Bethesda Christian School, Uganda

The journey of Bethesda School started with the nursery section in 2010 with just over fifty children in a rented premise. After one year, the owner of the house ordered us to leave because she could rent her house at a better rate than us. Our negotiation yielded no fruit. We had no option but to just leave. Unfortunately for us, we had nowhere to go because we had no land, no money for rent but only one hope against all odds, that the Vision that God had given us would see us through this trying time.

A Christian brother from our church offered us land to build on but initially we could only afford to put up a small shelter and many parents withdrew their children. Eventually what we did was to withdraw our own children from where they were studying so that we could have some children at school at all costs even if it meant our children only! This idea worked although at the cost of retarding our children's progress to other classes. We managed to get sixteen children with whom we began again the journey.

Today enrolment in the nursery section stands as it is shown in the table below.

Class	Age	Boys	Girls	Total
Baby	3-4yrs	14	14	28
Middle	4-6yrs	21	17	38
Top	4-6yrs	8	9	17
	Totals	43	40	83

There are six teachers in the nursery section; four ladies and two men. The learning is going on well.

The nursery school performs very well as it raises well-balanced children in the discipline and in literacy and numeracy. It grooms children with simple life skills such as using the latrine, simple hygiene skills, bible stories, literacy, and numeracy.

However, our enrollment is currently dropping because our structures are already in need of renovation and painting. We also need playing materials to be planted in the school. Thirdly, the school needs to be fenced properly to protect the children from intruders and trespassers (see "Our needs" page).

There are many good nursery schools already in the town with very good facilities for the children in a very conducive environment. Many parents prefer taking their children to those schools because they are more appealing to both the parents and the children. We do not begrudge those schools because they are doing just the right thing for the children.

Unfortunately for us, we may not be able to get many children if we do not improve our structures and create a child-friendly environment for them to have good learning and fun at the same time. It is our prayer to God that we get funds to improve the current structures and create a children's fun park within the school.

Nevertheless, our vision for the children's development still remains strong as we continue discipling them in the way of God through Bible stories and school prayer days. We hope to get a trainer to train our teachers how to integrate Bible verses and teachings into the lessons they deliver without compromising the curriculum content.

We are forever grateful to God who has sent us support enabling us to reach this level and impact the young souls. It's our continuous prayer that we will progress to higher heights as we explore the best way to let Christ be known to the little ones at their tender age and mould them to become responsible citizens of the world.

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Our Infants Department