| January 2004 Newsletter |
It was with great pleasure that I travelled to Gouria this time with Patricia Vidal, a young and very voluntary Spanish teacher. We left Valencia on Thursday night to arrive in Gouria the following Wednesday morning and go directly to Malima to see the children. On our arrival at the door a wave of children flooded out to greet us and in two minutes the length and trials of the journey were all worth while. There were only two days of school remaining and these were taken up with the report giving ceremony and distribution of cards and greetings from Spain. Needless to say Father Christmas and his reindeer, so common on our cards, were greeted with curiosity. Does that animal really exist? Explanations brought many laughs from children. Christmas in Gouria is mainly taken up with dancing and singing in the churches and the lucky children receive a gift of new clothes, mainly their only clothes for the year, which they wear for the first time on Christmas day. In Gouria when the harvest is finished in October life is fairly calm. The normal jobs of going to fetch water, cutting wood and shelling peanuts carries on daily. But Patricia and I had things to achieve and only a short time so we got started straight way. First we tackled the pre-school group we wanted to set up to help the children arrive at Year 1 with at least a basic preparation for school. The last day of school we spoke to Agnes Helle, a young woman living in the next village who has had some experience of working with pre-school children. She agreed to take on our prospective new recruits. Having found a teacher a local association designated their secretary to accompany Patricia on a recruitment tour of the village. They had expected to find about 40-50 children of the right age but amazingly they ended up with a list of more than 60. The final count when those not at home on the original tour had come asking to be admitted was over 100. The ages were from about 4 years old to girls of 10 or 11 who had never started school and wanted to. We accepted 4 groups of 15 children each who worked with Agnes and Patricia at the library and had to refuse the others. Maybe next year... Patricia’s report is included. Our second objective was easy: we had sent money to finance the construction of a new classroom at the local public school. The room was finished before the end of December and we attended a sports day and simple inauguration ceremony. The availability of this room when the children finish school at 14:30 meant we could start something which for me was one of the most important things we have done. For some time we had realised that there was a desire for education not only for school age children but also among adults who in their youth did not have the opportunity to attend school. In particular teenage girls and young mothers who can see that the children are advancing quickly and they are being left behind. We had discussed the possibility of organising adult literacy classes. Malima teachers, who work in shifts were asked if they would be prepared to teach the adults in their spare time for a small bonus. They accepted. The start of classes was announced in the 3 churches in the village. On Monday there were 82 people present but by Friday there were 160 people crowded into the classroom. From young mothers with babies on their backs to one of the oldest men in the village who said he had only now realised the value of education. The class was divided and the teachers asked to work longer hours. These classes can only happen form January to April as when the work in the fields start the pupils have no time to attend so they take place daily. Hopefully the students will all complete level one this year and then be able to complete level 2 next year. The importance of this for these people and the village in general is immense. I am sending nearly everyone the reports of your sponsored children with the most recent photos and samples of work. I hope you had as happy a Christmas as Patricia and I did. Judith. |
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