The School Income and Expenditure
The school’s budget last year was nearly 27 million BIF with income from grants, child sponsorship and generated by the egg IGP unit. The unit raises between 1 and 1.6 million BIF per month. Children are given eggs once a week and when chickens get beyond egg laying they are simply sold off to raise more funds to buy chicks. There is regular support from CBM and equally regular support through individual child sponsorship from Lilian Fonds for 40 pupils per annum and Allow the Children (a US
foundation) that sponsors 48 children. As an organisation deemed to be working with disability, Ephphatha School also receives the government’s standard grant of 900,000 BIF, free electricity and water supply. The staff bill is nearly 2.5 million BIF per calendar month and other costs have increased dramatically because of inflation and VAT taxes. The school cannot accept more children because they do not have class room and dormitory space and the additional teachers required. Children sleep two and three to a bed. To create a new classroom the head teacher has moved to the church administration block. Any increase in numbers of children will necessarily increase all other costs as well as the need for extra teachers. |