Barrow CE Blog

Barrow School Council invited Ruth Walmsley, a resident of Broseley and a member of the Friends of Conakry Refugee School, to come and talk to Class 2 about the school and her fund-raising work. The School Council would like to support Ruth’s work and sponsor one of the school’s students. Read more about the school and the work of the friend’s below and by following the links.

The civil war in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the 1990s caused a huge influx of refugees into Conakry, the capital of Guinea in West Africa. They literally ran for their lives leaving their homes and everything they owned behind. Many lost their families in the confusion and chaos to escape. Most suffered terrible human rights atrocities at the hands of the rebels and also, as they tried to enter Guinea, by the Guinean military. At present there are over half a million refugees living in Guinea.

A school for the many refugee children was initially founded in 1993 by parents, and subsequently a new school was built and paid for by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) and the IRC (International Rescue Committee) in 1995. In 2000 all support was withdrawn due to Guinean government pressure after further rebel uprisings and the School was taken away from them.

Subsequently, teachers and parents managed to re-open a school on a self-sponsored basis, renting classrooms from the Guinean school. Students pay a monthly tuition fee of £1 to help cover the rent, teachers’ stipends and instructional materials. As time has gone by enrolment has dropped from 1600 to 480 due to increased living costs. Many live on a pittance anyway so they cannot afford to pay this meagre amount. This presents huge problems in finding sufficient income to meet the School’s running costs and the teachers often receive no pay at all.

In order to augment their tiny income the School runs social functions and ‘Bob-a-Job’ days to keep the School open. Although constantly requesting financial help from non-government organisations within and without Guinea non has been forthcoming.

Links:

Friends of Conakry Refugee School Newsletter