Stefan’s granny is pleased that her boy is in school.

A Roma child in Bulgaria has just started school at the age of 11. And thanks to the tuition he received at a literacy programme, he has gone straight into the third grade.

“Stefan’s early education took place on the streets,” says Roumen Ivanov who leads the work of Mission Possible Bulgaria. “There he learned only games and mischief. Last winter a Roma pastor met him and, realising that he had never been to school, invited him to the literacy class which meets in the local church.”

Roumen explains that the lad proved keen and intelligent, and learned to read and count so well that the school administration let him go straight into third grade when he started school in September. “Now he regularly attends both school and literacy classes in the church.”

No one is happier than Stefan’s grandmother, now 70, who has brought him up since he was a baby. “Her grandson took her to church and she liked it very much,” Roumen explains. “Now she is regular at church meetings and her grandson regularly attends school. She has found friends to socialise with and Stefan has good friends from church, too. There are so many reasons to be happy!”