Fifty Kids Like Kaiis Fighting for Opportunity

TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER / WINTER 2016
IN THIS ISSUE
Fighting for Opportunity................2
Fifty Kids Like Kaiis.......................3
Request an AdvoKit......................4
Events this Spring.........................4
Photo: a Syrian girl in Lebanon
Fighting for Opportunity
Salome was part of a cultural system that defined
her as little more than currency. She and 29 other
girls fled their families and are fighting for their
freedom to stay in school.
READ MORE ON PAGE 2
Fifty Kids Like Kaiis
Nine-year-old Kaiis already benefits from a tent
school. With your support, 50 Syrian children like
him will be empowered with education centered
on Jesus’ love for them.
READ MORE ON PAGE 3
Fighting for Opportunity
Salome and her friends fled their families to escape
early, forced marriage and took refuge at a Christian
school in Kenya. Now, six of the girls are about to
reach a monumental milestone for rural girls in the
Pokot tribe: high school.
Salome in Kenya
Kaiis in Lebanon
Dear Friend,
How many times do we ask
ourselves, “What would Jesus
do in this situation?” Sometimes I
think this question gives all of us
too much wiggle room. After all,
humans are really good at justifying
our activity, or our inactivity.
Better questions might be: what
did Jesus do? With whom did
Jesus spend his time? We
asked these questions often
as we worked to refine our
mission. Matthew 25:25-36,
Galatians 3:28, and Galatians
5:14 are some of the passages
that provided answers. Jesus
spent time with those who were
marginalized in his society.
This issue shares stories of
runaway girls like Salome, who are
fleeing forced marriages to stay in
school, and Syrian refugees like
Kaiis, who are attending school
in a camp in Lebanon. Read how
you are helping to create havens
of peace and opportunity for
children like them every time you
pray and give.
For Christ,
Scott Vander Kooy
President
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TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL
As a young girl growing up
in the Pokot tribe of Kenya,
Salome was viewed as a source
of wealth for her family. She is
part of a culture in which goats,
sheep and cows are given
to parents in exchange for a
daughter’s marriage to an older,
established man.
The result? Marriages occur
early for Pokot girls, often
against their will and at the
expense of their education.
Pokot girls are typically denied
the right to attend school past
a certain, marriage-able age:
between 12 and 15 years old.
As Salome and her friends
approached their teenage
years, the idea of leaving school
to become young wives and
mothers became increasingly
difficult to confront. Some had
already endured the practice of
female genital mutilation (FGM),
and were unsure of their safety
with the men their parents had
chosen for them.
One day, Salome and nine other
girls, all from the same cluster of
villages in rural Kenya, decided
to take hold of their futures and
run. Their destination: Kameris,
a nearby Christian school that
they hoped would be a place of
refuge.
Over the course of the next few
weeks, 20 other girls followed
their lead and fled to the school.
Kameris already had well over
100 students, most of whom
could not pay tuition. But they
took the Pokot girls in – all 30 of
them.
Amos Limo, principal at Kameris,
realized how desperate the girls
had become if their best option
was to flee from their parents
and the only community they had
known.
“The Pokot girl-child has no right
to [be in] school due to cultural
and traditional practices by the
community,” said Limo. “[They
were] at risk at an early age.”
With the help of Tent Schools
International, Kameris housed
the girls and continues to
educate them. Now, Salome and
five other girls - Faith, Rebeccah,
Josephine, Sheba and Joy - are
ready for high school, while
the others are finishing their
elementary education.
Entering high school is an
enormous achievement for the
six girls who have reached this
point, and college may follow.
As their opportunities expand,
their futures veer away from
Despite the opportunities now
available to the girls, their
family relationships have been
damaged.
Some parents approached
the school to take back their
daughters. In response,
Kameris offered to facilitate a
reconciliation process while the
girls finish their education. Local
churches joined the school’s
efforts toward healing within the
Pokot community, meeting with
school staff and parents twice a
year.
Some parents approached the school to take
back their daughters. Kameris offered to facilitate
reconciliation while the girls finish their education.
a track of premature marriage
and motherhood, one of the
biggest factors contributing to
cyclical poverty for families in the
developing world.
