DAKAR, Senegal - Many countries suffer from high unemployment and the high cost of education. One of the worst is Senegal, where half the population is unemployed and literacy is less than 50 percent.
Now, Christians are helping bring some young social outcasts living there a better future through education.
Fifteen-year-old Khadime used to spend most of his day welding in a small shop to get a salary that was just enough to buy a piece of bread.
Many other Senegalese children face similar challenges. They are too poor to attend school and do what they can to survive, even if this means doing hard adult work.
But Khadime faces additional challenges. He is also deaf.
In Senegal, like many other places in the world, deaf people are marginalized and have much less of a chance in life since others living there believe they are cursed.
Fortunately, the body of Christ can be found in action all around the globe, extending a loving hand to those in need. This is particularly true at Renaissance School for the Deaf (LINK) where more than 90 deaf kids find an education and loving care.
Khadime is one of them.
"He works really well. Khadime is such a good kid. He also says he loves Jesus," Anne Marie Diouf, the school's director, said.
"For these kids, my greatest desire and also my prayer, is that they get to know Jesus and accept Him as their Lord and Savior. I also want them to succeed in life," Diouf said.
Khadime overcame a life where he was begging on the streets. His mother said he has changed.
"I praise God. The school has educated him well. He's changed for the best and is passionate about what he's doing in school. He's been completely transformed," Khadime's mother said.
Now, Khadime knows how to read and write - skills that will allow him to succeed in life.
Renaissance School for the Deaf knows it can't help all Senegalese street children, but some of the hearing impaired are now acquiring skills and self confidence because God is using people to change lives even in the smallest of places.
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