* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has already cost the lives of close to 3 million children. Apart from this catastrophic figure it has left many thousand others traumatised, suffering, and in need for help. Providing them with formal education is one way to alleviate their suffering. Our information assistant in West Africa met with children who are enrolled in ECHO-funded education projects and heard about their dreams for the future.
“When I dance, I feel good; I feel powerful and proud,” says 16 year-old Jean Gulesa*. Jean is one of the 46 children sharing in the recreational and creative activities at a children’s ‘safe learning space’ in Maibano village, Kalehe territory in South Kivu. “My mother died when I was a baby and my father is a soldier; I’ve only seen him twice my whole life.”
This is the heartrending story of many children in this village of some 9 000 residents in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A story of loss and struggle as a result of a war they know little about. The persistent conflict in eastern DRC has gravely affected thousands of children. Many have seen the death of parents, relatives or siblings, experienced physical and sexual violation, suffered untold emotional trauma. Millions were deprived from a ‘normal’ childhood, one which includes a formal education.
Surrounded by rising ridges, Maibano village is calm for now. It has been since last December when the last attack occurred. The population here is a mix of families displaced from villages beyond the hills. Most of the native residents of Maibano have been displaced before, many of them multiple times.
In DRC, the education system is already very weak in the whole country. The cycles of conflicts in the east have made education take a turn for the worse. Some schools have closed down repeatedly due to insecurity gravely disrupting learning. In Maibano, like most parts of rural eastern Congo, the schooling infrastructure is poor. It is difficult to find and keep trained teachers in these remote hotbeds of conflict.
