Malima Students taking their opportunities to gain knowledge very seriously!
When Malima started, almost 13 years ago, our aim was to give a good basic education to children who otherwise would not have received this fundamental right. As time passed it became clear that it was going to be very difficult to stop the children at the end of primary, just when they had their appetite for knowledge whetted. Seven years ago our founding students were ready to move on to Secondary education. At that time there were no functioning schools of that nature in the area. The only options were for attendance at The Catholic School in Maroua, 130 kilometres away; or The Prostestant School in Mokolo, forty-eight kilometres away from the village of Gouria.
Both of these schools take children of all religious beliefs, but in both cases it meant children moving away from their homes at a very tender age to live in other accommodation, and arrangements having to be made for their meals. After discussion with family and sponsors, seven children took a giant step towards higher education, but since then another 100 have followed and continue to pursue their secondary education, making 107currently studying at that level. Many of these students continue to be sponsored by their original sponsors.
The Cameroonian Department of Education have refocused their attention on this area as it has become clear to them that a good education is well appreciated, necessary and expected. Apart from providing a little support to Malima, they have accepted the reformations that Malima made to their buildings and have hired the necessary teachers and have taken up the excess of students that were beyond Malima's ability to cater for. In addition, the government have established a nearby Secondary college, and as well one of the churches have opened a Secondary school only 5 kilometres from our village.
There have been some disappointments in some of the secondary students who have dropped out of the program. This is a seven-year program under the French system, but some of the girls have left to get married and start their families, and some of the boys have gone into the work force, farming their fields or helping their families. However, on average every student gets about four years secondary education, with the majority going the full distance.
A secondary education has now become a realistic expectation, as part of the normal course of one's formal educational program, rather than a luxury. We have already had the first secondary student ask whether she can find someone who would be willing to sponsor her to attend university to study medicine, as it is her ambition to come back to the village and to open a General Family Medicine practise. That would be her way of giving back to her community. For those of us in Spain, we have drawn in our collective breath in excitement. We know she would have a very difficult task to override the cultural taboos, etc, but somebody has to be the first to take The Step.
Sometime ago a sponsor asked :"How long should I be expected to sponsor the child?" The real answer is, until you feel you want to stop, or have to stop. However, some people have grown so attached to their sponsored child, and are so very proud of how the child has grown, that like their own children they want to stay with the child in Cameroon for as long as they are needed.
That choice has to be a very personal one.
El Proyecto Malima / The Malima Project
