Egda's Education Report

On Monday I opened my mailbox to find a thin envelope from CI. It wasn't one of the really exciting ones, the ones that say "Enclosed is a special message from your sponsored child", but I eagerly tore it open, of course. I found Egda's Special Needs and Education reports!
Egda, from Guayaquil, Ecuador, just turned seven in late June, so she's still very young, but I wanted to know how school was going for her, in case she was struggling. In that case, I could offer some assistance that could be used to hire a tutor or get her some other kind of extra help.
Well, it doesn't sound like that is going to be necessary at the moment! Egda is in 2nd grade, getting good grades, and making average progress. She is not currently receiving any extra help in school, and since she's doing well without it, I don't think it's necessarily something that is needed at the moment.

What I read in the report was very good news: Egda attends a 2-story school that has about 10 classrooms. The school has a computer lab, a sports field, and a patio. About 150 children attend the school. That works out to about 15 per class- pretty good! A better ratio than you'll get in most public schools here in the USA. And there's a computer lab! Excellent.

I also received Egda's Special Needs report, which stated that the things that would make Egda's family's lives much easier are a full size mattress and full size bed sheets. I was given a total of $109.00 for these items. I'm going to start putting a little bit of money away each month for non-educational Special Needs gifts like this. Then, when I get $100 or $109 or whatever total I'm given, I can make the Special Needs donation. I've already budgeted for several $100+ Special Needs donations throughout the year, but those are going to go for educational support. Once I've got a handle on how all my kids are doing academically, and once I've provided as much help as I am able, then I'll tackle things like mattresses and bed sheets. Not that those aren't important things- I just think that education is the number one thing that's going to improve a child's life. This is true for any child of any nationality or socioeconomic status. So that's why I am really focusing on education for my sponsored children.