Don and Jen Knebel

On a recent trip to Christel House South Africa, we were given a tour of the grade school.  Just after starting the tour, we came to a class in which the children were all sleeping on the floor.  With no other easy way to get to our destination, we stepped over and around them.  But not a single one of the sleeping students so much as moved a muscle, let alone awoke.  When we later visited the homes where these children live, we understood the reason our intrusion went unnoticed.   Living with up to ten people in a single room does not allow much opportunity for young people to get the sleep they need.  Christel House, knowing that a rested body is essential for learning, gives its young students some time during the day just to sleep.

 Addressing all the needs of disadvantaged children and not just their needs for learning is why Christel House succeeds in educating these children.  Children who are hungry cannot concentrate, so Christel House feeds them.  Children who are ill cannot stay in class, so Christel House provides medical care.  Children who live in chaos cannot study, so Christel House provides time for students to study before they go home.  And students without shoes cannot walk to the bus, so Christel House gives them shoes.