Clicking on the link below (or just above, on the right) will take you to the list of "Students Needing Scholarships." However, before you visit that page we are providing what we believe may be helpful information about the students, the biographical information and photos you will find, as well as other items of interest. You may want to read through this information first.
Our students are a diverse group! However, here are a few things to take note of:
1. Notice how many list their parents as "pastor" or "teacher" or "evangelist" or "missionary." All of these are the very church workers The Lion of Judah Academy was designed to serve. That's why there are so many who identify their parents in that way. The "teachers" are generally teachers at church Bible colleges and similar institutions.
2. Notice also that some will say something like, "my parents are still alive." This may sound odd to us, but since so many have had one or both parents die, this is not so unusual given the context.
3. Along that same line, many of our students are 'orphans,' but that doesn't necessarily mean both parents have died. In many cases both parents have, indeed, died. However, in the Tanzanian context, women are often completely dependant upon their husbands...which means if the husband dies the family has no means of support whatsoever. Thus, the family is, for practical purposes, completely helpless and in total poverty. At The Lion of Judah Academy, we consider these children orphans in terms of their support needs.
4. It will likely surprise you to see many of the students will refer to their parents as "peasants." In our cultural context this may sound like an insult or negative reference to their parents, but that is not the case at all! Farmers, especially subsistence farmers, are almost always referred to as, "peasants" in the Tanzanian setting. In fact, on government forms, "Peasant" is often an officially recognized employment status. So don't think that a student is looking down on his/her parents when they refer to them as, "peasants."
5. Clicking on the student photos should open the photo in a larger size, which you should be able to print, or download, or use in other ways. However, if you cannot get this feature to work, or if you would like a larger photo for printing, please contact us. We have all of these photos in larger-sized files.
