You may remember my previous blog about Maria… It was entitled, “How
Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”. (If you want to refresh your memory, you
can find it at http://sunshineinafrica.blogspot.com/2016_01_01_archive.html).
Maria was the little girl who at the end of first grade was
told by the school system that she was deficient and could not continue on to
grade 2. Deficient!! How could anyone tell a 7 year old child that she is
deficient? And why did they tell her this? She is unable to speak well and
cannot walk well due to a mild case of multiple sclerosis. Since Maria could
not return to school, she spent the next 3
years learning alongside the 3, 4, and 5 year olds at Vovo Berta’s
preschool. Maria was far from deficient. She could write well and even read a
little. But because she was not able to speak or walk well, the public school
system cast her aside.
We believed she had potential. We believed she deserved a
chance to learn. We believed she could thrive and do well. So our company,
Sunshine Nut Company, through our Sunshine Approach Foundation, is sponsoring
her to attend primary school at Escola Luz e Vida (Light and Life School). The
director of this school is an amazing woman who agreed to give Maria a chance.
Maria has been attending school for the past 5 months. Each
month when I go out to the school to pay her tuition, I check in with the
director to see how she is doing. The director has told me that she is a sweet
girl who works hard and is doing well.
Those are very kind and encouraging words. Yet I was waiting to see concrete proof
that she was succeeding.
Upon my return to Mozambique this past week from a trip to
the US, my first stop was to go to Berta’s Project and check in on her and the
children. As I was leaving Berta’s project, Maria greeted me at the gate with a
huge smile. She was so happy to see I was back in Mozambique again. After
receiving a long and tight hug, she told me that she had her grades from her
first semester of school. I told her to bring them to the community feeding we
sponsor the following day and I would take a look at them. If I had known what
I would see on her report, I would not have waited!! She brought her report to me the next day. Grades in Mozambique are based on a point system with 20 being
the highest value. A grade of 14 or
above is considered above average. Check out her grades (and her photo with her big, beaming, well deserved smile)…
Portuguese- 18
Mathematics- 20
Visual Education- 16
Music- 16
Physical Education- 16
Art- 15
Her final average was…17!!! 17 out of 20!!! Do you even
realize how amazing that is?! For a regular, normal child, 17 would be amazing.
For Maria, it is out of this world!!! I was overwhelmed and rejoiced with her
and her parents as I looked at her report. I just could not believe it. I profusely
lavished an incredible amount of praise on her as other children stood in the
street watching on, wondering what all the fuss was about. Maria was so proud…unbelievably
proud. Everyone was grinning…Maria, her mom, her dad, me, and all the children
around us. Today, we are taking her family all the fixings for a celebratory meal...chicken, rice, potatoes, carrots, soft drinks, and a big cake that says "Parabens", Congratulations. We are doing this because this is not just a victory for Maria...it is a victory for her whole family. She could not have done this without them. Her mother and father take her by chapa (public transport) to and from school each day. This a a huge time commitment on their part, and they have been faithful in doing this every day. Therefore, we believe that all deserve to celebrate together.
It is because of people like Maria that we are here in
Mozambique. This is why we established the Sunshine Nut Company. We believed
that the people of Mozambique deserve hope, opportunity, and dignity. We wanted
to transform lives. Our efforts here are challenging, and we go through many
days where it feels like we are facing more challenges than we are enjoying
successes. Yet today, little Maria brought us immense joy as she showed us that
we are transforming lives. The pride in her eyes and the smile on her face and
even the way she held her posture straight and tall demonstrated that her life
has been transformed. It makes me so very sad to think of what would have
happened to Maria if we had not been here to intervene in her life. There are so
many more children like Maria who deserve the same chance that she has
received. We will continue on and on and on, reaching as many children and
adults as we can…and moments like today will fuel us to keep on keeping on.
