When Jesus entered the Synagogue in Nazareth (Lk 4:16-19), He announced His mission of proclaiming good news to the poor. In our feeble attempt to imitate Him, HEAL offers poor village children a Christ-centered formal education and relief from the conditions of abject poverty.
Of our 418 enrolled students, 68 of them are orphans without a father who live at HEAL’s two village schools except for occasional outside visits with generous host families during break periods. All 418 students come from very poor families who only pay a tiny fraction of their children’s tuition.
While the C-19 pandemic has been over in Nigeria for two years, things have not returned to the manageable yet challenging status quo. Rather, a financial virus of hyperinflation has invaded Nigeria, exacerbating the already grinding poverty of the masses. AP reports that the Naira (NGN) currency has lost 230% of its value over the last year!
Imagine what that means for people who were already living hand to mouth prior to losing so much purchasing power. “Buying food at the local markets is becoming almost impossible due to the unbelievable harshness of financial insecurity and cash scarcity”, says Rev. Leo Okonkwo.
The present hunger in Nigerian society threatens HEAL’s beneficiaries who are a part of it. Poor children need adequate nutrition every day so that they are strong and healthy enough to learn. We feed 350 day students once per day and 68 boarding students 3 times per day, which means HEAL is responsible for serving 554 meals per day!
With the extremely volatile currency, we can’t continue hoping to acquire sufficient quantities of food at local village markets. Our long term plan will involve, as Rev. Leo puts it, “…scaling up our agricultural production of staple foods such as poultry, pork, corn, cassava, and pumpkin.”
Currently we plant and harvest enough fruits and vegetables for only about 30% of our community’s daily dietary needs. Until we upgrade our farming capacity in the long term, we need your help now to ensure our students won’t feel pressured to start begging for food!
Food represents about 30% of HEAL’s total annual operating budget of $800,000, or roughly $2,000 per child in our care. Would you help us fully fund our mission with your best one-time gift of $100, $250, or $500 or your best recurring gift of $25, $50, or $100 per month?
Like Jesus in the Synagogue, may your gift proclaim good news!