CAMEROON / EDUCATION

UNICEF with the government of Cameroon and Recamef, an association of mothers, is going into villages to try and convince families and traditional leaders to send girls to school. Friday, 20 November is the anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:51
• Production Date: 17 November 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: HUMAN RIGHTS
• Geographic Subject: CAMEROON
• MAMS Id: U091117c

Description

STORY: CAMEROON/ EDUCATION
TRT: 2.51
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH/ ENGLISH/ FULFULDE/ NATS

DATELINE: 3-4 NOVEMBER 2009, PERMA VILLAGE GAROUA, NORTHERN CAMEROON

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, local women sitting under an awning, pan to Recamef woman speaking.
2. Wide shot, women clapping and cheering
3. Close up, young girl in crowd
4. Close up, young girl in crowd
5. Close up, young girl in crowd
6. Wide shot, women sitting under awning, pan to shot of traditional leader
7. Wide shot, traditional leader
8. SOUNDBITE (Fulfulde) Lamido Bouba Hamman, Community Leader:
“Now the girls who are going to school are able to have jobs and we even have women ministers.”
9. Wide shot, classroom, boy walks up and starts reading from blackboard
10. Wide shot, kids walking in lines outside classroom
11. Wide shot, boy and girl in running race
12. Wide shot, Hawa moving corn around that has been laid out to dry in the sun
13. Close up, Hawa’s hand moving the corn around
14. Mid shot, Hawa’s face as she moves the corn around
15. Wide shot, Hawa walking to school
16. SOUNDBITE (Fulfulde) Hawa Mamoudou, Student:
“I love school. I want to study for a long time so that I can become a doctor.”
17. Wide shot, Assiatou Abdullah walking through the village
18. SOUNDBITE (French) Assiatou Abdullah, Recamef:
“I feel very happy when I see them going to school and I feel happy when I see them in studying class.”
19. Wide shot, teacher giving a reading lesson in classroom
20. Med shot, teacher reading from blackboard
21. Med shot, girls in the classroom
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Vijitha Eyango, Education Chief, UNICEF Cameroon:
“Recamef is making inroads in the north, due to the fact that it’s the mothers of girls who are going out into the community identifying the problems and reaching out one by one to families and ensuring that those girls have no excuse not to be in school.”
23. Wide shot, teacher reading from blackboard
24. Wide shot, Hawa in the classroom with other students
25. Med shot, Hawa in the classroom with other students

Storyline

These women want to see more girls in school in northern Cameroon, so they’ve taken the task into their own hands.

Recamef, an association of mothers, is going into villages to try and convince families and traditional leaders to send girls to school. In some cases they also provide financial help to pay for school fees.

With support from UNICEF and the Ministry of Basic Education, the association has grown over the years. The women, all volunteers, have created networks across the northern and eastern regions. They now have 250 branches.

The first port of call for Recamef in all villages is the community leader. They turn up en masse to make sure their message is heard. It’s crucial to get his support in order to be able to meet with parents.

SOUNDBITE (Fulfulde) Lamido Bouba Hamman, Community Leader:
“Now the girls who are going to school are able to have jobs and we even have women ministers.”

It’s common here for parents to just send boys to school because they’re seen as the breadwinner. Girls are traditionally married off at an early age - so parents are reluctant to invest in their education.

In some parts of the north only 1 in 5 students is a girl.

But here in the village of Perma, girls’ attendance has risen almost 50 percent over the last two years.

When 12 year old Hawa was forced to drop out of school two years ago she was devastated. Her days were spent at home doing domestic chores. Her parents could not afford the fees and decided that her brother should go to school instead.

Thanks to the work of Recamef Hawa is now going back to school and has the opportunity to pursue her dream.

SOUNDBITE (Fulfulde) Hawa Mamoudou, Student:
“I love school. I want to study for a long time so that I can become a doctor.”

Recamef’s Assiatou Abdullah says it’s a tough job changing attitudes, but very satisfying.

SOUNDBITE (French) Assiatou Abdullah, Recamef:
“I feel very happy when I see them going to school and I feel happy when I see them in studying class.”

UNICEF is supporting 150 primary schools in the north and east by providing teacher training, books and education kits which encourage girls to start and continue going to school.

SOUNDBITE (English) Vijitha Eyango, Education Chief, UNICEF Cameroon:
“Recamef is making inroads in the north, due to the fact that it’s the mothers of girls who are going out into the community identifying the problems and reaching out one by one to families and ensuring that those girls have no excuse not to be in school.”

With support from the government and UNICEF, Recamef plans to build on their successes in Perma and reach out to another three districts next year, giving girls across Cameroon a brighter future.