Sudan-Darfur – Education for Displaced Girls & Women – Assessment

 

 

 

 

Women and girls often have little or no time for education because they are responsible for all domestic work and caring for the family. (Photo: Megan McKenna/Women’s Commission )

The Women’s Commission is undertaking a field mission to assess
education in the displaced persons camps in Darfur and in the camps/settlements
around Khartoum June 14 – July 4. Please watch this space for field diary
updates on the mission from Megan McKenna and Jenny Perlman Robinson (as access
allows).
               

Abu Shouk IDP Camp, North Darfur, June 26, 2006 – Many
women in Darfur are illiterate; there are few opportunities for girls’ education
in rural villages because they are responsible for domestic work, including
farming, cooking, cleaning and caring for the family. This leaves little or no
time for school. Many see no value for education for girls or women.

Attitudes may be changing, however. The Women’s Commission was told during a
visit to Abu Shouk IDP camp that upon seeing schools in the camp and
experiencing their daughters going to school—many for the first time—mothers
started to understand why education is valuable.

Adult literacy classes were established for women in the camp and they came
in droves. “They understood for the first time why education was important,” a
teacher told us. The community was supportive and encouraged the women to attend
the classes.

“They learned to read and write and it changed them,” the teacher added.
“They will now be able to help their children who are in the first and second
classes and support them in their learning – they can be teachers for their own
children.”

A problem has arisen, however: a lack of funding for the programs, including
the teachers, who are volunteers and were only paid a modest stipend. Most, if
not all, were teachers in their home villages before they were forced to flee
the war, and wanted to continue to serve their communities in displacement.
Their numbers in the camps are dwindling because they are no longer paid and
cannot support their families. They do not have the full certification required
by the government and therefore cannot be on the payroll. Sadly, the adult
literacy classes in Abu Shouk have been suspended and women will have to wait to
continue their learning until resources are available. The women are eager to
return and no doubt will fill the classes once they resume.

Volunteer Teacher Profiles

Huda, volunteer teacher
Huda says she teaches in the
camps because, “We always wanted to be educated, but we didn’t have many chances
in the villages. This is why I thought it was important to give the coming
generation a chance to learn.”

Huda was a teacher for 8 years in her village, before war forced her to flee
to a displaced persons camp outside El Fasher.

“We need education in Darfur to raise the living standards,” Huda said.

As a woman, she finds it particularly difficult to be a teacher because she
is still responsible for all her domestic duties, which leaves little time to
teach.

Huda strongly believes in adult literacy, particularly for women, many of
whom are illiterate. “If a woman is educated, she will help her children learn,”
Huda said.

Ismail, a volunteer teacher:
Ismail was a teacher for
three years in his village in Darfur, before he had to flee for safety to Abu
Shok IDP camp. He said he chose teaching as a profession because he felt “it was
an important national service for my country. It’s important to assist people
and help them learn.”

Although he finds life in the IDP camp very difficult and he realized he
wouldn’t be paid, he knew he wanted to continue teaching to help the children in
the camp.

“We have war because of ignorance and illiteracy,” he said. “If people in
Darfur were educated, this war would not have happened. We would know how to
solve our problems through discussion and negotiations. Teaching is humanitarian
work.”

Despite the horrors that he and his community have been through, he says one
bright spot is that many children in the camps are getting an opportunity to
receive an education for the first time. “Many children, if they stayed in their
villages, would never learn to read or write.”

Other Reports from the Field:
KHARTOUM,
June 19, 2006
Zam
Zam Internally Displaced Persons Camp, DARFUR, June 22,
2006