FEF Students

Spending time with Students

We biked to Block A today, about a 45 minute ride, to meet the students that FORGE sponsors at the high school. Since I will be taking over this project from Sherie, I was very anxious to meet them. Today the agenda included not only a meet and greet but a poetry reading by the students as well. Sherie had learned from the students that they are not taught poetry in their classes, so she organized for each of the FORGE Education Fund (FEF) students to choose poems to learn and recite. Hearing their explanations for the poetry they chose was really great. One student recited a poem about a long journey and likened it to the journey through education. Another student chose Robert Frost’s Road Not Taken and likened it to taking the straight and narrow path that the Bible teaches. Still another chose Snow Fall and was very interested in our description of snow. Jeremy tried to explain that it gets very cold when it snows, and while it has been quite cold these days in Meheba, it was not nearly cold enough to snow. The FEF Project Coordinator, Bartho couldn’t fathom it being colder than it has been this past month (about 50F in the evenings).

Each student is great and I look forward to working with them over the next six months. It is easy to see that FORGE is really providing them a great program, not just in paying their school fees for high school, but in offering tutoring services and side programs like this poetry reading where they can supplement their education. As well, they have really formed a camaraderie between them, and that can be just as valuable. I really think we have future leaders in that group.

While FORGE is not sponsoring any new students this year, the Catholic Mission in Meheba has offered to sponsor 15 students and has asked FORGE to choose the students for sponsorship. It is an honor to have such a positive reputation in the camp and to be trusted to make these decisions. We are holding interviews next week and while there are certain concrete criteria like cutoff points for grades, much of it will be left up to our discretion. The selection process is based upon merit and need; most of the applications come from students who are double or single orphans. It is incredibly humbling and a bit nerve-racking to think that out of the 79 applications we received it will be up to us to choose just 15 and determine who is given the opportunity to continue their education.