12 Mar 2010

CONGO / IDP EDUCATION

Out of the 117,000 displaced from the Democratic Republic of Congo at this refugee camp in Congo, nearly 80 percent are women and children. The demand for education is high, especially for primary school children. UNICEF

Posted at: March 12, 2010 3:52 pm

Duration: 02:32

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: CONGO / IDP EDUCATION
TRT: 2.32
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE:  11-17 FEBRUARY 2010, LIKOUALA PROVINCE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO

SHOTLIST:

BETOU, LIKOULA, REPUBLIC OF CONGO 14 FEB 2010

1.  Wide shot, refugee site
2.  Med shot, refugee site
3.  Close up, child with knife 
4.  Med shot, women cooking and carrying children
5.  Med shot, children standing and sitting outside building
6.  SOUNDBITE (English) Marian Fragg, UNICEF Congo Representative:
"The refugees have been here since, many of them since the beginning of November, so the children have not been able to go to school for all those months.  So the demand for education is very very high, especially for the primary school children."

MALALA AND NYOINANYOI, IMPFONDO DISTRICT 15,16 FEBRUARY 2010

7.  Wide shot, school made from palm trees and leaves
8.  Med shot, inside class looking to board
9.  Med shot, planks of wood as chalk boards
10.  Med shot, parent cutting wood to build a new school
11.  Close up, parent cutting wood
12.  SOUNDBITE (French) Xavier Ekonda, Parent's Committee President: 
"We know that just letting our kids sit around, that's no good.  The least we could do was to ask for a place for our kids, and that is why we went to see the village committee and they gave us this land that you are looking at now.  Then we also went to ask for assistance from the international community, specifically UNICEF, who has assisted us."

BETOU, REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 14 FEBRUARY 2010

13.  Wide shot, child standing in front of school build by UNHCR and UNICEF
14.  Med shot, children in classroom
15.  Med shot, from above child with UNICEF school kit

DONGOU, REPUBLIC OF CONGO. 14 FEBRUARY 2010

16.  Med shot, Dongou classroom
17.  Close up, girl paging through UNICEF notebook
18.  Med shot, children studying in class
19.  Med shot, girls studying/taking notes from board
20.  SOUNDBTE (French) Salem Mazenhe, refugee: 
"I used to be with my friends.  Sincerely, I can see that the courses I am taking here, and the ones over there (DRC), there the same." 
21.  Pan right, Dongou classroom
22.  Med shot, girls studying
23.  Wide shot, back of classroom, children raising hands and participating
24.  Close up, teacher
25.  SOUNDBITE (French) Ingoma Mazenge, DRC refugee and teacher:
"I hope that tomorrow they will be able to carry on for us.  Take over in running the country, by being a minister or president, or other will even be teachers, like me." 
26. Med shot, girls watching front of classroom
27.  Close up, girl with ruler speaking.

STORYLINE:

In the northern province of Likoula in the Republic of Congo, 117,000 refugees from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have taken refuge since end of October last year.  Nearly 80 percent of the displaced are women and children.

SOUNDBITE (English) Marian Fragg, UNICEF Country Representative:
"The refugees have been here since, many of them since the beginning of November, so the children have not been able to go to school for all those months.  So the demand for education is very, very high, especially for the primary school children."

Makeshift structures like this one in Malala (Impfondo district) are being built throughout the area by refugees and community members. Teachers from DRC have been recruited by parent committees and work voluntarily.

SOUNDBITE (French) Xavier Ekonda, Parents' Committee President 
"We know that just letting our kids sit around, that's no good.  The least we could do was to ask for a place for our kids, and that is why we went to see the village committee, and they gave us this land that you are looking at now.  Then we also went to ask for assistance from the international community, specifically UNICEF, who has assisted us."

Where possible, UNICEF and UNHCR are building more solid structures that will be able to withstand wind and rain.

So far, UNICEF has distributed 3,000 educational kits in 15 refugee sites, allowing the children to participate fully in learning with notebooks, pens and other tools.

Returning to class has helped to normalise life for many children often traumatised by their displacement and the loss of home.

SOUNDBTE (French) Salem Mazenhe, refugee: 
"I used to be with my friends.  Sincerely, I can see that the courses I am taking here, and the ones over there (DRC), there the same."

In the village of Dongou, three local public schools have generously offered their classrooms to the refugee students in the afternoons. The teachers, refugees and volunteers themselves, hope that the children they are teaching may someday make a change.

SOUNDBITE (French) Ingoma Mazenge, DRC refugee and teacher:
"I hope that tomorrow they will be able to carry on for us.  Take over in running the country, by being a minister or president, or other will even be teachers, like me."

Over 1.25 million people have been uprooted or re-displaced in the DRC by violence in the eastern part of the country.

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