The “Sainte Famille” Parish School was established on October 1, 2007, as a nursery school. Over time, the classes have increased, and they currently complete the primary cycle. In 2014, after 7 years of working under thatched canopies and brick walls, our students moved into 2 new concrete buildings and started using school desks.
Teaching is in French, and the school is located in the sub-prefecture of Mbikou, on land bordered by a rope fence, located north of the Parish of Mbikou. We received recognition as “ECA” (Ecole Catholique Associé) in June 2015. Currently, there are nine classes with a total of 380 students.
The school is located in a rural area about 120 km from the city of Doba. From the very beginning, the teachers have been subsidized by the parents of the students, most of whom are farmers who struggle to maintain basic family needs and find it very difficult to pay the school fees with which the school is maintained. To guarantee a good quality education, the educational environment is also important.
Some problems of the country have motivated us to carry out this project. The exploitation of oil, which had promised to solve many difficult situations, did not benefit the population, but rather caused dramatic changes in the dynamics of the population, upsetting their concept of life and the internal stability of the families and their traditions.
The school environment has allowed us to see how delicate and vulnerable the condition of children is, and hence the urgency of providing them with a broader educational system, which is not limited to completing a school program and only teaching them how to read and write. There is a pressing need to support the integral development of children, encouraging them to learn what is essential in life by:
- Offering the possibility of attending school as a dignified place for meeting and developing one's physical, psychological, and intellectual potential;
- Forming the children’s vision of life, habits and choices, encouraging them to respect and take responsibility for their lives as a point of reference.
- Reorienting the idea of 'success': from having a degree with no skills, to acquiring skills and experience through their work and effort commensurate with their personal reality.
- Developing values and attitudes to gain responsibility of one’s own life.
Sr. Ana Medina Medina, Director of ECA "Holy Family"
Sisters of the Poor, Handmaids of the Sacred Heart
Photo by Sr. Ramirez
