Four years ago today Rachel Sparks-Graeser offered a young girl named Cat a chance to stay in school and pursue her dreams. Little did she know what she'd started.
In that moment five years ago, a lot of things started to change. Cat's life changed. Our lives changed. And, crucially, the alarming generational pattern of poverty forcing children to drop out of school only to wind up in red light districts also began to change.
Our work is a long way from over. According to the most recent survey conducted in northern Thailand, 45-50% of kids still drop out of school by the ages of 11-13. But that is changing, too. In the village where we operate, drop-out rates have plummeted to less than 5% and NONE of the kids in our program have dropped out of primary school.
This year we celebrated sixteen graduates, including Nan, the fourth student to join our program. She was 11 when we met her, a promising young girl with an uncertain future after her divorced parents abandoned her to the care of her grandmother. Thanks to her sponsor, she has thrived in school and become quite a leader among her peers, even receiving a special scholarship to take private English lessons.
At the graduation celebration we had a receiving line to give Nan and her classmates roses. Each staff member present gave a small speech to congratulate them, to tell them just how proud we are, to advise them and wish them all the best for their future endeavors. Then, each student stood up and expressed what graduating meant for them. They're so proud of what they've been able to achieve.
Despite the odds, despite poverty, despite broken homes, Nan and her classmates have risen above the challenges and made it, showing all who follow them that it is possible to do the improbable.
Nan will enter high school this year and plans to attend university one day. In defiance of all statistics, all of her peers plan to continue their education and Cat, the girl who inspired it all, will graduate next year.
Things are changing. Dreams that were once out of reach are now being achieved. And it all started with one person investing in the potential of a child.
Thank you, thank you, thank you,
Rachel Goble, President
& The SOLD Project Team
  
|
 11 students (4 in primary, 3 in technical, 2 in high school, and 2 in university) need sponsors for the upcoming school year.
100 percent of each scholarship goes directly toward that child's education. All gifts are tax-deductible. | |
| | |
Recent News (From the Blog) | Our Students are Rockstars! At our most recent Parent Meeting, our students performed a skit they put together themselves to raise awareness about human trafficking. ( Read more.) |
| Global Citizens Jade Keller, SOLD's Education Program Manager, gave the kids a little project that helped us see the world from a child's perspective. ( Read more.) |
| Bringing Imaginary Friends to Life Our summer intern Zoey Hart has developed a whole curriculum of creative expression for the kids, and the kids are loving it. ( Read more.) | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.