Construction began in the Fall of 2024 and was completed in August 2025 of an 8 room school in Kalaba. A generous donor family provided for the entire cost of the Kalaba project.  The school opened on Sept 22, 2025. This school will be transformational for the whole community. The Kalaba school project, when possible, was able to utilize many of the local population for the manual labor and also give some of the locals training in skills that can be used again. Father James Omah* was the driving force on the ground to enable this project to happen. He handled all the aspects of the project from getting quotes to working through most of the evolution of the project, and was a great contact for us in the United States. Before the project began, he referred to a quote that is noteworthy. “Educate a child and give light to a whole generation”.  Father James spoke of the need for education and employment opportunities which, if not provided, lead to children idly wandering the village waiting to be hired into farms that barely pay enough for survival. These children are left to the mercies of those who have some means and become exploited for lack of education and ignorance of the larger society outside.

Education empowers children to be assets that will bring about progress to the community and society at large.

 

In September 2025 an 8 room school was opened in Kalaba. 340 students were registered with another 100 expected in 2026. The need already exists for another 8 room school. As expected, the school has been a huge success. The cost of school construction and startup costs was roughly $100,000. Annual operating costs will be roughly $20,000 in 2025 dollars.

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*Tragically  Father James Omah was killed in a flash flood while performing his ministry in April 2025. Kalaba school construction was in progress. Father Martin Oforkansi stepped in to see the school construction completed and opened.