Thursday, March 10, 2011

Malima: A Visitor's View - Part Two






FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

This summer Anna Reilly, a year 2 teacher at Cambridge House Community College and long term member of ‘The Malima Support Group’ spent August in Cameroon visiting the project along with her 16 year old daughter Luisa.

I have already described my observations of day-to-day life in Gouria, which as a first time traveller to Cameroon left a great impression on me. However, this newsletter is dedicated to Malima Primary School - the reason for our visit.
Malima Primary School is in its 11th year and in that time it has provided an education for hundreds of children, and provided work for many teachers. The overall management of the project is primarily overseen by Judith Burnett, however, there have been many other people involved in making it such a success; the school’s directors, the teachers, Gouria residents, people in the Malima Support Group, the sponsors etc. I therefore felt very privileged and a little overwhelmed when she asked me if I would like to visit Malima School on her behalf.
Before our trip Judith, Luisa and I had many meetings about what our roles would be once there, as well as being given background information about the local people involved in running the school. These sessions were intricate and invaluable with many notes being taken and questions asked. To be effective I needed to know as much as possible and be clear in my expectations for the trip. Luckily Judith was very thorough and we left feeling confident.
We arrived in Gouria on a Friday evening and were eager to see the school as soon as possible. We therefore headed there on Saturday morning with the help of an ex-pupil to show us the way. To get there you walk along country paths, zigzagging their way around people’s crops. The walk to school lasted longer than I had expected, about 40 minutes but after passing Malima mountain, the classrooms and school grounds emerge in front of you. Many hours of travelling and kilometres in distance had finally brought us to our destination. I will never forget the feeling on first seeing the school. I was in a different world, but felt an affinity with the place, a familiarity that did not seem unusual. However, a school is not a school without children and our first visit, although impressive, lacked life. For that we would have to wait until Monday morning.
School starts early in Cameroon and summer school at Malima was no different. People wake up at sunrise here and by 6.45 am we were on our way to school. After walking about 100 metres we were joined by other children who wanted to accompany us and take our bags. This continued throughout the journey and by the end we were quite a large group heading along the paths towards Malima School. At 7.30 a whistle was blown and all the children lined up with their classes. The school day started with all the children singing songs together. A child was chosen to come to the front and chose and led the song. The youngest children were very sweet when doing this as well as shy. Then, after four or five songs, each class went marching into their class with their teacher leading them.
To see all the children together was amazing. The children were participating in the activities they had been asked to do and were happy. Although we all know poverty is part of children’s everyday life in rural Africa, in a positive environment like this you can see beyond the scruffy and torn clothes, beyond the distance they have to walk by themselves to get to school, beyond the stories they tell you about their home life. When they are at Malima Primary School they are like any other school children; listening to their teachers, learning different subjects, putting their hands up to answer questions, writing in their notebooks, although maybe a little better behaved!
Malima Primary School is a special place that runs deep in the heart of the community. People in Gouria recognise they are lucky to have your support and are grateful for it. Many people I spoke to in Gouria have aspirations for the future that would otherwise have been virtually impossible. They include; furthering their education, finding jobs, improving hygiene and health, starting their own businesses or even simply being able to read the instructions on fertiliser packets and doing accounts. They see a brighter future thanks to the last 11 successful years of the Malima Project.
Anna Reilly

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