This is a story about one man’s determination to build a school for less fortunate students.
Last year, Pastor Mervin Gabarura left a full-time job, and pursued his dream of building a community college for students who are unable to continue through the usual education pathways.
It took him one year to build a double classroom using small donations and his own money. The building, now nearly completed, will see the first intake next year.
The narrative doesn’t involve grand corporate donations, nor political support. It revolves around one man’s dream to provide an opportunity for students who are unable to continue to grade 9 due to various reasons.
Pastor Mervin Gabarura, who lives at 12 mile outside of Lae began building this double classroom last year. The money coming from small donations as little as K30. It’s an example of a dream being fulfilled with tiny steps.
“And this money is not literally having it in the account to do it. The money that comes in given by God’s way of provision. And as it comes, I build, as it comes I build, and so it took me one whole year, this year 2016, and hopefully by the end of this month, or next month I should complete it,
“I still feel the pinch of the money that I spend on the school.”
The building doesn’t look like much. It is built of timber, roughly hewn with a wokabaut sawmill.
Pastor Mervin says, five people support him with prayers and donations; and using some of his own money, he has spent over K50,000 for construction materials.
Gabarura hopes to enroll the first intake of Grade 9’s next year. With the increasing pressure on the education system, he hopes to provide an avenue for young people to gain skills and build character.
