From an Outside Eye

My name is Emily Wood and I had the privilege of working with GNCEM over the last year, both in the United States and India. 
 
As an intern, I was able to teach English at the Daspara school for grades 1-8 and the Logos Seminary.  My goal was to provide a space for conversation English practice that was encouraging and focused on student involvement.
 The students I had the privilege of teaching were energetic and responsive.  Whenever I would see them around town, at the market, or at church, they would show off the English they had been practicing and were never afraid to initiate conversations with visitors.  

In addition to teaching, I was able to live with 19 middle and highschool girls, boarding in a GNCEM center close to the Daspara School.  They were the best and most challenging part of my time in Kolkata.  

Each of the girls I lived with carry so much potential.  One of Eunok Roy's main purposes for offering them room and board during their schooling is to provide a healthy environment for their mental and emotional development.  Several of the girls want to be doctors, one, a dancer, and two want to be teachers.

I learned to expect anything when one of the girls would come to my room. 

Rima asked for a few bandages for her skinned knees, arm and hand.  I asked her how this happened and she smiled confidently and told me she’d been racing the boys after school.  She won.  I’ve never been more proud.

Nisha plopped herself on my bed and asked to hear stories.  The punch lines very rarely translate to Bengali but we tried anyway.

Tonushree asked to hear my favorite poem and for a while we talked about Walt Whitman and the power of words.

Monisha threw her English textbook on my table and moaned, “past continuous tense.” So we battled grammar until she completed her assignments.

Sakilah asked to use my phone to take selfies and left over 100 when I wasn’t looking.

It was a great joy to be welcomed into the Daspara School and into the lives of so many students.  

Provision and Providence

That is the theme that Mrs. Momita Biswas weaves through her story as she recalls her time working with GNCEM.  Mrs. Biswas is the principal of the Daspara School.  The Daspara School is the largest GNCEM school and hosts both a Bengali Medium and English Primary school. In total, she is responsible for over 300 children.  The children greet her every morning with a hearty “good morning Miss!” and she smiles at each and every one.  She is kind and always available for teachers and students alike.

Momita has been working with GNCEM since 1998.  For a while, she was an assistant teacher, then worked in the GNCEM offices for several years before teaching at Panthershesh and Daspara.  At Daspara she taught Bengali to grades 9 and 10.  She then took the position of principal in 2008.

Her husband worked as a pastor and she worked along side him in ministry and in mission schools.  This was her passion and she saw a position with GNCEM as an extension of that ministry.   Momita’s husband passed away from a massive heart attack in 2007.  She speaks of him fondly, remembering him as kind and welcoming to all. 

Looking out over the school campus, she reflects on the creation of the school when the staff would pray every afternoon for a building.  When they got one, they kept praying for electricity and the means to operate. God answered every prayer in abundance.

She smiles when she says the children are her favorite part of her job.  She has no children of her own and said that God  knew she wanted children and He gave me so many at the school to look after.  She emphasizes the difficulty in ministering to children out in the community and says having them all at the school gives her the chance to minister and preach God’s love.  She takes great pride seeing the children grow in their love for God. 

She asks that we pray fervently for the children.  Pray that the students at Daspara will learn to love Jesus and take him as their Savior.  Pray that they continue their relationship with Christ even after school and that it would spread to their families. Pray for protection for children from poor families who are left alone most of the day until their parents return from work. 

She quotes Deuteronomy 31:6, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and says she prays that verse for each child, knowing that God’s grace will always be sufficient.
 

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Constructing Futures

In April, the GNCEM spring term ends and exams begin.  It is also a pivotal time for construction before the rains come.  GNCEM schools are constantly growing as community members see the value of education and the excellence of their programs. Aside from recent medical expansion, two new school building are currently under construction.

At Pathershesh, a school in a village outside of the city, the new building dwarfs the current classrooms and chapel. At two stories, it serves as a landmark in the village. Pathershesh means "end of the road." From the 45 minute train ride to the mile walk along a single lane road to reach it, it's easy to see why. Because of its proximity to the sea and Bangladesh, the community around the schools hosts many economic refugees from Bangladesh and families who have come from the islands to the mainland for employment.

Pathershesh currently has over 90 students in their Bengali medium school and their St. John schools boasts 50 students up from the original 8 in 2013.
GNCEM's director, Mrs. Eunok Roy Lee, is hopeful that the new building will not only allow for the expansion of the two schools, but also host a future boarding school for many of the refugee children in the area.

At Gongajoyara, another more rural school, the new construction will allow the 84 students currently occupying the one-room school building to expand and open more spots for those children still awaiting admission.

Tarun, one of the teachers at Gongajoyara said that the new facility will be a "miracle" when it is completed. Some classes at Gongajoyara are already meeting in the partially constructed classes despite lack of electricity and windows.

