Nine-year-old girl inspires adults to conquer their fears so that children can learn
“We were scared and spent our time pondering what to do if the situation worsened in our area,” Regine, a 41-year-old, Literacy Boost reading camp volunteer from Burundi explains.
Regine instructs Anick at the reading camp in Cankuzo Province. (Photo credit: Achel Bayisenge / World Vision)
After social turmoil erupted in the country’s capital, Bujumbura, in April, 2015, people in the Cankuzo Province – where Regine lives – were scared. Information wasn’t easy to access. Some of the independent media had stopped broadcasting since the unrest began. “The disruption in radio programmes increased my fear,” she says.
As a result of the conflict, Regine and her fellow reading camp facilitators decided it would be safer not to hold Literacy Boost reading camp sessions.
Take a look inside reading camps around the world.
In emergencies and conflict situations, children and parents consistently prioritise education during and after emergencies, even before other immediate material needs are met. The children in Cankuzo were no different: they continued to attend the reading camp as usual, hoping the facilitators would come. Nine-year-old Anick was one of those children.
One day Regine heard knocking on her door. There was Anick and her friends.“We were passing by to fetch you so that we can go to the reading camp,” Anick told Regine.
Meet Anick and her father, Emmanuel.
This was Regine’s second week at her home, trying to look for information on what was happening in Bujumbura. When Regine saw Anick and the other children, she got energized.
“Anick and the other children were not scared,” she says. “They don’t know what the issues are in the country. They want to learn.”
Regine stood up and got ready to go. She reported to the reading camp and since then she has never stopped attending.
“Children are angels and have no idea what crisis means until they are affected,” Regine recounts standing in front of their village reading camp, looking at the children and smiling.
According to Regine, since Literacy Boost activities resumed in Cankuzo Province more children than ever are attending the reading camps.
World Vision Burundi has reached 36,232 children and trained 586 teachers through Literacy Boost. Currently, 900 community volunteers lead more than 400 reading camps where 44,536 books have been distributed.
Related links:
- VIDEO: Strengthening children’s literacy skills in Burundi
- Community literacy education in Burundi helps a grandmother teach her granddaughter to read
- Clovis now lives in a literacy rich environment in Burundi
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Literacy Boost is a copyrighted tool designed, developed, and owned by Save the Children.