| June 2005 Newsletter |
This month Judith Burnett gives us a rundown on recent events in Gouria: March was a difficult month in Gouria. It had not rained since October and water was in very short supply. The traditional wells were practically dry and any hour of the day or night was used to look for water. There was a constant stream of women and children passing my house with buckets, bottles, bowls, calabashes….. Any container would do. At 10 o’clock one night my neighbour walked past with all 8 of the children from her house they hoped there would be a shorter queue at night! Four of those children are at the school. What does this do to their schoolwork? Water is also fetched by donkeys carrying yellow plastic containers, and where possible, by bikes and motorbikes. The obsession with water invaded all areas of life. Agriculture and livestock farmers argued about whether cows should get priority over dry season potatoes, the long-awaited adult literacy classes so many women wanted were decimated by the need to fetch water (last rainy season was sufficient but not abundant, so water was in shorter supply than normal) Another consequence of the water problem is that children missed loads of school with stomach problems because the water was not only scarce but also very dirty. Amoebic dysentery, worms and parasites of all kinds are the dry season illnesses. As for me, well I was fortunately able to buy all my drinking water in bottles from town at 500 cfa per bottle. I use 20 litres a week for washing in and take my clothes for washing to town at the weekend. If I couldn’t do this I don’t think I could stay in Gouria! There is no way I would be able to get water from wells, water holes or springs! Now we are getting to the end of the school year. Most of the children have made excellent progress. A particular mention for our oldest children, who are 3 weeks away from taking their Certificate of Primary Education and their secondary school entry exam. There are 9 left (7 girls and 2 boys) of the 11 who were in this class. The other 2 girls were married off 1 ran away from home and the other was ‘sold’. We are hopeful that all will pass both exams, although the secondary entry is quite hard as places are limited (and quite a few are not given out to candidates with good marks as the schools sell those places afterwards for money!) There are 50 places the top 40 children get a place and others are sold to children who fail but whose parents want to pay for them to enter. Sponsors of these children should be proud they don’t have an easy time and in particular the girls are almost pioneers in the field of education for girls in this village. Also a special mention of our S.I.L class (Year 1) This is the first year children arriving at school have had the benefit of our pre-school 1 hour a day class. The difference it has made is quite astounding! Many children have achieved the level expected after 2 years and everyone is amazed. Needless to say even the new children at pre-school this year are benefiting already. Last year there were 60 kids, this year it is 90 already! Next year our plans are for 150! As for the rest, well it does seem as if each year has more and more little successes and each year we improve. There is so much more to do though. At the moment we have just finished making the application for a V.S.O. volunteer to continue my work here. We are hopeful someone will be found for September. We have also asked for a Youth For Development volunteer to help with sports. This person would stay for 6 months. The most exciting thing to happen these last 2 weeks though is that it has rained! The first day was quite amazing. I was at school when a huge wind blew up and all of a sudden hailstones started to fall. Fortunately I had my camera ready (unusual for me!) and I whipped it out and you will be able to watch it one day! The school roof was so noisy! Luckily it was after nearly all the children had left so they didn’t have to go home in the hail and rain. After 1 rainfall there is water in many places dried up wells are open again, small dried up areas of water have water in again and people are starting to prepare the fields for the sewing that will start as soon as a few more showers arrive. People are happy to get down to work! That’s all for now, Judith. |
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