Mission: To improve and to expand sustainable, affordable
Christ-centered education in the developing world.
ABOUT US
What We Do
We at Edify believe that educating the poor is the greatest opportunity for transformation in the developing world. A young person with book smarts and life skills can create a small business or find employment that will lift his or her family out of poverty; a young person grounded in a Christ-centered faith will develop the moral foundation necessary to transform a culture and remake a society. With a dedication to serving the poor, Edify proposes to increase access to Christ-centered education and improve the quality and relevancy of what’s taught in Christ-centered schools.
We direct our attention to the little-known, yet widespread phenomenon of “affordable private schools.” In slums and rural hamlets across the world – from Accra, Ghana, to Hyderabad, India, to Lanzhou, China – you’ll be stunned to discover a competitive marketplace of private schools that cater to very poor students. The typical school won’t win any beauty pageants, with their dirt floors and cramped quarters. But they’re often the best chance a boy or girl has of escaping the inherited life of generational poverty.
These “edupreneurs” provide a surprisingly robust education – often far superior to the government alternative, when one exists. The education entrepreneurs, or “edupreneurs,” who own these schools charge a very affordable $5 to $50 per month for tuition and provide a surprisingly robust education – often far superior to the government alternative, when one exists. Many of these tiny schools were started by followers of Jesus in the community, perhaps a retired schoolteacher or a local pastor.
No matter the differences in geography or context, these schools almost always share the same headaches: a lack of capital for expanding their classrooms and facilities, and a lack of academic and extracurricular resources to provide a strong Christ-centered education for the 21st century. We aim to solve those challenges by providing loan capital and business training, so the edupreneur can borrow money to expand and run his school more effectively and efficiently. And we intend to help mold future generations of the poor with Biblical principles by working with schools to offer Christ-centered curricula, after-school discipleship programs, entrepreneurship education, and teacher training sessions, among many possibilities.
Edify, a non-profit organization registered in the U.S., is focused on delivering 4 key resources to help Christ-centered edupreneurs lift their communities out of poverty:
- Capital in the form of loans to expand and to improve facilities at sustainable, affordable, Christ-centered schools, thereby increasing access to education for the poor.
- Training for the school proprietors to run their schools effectively
- Christ-centered curricula and other tools accompanied with training for teachers
- Teaching English, through education technology platforms when possible
Our efforts are predicated on the fundamental notion that the poor are already finding ingenious ways to help themselves. And among the poor, there are followers of Jesus who are blessed with an entrepreneurial spark, a vision for educating their communities, and a desire to share the Gospel with the young. We have the privilege and opportunity to come alongside these Christ-centered edupreneurs and help them achieve spiritual transformation through affordable private education.
Edify depends on the financial generosity of individual donorsand private foundations to finance its operations.
“Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the one who sent Me.” — Luke 9:48
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