“MOM,” “DAD,” “TABLE,” “JESUS”: We Are Learning to Read and Write!
“The children of our village don’t go to school at all now because of the lockdowns! There are no supplies or equipment in their homes to facilitate distance learning. Can you help?”
Throughout the pandemic we have received requests like this in Bulgaria. We respond by introducing MP’s literacy program, which has been running for twenty years, as resources permit.
In November we trained twenty-two volunteer teachers (pictured) to give lessons in local churches. Nadia and Ivan both completed the course and are now teaching others.
Nadia, 14 years old:
“I want to help others because I myself have received so much help.”
We have known Nadia for several years.
Every time we have visited the church in her home village, she has been present with the Sunday school children. She brings her younger siblings along with her when she is responsible for watching them.
Sunday school teachers Angelina and Bogomila have been important role models for Nadia. They have helped her with homework, taught her to sing and perform in the children’s praise group, and have challenged her to love God wholeheartedly.
Now Nadia (pictured on the top with two brothers) is fourteen. She completed our teachers’ literacy course and now instructs her own siblings and the other children in the church.
“I love my sisters and brothers very much and I want to help them do well at school,” says Nadia.
Nadia’s dream is to complete high school, go to college, and continue to help others. She has already become a role model to the younger children, just as her own Sunday school teachers were to her.
IN THE PICTURE:
“What letter is this?” “A!”
Nadia (on the left) and Bogomila teaching literacy. In Lesson 1 the children are already learning to read easy words like “mama” (mom), “masa” (table), and “Isus” (Jesus). The textbook teaches the children to read while it simultaneously tells the gospel story.
Ivan, father of three:
"I know what it means to be illiterate."
Thirty-one-year-old Ivan is married with children. In addition to his day job, he pastors a church in the Roma district in his town.
When Ivan was a schoolboy, he could barely read or write. He quit school in sixth grade to work as a lumberjack with his father to help provide for the family. Just three years ago, as an adult, he completed secondary school via distance learning and got a better job.
“I hope that my children will have a proper education. I want to help and guide them, as well as the children in the church and in our neighborhood.”
IN THE PICTURE:
Ivan at the literacy teachers' course, practicing a reading lesson.
Children gather in the village’s church building for a reading and writing lesson. They are also fed meals and given clothing, as they often lack these necessities. There are ten study groups with a total of 150 children.
