2023-12-20 16:59:32
Education is still a dream for hundreds of girls and boys in Fahn Jack, as in many other rural communities in Liberia. It is to help change this reality and build a better and sustainable future that the Consulcesi Foundation has decided to support Street Child Italia in the construction of a new school in the county of Margibi. “Whether it is primary education for children and disadvantaged people in our society – states Silvia Superbi, director of the Consulcesi Foundation – or specialist updating dedicated to professionals in the health sector, training has always been a cornerstone of our idea of assistance and support. We are in fact convinced that to improve the quality of life for everyone it is necessary to start from education, the only real window on the emancipation and empowerment of the most fragile communities”.
20 years after the end of the bloody civil war (1980-2003) which caused over 200 thousand victims and the destruction of three-quarters of the country’s schools – explains a note – the inhabitants of Liberia, a fragment of West Africa overlooking the ‘Atlantic, are demonstrating “extraordinary resilience”. However, as the United Nations Organization (UN) recalls, in the country “poverty remains high, as do income and gender inequalities, while it is estimated that 57% of children of school age remain excluded from the system educational”.
The situation of girls “is particularly compromised – explains Andrew Tehmeh, Country Director for Street Child in Liberia – early marriages and teenage pregnancies are commonplace, both as a result of the trauma suffered during the conflict and the abuse perpetrated. In the community of Fahn Jack, as in many other rural communities in the country, young women want to have an education and build a better future for themselves and their children, but are forced to work on rubber plantations to support the economy of the family”.
In addition to the new school – with 3 classes of 20 students each which should be ready in 3 months – the Consulcesi Foundation will support the purchase of teaching materials and teacher training, in line with its mission to support development through high-level education quality, and with the broader project carried out by Street Child in the Liberian community. Here the non-governmental organisation, part of the international Street Child network, is in fact responsible for supporting the education of women and children also through economic support for families, promoting the raising of income with various activities such as seed lending or the Fbs (family business scheme) and providing economic support and training to families for the creation of a small business that aims to become self-sufficient.
“With Street Child – underlines Simone Colombati, president of the Consulcesi Foundation – we share not only the support for children through the fight against educational poverty but we rediscover the values and objectives that have always guided our work, first of all creating projects that have continuity over time”. In this regard, “the community and local institutions – adds Roberta Giassetti, director of Street Child Italia – are actively involved, both in the development and implementation of the project. Thanks to the partnership with the Ministry of Education, after the first year of activity, the school now ‘fully operational’ will become part of public policy and the local authorities will manage it”.
The Consulcesi Foundation – concludes the note – was created to support the needs of the most vulnerable both through the creation of its own activities and in collaboration with other institutional entities, promoting interaction between the Third Sector and the business world. Among the most recent projects dedicated to supporting children and social inclusion are: the one created with the Divertitempo Association dedicated to children with disabilities and special needs and the one against educational poverty of children and adolescents active in Tirana. Alongside these, the Foundation works alongside the most vulnerable through the training of professionals and support for health systems, to help eliminate inequalities in access to care and finally see the fundamental right to health recognized for all with activities such as Mobile unit active in Rome which offers a socio-health care service for fragile and homeless individuals and the now countless missions in Eritrea in the urological, pediatric and nephrological-interventional fields and dialysis therapy.
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