INDIA: Emmanuel’s School and Children’s Home

In November 2011, Yesuway Jeevan Mission entered into an agreement to partner in ministry with EMMANUEL’S SCHOOL AND CHILDREN’S HOME, in the town of CHANDEL in the STATE of MANIPUR, in north-eastern India.

{Note : A map is below, click the map for a larger view in a new window }

Chandel is about an hour and half’s drive from the capital city of the State – Imphal.

This agreement followed correspondence with a member of an AC church in the United States who along with others has been financially supporting the school’s activities for some years, and a visit to the school by an YJM staff member.

The school has been in operation since 1990 and has approximately 450 students, in classes ranging from Lower Kindergarten to Standard 10, taught by 18 teachers. About half of the students’ homes are 60 to 80 kms from the school and they live in a hostel at the school, whilst the others travel daily to school.

The school is owned and run by a Christian lady, Thirumathi (Mrs) Roselle, assisted by her brother Oliver. Our staff member’s report described Roselle as follows…”She is a humble, humorous and God fearing lady .She is unselfish and owns nothing for herself. She lives for the children’s welfare and their benefit. She leads an exemplary life committed to God and serving the children.”

Our staff member’s report describes the school and its operation as follows….

“[The children] are all very humble, God fearing and disciplined. They begin the day with prayer, singing, praising the Lord and end the day with devotion and thanksgiving. Every day they fetch water from nearby places for washing purposes, besides this they have a well which is used only for cooking and bathing.They have a worship place which has metal sheet roofing and mud floor with no coverings on the sides. Children gather here every morning and evening to hear the Word of God and they sing praises to the Lord.They have electric power only on alternate days so they need to depend on emergency lamps which are available in the local market. All the class rooms are open on all the sides with metal sheet roofing and it begins to leak when it rains. The floors are mud floor and none of the classes have lights or proper furnitures or sanitary facilities.

Teachers’ salaries were paid less, the lowest being 1,300 rupees the highest being 3,000 rupees which hardly meets the needs which is the reason teachers quit the school for finding better paid jobs. So whatever funds come teachers were given their salaries first and the remaining money spent for other purposes. The school has one old version computer which was donated to them long back. They need a new computer with updated version. The school has no camera and on special occasions has to rent one. No transportation is available for buying vegetables, fuel, provisions, medical care, emergencies etc. The cost of fuel is very high compared to other places. At times of emergency like medical care it is impossible without vehicle. They have to come to Imphal. Sale of tobacco, liquor, cigarettes are prohibited. The whole community are Christians and they fear God.”

As a condition of their support agreement, Yesuway Jeevan Mission receives a quarterly report on the activities of all its ministry partners. Th. Roselle recently forwarded the following report, which sets out details of their philosophies and program.

ACTIVITIES OF THE STUDENTS OF

EMMANUEL’S SCHOOL AND CHILDREN HOME, CHANDEL, MANIPUR, INDIA

A mere academic pursuit /class-room teacher is not enough for the all-round development of the children-building self-confidence with experience in a sound body and mind is required to meet the challenges of their day to day/near future practical life fittingly. Keeping in view of this, the school created a special schedule for various activities of the children:

INTERNAL ACTIVITIES

*CONDUCT OF DEVOTION/ASSEMBLY: – A brief period of 30 minutes is spared for the students to conduct a short Devotion/Assembly by themselves under the guidance of their teachers every morning before resumption of their class and assembled themselves after the class with a prayer they are dispersed for their respective homes.

*DIVISION OF STUDENTS: – Into 4 (four) Houses- RED, BLUE, GREEN AND YELLOW. These four houses are made to engage in stiff competitions against one another in any Extra-Curricular Activities for the House Championship annually.

*EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: – (A) IN-DOOR (B) OUT-DOOR.