Through both of these avenues, Mrs. Roy Lee and the school staff are thrilled about the opportunity to spread the Gospel and share the love of Jesus Christ.

A Look Back

Winter weather in Kolkata is pleasant.  It is cool, humid and dusty.  It’s hard to envision the dry neighborhoods completely flooded, but that’s exactly what happened last July.  During the monsoon season, it rains almost every day.  In a few weeks, the water begins to accumulate around the low points in the city.  2015 brought the worst flooding Kolkata had seen in over a decade.  In some schools and neighborhoods, water stood three to four feet deep.  Many schools were forced to close until the water receded and countless individuals could not work. 

GNCEM schools are strategically placed in neighborhoods where entire communities can benefit from their services.  The schools are often built in relatively small communities so the the school grows with the population.  For many families, the schools offer education and a space of worship on Sundays.  During the 2015 monsoon season, the schools also offered sustenance and hope. 
The schools that were still in operation became centers of food aid distribution for families.  Teachers arrived each morning, selflessly helping smaller students through the water until they were all safely in their classrooms.  

Korean Food For the Hungry provided much of this aid, supplying food and supplies.  GNCEM distributed aid to over 1,000 families during the monsoon season, many whose children attend GNCEM schools. 

New Year

2016 dawned brightly for Good News Children Education Mission.

They hosted a three-day conference and one-day, citywide worship gathering in late January.  They were greatly encouraged by attendance and the faithful support of their staff that worked tirelessly to host these events.  

The next week, GNCEM celebrated the grand opening of their first hospital facility with special guests from Korea and performances from GNCEM students.  The new hospital is located on the same grounds as the Daspara School.  GNCEM is in the process of securing staffing and medial personnel. This facility will focus on prenatal care and labor and delivery.  The hospital will not only meet the practical needs of women in the community, but it will also further GNCEM’s mission of caring for children and their families. The new facility will allow young lives to begin in a healthy, safe, and loving environment.

In addition to the hospital, construction is underway on a new clinic in the neighborhood of Gopalnagar.  Many children from this neighborhood and the one adjacent currently attend GNCEM schools.  The families in this neighborhood have limited access to public healthcare.  GNCEM already provides screenings and minimal health care to their students. This clinic will allow GNCEM to extend care to families already familiar with their ministry and share Christ’s love with entire communities.  A team from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama came to Kolkata in January for a pre-design visit.  Preston Hite, Professor of Interior Design, led a six-student team.  They spent a week learning about construction practices in Kolkata and familiarizing themselves with the ministry here. The team will return to Kolkata in June to complete the building project. 

Health and hygiene education will be primary goals of these facilities.  GNCEM is hopeful that the people served through these new medical facilities will experience the healing of Christ, both physically and spiritually. 

Baby Care Center

 

I live on the second floor of the daycare, called the Baby Care Center.  It is situated in a quiet neighborhood, where small apartment buildings and mango trees block the sounds of the roads.  Vendors walk the streets during the evenings, chanting about their wares and pushing their carts.  Each morning a bus leaves promptly at 7am from in front of the building and drives to the slums where mothers wait to set their children on the narrow benches.  Winding through the packed streets of Kolkata, the students sing Jesus Loves Me and wave at the cows we pass.  Our first stop is at Hatibagan Mobile School, where the older children pour through the gate and head for the outdoor spigots where teachers stand with smiles and soap bars. The smallest children stay on the bus as we head for the Baby Care Center.

They know the routine perfectly and wait patiently for the women to undress them before walking outside to the spigot and large red bucket.  Soon, they are covered in soap and tiny wet footprints cover the floor as they are dried and dressed.  Four women work here everyday, teaching English songs, mending cuts and bruises, making meals and showing the love of Jesus to each child.  After song and Bible time, the children are prayed for and given breakfast.  Free play is next and tiny voices and laughter radiate through the building.  The older toddlers head to the classroom after an hour to practice their ABC’s before lunch and nap time.  During nap, all twenty children lie side by side under the fans, tiny arms outstretched, heads propped up on small red pillows.  One or two workers patiently sit and wave away any flies that settle on the children. 

They wake up to snack and song time where they are redressed in their original cloths, which were laundered while they slept.  Between three and four, the children are carefully placed on the bus and the journey back to their homes begins. Most of them nod off on the drive.  The chaos of the traffic effects them little.  At the bus stop, their mothers wait in a group and wave goodbye as we pull away.  Tomorrow, these amazing workers will do it all over again.  Tomorrow, they will sing, treat wounds and fevers, feed, and wash each precious child with care and joy.

The workers of GNCEM look like Jesus in this city.