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| Receiving a plaque. |
The words “padrino” (godfather) and “madrina” (godmother) mean something more in Venezuela than just sponsors at a Christian baptism. Anyone who serves as a mentor or patron to an individual, or even to a group, may be honored with the title of padrino or madrina, and it is quite an honor.
So I was moved when I was named padrino
of the 10th group of children to graduate from our preschool. They do
not choose a padrino every year. In fact, the only other padrino in
the last 10 years was a fellow who had children in the preschool and,
as head of the neighborhood council, was a great promoter of it.
As padrino, I presided over the
graduation ceremony, presenting the children with their diplomas and
various gifts. Graduates from our preschool, who will be starting
first grade in the public elementary school in September, include:
| Yuliannys E. Ascanio |
Ximena V. Barrueta Z.
|
| Edwar J. Garrido S. |
Ailyn T. Noguera S.
|
| Angela I. Piñero A. |
Luís L.Rivas M.
|
| Nazareth Zambrano P. |
The children and their teachers, in
turn, presented me with two plaques. Two, because there will be some
changes in our preschool this next school year, starting with the
name. Up to now the preschool has been known as “Centro de
Educación Integral Nutriniño Mi Pequeña Lucecita”. One plaque
was from the preschool under this name, thanking me for my support
and dedication to Christian education and “teaching us the Word of
God.”
The second plaque was from the
preschool under its new name, “Simoncito Comunitario Mi Pequeña
Lucecita,” thanking me for my support and “bringing us to know
the love of God in Christ.” Of all the plaque that I have received
in my life, none have mattered more.
To explain the situation a bit more: In
2003 there was in our area a program called "Nutriniño"
funded by a state-supported, non-profit organization called
"Fundación del Niño." This program allowed persons living
in poverty-stricken neighborhoods to open preschools in their homes,
provided the homes passed inspection. The program provided the money
for two nutritionally balanced meals per day for the children, and
paid the salaries of certified preschool teachers to conduct classes.
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| Meeting with local authorities. |
Luz Maria enrolled in the program and
ours has become the most successful of the "Nutriniño"
preschools. So successful, in fact, that it is the only one left.
All of the others, across the country, have now been closed as funds
to continue the program have dwindled. The Nutriniño program no
longer exists.
Now we will be subject to state
supervision under the auspices of “Proyecto Simoncito.” This is a
similar program to provide free preschool education and nutritionally
balanced meals to children, ages 2 to 6, but under more direct
control of the Ministry of Education.
There are three reasons, on this end,
why our preschool will remain open, despite the closing of the other
Nutriniño preschools:
1. We have gained the
confidence of local authorities, who see us as an extremely positive
influence in the community;
2. We have the enthusiastic support
of the preschool children's parents, several of whom showed up for
our meeting with the local authorities to support the continuation of
the preschool;
3. We meet an urgent need for quality
Christian preschool education.
There are some adjustments that we
will have to make. Up to now, our preschool hours have been 8 a.m.
to noon weekdays, leaving us plenty of time to prepare for Luz
Maria's tutoring of older children from 4 to 6 p.m. Starting in
September we will have to keep the preschool open from 7:30 a.m. to
3.30 p.m. This will require a number of things from us, such as
making provision for as many as 25 children to take midday naps and
baths, as is the custom. Luz Maria will continue her tutoring
program, which also is quite popular and growing in numbers of
students. Of course, we expect that the longer preschool hours will
allow us additional opportunity to provide basic instruction in the
Christian faith.
What we consider a real setback is
that starting in September we will only be able to enroll children
from 2 to 4 years of age. Five-year-olds will be required to transfer
to another preschool, ostensibly to make the best use of existing
educational resources. These are the children who we will lose as a
result of this decision:
| José Ignacio Garrido S. |
Aliesca F. Ascanio V.
|
| Anyilimar K. Meza R. |
Dalmarys F. Barrios T.
|
| Greisy C. Altuve R. |
Erick A. Salinas M.
|
| Angel M. Ascanio D. |
We hope and pray that, God willing,
we will get our five- and six-year-olds back in the 2014-2015 school
year. The fact that our preschool remains open is also due to the
prayers and financial support of individuals, congregations and
mission societies in the United States. God bless you all. We ask
that you continue to pray for us and support us as we face the
challenges of another 10 years.
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