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Last week, 21 year old Lawrence Mwape, an orphan and ninth grade student at the Helen DeVos Christian School was informed that he scored the second highest grade in the entire country on the all important qualifying exam to continue his formal education. Lawrence was awarded a full scholarship to one of the finest boarding college preparatory schools in Zambia. Raised in a family of six children, Lawrence Mwape; aged 21, is the eldest son. With a desire to become a doctor or chemical engineer he was doing very well in school and he passed his grade seven exam with very high scores. (In Zambia a pupil must pass their grade seven and grade nine national exams in order to continue their education. 68% of the candidates that take the exams, fail). |
| Suddenly, after a short illness, Lawrence's father died and he was forced to stop his schooling to try to keep his family together. He was not able to do so, and eventually all of the relatives abandoned the 6 children. With no place to go, he found a way to travel from Ndola to Lusaka which is about a five hour bus ride. Looking for work but finding none, he passed his days on the streets looking for food. After some months he met a teacher at the Helen DeVos Christian School who suggested that he come to the school to see if could qualify for a space. He was easily accepted and entered grade 8 with the support of a sponsor. He was able to stay with a friend, and because he was fed a meal at school each day, he could study without being hungry. He studied hard in order to pass the next benchmark exam at grade 9. As he explains it in his letter to his sponsor he asked them to pray that he would pass with "flying colours!" As you can imagine there was a great celebration at the Helen DeVos Christian School as Lawrence's classmates and teachers helped buy him the uniforms, blankets and shoes he would need to make the journey to his new school. We wish Lawrence well, and are grateful to Mrs. Helen DeVos for her investment in this young man, and so many other young boys and girls attending the Helen DeVos Christian School who have great hope for their own futures. |
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Archives for: March 2009, 17
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