The Edendale School Project

 

             

Our connections with the Edendale School began with our own “Journey of Solution,” a trip to Johannesburg, South Africa at Christmastime, 2008.

 

The goal of our trip was a family reunion. Our daughter came to our American family by adoption from South Africa.

 

Since then, we have gotten to know many of her South African relatives including her first father, his family, and the family of her deceased first mother. Over the years, they have welcomed us generously into their broader community.

 

At the reunion, we were able to discuss a difficult situation for the family. Our daughter’s brother, who is thirteen, has made no progress in his public school for some time. Testing revealed several learning disabilities requiring visual therapy and intensive one-on-one instruction. His school has forty or more students in a classroom and he had fallen through the cracks of the system. He is a remarkable, likeable, fun young man. But his grandmother, who has raised him since he was orphaned at an early age, was worried that there would be no future for him except in the youth gangs in the neighborhood.

 

That’s when the Edendale School came into his life. His grandmother was very excited about what he could get there: the Special Needs Learning Unit at Edendale offers a unique combination of special needs education in a boarding school arrangement. Not only would his educational needs finally be met, but he would also no longer need to face long daily commutes to school and he would be safe.

 

            Your donation to the Edendale School Project will support the mission of Edendale in some specific ways.

 

 

 

As we found with our daughter’s brother, boarding school can solve many problems underprivileged students encounter as they try to stay in school and do their work. But the up-front expenses can be prohibitive for their families: these include tuition, housing, board, supplies, uniforms, and transport fees. While the school can and does provide scholarships, retention is never guaranteed, and many students face periodic crises that interfere with their schooling.

 

The Edendale Independent School is largest unit of a development project called the Makhulong Edu-Center, which also includes an orphanage, a day care, a vocational training center, and the Special Needs Learning Unit.

 

                                                                    

 

The School, which is a non-profit organization under South African law, offers pre-K through-12^thgrade education to several hundred underprivileged students from the area and from across Southern Africa. Many of the children board at the school.

 

The School’s Special Needs Learning Unit is unique in South Africa, for it is the only place in the country where underprivileged urban children with special needs can get an education in a boarding-school setting. 

 

The boarding option is particularly important to address the needs of disadvantaged children from communities without nearby schools or services and from families unable to provide adequate daily care.

 

            Many of the costs for education seem enormous to South Africa’s underprivileged families. Yet, by the standards of the developed world, they are quite modest. A little can go a very long way.

 

$80  provide training for a staff member in specialized reading materials.

 

$150 can go a long way towards filing out a classroom’s library.

 

$200 can cover transport expenses for a single student for a year.

 

$1000 cover a student’s tuition for a full year, helping that student’s family save for other needs.

 

$2500 covers full year’s tuition room and board.