STICHTING MIRRE

 STICHTING MIRRE                                                   stichtingmirre@gmail.com
 Zamenhoflaan 13, 3411 ZV Lopik
 Rekeningnr.: 10.67.77.955 t.n.v. Stichting Mirre te Leusden

We don't need to travel far from the school to visit the home of the El-Mugrabi family. Out the main entrance and across the street to Gaza City's main cemetery, we walk a narrow path surrounded by weeds and headstones and numerous children...some sitting, some running, some playing, but all living...among the dead. The El-Mugrabi home is located on the edge of the cemetery, and upon our arrival we're greeted by happy and familiar faces. Khaled, Ahmad, Ali and their cousin Hisham are all students at the Lighthouse School. There's no shortage of children and no shortage of excitement as we enter the home and are greeted by the boys' grandmother. It's hard to believe that twenty people live here...grandparents, two brothers, their wives and children. Having visited before, we're not surprised by the three headstones inside the house. Hisham, the father of Khaled, Ahmad and Ali, is laying on a mattress on the floor and struggles to get up. He suffers from mental illness and works as a garbage collector making $5.00 a day to support his wife and six children. The box of food that we deliver is desperately needed and greatly appreciated and will help the family through the next month. There is no furniture in the home and we stand during our visit and are kindly offered something to drink. The father shows us the room where the family sleeps on thin mattresses on the floor and points out the holes in the roof where the rain falls during the winter months. Rats and snakes are a constant problem in the cemetery and the house offers numerous openings for their unwelcomed entrance. The children are always afraid, the father tells us, epecially at night.

Onderstaand verhaal ontvingen we in mei 2007 van het team van de christelijke Lighthouse School in Gaza

Khaled has attended the Lighthouse School for the past two years and is currently in third grade. His brother Ahmad started first grade this year, and the boys are supported through the school's sponsorship program. Both are struggling in their studies and receive little help at home since the parents are both illiterate. Despite the many obstacles, they are showing some progress and improvement, especially in their behavior. Khaled proudly shows us his completed homework, and we're amazed at how nice and neat his handwriting is. Looking around the home and the absence of tables and chairs, I wonder where he is able to do his homework...either on the floor or on the graves.

Ali started kindergarten last month and has been quite a challenge to his teachers, though he too is slowly changing and his behavior improving. Each day these boys enter a loving and caring environment where they experience the power of Christian witness through the staff of the Lighthouse School, and each day these boys are changing. It was for children like these that the Lighthouse School was established, and why we believe that together we're lighting the way to a brighter future.
 
Ali is currently without a sponsor and the school is covering the cost of his kindergarten fees until a sponsor can be found. Sponsorship is $40.00 a month.

<<< terug naar vorige pagina

<<< terug naar Startpagina