School supported by ACT-Caritas brings hope to children in Zalingei, West Darfur
FEATURE STORY: Gillian Sandford/ACT-Caritas
PUBLISHED: October 11, 2005
ZALINGEI, WEST DARFUR, SUDAN -- The sound of the school bell echoes across the plastic sheets and temporary huts of Hassa Hissa refugee camp, bringing with it the sound of hope.
For the children, who are among the 24,000 people living in the camp in Zalingei, West Darfur, it is one great opportunity amid the trauma of conflict and displacement.
When the bell rings, the youngsters abandon skipping ropes and volleyball to stream into the classrooms -- enjoying an education that, ironically, many would never have had if they had not been uprooted from their villages and forced to flee to the camps.
Deng Santino, head of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) in Zalingei, explains, “There are schools in the villages, but some of the children would not have been able to finish their studies.
“Some would have had to start working in the fields, while not all village children would have gone to school at all,” he says.
In the camps, where people are hemmed in and often unable to farm, the school offers a healing daily routine for the children and an opportunity to break the cycle of ignorance that helps fuel war.
“If you look at this conflict,” says Santino, “all of the people here are not educated. So it’s one of the problems causing this conflict.”
The response by ACT-Caritas -- an umbrella group of Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic relief agencies from across the globe -- is a major emergency operation in South and West Darfur, and sees education as a core part of its work.
Across Darfur, ACT-Caritas and its partners have set up 11 temporary schools and have been building nine new schools.
ACT-Caritas provided funding to SCC (a member of ACT International) to begin work on School A Hassa Hissa in August last year. It was completed earlier last month (September 2005). Now, 638 pupils flock to the playground every day in two shifts -- morning and afternoon. The Ministry of Education pays staff wages.
Parents still have to pay 300 Sudanese dinars a month (the equivalent of the cost of 15 bread rolls) to send their children to school. However, Santino says the SCC is working to reduce this fee further.
Schoolboy Abul Hayrat Mohammed Zacharriah, 12, is one of many children with high hopes of their lessons.
He twists his ruler nervously between his hands as he talks. His family fled to Hassa Hissa two years ago, when his village, Tibeke, about 55 kilometres west of Zalingei, was attacked.
“I like coming to school because I want to be educated,” he said. “It’s hard because I missed a year. But I keep studying, because it’s important.” His favourite lesson is the Holy Koran.
The school is supposed to be for 11 to 18 year-olds, but it deliberately adopts a flexible policy so that students will have the chance to learn, says the headmaster’s assistant, Abdul Rahman Morsal.
Abdullah Adam Ismael, 23, is in his last year at school. He is originally from the village of Kisrah, about six kilometres from Zalingei.
He came to Hassa Hissa two years ago last May after his village was attacked and 200 families were forced to flee. His education has been disrupted. “When the conflict started, everything was stopped,” he said.
He is studying several subjects, including Arabic language, English, mathematics, Holy Koran, science, and history. His favourite is English.
Abdullah and Abul Hayrat both have their dreams for the future. Says Abdullah, “I want to stay at school and then go to university.”
And young Abul Hayrat? He looks up shyly and says, “I want to be president!”
Girls attend school at the Hassa Hissa camp school run by Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), an implementing member of ACT-Caritas.
Latest news
- Darfur Must Not Become a Forgotten Emergency
- A Flying Visit
- Sleeping Tight in Safe Haven
- ACT-Caritas prepare for the coming rains
- Determined to learn
