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LIBERIA / EMERGENCY EDUCATION
STORY: LIBERIA / EMERGENCY EDUCATION
TRT: 3:44
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18-20 MAY 2011, TOWN, GRAND GEDEH COUNTY, LIBERIA
20 MAY, ZLEH TOWN, GRAND GEDEH COUNTY
1. Med shot, Sophie sitting at her bench in the classroom
2. Close up, Sophie
3. Wide shot, Sophie walks up to the blackboard with a ruler in hand
4. Med shot, Sophie solves a problem on the blackboard, writes using a chalk and ruler
5. Close up, Sophie drawing a line on blackboard with a rule
6. Wide shot, Sophie walking in the village
7. Med shot, Sophie standing in front of her house, villagers sitting on the ground
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Sophie, 13 years old:
”The journey was very long. We walked for an entire day. There was no water or food on the road.”
9. Close up, Sophie
10. Med shot, Sophie standing amidst villagers
11. Wide shot, establishing shot of Zleh Town
18 MAY 2011, GBEIVONWEA, NIMBA COUNTY
12. Wide shot, villagers sitting under a tree
13. Med shot, villagers sitting under a tree
14. Med shot, Liberian villagers and Ivorian refugees sitting together
20 MAY, ZLEH TOWN, GRAND GEDEH COUNTY
15. Wide shot, Barker C. Gaye Public school, Zleh Town
16. Med shot, Philomena Quiah, a teacher, points to a student and asks a question
17. SOUNDBITE (English), Philomena Quiah, Teacher:
“We ourselves were refugees in Africa before for so many years. And when we were there, we went to school and sent our children to school and achieved our education before we could come back. So when it happened to them, when they come in our country, we need to take care of them, we need to embrace them.”
18. Med shot, class for Ivorian students in session
19. Med shot, Ivorian students raising their hands, eager to answer the teachers question
20. Med shot, Ivorian children sitting on benches in a classroom
21. Wide shot, students walk from the playground to classrooms in lines
22. Wide shot, long line of students walk towards their classroom
23. Med shot, Liberian student walks into a classroom
24. Med shot, Ivorian students in class
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesca Bonomo, Education in Emergency Coordinator, UNICEF:
”We will make sure that accelerated learning programs and catch up classes and summer schools take place and target the biggest number of refugee children and we will advocate with the government of Ivory Coast - the ministry of education through our UNICEF office in Abidjan to ensure that the certification is accepted so that the certification issued in Liberia is going to be accepted in Ivory Coast.”
26. Med shot, Ivorian teacher at the blackboard during a lesson
27. Wide shot, Ivorian teacher during class, as students raise their hands to answer his question
28. Med shot, Sophie sitting in the corridor with a friend
29. Med shot, Sophie talks to her friend
30. SOUNDBITE (French) Sophie, 13 years old:
“I really like school because at school we learn a lot. I’m learning how to express myself better.”
31. Close up, an Ivorian student in class turns back and looks at the camera
32. Med shot, little Ivorian student points to blackboard with a ruler in his hand and reads out what is written there
33. Med shot, overcrowded classroom, students packed in
34. Various shots, Emanuel Isanhim writing in his notebook
35. SOUNDBYTE (English) Emanuel Isanhim, 18 years old:
“Because, we in Liberia say what goes around shall come around so what happened to them today, it may happen to us tomorrow so that’s why we need to take care of them.”
36. Various shots, children playing soccer in the field at the school
Sophie’s parents would have been proud to see her excel in this mathematics class but she doesn’t know where they are or when she’ll meet them again.
Sophie was forced to flee her home in Cote D’Ivoire due to violence that followed the recent elections. She crossed the border into Liberia with her sister but got separated from her parents.
SOUNDBITE (French) Sophie, 13 years old:
”The journey was very long. We walked for an entire day. There was no water or food on the road.”
Sophie is amongst the thousands of refugees that are being cared for by Liberian families in villages dotted along the border.
With access to no basic facilities like clean drinking water or healthcare, these remote communities have little to support themselves.
At this public school in Zleh town, a school that’s functioning on the bare minimum, students and teachers are sharing their classrooms with the refugees.
SOUNDBITE (English) Philomena Quiah, Teacher:
“We ourselves were refugees in Africa before for so many years. And when we were there, we went to school and sent our children to school and achieved our education before we could come back. So when it happened to them, when they come in our country, we need to take care of them, we need to embrace them.”
In an effort to ensure that Ivorian children continue their education during this crisis, UNICEF has been working with the government of Liberia and partners such as Plan International to use existing school buildings for them.
More than 450 Ivorian refugees attend classes at this public school.
While regular academic programs for Liberian students take place in the morning, classes for Ivorian children are held in the afternoon.
SOUNDBITE (English) Francesca Bonomo, Education in Emergency Coordinator, UNICEF:
”We will make sure that accelerated learning programs and catch up classes and summer schools take place and target the biggest number of refugee children and we will advocate with the government of Ivory Coast - the ministry of education through our UNICEF office in Abidjan to ensure that the certification is accepted so that the certification issued in Liberia is going to be accepted in Ivory Coast.”
Qualified Ivorian teachers follow the national curriculum giving students a sense of much needed normalcy.
As Sophie struggles survive in a foreign land, she seeks comfort in her books and company.
SOUNDBITE (French) Sophie, 13 years old:
“I really like school because at school we learn a lot. I’m learning how to express myself better.”
And while the Ivorian students are slowly getting comfortable in this space, the strain on the infrastructure is increasing. The classrooms are overcrowded and there aren’t enough benches or even sanitation facilities.
But 18 year old Emanuel says they’re willing to fight the pressure with whatever it takes.
Emanuel is hosting five refugees in his house. He sleeps out in the fields to make room for them.
SOUNDBITE (English) Emanuel Isanhim,18 years old:
“Because, we in Liberia say what goes around shall come around so what happened to them today, it may happen to us tomorrow so that’s why we need to take care of them”
The worsening humanitarian crisis has certainly stretched the limited resources of these Liberians but not their resilience or generosity.
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