When the desire to learn is not alive
"For resilient people, the will to learn equals the will to live"; it seems that the populations recently dislodged by the lava of the Nyiragongo volcano on May 22, 2022 have internalized this saying translated from Swahili, the local language spoken by the majority.
The lava decimated all that was valuable for many populations of the Nyiragongo territory near Goma exactly eight months ago. But then, it has been more than 20 years since these populations have been confronted with several plagues and have been dying for a long time. The volcanic eruption was the last straw that caused the humanitarian world to turn its attention to this population in order to approach and assist them.
Several problems were thus exposed. Problems rooted in the political, security, cultural and economic context of the territory.
Among these multiple problems, we find the low rate of education of the majority of the population of Nyiragongo. The main cause is the lack of infrastructure in the territory. But there is a fundamental cause that is both cultural and anthropological; being a patriarchal society, even the few families that have enrolled their children in school have excluded girls. Thus, in a sample of 80 adult women, it is difficult to find more than 12 who have the average level of secondary schooling, that is, 15%, whereas in the same sample of men, you find almost 38%. This is a serious indication of gender inequality that is unfortunately evident in many other areas of life.
Since the volcanic eruption, we have been implementing a program of holistic care for the victims. Since January, we have launched literacy programs in two sites in Nyiragongo territory (Mujoga and Buhene) and one site in the outskirts of Goma (Buhene). A total of 140 people, including 132 women, are participating in the literacy program. A number that visibly exceeds the forecasts but that denotes a strong community commitment to be trained.
Among the women learners, 70% are elderly, the majority being visually impaired. They are exceptionally courageous. Every morning, they spend two hours in class before going to the fields or to small markets. Their main motivation is to learn to read, write and count.
One of them, Mama Maria, 65 years old, testifies: "Personally, I committed myself to come and study here. Every morning I come here to learn. I want to know how to read at least, I won't have people making fun of me because I can't read or count. Even if I have to learn French I will be available and I will learn. I'm older but I still want to learn.”
Strangely enough, like her classmates, Mama Maria is visually impaired. During the whole month of January, she came with her granddaughter, also not attending school, to help her understand what was written on the board. At the beginning of February, AGIR-RDC provided her with medical glasses. But the demand is too great since the majority of the learners are visually impaired, often because of their advanced age. But they are highly motivated to achieve the results that each of them has set for themselves. The low rate of education is still intergenerational in their region, so many of these old women are accompanied by their granddaughters and sons. It is as if they want to transmit a new energy so that the desire to learn is now hereditary. Being a community deeply rooted in religion, they believe in the famous saying "What a woman wants, God wants"; what could be stronger to nourish the hope of seeing the next generations perfectly educated. A hope that AGIR-RDC, through this program, wants to be fruitful.