Field Reports
Good Samaritan School India
In 1989, Dr. Ananthi Jebasingh answered a knock on her door from a young slum child of New Dehli. On this particular day, Dr. Jebasingh felt called by God to let the boy in and proceeded to give the boy food and teach him a few lessons. One week later, the boy returned with 25 slum children who all had a similar desire to learn. Dr. Jebasingh soon began to realize the amazing opportunity she had to teach children basic knowledge while also reaching them spiritually. Slowly more and more children found their way to Dr. Jebasingh’s home and they began to meet in a garage. By 1991, this “school” moved into 4 rooms of a nearby toilet complex that was granted to them by the Indian government. As many as 450 children packed themselves into these tight and dirty quarters to attend school every day. Visitors from ICM saw how committed to learning these slum children were despite having to meet in such squalid conditions in the middle of the slum.
Over the course of the next few years and with the help of several US partners, ICM helped to fund the construction of the Good Samaritan School. Located in the outskirts of New Dehli, Good Samaritan school was built in 2005 and has a student capacity of 2,200 but the current number of attending students is 1000 because the school currently does not have optimal funding. The student body is 90% Hindi or other non-Christian religions and the majority of the student body is still comprised of children from the slums. For many the only food they will have in a day is served at this school. The school provides nourishment for their bodies, minds and souls through intensive classes, bible studies, arts and crafts, and sports activities. Dr. Jebasingh has even developed an innovative new system to teach reading skills where children learn to read in as little as 30 days. The best part is that the 30 day system utilizes the Bible as the reading material. For other spiritual education, children have an assembly every morning in which they listen to God’s word and commit their day to the mighty hand of God. Prayer groups for students are also going on regularly with strong attendance. Little did Dr. Jebasingh know how her one gracious act towards a slum child in 1989 would eventually lead to a school that now impacts so many Indian children.
Currently, the United States charity Friends of the Good Samaritans is helping to run the school and is raising the funds to support the children. You can read more about their organization and watch an inspiring overview video of the school here: