town near The Well with Gift, the Well counselor, and two visiting friends. We were looking for a specific group of needy children and their guardian to tell them they qualified to receive a scholarship to attend the Oasis school at The Well.  We walked because they don’t have a phone. Their closet-sized house was open and empty. Used dishes were scattered across the table and flies hung over the family’s single mattress and thin blanket on the floor. A man in a makeshift plastic tent sat outside the house cooking over a fire.  His shifting story indicated he had something to do with them NOT being there and he skirted our questions leaving us with little to go on. We walked in further, asking neighbors and shopkeepers if they’d seen the children, but to no avail. Giving up, we began the trek back to the main road. But, news travels fast, and as we neared the family house again, two ladies called to us from behind and indicated they had information. We turned around and followed them deeper into the slums to a patchwork home of used tin sheets and plastic. Garbage was strewn around and the smell was overwhelming. There they were. Standing amid the mess in torn, misfit clothing. Dirty. Hungry. Confused. Full of potential. Though we may not relate physically, haven't we all experienced this in some way in our own lives? We sat on planks supported by tree trunks around pieces of a broken door doubling as a table. We sat to listen.  I'm constantly astounded at the brave women who fight to keep children alive.  The guardian of this family daily brought the children from her unsafe home to a relative so she could walk to the quarry to chip stones. Earning less than two dollars a day, in the sun, with her baby on her back, she had enough to feed everyone most days, but not enough for them to attend school. The oldest two haven't been to school in two years. The younger two never started.  Now among the 'seen' these lives were about to change. At the mention of an invitation to school, the oldest boy’s eyes lit up and his jaw dropped.  He failed to hide his joy.  The younger three stared, having no concept of what lie ahead.

“You forget where the Oasis children come from,” she said as we walked back to the vehicle. We all nodded in agreement. Our walk was a reminder to all of us of the challenges the Oasis children face at home and the gift of education."

It was a good birthday!  These four and three others, whose pictures are below, started school at The Well this week!

We're excited to GROW!  We want to add more children to the home and school at The Well!  We have beds, classroom space, and staff waiting and praying to see who will join us.