Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoMAURITANIA/MALIAN REFUGEES
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: MAURITANIA/MALIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 2.20
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH/ NATS
DATELINE: 22-23 APRIL 2013, MBERA REFUGEE CAMP, MAURITANIA
1. Wide shot, Mbera camp
2. Various, Malal walking home from school
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Malal Guissé, Student
“I am happy to attend school because we have shoes, exercise books. We don’t need to buy pens, we don’t buy anything, we just come.”
4. Various, tent school in the camp
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Mohamed Ag Mohamed El Hadi, Teacher
“We already have too many students in each class … 70 to 80. If we have to combine classes because of the lack of shelter, it will become impossible to work.”
6. Various, children in the camp
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Taleb Bouya, UNICEF Education Officer:
“There are 30,000 children of school age in the camp and we have only 6,000 in school, so the challenge is significant.’’
8. Various, tent schools
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Hama Ould Baba, School Director:
“UNICEF has provided school supplies, but it’s not enough. The problem that remains is that we don’t have enough shelters for the children. They need to be protected against bad weather and against the sun.’’
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Malal Guissé, Student:
“School has opened my mind to learning. It has enriched me. It has opened my mind to the possibility that one day I can have a job.”
11. Various, Malal with his grandmother
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Fatimata Kassé, Grandmother:
“He goes to school, and that fills me with joy. If he succeeds at school, he will understand everything.”
Mbera camp in Mauritania is home to 74,000 refugees from Mali, more than half are under 18.
Malal Guissé is 15 and an orphan. He lives with his grandmother.
Many of the children have been here more than a year and their needs are great.
Even though conditions are crowded, school provides a refuge.
SOUNDBITE (French) Malal Guissé, student:
“I am happy to attend school because we have shoes, exercise books. We don’t need to buy pens, we don’t buy anything, we just come.”
Malal’s teacher was educated in this same school during a conflict in the region in the 1990s. He is familiar with the challenges.
SOUNDBITE (French) Mohamed Ag Mohamed El Hadi, teacher:
“We already have too many students in each class, 70 to 80. If we have to combine classes because of the lack of shelter, it will become impossible to work.”
Even so, these are the lucky ones. Thousands more children not being educated.
SOUNDBITE (French) Taleb Bouya, Education Officer, UNICEF:
“There are 30,000 children of school age in the camp and we have only 6,000 in school, so the challenge is significant.’’
UNICEF provides tents, books, and school bags. But in the harsh desert climate more help is needed.
SOUNDBITE (French) Hama Ould Baba, School Director:
“UNICEF has provided school supplies, but it’s not enough. The problem that remains is that we don’t have enough shelters for the children. They need to be protected against bad weather and against the sun.’’
Despite the harsh conditions, Malal enjoys his lessons and is at the top of his class.
SOUNDBITE (French) Malal Guissé, student:
“School has opened my mind to learning. It has enriched me. It has opened my mind to the possibility that one day I can have a job.”
Malal’s academic success in the face of so many obstacles delights his elderly, frail grandmother.
SOUNDBITE (French) Fatimata Kassé, grandmother:
“He goes to school, and that fills me with joy. If he succeeds at school, he will understand everything.”
