MORE NEEDS
Solar panels/batteries ($6,000-$7,000)
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A growing campus is a huge blessing and while we are grateful for the incredible opportunities that God has provided for us to be able to add more volunteers and their families over the years, one of the challenges we have met is that our current electrical system is not sufficient to provide power to all of the houses and buildings on campus. Generally, we lose power sometime between 5pm (on cloudy/rainy days) and 7 pm. Without light, it is difficult for our students to do their evening activities, including study hour/homework. The kitchen also needs to have power for any work they may be doing in the evening and to keep our refrigerator running for safe food storage. For the system to function optimally, we will need to add a few more batteries and solar panels.
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GENERATOR ($1,000 - $2,000)
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Generally, because our current system (solar) is not adequate to provide electricity all day and evening, we lose power on sometime between 5pm (on cloudy/rainy days) and 7 pm. We use a generator to provide electricity to the buildings on campus during that time. Without light, it is difficult for our students to do their evening activities, including study hour/homework. The kitchen also needs to have power for any work they may be doing in the evening and to keep our refrigerator running for safe food storage. The generator has been out of commission for several months and we need a few parts from the States to get it back to good working condition.
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STAFF STIPENDS
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Praise the Lord He provided funds to start with a small monthly stipend for our volunteers this year. It was a special moment to see their faces when we were able to share the news with the volunteers that they would be receiving these funds each month. ALL our missionaries are here on a volunteer basis. None of them expect any compensation for their service and they were truly humbled when they heard that donations made this possible. While we are incredibly grateful for what has been provided, many of our volunteers receive no financial support outside of this stipend. Our prayer is that we will be able to provide a bit more to help them not only be able to cover these basic needs, but also to help them with things like travel for various reasons (visa’s, medical needs, family emergencies, etc.) and to visit their families back home and get some rest during breaks.
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TEACHERS
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We have a large staff of volunteers this year, but only 7 classroom teachers. We are praying for God to send more qualified, trained teachers to help lighten the load and provide the students where with a quality education. We currently have 4 licensed teachers, but two of them are administrators and while they are both excellent teachers, we would like to move them out of the classroom so that they can focus on their primary responsibilities.
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DOCTOR/NURSE
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We have had quite the reminder of our need for a trained medical professional this past month. Bolivia is experiencing a Dengue crisis, nationwide, this rainy season and Eben-Ezer has been hit with it, too. Dengue Fever is a mosquito-borne illness that occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. High fevers and flu-like symptoms are common with this illness. We have had several staff and students with it and have certainly had our hands full trying to keep everyone hydrated and fevers under control. Along with the Dengue, we seem to always have someone who is sick or hurt. Having someone here who can focus solely on medical would free up the other volunteers to do their primary jobs.
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