Where often young teenagers in this country are less than enthusiastic about going to school, In Africa they are desperate to learn.
Please search drawers, odd corners and down the back of the sofa for any spare pens and pencils to send to Beth`s girls.
Message from Claire Vuckovic
We are going to see Beth shortly and she has asked us to take any spare pencils and biros we may have for her girls group. She has written a piece about the group - I find the idea of not being able to speak the official language of your country very uncomfortable. I wander if anyone else has a few pots of pens and pencils that could do with a spring clean? Karen at Cafe Eleven has very kindly agreed to act as a depot - what a fantastic place that is proving to be! Thank you again for yours and everybody's support for Beth this year
Claire
and from Beth, Beth's piece about the group: FAS JOM is a project that was set up by two of our predecessors, helped by our host mum, Aicha, and a peace corps volunteer who was based here 2 years ago. We have taken it over this year, and despite it being the smallest of our projects in terms of number, it's the biggest challenge of them all! FAS JOM aims to help young girls in the area who cannot go to school, to gain a basic knowledge of French and Maths. All original funding for the project did not continue, and it is now down to us to teach them this, and to single handedly run this little but very important and rewarding project. Our 9 regular girls, Sira, Mame Diarra, Mame Diarra, Mame Kani, Soda, Ndeye, Anna, Jeynaba, Khade and Ami, range in age from 10-15. There are a number of reasons why a lot of girls in this area are not able to go to school. For some, it is money, the parents cannot afford to pay the school inscription fee which comes at the beginning of every school year, along with books and uniform for their children. For others, they may be the only daughter, and are expected to stay at home and cook and clean for their families. The situation for some of our girls is that they want to go to school, but their parents, or other people in their family do not. We do not really understand the reasons for the latter, but it probably has something to do with the usefulness of teaching someone maths and french, when they are most likely going to become a housewife pretty soon anyway, and could be learning domestic duties. It is so sad for us to see a young girls choices in life limited in such a way at such an early age, and makes us all the more determined to teach them. Our girls are boisterous, having never stepped foot in a classroom, or experienced a classroom environment in which books and pens have to be respected, but are really improving, and are, (usually) very enthusiastic to learn! Despite the challenge of not having a common language with the girls, I am really passionate about them, and thoroughly enjoy teaching them. Of all of my 4 projects, this one is the most rewarding, as we know that the education they are getting comes solely from us, and that we are the only people that really seem to care about it. Beth
-- Yoland Brown Brownhill House B&B, Ruyton XI Towns, nr. Shrewsbury SY4 1LR ShACC - Shropshire Alternative Car Club www.eleventowns.co.uk www.eleventowns.com www.ShACC-uk.org Tel: 01939 261 121 Fax: 01939 260626 Yo's blog: http://yo-emails.blogspot.co.uk
