Mukhanyo Christian Academy

Friends of Mukhanyo is a Christian ministry providing a quality, faith-based education for AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children in South Africa, giving them the opportunity to go beyond daily survival to experiencing lives of accomplishment and service.

Mukhanyo Christian Academy (MCA) was the inspiration of Beth Rettig, a resident of Durham and friend of Trinity School. A lifelong educator, Beth saw the need for a Christian school and took action. In South Africa, public schools are overcrowded and underfunded. Children may sit in multi-grade classrooms packed with as many as 80–100 students. Textbooks, instructional resources, and teachers are often in short supply. Disengagement is common: some 92 percent of children drop out before high school.

For the most vulnerable and at-risk children, especially those orphaned by AIDS, life is a daily struggle. Dire poverty means some may go days without eating. In families without parents, older children may actually serve as the heads of their households. These children carry a heavy burden indeed; as a result, they may not even attend school, instead spending their time finding food to ensure the survival of their families.

The children at Mukhanyo Christian Academy (MCA) are well educated through a faith-based curriculum based on the philosophy of Charlotte Mason that “education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” We trust they will be prepared to live productively as adults, able to positively participate in the communities in which they live.

To learn and thrive, children need to be in an environment where their basic needs—for love, nurture, food, shelter, and protection—are met. Mukhanyo Christian Academy helps to meet these needs by providing children with a first-class college preparatory education, two nourishing meals each day, and access to health care and social services.