(A) IN-DOOR- In order to inculcate spiritual knowledge , moral values and self-confidence in the students , they are thrown into various competition s- Recitation (Bible Scriptures/Poems) Skits/Drama, Debating, Extempore – speech , Singing, Quiz (Bible, Secular), Dancing, Talent-show etc.

(B) ANNUAL GAMES AND SPORTS MEET: To keep the students in a good physical fitness, to foster competitive spirit and to tap their sports talent, they are made to participate in competitions like Football, Race, High-Jump, Long-Jump, Hand-Ball, Javelin/Discus-throw and Short-Put, etc.

Beside, the students organized themselves to conduct/present themselves various items – Folk-Dances, Drama, Singing, Comical acting’s and treating their teachers with an array of food prepared by themselves on a yearly day like ‘TEACHERS’ DAY’.

EXTERNAL ACTIVITIES

1. Students participation in March-Past on Republic Day and Independence Day for both boys and girls.
2. Students participation in essay and panting competition organized by Nehru Yuva Kendra, Chandel every year.
3. Observation of Gandhi Jayanti on 2nd Oct. through various social works, inside and outside campus.
4. Annual study tour visiting Historical and Tourist Places within Manipur state.
5. Students participation in the district level inter school football trial cum selection for Under 14 (Fourteen) years for boys, organized by District Youth Affairs and Sports Officer, Chandel.
6. Advent Christmas Carol with Fire Lamp around the town.

EMMANUEL’S CHILDREN HOME ACTIVITIES

DAILY TIME TABLE FOR THE BOARDERS

04: 30 am………Rise and Shine
04: 30 am– 05: 00 am Wash up
05: 00 am– 05: 15 am Devotion
05: 15 am– 05: 30 am Tea time
05: 30 am– 06: 00 am Duty
06: 00 am– 08: 00 am Study
08: 00 am– 08: 30 am Lunch
08: 30 am– 09: 00 am Dress up
09: 00 am– 02: 30 pm School time (Dormitory closed)
02: 30 pm– 03: 00 pm Tea time
03: 00 pm– 03: 30 pm Duty
04: 00 pm– 05: 00 pm Free time
05: 00 pm– 05: 30 pm Wash up
05: 30 pm– 06: 00 pm Dinner
06: 00 pm– 06: 30 pm Devotion
06: 30 pm– 09: 30 pm Study
09: 40 pm ……..Lights off.

DAILY DUTIES FOR THE BOARDERS (CLEANING)

Nursery	+Surrounding	Class-VIII	+Surrounding
Girls Dormitory	+Surrounding	Class-IX	+ Surrounding
Kindergarten-I	+Surrounding	Class-X	+Surrounding
Kindergarten-II	+Surrounding	Boys Dormitory	+Surrounding
Class-I	+Surrounding	Teachers Room	+Watering Flowers
Class-II	+Surrounding	Office	+Watering Flowers
Class-III	+ Surrounding	Kitchen
Class-IV	+Surrounding	Chapel Hall front	+Gate and drain
Class-V	+ Surrounding	Chapel Hall (inside)	+Dust Bin
Class-VI	+ Surrounding	Well surrounding	+Dust Bin
Class-VII	+Surrounding

PORTFOLIO FOR THE BOARDERS
Devotion Secretary
Games and Sports Secretary
Boys Monitor
Girls Monitor
Besides, every Sunday, they attend local church for the worship service. And sometimes they go to surrounding churches and present songs and testimonies. Every first Sunday of the month we have fasting prayer, especially for the school, hostel and supporters. Thank you so much brother for your kind help.
We remember you in our prayer and also brother Devraj, and all the families.
May God bless you all.
Yours in Christ
Th.Roselle”

Will you please uphold Thirumathi Roselle and her team and the children who they teach and train and seek to point to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer on a regular basis? If the Lord leads you to join us in assisting this school to continue its ministry and upgrade its facilities, we would be pleased to hear from you and to give you more details of specific needs.

Ernie Schache

Asia Team Leader