“One of my classmates saw a crack – she said that the building was going to collapse,” said 14-year-old Benjamin.
Benjamin is one of the survivors of a building collapse at a Christian school in Plateau State, Nigeria, that killed 22 children and injured at least 132 others.
Despite his classmate’s warning, there was no time to escape.
“The building collapsed on top of us. Rubble was pressed into my head and hand. The girl behind me – she was dead.”
Christian children may be unable to return to school
Saint Academy in Jos, Plateau’s capital city, was full of children taking their exams when the disaster struck on 12 July.
Many of the pupils are from impoverished families, who send their children to Saint Academy because school fees are less than half those charged by neighbouring schools.
Christian families are among those already struggling with soaring fuel prices and food inflation running at 40%.
Daniel and his family give thanks to God that he survived. But his family are concerned that he will not be able to continue his education as other schools can be more than twice as expensive as Saint Academy
“Christian families are worried now that they can’t afford to send their children to other schools,” said a Barnabas contact. “The children may have to stay at home.”
Can you help Christian children to get the education they need?
“I just want him to go back to school in September,” said Ashaya, Benjamin’s older sister. “The other schools are very expensive – our family cannot afford it.”
Without being able to return to education by attending one of these other local Christian schools, the children will lose the opportunity they had to gain the skills, knowledge and qualifications they need to escape a life of poverty.
It also means that the trauma of their experience will be longer lasting. They will not be able to return to anything like normality.
You can help. Our project partner is working with impoverished Christian families with children who survived the school collapse. Could you consider donating towards the costs of their education at an alternative local Christian school?
£20 ($24; €22) could pay for the school fees of a Christian child for one term
£60 ($72; €66) could pay for the school fees of a Christian child for the whole academic year
