The Grace Christian School

Our overseas partner is the Grace Christian School in Siyabuswa, South Africa. At St. Stephen’s, and we have contributed to various building projects over recent years.

The Grace Christian School serves around 600 children in the township of Siyabuswa, in the north-eastern part of South Africa. It was started in 2003 as a response to the HIV-AIDS crisis ravaging the country, leaving many orphans in its wake. It began with one class of young children and grew rapidly. Now children come from as far as 200km away to board there; others walk long distances to attend daily. It has won awards for the best exam results in the district, but it is also the Christian nature of the school, its committed staff and its good facilities which attract people.

Grace School’s facilities could never have been paid for by the fees, which (in a place of high unemployment) were set too low even to cover the salaries at a level matching those in state schools. Instead, local Christians devoted themselves to prayer, and the money came in from charitable sources, including from people here at St. Stephen's, some of whom have been out to visit. The church now supports the school with gifts each year from the mission part of its budget. Some members of the church also sponsor Grace children whose families, if they have them, cannot afford the fees. Orphans and vulnerable are still given free or heavily-subsidised places.

If you would like to consider sponsoring a child or doing something to raise further funds for the school, please speak to Richard Hudson. All money raised goes to the school's building fund, and even the pound goes a lot further in South Africa!