On Saturday we went to the end-of-year program at the school that our boys attended this year. After some singing, dancing and a skit, the top ten students in each grade (1^st through 6^th grades) were called forward to receive a prize. When I heard the name of a certain six-year-old girl called, my heart burst with joy! This first-grader had not been to school before, never having attended preschool or kindergarten. Over the summer we had talked to her father, encouraging him to put his two young daughters in the church school and letting him know that the Kaffrine Scholarship Project could pay the $12 monthly tuition as well as the registration fee and the cost of their uniforms and school supplies.  

Our SIM Kaffrine Team began this Scholarship Project in 2007 when some mature Wolof Christian leaders from another region of Senegal encouraged us to invest in the children and young people in the small Christian community here. Many families can’t afford to pay for their children to attend school, particularly a private school where the teachers don’t go on strike and the students can get a good education. So we launched this project which has helped over two dozen young people at different points in their education, from preschool all the way to university or job training programs. We have seen the short-term impact already, and now that the project has been running for twelve years, we are beginning to see glimpses of the long-term impact as students graduate, get jobs, and choose to serve the Lord as adults.  

We are so grateful to all of you who have given money towards the Scholarship Project. Our young friend who came in fourth in her class this year thanks you for the opportunity to go to school! I am praying that she will go far!

If you would like to help these young people through the Kaffrine Scholarship Project, you can give here. Your prayers and gifts make a big difference!