In partnership with our global sponsorship family, we do everything we can to give our children the best chance for a bright future. We provide them with nutrition and medical care, we pour into their spiritual lives, foster social development, and give them access to a complete education. One thing that we feel is a key to opening up the world to them and helping them break out of the cycle of poverty is the English language. English is the most widely spoken international language for business, academia and tourism. By contrast, the national language of Ethiopia (Amharic) is spoken only in Ethiopia. By teaching our children how to speak English fluently, we are giving them the ability to communicate with the rest of the world.
Several years ago we established an English Quizzing Competition in order to motivate the students to study English above and beyond their work in the classroom. The competition is a big event within the community and takes place over a one-week period each spring. Top students from grades 4 through 10 at several local schools are nominated by their teachers to participate in the competition, which consists of many rounds of competition before winners are selected. The top six students in each grade receive a cash prize and ribbon, and the top two students in each grade are invited to a special banquet along with a guest and their teacher. Participating in this banquet is a big honor and is something that the students strive towards.
Due to the fact that we are now responsible for over 2,000 students at the BCI Academy and Bethlehem School, we have had to limit the competition to these two schools for 2018. There simply isn’t funding to bring in additional schools at this time. In fact, there is no funding available period. In past years, a generous donor financially supported the competition. When our competition sponsor passed away in 2017, we lost a dear friend and also the ability to support the English competition. We feel that it is critical to continue this competition in order to keep the students motivated to develop their English skills. Therefore, we are asking for partners to join with us in sponsoring the competition this year.
SPONSOR A GRADE: $85 per class for ribbons, medals, and cash prizes
SPONSOR A CHAMPION: $45 per student for banquet meal, including one guest and one teacher
SPONSOR THE GRAND PRIZE: $500 for a laptop computer for the 10th grade winner, to help with college preparation
We invite you to visit our YouTube channel to view a video of last year’s competition, including several touching speeches by the children: https://www.youtube.com/c/BlessingtheChildrenIntl
Blessing the Children International 