MALIMA NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER, 2010
Yet another school year has started at The Malima Primary School in Gouria, Cameroon. It is a very special year in that it marks the tenth anniversary of this wonderful little institution that has brought such extraordinary change to the village of Gouria. When Malima Primary was opened very few of the village children were receiving any education at all, and now approximately 99% of Gouria’s children are taking a good sound elementary education for granted, which is as it should be, of course.
The Malima Project now support a total of 120 children in secondary education, spread through three secondary schools. There are 200 children attending Malima Primary School, and eighty children are in our pre-school, even though they may not actually attend Malima.
We are very proud to see so many of our ex-primary students continuing their secondary education, to the extent that it is a normal transition. Not all who enter keep up their studies with some of the girls leaving to get married and start their families, only to later want to come back into the system. This is causing some problems and will have to be resolved, but considering that ten years ago it was rare to see a girl in secondary education we do want to be encouraging.
One of the girls has expressed a strong interest in medical studies. We have lived for this day, and she is very serious about becoming the first resident (traditional) doctor in the village. That it is happening within only ten years and is a very exciting development. We wish her the very best of luck!
Ten years ago we inadvertently asked one of the children what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he looked at us with puzzled eyes. The best he could think of was that it would be sufficient to be alive. Ambition was a word that was unknown, because unlike children in the developed world, children in Gouria had no dreams of the future. They lived just for the day.
We were asked to help bring education to the village, and this we have done. The question of a future for each child would have to be left to each individual. Whether a student wants to continue into University studies or to exit formal learning early, the choice must be their own. However, with education they will certainly be better prepared because education is liberation.
We congratulate The Malima Primary School on its tenth anniversary, and we look forward to celebrating its twentieth.
The Malima Project
NOVEMBER, 2010
Yet another school year has started at The Malima Primary School in Gouria, Cameroon. It is a very special year in that it marks the tenth anniversary of this wonderful little institution that has brought such extraordinary change to the village of Gouria. When Malima Primary was opened very few of the village children were receiving any education at all, and now approximately 99% of Gouria’s children are taking a good sound elementary education for granted, which is as it should be, of course.
The Malima Project now support a total of 120 children in secondary education, spread through three secondary schools. There are 200 children attending Malima Primary School, and eighty children are in our pre-school, even though they may not actually attend Malima.
We are very proud to see so many of our ex-primary students continuing their secondary education, to the extent that it is a normal transition. Not all who enter keep up their studies with some of the girls leaving to get married and start their families, only to later want to come back into the system. This is causing some problems and will have to be resolved, but considering that ten years ago it was rare to see a girl in secondary education we do want to be encouraging.
One of the girls has expressed a strong interest in medical studies. We have lived for this day, and she is very serious about becoming the first resident (traditional) doctor in the village. That it is happening within only ten years and is a very exciting development. We wish her the very best of luck!
Ten years ago we inadvertently asked one of the children what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he looked at us with puzzled eyes. The best he could think of was that it would be sufficient to be alive. Ambition was a word that was unknown, because unlike children in the developed world, children in Gouria had no dreams of the future. They lived just for the day.
We were asked to help bring education to the village, and this we have done. The question of a future for each child would have to be left to each individual. Whether a student wants to continue into University studies or to exit formal learning early, the choice must be their own. However, with education they will certainly be better prepared because education is liberation.
We congratulate The Malima Primary School on its tenth anniversary, and we look forward to celebrating its twentieth.
The Malima Project
