After 60 years of military dictatorship, an opponent, Prof. Alpha Condé, won the first democratic elections in Guinea in 2010. this president, who when he came to power had abolished the presidential conditions for life in order to limit them to only two terms, is now letting his party try to amend the constitution so that he can finally run for a third term. What were his priorities when he came to power in 2010? - Improving education - Improvement of the medical infrastructure to treat the population - Modernise the agricultural sector to make it less dependent on imports - Guinea Modernising through access to drinking water, electrification, road and rail infrastructure to improve the country's economy.
What is the situation now after 10 years of government? Unfortunately, the population still lives in poverty and hunger, the school, health and road infrastructure is totally inadequate, and corruption continues to rise? The population, together with the FNDC (Front National pour La Défense de la constitution), demonstrated last October and expressed their opposition to the constitutional change in the streets of Conakry. Fifteen young committed citizens who fought for respect for democracy and the Constitution died in this demonstration in order to prevent this President from running for a third term. Why do presidents in Africa inappropriately cling to power like seashells on a rock? A colonial legacy that still stands?! Tiken Jah Facoly, expressing the message through reggae: Alpha Condé devient fou
His main tasks are the implementation of the national education plan for the student education in Fodecariah, the Supervision of the teachers, as well as the administrative and financial management of the secondary school. At the beginning of the school year and at the beginning of our activities, we met with Mr Souleymane Kaba for an interview. Some students and the members of the Coordinating Committee of the School Council of the School of Fodecariah-Balimana, also participated. To this end, Mr. Kaba kindly answered some questions from our friends Karifa Condé (9th grade) and Kadiatou Doumbouya (10th grade).
Où sont passées les reformes engagées par le Ministre Ibrahima Kalil Konaté (K²) ?
Karifa Condé: What are the most serious problems at our secondary school that you want to solve first?
The director: My primary concerns at the moment
- the opening and operation of the library, which is designed for the learning of students and other curious people, is very important
- the recruitment and supervision of contract teachers
- the renovation of the school and the renovation of our mast
- as well as the implementation of all essential instruments for sound management and the functioning of our school.
The Director: The reasons for these regrettable results, both at national and at local level, I believe, are that
- the strikes of the teachers that led to the disruption of the courses.
- Add to this the lack of qualified teachers and
- the lack of aftercare for children at home by their parents.
The Director: As far as I can tell at the moment, the peculiarities here in Fodecariah are the lack of parental control and the great distraction of the children.
The Director: To achieve this goal, we want to work as a team this year to set up regular attendance checks and performance reviews. Therefore, we would like to conduct campaigns to sensitize the parents, so that they can become more involved in the education of their children.
b>Kadiatou Doumbouya: Where do you see our secondary school in 5 to 10 years?
The director: My wish for our school in 5 to 10 years is to have an excellent secondary school and grammar school worthy of the name. Of course this requires collegial decision-making and synergy between all actors in the education system.
. Kadiatou Doumbouya:If you had a magic wand, what would you like to change to improve our school?
The Director: I would like to encourage cooperation between the actors of the educational system here in Fodecariah, and also to involve parents as much as possible in the functioning of the school and the care of the children.
Kadiatou Doumbouya und Karifa Condé: Thank you, sir, for welcoming us and answering our questions. On behalf of all students of Fodecariah, we would like to welcome you once again.
The Director: Please, it is a great pleasure for me to share these few words with you. I'm asking you to cooperate and discipline, and you will see how things are going to turn out positively. With all my best wishes, I hope that together we will take up the challenge!
Mr. Diakité was born in 1975 in Kankan. Before Fodecariah, he was director of the Bakonko-Cissela primary school. He reports to the education authorities of the Kankan Prefecture, namely: the Primary School Commissioner (DSEE) and the Prefectural Director of Education (DPE).
It is his responsibility to ensure the proper functioning of the school and the correct application of the laws and internal regulations.
During our 2nd meeting with the educational authorities of our district at the beginning of the school year 2019-20, we met Mr. Diakité Aboubacar, the new director of the primary school Fodecariah. He was willing to give us his time to answer some questions. These questions were asked by our friends Nana Doumbouya and Mandjou Doumbouya, both students of the 10th grade. The photos were taken by Nantenin Diabaté, students of the 9th grade.
Nana Doumbouya: What are the biggest problems at the primary school that you want to solve first?
The director: My biggest challenges right now are
- the lack of teachers
- the renovation of the flagpole
- the financial difficulties in the efficient operation of the canteen.
The director: In my opinion there are three levels of responsibility:
- the lack of parental care for the children.
- the unemployment of teachers
- and the children's lack of interest in education.
The Director: To solve these problems, I think it is essential:
- review groups to raise the level of the students. This can even take place during the non-working days.
- improve teachers' working conditions and provide incentives for good teaching
- and to sensitize parents to actively participate in the education of their children.
The Director: If we can implement all these measures by adapting to the daily situation and by all the actors in our educational system working together, I am sure that we can increase the success rate in our school. Our goal is to make this school a school of excellence, and this requires thorough work.
Mandjou Doumbouya: This year we have seen the resumption of the distribution of meals to children in the canteen. How often does this distribution take place during the week?
< B> The director: Meals are served in the canteen 5 working days a week.
Mandjou Doumbouya: Who finances this distribution?
