ILULA ORPHAN PROGRAM
Justin, his younger sister and older brother lost their parents when they were very small. His older brother became the head of the household very early. He managed to start some kind of trading to keep his younger ones in school. Justin passed elementary school and was elected to Ilula Secondary School. Passing Form 1, his brother realized it would be too difficult to let him continue, Justin applied for help at IOP, and was granted sponsorship to continue. However, after one year his sponsor died. The Mission Committee in CUMC (Christ United Methodish Church) took over, and put him through Form 4, where because of family problems, he scored a disappointing division three. He was accepted in a private High School in Iringa town. His brother supported him with food and soap. However, he struggled to find small jobs as weeding, picking grass for the tomato business, running errands, etc, gaining a few shillings for paying his room, charcoal for cooking and water. IOP paid his school fees, uniform, shoes, and some note books. Justin wanted to become a member of the UMC, as he was so impressed with what IOP was doing for him. He passed Form 5.
In the first semester of Form 6, Justin, a soft spoken young man, came to my home and said quietly he had decided to quit school, as he now needed to take care of his younger sister! I was shocked over this, as he had only one year left of High School. He explained that his brother had died, and now his sister was his responsibility. He had no way of supporting her, and at the same time find ways to provide kerosene for his lamp (75 cents per liter), paying his room ($3/month), and food (50cents/day). I insisted he find distant relatives or neighbors to care for his sister for a few years, then between IOP and the rest of us volunteers, we would find a way! "You can not quit now! You're almost finished!" He agreed! - I grabbed $6-7 from my pocket for the first days' survival and sent him off!
Justin completed Form 6 in division one! He immediately went to a new secondary school to offer his assistance as a sub teacher, earning a few shillings, to assist his sister in her schooling. This year, 2006, he was accepted in University in Dar es Salaam in Faculty of Education. As we arranged a gathering to celebrate Form 6 students, Justin did not say much. Asking if something was wrong, he stated he had learned one important thing in his schooling: "It is more educating to listen than to talk!" he said.
As a "late on the list" student, Justin was not granted a scholarship this year. The support from the missions committee is put to good use, as is some money from an emergency fund. He is living on a shoestring, barely surviving, But in the University of Dar es Salaam, as one of the 100,000 - 0.3%- of a population of 35 million people.
JUSTIN