25 new kids at Hope Bridge

Simon sent me the campus numbers for July through September this week. Here is what is in them.

25 new kids

Term II ended with 65 kids at Hope Bridge. Term III opened on 14 September with 90.

Our shirts carry numbers 1 through 63. The new kids do not have numbers yet. Simon's team is still doing intake, and when that is done they go on the roster and into the next batch of shirts. If you buy a shirt after that, there is a decent chance the number on your back is one of these 25.

In the classroom

That is the nursery class. The chart on the wall is the vowel sounds, a, e, i, o, u, with a picture for each.

The teachers give short checks every few weeks instead of waiting for the end-of-term exam. A kid who is lost in week three gets help in week three.

Upper primary, same week. The word lists on the right wall are opposites: big and small, hot and cold, clean and dirty.

A vaccine day at the school

One day this quarter a community health team set up under the big tree by the field with a cooler of measles and rubella vaccine and a box of syringes. The shots were for kids between 8 months and 5 years old. Families from the villages around the school brought their little ones too, because the school is a shorter walk than the health center.

Simon did not send me the count. When he does I will post it here.

What 90 kids means for next year

Every kid moves up a class next year, and Simon expects more to enroll. He sent me a list of what the campus needs before then:

• Water. There is no reliable source on site for drinking, washing or cooking.
• Classrooms. The rooms in the photos above will not hold next year's classes.
• Teacher housing. The teachers live out in the surrounding villages. Rooms on campus would keep them close when a kid needs them, and safer at night.
• Sports and music. Sports gear, instruments, and costumes for the music, dance and drama group.

That is the dance group now, in a spare room. No instruments yet.

I do not have prices on any of these. When Simon sends them I will post the numbers.

Christmas

This year we are buying Christmas for the whole campus. Same gift for all 90 kids, and you will get a photo of yours holding theirs. One gift is $15. If you have a kid, the Christmas card is on their page. If not, it is at beanumber.org/christmas.

Every shirt and every $25 month goes into the budget that keeps these 90 kids in class. Thank you.

Kevin