Limo views the process
as potentially creating an
environment the girls can return
to later. He admits the situation
has been difficult. Many parents
give little or no support to their
daughters.
Nine of the 30 rescued girls, now in 7th grade at
Kameris Christian School in rural Kenya
The school hopes to raise
$5,000 each year to house and
educate the girls, a sum that
would cover soap and other
sanitary supplies, uniforms,
shoes, school supplies and
tuition fees for all 30 students.
Your support has helped
keep the Pokot girls in school,
affording them the same
opportunities offered to other
children in Kenya. Thank you!
Fifty Kids Like Kaiis
Alongside Lebanese Christians, your support will
establish a tent school for 50 Syrian refugees.
Tent Schools International (TSI)
is partnering with Lebanese
Christians to impact Bekaa
Valley, an area with the highest
concentration of Syrian refugees
in Lebanon. Hinging on the
support of donors, a new tent
school is planned for a camp
near the city of Zahle this spring.
George*, director of TSI’s
partner organization in Lebanon,
has helped establish three
tent schools so far in Bekaa
Valley. He says that without
schooling, many of the children
in the camps are forced into
low-paying day labor or illegal
activity to support their families.
Some experience symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and have nowhere to
turn for a renewed sense of
safety, healing or growth.
Nine-year-old Kaiis attends
one of the schools planted by
George’s organization. Kaiis
came to Lebanon from Syria
with one of his sisters and his
parents four years ago, leaving
an older brother and sister at
*In areas of international insecurity, full names are not disclosed for the protection of our partners.
Kaiis at school in Lebanon
home. Later, the family learned
that Kaiis’s older sister had been
killed.
Despite the hardship his family
has experienced, Kaiis has
found his haven - he is eager to
be in school.
Continued on page 4...
TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL
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Fifty Kids Like Kaiis continued from page 3...
“There is nothing as
heartwarming as seeing the
smile on Kaiis’s face every
morning,” wrote his teacher. “He
is a hard worker, and we can see
that he is already improving. He
has such a servant’s heart.”
The new school near Zahle will
serve 50 Syrian children like
Kaiis, some who have never
been to school and others
whose education was disrupted
when their families fled Syria.
“With education, the kids are
gaining confidence and [they]
better value themselves,”
George said. “Hopefully through
what we are providing, the kids
will be able to pursue higher
education, or at least have a
shot at a better social life and
better jobs in the future.”
Launch this tent school in
Lebanon by giving today at
www.tentschoolsint.org/give.
AdvoKits are here!
Help fuel the mission with our new tool kit.
Each kit includes:
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Electronic versions
SPRING EVENTS
Join us for the following
events benefiting our mission!
SPRING ONLINE AUCTION
April 11-18, BiddingforGood.com
PAINT YOUR OWN CANVAS
April 12 at 7pm
at Pietro’s Restaurant
2780 Birchcrest Dr SE,
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
$25 per participant - reserve your spot by
contacting Vonda at vwiltjer@tentschoolsint.org.
All proceeds benefit the mission!
A NIGHT OUT
FOR TENT SCHOOLS
April 26, 5 - 7pm
at Horseshoe Smokehouse
333 Grandville Ave SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Half of your bill goes to the mission when
you mention TSI to your waiter or waitress.
Advocating for displaced children
is important, and it just got easier.
Contact us to receive your AdvoKit
in the mail, or access the kit online at
www.tentschoolsint.org/advokit.
PRESIDENT
Scott Vander Kooy svanderkooy@tentschoolsint.org
VICE PRESIDENT
Dale Dieleman ddieleman@tentschoolsint.org
Tent Schools International™
A / 629 Ionia Ave. SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
P / (616) 531-9102
W / tentschoolsint.org
Formerly Worldwide Christian Schools®
COMMUNICATIONS
Emily Klooster eklooster@tentschoolsint.org
DEVELOPMENT
Vonda Wiltjer vwiltjer@tentschoolsint.org
DONOR SERVICES
Jackie Bray jbray@tentschoolsint.org
OUR MISSION
TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL™
demonstrates the love of Jesus Christ
for displaced children by providing safe,
compassionate learning environments that
exchange chaos and loss for
peace and opportunity.
TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL
is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.