Skills Classes

It is our deep desire at Pure Mission to see all the children that we touch at Esther's House become leaders in their country. We want to give these kids the support, opportunities, and tools to live out whatever God's plan is for their life. One way we are seeking to do this is through skills classes.

 

Every day after school, our 9 residential orphans and 50+ community orphans trickle onto Esther's House campus for tutoring and spiritual development. In a village where movie theaters, skate parks, and shopping malls are non existent and extra curricular activities at school are null and void, we really wanted to offer the kids something fun and educational they could be involved in on top of their tutoring classes.

So, at the end of January, we introduced our 6 classes to our children:

Construction

Drama

Sewing

Hair Braiding

Bible Skills

Agriculture

 

The kids had a few days to decide on what class they were the most interested in and at the end of the week, we let them sign-up. Sign up day could have been re-named "high attendance day" because no child wanted to miss their chance to scrawl their name on the sign up sheet with excited fingers!

 

 

 

It was fun to see all the boys that signed up for sewing class! Love how in Malawi you see many men sewing at tailor shops. Esimy and Miles have been teaching the kids how to use the foot pedal sewing machines. Today, I saw some older children sewing bags, whereas the younger children were learning how to sew a straight line using construction paper. Sewing is such an important skill to learn in Malawi. It can be used to help mend clothing in your family and also can be used as an income generating skill or occupation.

 

 

Hair braiding is one of our most popular classes!

Debra asked for mannequin heads so that her students could practice braiding. We searched high and low and none could be found. So, she creatively thought of making "heads" with scrap material and sewing the hair onto the material...genius! The girls are learning different types of braids and we hope to offer services to the village (kinda like beauty schools in the US) once we get enough practice. For now, the girls are having a blast and practicing their fine motor skills.

 

Bruce is doing a fabulous job teaching drama to his eager actors.

They are working on their theater presence and will be presenting a Gospel based performance out in the village at the end of the term.

 

 

 David has a class full of eager boys who are anxious to learn the ins and outs of construction.

In a culture where you build your own house, these are very practical skills for the students to learn. They have leveled and fixed every door on campus and are going to be learning how to lay tile next.  Never seen a more excited bunch of boys walking across campus with their power tools.

 

 

 

Seth is an intern with Pure Mission currently.

 He has been helping teach the Bible Skills class. We are wanting our children to know how to spend time with God, how to use their Bible and to grow a passion for Bible Study.

 

Mr. Jiles is teaching our Agriculture class. 

The young children have been learning the life cycle of a plant and will be building boxes to plant their own seeds in.

 

 

We have many older kids who attend evening classes at school. We are also offering several classes in the morning for these students so they do not miss out on learning a skill. They have been here early each morning ready to go!

 

 

We are excited to see the classes up and running. We have seen an increase in our attendance each day. We are also using Skill Classes as an incentive for going to tutoring. The kids understand that they have to come to tutoring on time if they want to participate in their much anticipated Skills Class. We are hoping to offer new classes and let the kids sign up for different activities each term. We can't wait to see how these classes equip our children for their futures.