On my first trip to Nigeria in 2014, the students of our K-12 school in Umuagwu village treated me to an unforgettable reception. In one welcoming routine among many, a small fourth grade girl, named Angel, approached me and placed a beautiful handmade chain around my neck.
But, my sweet memory of receiving Angel’s gift turned bittersweet. In 2017, a security crisis in Umuagwu prompted Deacon Leo to transfer Angel and the other students from there to our school one hour away in Akpim village. But, Angel’s new safer location became her stumbling block.
Deacon Leo explains, “Angel’s father pulled her out of BOMCA because he did not want her boarding in a school far away from Umuagwu, where she would not be available to help him with farming and domestic work.”
Today, Angel is still out of school and working as a street vendor, with her future in jeopardy due to having only completed seventh grade. Sadly, Angel’s experience is similar to that of millions of children in Nigeria.
According to a 2023 UN report, out of school adolescents and youth have increased by 61% from 6.3 to 10.1 million over the last 20 years. Among many reasons contributing to this trend, pressure on children by poor family members to leave school and go to work is often to blame.
In fact, Deacon Leo himself can personally relate to Angel’s plight. Leo’s father, who had become incapacitated due to injury, removed Leo from primary school at age 11 and sent him to work for a wealthy chief as a house servant. Fearing for his future, Leo turned to God in desperation.
Reflecting on this tribulation, he says, “After I cried and prayed for two years, a good Samaritan saw my struggle and sponsored my return to school in an act of compassion that inspired me to embrace my present mission of serving poor and marginalized children.”
While we pray and hope for Angel’s return to school, we need your help in keeping our current 166 students in school. Your recurring gift of $25, $50, or $100 per month or single gift of $100, $250, or $500 will help HEAL pay our teachers and serve one daily meal to our students.
In a nation where grinding poverty forces so many children out of school, please take this opportunity to be a lifeline for those whom our Lord Jesus called the least of His brothers and sisters (Mt. 25:40).