The annual income per family in Tibouk is $400. This is PER YEAR for the whole family. Think about that for a moment. Then consider that there is no free schooling. Only the lucky few children whose parents can scrape up enough money for tuition attend school. Often parents can only afford to send one of their children and must make the difficult decision of which child to send. If tuition is paid for half the school year and the parents find they cannot pay for the second half, the child is required to leave school.   

 

It is so fun to see these happy adorable children in their school uniforms arriving at school. They don't mind walking any distance, even 2 or 3 hours each way, because they know that going to school is a privilege. Wandering around the village while school is in session are the other children, the ones who will never learn to read and write. Sometimes they hang around the school and peek in the windows until they are chased away. It is heartbreaking.  

 

St. Jules, our parish school, goes from Kindergarten though the 6th grade. The tuition  for each student is $150 per year and includes school uniform, supplies, and text books. Teachers seldom receive their full salaries of $750.00 per year because of the failure to collect full tuition payments from students. 

 

You can help these little ones by making a donation and designating it for the school.

 

   $     25.00  child's lunch for a month

   $     50.00  buys teaching aids

   $     75.00  pays a teacher's salary for one month

   $   100.00  keeps a child from being sent home midyear

   $   150.00  full tuition, supplies and books for one year

   $   750.00  pays a teacher's salary for a year

   $1,150.00  all expenses for 1 child from K through 6th grade