Sunflowers to enter the palace. And the Apostolic Nuncio not say if it is done twice. A pause
activity in the field, to visit the most popular newspaper in Zambia, currently deployed against the government, and immediately after a jump to the Ministry of Education.
"The Post" newspaper is a young (just 15 years old), who desperately tries to remain independent (not government subsidies and is based on sales revenue, advertising and private donations). They are all young people: the managing editor Amos Malupenga, who received us, just 35 years and is the oldest. Fresh air, efficiency western continuous meetings of working groups, many women in the newsroom, online newspaper, websites, in short, a reality that affects us and stimulates us to continue to embark on a distance. Moreover
the core newspaper items we found near
• battle for a new Constitution which recognizes the fundamental civil rights for all Zambians (nutrition, education, health, justice, freedom of expression);
• battle against corruption, a plague all underdeveloped nations, which prevents the development of a country that reaches all citizens;
• maintenance of peace in a country that fortunately has not experienced civil wars, genocide, displacement epoch-making, despite the coexistence of different ethnic groups;
• real fulfillment of the democratic process, which has now led him to Zambia a multiparty parliamentary democracy.
hope that the situation improves and we see the smiling faces of some young editors. Let us address, email, phone numbers, they are happy. Ruvo di Puglia with a match? Why not? 'S an idea!
second visit, more importantly, the Ministry of Education and Culture. Minister
woman (see what a coincidence!) Is abroad and we receive Mrs. Mubanga, General Manager the Ministry, accompanied by two senior officials. At the end will prove most useful kind of a meeting with engineers, stimulated by our questions, we doth the official figures: 233 new schools with 799 new classrooms, a percentage of new students of approximately 54% of those eligible, an average of 72 pupils per teacher in the first 4 classes, 96% school attendance.
Official figures are easy to say! But the compounds in which every day we are full of guys who should be in school at that time. Not to mention the rural areas where a boy must travel up to 10 km on foot to school, and then there are the harvest period, the costs prohibitive for many families, even the simple school uniform and books. There are reported cases of common classes with more than 70 pupils with only 6 books in Mathematics and English 8, or classes that we defined as "AC", that is, half students present on alternate days for the lack of adequate space . Besides, how can a family to think of investing in the education of their children then if this does not translate into better job opportunities? We are not talking of high school or university, we speak of the basic school, that we be represented by the elementary school and middle school, in short, the old "school." The problem is right here: there in Zambia compulsory education, at most there may be incentives for basic education, but in reality the system is maintained, like much of health, only thanks to the untiring work of volunteers, mostly religious, which encourages parents (those who there are!) education of their children. And 'what we see every day actively. And this gives us hope, as we welcomed the testimony of the great desire for the emancipation of these people: a mom (no dads!) Of the compound seeking to return to study English for at least monitoring the work of school children; groups of households in the remotest areas of the country is organizing from the bottom up community schools "and then ask them to be sent to the Ministry that a teacher or, if not possible, you can enter the" Radio Learning Programme "which provides educational radio remote with a" mentor "to properly transfer the radio message students recruited from within the same community. A desperate times ...!
Dating useful: it was worth it, we have not lost the morning.
But enough. A sandwich and go: we return from our friends, young and old. We know that we are waiting.
The guys from "A World of Good"