The director: We are subsidized by the state and financially supported by the Fodecariah community.
Mandjou Doumbouya: If you had a magic wand, what would you like to change to improve the quality of primary school?
The Director: I will do everything I can to set up tutoring groups in all classes to increase the success rate in our school.
Nana Doumbouya and Mandjou Doumbouya: Thank you very much, Mr. Director, once again for welcoming us and answering our questions!
The director: Thank you very much. It was a pleasant moment talking to you. I encourage you to take this initiative and wish you good luck with your studies!
This religious feast ends Ramadan after 2 months and 10 days. The families meet and sacrifice a sheep.
The feast at Fodecariah
This year our partners of ONG ADEBA from Conakry organized a bus to Fodecariah. With the surplus money we bought a threshing machine for the youth in Balimama to process rice. As a thank you, young farmers want to donate some bags of rice as a reserve for the school canteen.
Seeing construction and equipment of the playground: Mr. Doumbouya expects the plans and proposals of the client in October
Number of registered students: 44, including 3 girls
Only 18 students passed the exam. Unfortunately, there was no girl among them. The pass rate is 40.90%.
The examination results of the primary school
Number of registered Students: 30
Only 6 students passed the exam.
The success rate is only 20%. This is a very bad basis for the education of the 7th grade of our secondary school!
The regional success rate for Kankan is 42.17%. Read more in French: Résultat de l’examen d’entrée en 7è année : Kankan enregistre 42% du taux d’admission
The national success rate is 44,11%.
13.00 14.30 BERICHTE
- Delegation (Ester reports 15-20 Min)
- Reports: (40 min)
- ADEBA and the Anti-Corruption Committee,
- Volontary work Oumar and Martha
- Secondary school in Fodecariah with 13 teachers
- Library
- Computer science room
- Canteen
- Promoting girls
- Planning of the youth centre (15 min)
- Planning of 2 training courses ( 5 min)
- Cash report (5 min)
- Approval of the actions of the Management Board (3 min)
15 -17.00 PLANNING
- Better furniture (tables and chairs) for the secondary school and grammar school?
- Visit of a health station in the capital Conakry (Martine 5 min)
- Evaluation of the interview with Dr Lamah in Fodecariah (Bettina )
- Bettina and Hedwig bring the pros and cons for a health station in Fodecariah
- Discussion
- Decision whether we should submit a BMZ application to build and install a health station in 2020?
- How many new girls will be included in the programme?
17.30 - 18-30
- New members
- New election for the next 3 years term 2019-2022 (Members only)
19.00 Dining together in Blankenloch
This year we are looking for more toys to give away:
- Legos, Legos, Legos
- Memory
- Cars
- Puppets & Cuddly toys
- Bobbycars
- Tricycles
- Scooters & pedal-scooters
- Radios
- Juggling
Although 90% of the Guineans are Muslim, I observe that the white and black magic of the Grigris is still very present. Everyone lives with the fear of being transformed by evil enchantment. There is even a soap to protect yourself from it. Mohamed supposedly doesn't believe in it. But he only goes to the eerie village of his ancestors with a slice of lemon as protection against evil, just as garlic is used against vampires!
What was also new to me, however, was that each village had its own secret brotherhood. Novices are only allowed to join with the consent of their mother. These novices learn for years with the help of a master to live according to the 42 laws of Maât. In secret, the young novices are taught to recognize themselves and their ancestors from the invisible world. They also learn to deal with the effect of plants, to discover and master their own gifts and special powers.
More about this in the book „Les Chemins de la Maât“ by Doumbi Facoly
But the most important thing is to prepare well:
- Establish contact with the Institut de Recherche Environmentale in Bossou to organise a guided tour as the chimpanzees migrate.
- They are not shy, particularly intelligent, and are already very impressive due to their size.
- But there are only 7 chimpanzees left in Bossou. If a miracle doesn't happen, there won't be 7 any more.
We also met a curious chimpanzee in Guinea.
Here you can read her detailed report
She will develop business ideas with the young people, carry out a market analysis and create a product concept. The amount of start-up capital required will also be determined.
Mini-productions are then carried out to test the product and optimise it so that it can be sold on local markets at fair prices.
Finally, a balance is drawn up between income and expenditure, and an initial rough investment plan is developed.
Martha has carried out 6 entrepreneurial projects. Here you can find out more details!
The doctor, Mr Lamah, also took the opportunity to ask the inhabitants to have their children vaccinated. He also publicly addressed basic hygiene measures, such as washing hands before eating. More about our round trip (PDF). Here a Video impression of our trip.
In Kankan, with 150,000 inhabitants, this market is not yet so developed, but it is tending to grow. There seem to be enough women academics living there who can use such infrastructures. But what about Fodecariah, where the majority of women are illiterate and very poor, and who are bound by tradition? More details about the nursery school in Conakry or the nursery school in Kankan.
On behalf of all members of our association and all 18.000 inhabitants of Fodecariah & Balimama we would like to thank you very much. Thus we will hand it over to Oumar Keita as the salary of a teacher (200 EUR per month), who will be the volunteer for the IT room (the heart of the secondary and advanced secondary school).
As a little "Thank you" (Photo) e gave the class a present. We wish Nele and her Abitur class every success in their commitment to a better world, and continue to have the courage to ensure a more sustainable and just world.
