A fragile peace brings hope
As a tentative peace takes hold in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region, hope returns
Violence in the Kasai region has taken a devastating toll on children since fighting flared in August 2016. More than 150,000 children are missing out on education and more than 400 schools have been attacked. As the school year begins, UNICEF and its partners are launching a campaign to help children return to school, in some cases for the first time in over a year.
After a year of disruption and uncertainty, children are returning to school in the Kasai region. The classroom is an important place for children to heal, enabling them to focus on their studies and the future, and playing with their friends.
Following a year marked by disruptions and uncertainty, a teacher and a student sweep dust from the school in Kabeya, mending broken desks, and readying classrooms for the return of students.
Widespread violence in the region means that some children have missed months of school. But a fragile peace is returning to the Kasai and schools are reopening. Wearing new uniforms, children ready themselves to return to the classroom and resume their education.
After many challenging and difficult months, children gather around in a circle in the yard of a school in Kananga and play a game called “The Lion”, filling the air with laughter as they rediscover the joys of playing with their friends.
Despite a lack of teaching resources and teachers being underpaid, children are the top priority for school principals and getting them back into education is essential. Battered desks and a worn-out blackboard attest to the chaos Kasai has been through.
As they welcome the start of the school year, their voices raised together in song, a small child claps in unison with other students. Many children have witnessed atrocious violence and in some cases spent months displaced from home. School marks a return to normality for them and the region.
Bipendu takes a written test at her new school Kananga. As violence took hold, Bipendu and her mother fled their village and in the chaos, lost contact with her father. Having missed a year of education because of the violence, Bipendu is looking forward to starting school again.
An outdated map drawn during a more peaceful time in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history hangs in a classroom. With limited resources, schools must make do with well-worn books, wobbly desks — and outdated maps. But the core of what they do, educating children, remains the same.
Kadima, 13, smiles after peering into a classroom at her school in Kabeya. After months of upheaval, the school is ready to reopen and welcome Kadima and other students who are eager to get back.
“I want to be a doctor when I am bigger.”
Education is central to children and giving them a chance to fulfil their dreams. As peace makes a tentative return to the Kasai, shops do a brisk trade in new school uniforms and notebooks for the new school year.
As peace returns to the area around Mbuji Mayi, children and their families are returning from the forests where they sought shelter and the school is reopening. For this teacher, the reopening of school is welcomed with cautious optimism.
Children race across the schoolyard in Kananga. Many of the children have missed out of school for the past year. As peace makes a fragile return in Kasai, children look to the future and return instantly to the games that they know with their friends. Education brings hope of a better future.
