Students are headed back to school in Darfur. But instead of coming to class with new backpacks and school supplies, children displaced by the ongoing conflict here arrive with little more than a strong desire to learn and excitement for the opportunity.
"I am very happy. I used to look after the sheep every day, but now I am in school," says Faiza Khalil Hamad, an 11-year-old girl attending classes in El Geneina. "I started this year, and I have learned a lot so far. I like school."
Since early 2005, Catholic Relief Services has built 95 permanent classrooms and 159 temporary classrooms in this town and up the 40-mile corridor that runs to the north. Permanent classrooms are built on existing school compounds, while the temporary classrooms are simple structures built in or nearby camps for displaced people. Through the construction of these new classrooms, CRS is enabling 11,430 children in West Darfur to receive an education — in some cases, for the first time — helping to accommodate the influx of new students in communities hosting people displaced by the conflict.
One group of students comes from the village of Orteg, which was attacked early in 2007. Many of the people fled to El Geneina and ended up settling into Ardamata camp on the outskirts of town. Among these was an Orteg Primary School teacher, who volunteered to continue teaching the 325 students now in Ardamata camp. Classes were being held in the open, using the cherished chalkboards many of the parents carried with them when they fled their homes.
At the request of village elders, CRS coordinated with the national ministry of education to build temporary classrooms and toilet facilities for the Orteg students within Ardamata camp. CRS also distributed teaching and learning materials, provided basic furniture and coordinated with aid agency Medair to provide clean water at the temporary school. In addition, CRS, in partnership with education officials, trained four additional teachers, supporting them with a stipend to enable the students to receive a quality education.
"I like the school because we have enough teachers to teach us every day," says 15-year-old student Osman Hamid Nour. "We also get fatour [mid-morning meal] from school. We do not go hungry."
"CRS is well known to us because they provided us with [emergency] food in Orteg before," adds Mohamed Ibrahim Musa, father of two of the new school's students and chairman of the parent-teacher association. "CRS has provided our people with shelters and toilets. They have also built this school for our children and brought teachers for us." Many parents in West Darfur are extremely thankful for CRS' and other agencies' education initiatives, recognizing the value of education and the need to keep children occupied in challenging camp settings.
"More than 33,000 students have benefited from the classrooms, offices, storerooms, toilets, hand-washing facilities and school materials constructed and distributed by CRS in West Darfur," observes Belihu Negesse, CRS' head of office for the region. "These children have a right to an education, and CRS will continue to collaborate with the ministry of education and other agencies to ensure they receive one."
