Oblates Build dormitory for School Girls

(22/02/2008 - Zambia)

“I want to go to school. I want to be a doctor, a teacher, an artist or a musician. I could be anything!” these are words that come from the lips of many youths in the missions.

Even though some children might not see the need to wake up every morning to go to school, they realize that school is very important when they see other families move out of poverty because the families have invested in education.

For most families, however, this is only a dream, since they are not able to afford to take their children to school. In Lukulu district, the boys and girls whose parents can afford school fees face many difficulties since they have to look for accommodation in nearby compounds.

The problem is worse for the girl child. Besides the hardships of having to cook their own meals, and having their food stolen while they are in class, the girls are usually sexually abused and a good number of them drop out of school as a result.

One of the girls, Namonda Akufuna, age 17, says: “Most of my friends grow tired of moving back and forth to fetch food. They get exhausted walking long distances over weekends and the fact that they have to be in class the following morning. As a result, they get themselves men who are able to offer them an easier way out.”

The girls start living in houses with electricity and they do not have to go back to their parents for more food when it runs out. Unfortunately, when they become pregnant, they are sent back to their homes until they give birth and have weaned their children. This is a big set-back for the girls because they lose about two academic years. Only a few manage to come back to school.

Sancta Maria Lukulu mission’s parish priest, Fr. Kennedy SAMPA, said that the rate of girls falling pregnant before they finish school is very high. He said that of the twenty girls that were sponsored by the Oblates in January this year, four of them had left school by March 2007 owing to pregnancy. He said it was because of this that the Oblates decided to begin the dormitory project for the three secondary schools in Lukulu. The Oblate project will provide the only boarding house for all the secondary schools in the district.

Father Sampa said that it has taken the community five years to raise the K120 million that has so far been used to build the hostel. He said that even though the Oblates and the local community have managed to do 80 percent of the work, it has been a strain on the local people as they do not have the capacity to raise that sort of money in a short period of time.

The dormitory will accommodate about 48 of the over 400 girl students in its initial stages of operation. Thereafter, bunk beds will be introduced in order to accommodate more girls.

In the next five years and when funds are available, the Oblate community in Lukulu plans to build another girls’ dormitory. (OMI Zambia, December 2007)