For most Canadian families, the question is not whether their child will have a high school to attend.

It is which courses they will take, which sports or activities they will join, and what they might do after graduation. We send a child to Grade 8 assuming that Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 will be there waiting, but Project Canaan Academy does not have any high school classrooms for our high school students. We really need YOUR HELP TODAY.

High school starts in Grade 8 in Eswatini, and our first Grade 8 class is still in the primary school building. Not good for many reasons. We have started construction with the funds that we have, but we need the funding to finish the classrooms before the end of this year. Grade 9 will start in January, and we have no rooms for our students.

Canada’s true-cohort on-time high school graduation rate was 84% in 2020/21, according to the Government of Canada. That familiar Canadian expectation of finishing secondary school stands in sharp contrast to the barriers many young people face in Eswatini. UNICEF identifies the persistently low secondary-school enrollment (less than 60%) in Eswatini and points to the high cost of secondary education that every student has to pay, poverty, and teenage pregnancy (often associated with poverty and desperation).

For girls, the barriers can be even more complicated since teenage pregnancy accounts for more than half of female dropouts in senior secondary school. In 2020, Eswatini introduced a national policy giving pregnant students and teenage mothers the right to remain in or return to school — an important step toward keeping education within reach, but they are still shunned.

We all know that a classroom can be a place where a child discovers a gift for mathematics, science, agriculture, business, art or leadership. It can be where a teenager learns to solve problems, develops confidence, prepares for employment or further education, and begins imagining a future that once seemed impossible. For the children growing up at Project Canaan, we want the move into Grade 8 to mean the beginning of something — not the end of what is available to them.

“For the children growing up at Project Canaan, we want the move into Grade 8 to mean the beginning of something — not the end of what is available to them.” – Janine Maxwell

The vision for the new high school goes far beyond traditional classrooms. We want our students to have opportunities to discover their gifts, develop practical skills, express their creativity and imagine futures they may never have thought possible.

In addition to classrooms for Grades 8 through 12, the high school campus will include a Fine Arts Building, an art room, a dedicated musical theatre and drama stage room, and hospitality and cooking spaces. An extensive Library Commons will provide a welcoming centre for reading, research, studying, collaboration and discovery.

These spaces matter. One student may discover a gift for painting or design. Another may find confidence standing on a stage. A young person may discover a future in hospitality, while another may fall in love with books and learning in the library. We are not just building classrooms. We are building possibilities.

For a Canadian parent, imagine watching your child finish elementary school knowing that the next school they need has not yet been built. Imagine knowing they are capable, curious and ready to learn — but that classrooms, laboratories and learning spaces must first be created before they can continue.

That is why this high school matters. We are not only raising money for bricks, desks and buildings. We are creating a pathway from childhood to adulthood and giving young people the opportunity to complete their education in a safe, stable environment surrounded by people who know them and believe in their future.

To our friends and family across Canada: education is something we know changes lives. We need your help TODAY to make sure that our Grade 8 and 9 students have classrooms to learn in in January 2027.

If you would like more information, want to make a large gift or a stock gift, or would like additional information, please feel free to reach out to me at janine@heartforafrica.org or jocie@heartforafrica.org.

Thank you!

Janine and Ian