education
There are 110 children from ages 2 to 18 who live at St. Vincent Children’s Home in Mariannhill, South Africa. Progenies of the vibrant Zulu tribe, raised in a loving environment by the missionary Sisters who run St. Vincent’s, and educated by committed teachers in the schools surrounding Mariannhill, the children grow to be loving, mature, and hopeful teens. At St. Vincent’s, they form a community that promotes resiliency and the uniqueness of each individual, a community through which the full potential of each can be achieved.
Yet despite this enriching and supportive environment, the realities of the children’s lives cannot be underestimated. Some are infected with HIV, leaving their strong spirits to dwell in an abode of physical frailty and frequent infection. Others suffer internally from traumatic memories of physical or sexual abuse. All are vulnerable or have been orphaned in some way. In a country where nearly 40 percent of children who start grade one do not complete high school, the tragedies experienced by the students living at St. Vincent’s make obstacles to succeeding in education even more formidable.
The Khanyisela Scholarship, intended to promote access to and success with higher education for children living at St. Vincent’s, recognizes these obstacles as it carries out its mission. This year, for example, there are no students living at the orphanage who are of the appropriate age or are emotionally or academically prepared to pursue further education. As a result, we are exploring other ways besides sponsoring higher education to best meet the educational needs of children at St. Vincent’s. These ways include:
- Sponsoring a student who has finished grade 9, and may be able to complete graduation at a vocational school to learn a trade such as office administration, marketing, engineering, computer science, or hospitality.
- Sponsoring a younger adolescent who demonstrates great academic potential and could benefit from a private or high quality secondary school.
- Providing the scholarship to a student who used to reside at St. Vincent ’s, but is now struggling financially to find employment or continue his or her education.
Through collaboration with the staff of St. Vincent’s and our group of supporters in South Africa who helped to form the scholarship program, these options can be carried out to improve educational possibilities and outcomes. And regardless of the option chosen, the guiding principles of the Khanyisela Scholarship Program remain the same: the transformative value of education, the promotion of basic human rights of equality and opportunity, and the affirmation of one’s fullest potential.
