Writing for Rights: Alice, 16, Sierra Leone
Dear Friends,
My name is Alice – 16 years old. I live in Mattru Jong, Southern Sierra Leone. Education is indeed the key to success and an asset for children to grow up and acquire better understanding of issues in their communities, country and worldwide. It gives children the opportunity to contribute to national issues and help to change the world for the greater good of all. This is the vision of Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child for all children.
As a girl, I bleed in my heart as I go through the intentions of the CRC and the blind eye that is given to the reality by the government of Sierra Leone.
Even though the quest for education in rural communities has increased, this demand does not match the available infrastructure and facilities for children. Due to the unavailability of secondary schools in most rural communities, children who are promoted to secondary school move from their original communities where they live with their parents to chiefdom or district headquarter towns where secondary schools are mostly concentrated. This means living away from home with relatives or friends of their parents. These relatives/friends of parents consider such children as additional burden to their meagre family resources, which may not be enough to feed everyone.
These caregivers usually require such children to sell items to bring income and do other household chores which do not allow them enough time to go to school as often as expected. Most of these children end up dropping out of school, get exposed to sexual abuse from men, become pregnant and are eventually not able to achieve their goals. This is the reality of a typical rural education, and girls are usually the most affected group.
As a girl, I bleed in my heart as I go through the intentions of the CRC and the blind eye that is given to the reality by the government of Sierra Leone and community leaders. I ask to make this dream a reality for Sierra Leonean children.
As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the CRC, my message to those in our government is to thank them for their efforts to improve education in Sierra Leone, but most important, to alert them to the reality of the poorest children in the most remote villages and the need to ensure that they have equal access and opportunities as the more privileged children in cities.
God bless us all. Alice, 16-years-old, Sierra Leone