General Info

A typical profile of the children served by Blessing Hands is described below:
  • Our students need help in a variety of areas.  For most, their dream is to go to school.  They will endure hardships to pass the mandatory tests that will allow them to attend high schools and colleges.
  • The students have very little worldly goods.  They all come from rural low-income families.
  • Their outlook is group-oriented and family-centered.  Honoring teachers and family comes before their own needs and wishes. They seek to avoid failure and losing face at any cost.
  • Our students are mostly boarding students living in a dorm room with little personal space, classrooms and at home.
  • The sickness of caretakers, divorce, lack of income, and the death of parents plague their families.  We deliberately seek orphans and single-parent families to help.
  • Including grandparents, their average family size is 4.57.  Out of 553 student records, 74 students report older brothers and 95 students report older sisters, 104 students report younger brothers and 100 students report younger sisters.  Over half of our students are not from single-child families.  Too many family members and not enough land are common comments on student records.  The average land units for our students are 1.68 hectares.
  • We serve more girls than boys and more high school students than any other levels.  62.84% of our students are girls.
  • Our students have not traveled beyond their schools and hometowns, but they yearn to explore the world are interested in foreigners, especially from the United States.
  • Our students are naïve concerning the opposite sex.  They are not subjected to the influences in Western cultures, especially TV.
  • Families are mostly receptive to receiving the services offered by Blessing Hands. They accept our help willingly and are grateful for the work we do to assist them.

Living Situations
Our students want to learn English and are often quite good at written English. Their oral English is less proficient.  Oftentimes, family households will include many generations - including children, parents, and grandparents.  Typical household responsibilities for younger children are to care for livestock and carry water.  Older children endure more physical strain, working in the fields and helping with other chores.  Clothing is washed in rivers in many villages.  The family homes have outdoor bathrooms.  Rooms in the homes have one electric bulb hanging from the ceiling, satellite TV, and electric fans.  Family members sleep under mosquito netting to avoid diseases and infections spread by insects.

Students begin to board at school from the age of 12 or 13.  Younger primary students that live far from school will also board.  Students are very productive and busy at school.  Students attend morning classes until noon, which is when lunch time and a rest period occur.  They return for afternoon classes and are kept busy until night falls.  They're often found studying, washing their clothes, and cleaning the classrooms and living quarters.  Their living quarters are Spartan-like dorm rooms, which house up to twelve or more same-grade students in one room. Each class has a class monitor who has great leadership roles.  The good of the group is considered above the rights or needs of the individual.

Schooling

Most classrooms are not heated or air-conditioned. Fans and open windows relieve the unbearable heat in summer. Class sizes are large, and schedules can include night and weekend classes. Some primary schools expect students to sit at attention with their hands on their desks when not writing or reading. Rural teachers live at the schools and often serve as substitute parents. The teaching curriculum revolves around academics and rote learning. Teaching is focused on tests that will be taken by students to determine their future. Middle school consist of three grades. Middle school students must test and score at a set standard to advance into high school. Higher test scores place students in better high schools. High school also consists of three grades- students usually attend from age sixteen to eighteen. A national college exam is given annually at the end of the third year.  Students who do not pass the exam can remain at their high schools for an additional year. Students who graduate with low scores may enroll at a vocational school while students with high scores may enroll in a community college or university. ​