http://www.slideshare.net/LydiaSorflaten/gs-illum-school-project-presentation
Wednesday, December 5th, 2012, was the turnover day for the school project. Letters were written to officially turn over
the project to the Department of Education, the Head Mistress of the school and
the Parent Teacher Association.
Oussematou was careful to document each and every item and make all
aware. We were very aware of the concern
about the community involvement in the project.
Their attitude was, because of the corruption in the country (for
example, most often the first 30% of a government project is taken for
government officials) that IDF and Mr. Tafrie were being paid for labour by
Rotary and that they were not being paid. Not true!
Oussematou had a plan.
We arrived at the school to the hillside entrance being
lined with children chanting Canada and waving flags of the Cameroon. A flag of the Cameroon was hung on a bamboo
pole. An organized group of children
greeted us at the top of the hill. We
were introduced to the representative of the Chief Delegate and the Inspector
of Schools. We were ushered through a
door with banana trees planted in a pail on each side of the door into a room
set up with the new furniture along one side of the room, the bags for each child
lined up under the blackboard, ledger books for teachers, a box of white chalk
and a box of colored chalk for each teacher, all purchased from Rotary Club of
Truro money. The blackboard was
decorated with balloons and welcome messages.
A group of at least fifty parents were seated on the children’s
benches. The teachers were dressed in
matching dresses. Students teachers with
their supervisor wore yellow lab coats.
The children could not be part of the turnover ceremony.
The Headmistress welcomed all. The Representative of the
Chief Delegate, a former teacher, gave a welcoming and congratulatory
address. A group of about 25 students
entered and sang a delightful animated song:
Mummy Lydia, We Thank You.
The Headmistress called upon Oussematou to speak. Oussematou spoke in Pigeon but the message
was loud and clear to the parents. ‘You
did not help when you were needed. Are
you going to pick up this project now and be a responsible community? Are you going to keep a watchful eye? Are you going to help when needed? Are you going to support your teachers and
your children to make this a great school?
What is your response?’ The
President of the Parent Teacher Association rose to his feet. He apologized and said very vehemently that
they would stand behind the school and support the school in every way
possible. He continued to apologize for
the rest of the morning.
Another groups of children sang. This time accompanied by drums. The voices, the harmony, the quality was
unsurpassed.
When they called Lydia to the front, she put the Rotary Club
of Truro banner on and explained that our club of 62 members was behind this
project and that for the construction phase, the Hand Up group of Rotary Clubs
helped. Lydia did not give specific numbers
but here is the breakdown:
Project to Rebuild Two Classrooms GS Illum: Rotary Club of Truro $2000, Canadian Rotary International $1000 through
Hand Up.
Project to Equip Two Classrooms GS Illum: Rotary Club of Truro $1000, District
Simplified Grant $1000
Wearing the Rotary Club of Truro banner, Lydia went on to
explain that Rotary provides funds for construction materials but does not
provide funds for labour. That must be
supplied by the community. She
congratulated GS Illum on being such a great school (the parents clapped and
cheered). As Lydia spoke, Oussematou
translated into Pigeon.
Lydia then read each letter of presentation from the Rotary
Club of Truro addressed to the Ministry of Education for the rebuilding project
first, then the equipping of the classrooms.
The representative accepted each letter.
The Sorflaten’s presented 40 books that they had brought
from Canada. Three were newly purchased
written about Africa for small children.
One book about Baseball was accompanied by two baseballs and two
baseball bats along with instruction how to lay out their field for a baseball
diamond. Two buckets of cubes from
Marian Ward to be used for teaching Math were presented. Each cube is one gram in weight and one centimeter
in length. Marian, a retired librarian,
wrote a simple book about herself for the children. Lydia read and showed this book telling them
that the idea is for each child to write their own book. A set of laminated maps were presented
(Cameroon, Africa, World) along with rulers, etc. All
these things we take for granted but in a school that had nothing, these will
be so appreciated and well used. A Kobo
reader was donated and presented as well.
This reader has 99 novels on it. Teachers will be able to read classic
chapter books to their classes. Lydia
noted Anne of Green Gables was a special book for her as a child and this book
is on the Kobo. They will have to take
the Kobo to the IDF office in Wum to have it charged.
Another letter was read.
Gail Kolach, Allan’s sister gave money some of which will be used to
finish the ceiling and paint inside and outside. The parents will be painting!
The representative of the Ministry of Education
responded. He said he was most surprised
by all of this. The Head Mistress gave a
lovely response and presented many letters of thanks from the children.
An experience of a lifetime.
The model has been set. It can be
reapplied to another community, another school.
As we drive past school after
school, one can see and know what the situation is. Some have no benches. Most have NO textbooks. Many children have no pencil or notebook. Some teachers have a blackboard.
Matter of fact, we went from this incredible event to
another school which is one we feel would be a good next project for our
club. This school has 200 students. The community is strong. It is actually Joseph Tafrie’s community. Would you believe that, when we arrived school
had dismissed. The teachers called the
children back and when they saw us, they ran up the hill and took their seats
enthusiastically! The building for the youngest children again
is two classrooms if you want to call them that. Dirt floor, one teacher has a table, one
teacher only a chair. There are benches
but just benches-no place for a child to put their scribbler. Lighting is terrible. The community has
chosen a site for building from scratch a two room school for these two
classes. It is a Presbyterian
School. One child was using a small
piece of board to write on.
Here is the link to take you to this proposed next project:
To hear Allan's reaction to the school project:
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