Opening of the Serenje Special Needs Classroom

I got an amazing reminder of just a small part of the legacy of Mo Davies when I received an email this week about the opening of a classroom for children with special needs in Serenje, Zambia.

A number of years ago Mo travelled to visit the HIV/AIDS project we as a church supported in partnership with Tearfund in Serenje. Whilst there she was introduced to the deputy headmistress of one of the local schools who mentioned her dream to have a classroom specifically for special needs children. At that time for most children with special needs in Serenje there was no provision whatsoever, and for those who did get help it meant them moving to a specialist school hundreds of miles away from Serenje.

Mo felt God saying “you can help" so she began fundraising, until she was diagnosed with Myeloma. At this point her husband Ben took up the challenge, and at the age of 76 he undertook a 1,130 km bike ride across Europe to raise money. Between them they raised an amazing £11,907 which was enough to both build and equip the classroom.

The pictures show the handover of the special needs classroom to the government through the District Commisioner, as well as some of the children who will benefit from the provision.

Jesus taught us not to store up treasure on earth which is temporal, but to store up treasure in heaven which is eternal. God's treasure is people, and Ben and Mo (and all those who supported them) have made an incredibly wise eternal investment in these children and their education. Let them be an inspiration to all of us.

Simon