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Monday 27 January marks the 25th anniversary for the Star of Hope Christian School in Taytay, Rizal in the Philippines. It’s a fantastic educational institution among the poor city squatters and settlers. The school started of with elementary school and in 1997 the high school department was added.
This school year sees 2,114 students enrolled in elementary and high school, the school year ends in March. On top of this school and its support for poor families Star of Hope supports 30 college students. All in all more than 77,000 children have studied at the Star of Hope School over the years. Amazing! The school was originally built on a site leased by the local government, but it’s in the hands of Star of Hope since a generous donation by a family in Sweden a few years back.
When this school was built 25 years ago, there were some 300 families living in the near area. Today there are more than 6,000 families. The first time I visited the area back in 1997 you passed landfills to reach the school. Today the land fills are developed in to residential areas. I have had a lot of good times at this school. These vulnerable children are really eager to learn for the future. The school is well managed and in good shape. There are plans for enlargements in various directions but more on that later.
Star of Hope has been working in the Philippines since 1983, and was registered with the government since 1987. The Coruna family has been in charge since the beginning and they are doing a fantastic job.
I have a lot more to share from the Philippines in the near future, but for today I just want to congratulate Star of Hope Philippines, the Coruna family, and all the children for the nice school.
