PROJECT “4RECA- Central African Republic – Saint Claire School Complex
I
The “4RECA” project was launched in 2003 in Bangui by AFN in collaboration with the local Focolare Movement. Following the foundation, in 2017, of the Complèxe Scolaire Sainte-Claire located in Bimbo, a progressive redevelopment of the project was implemented, in order to improve the effectiveness of the interventions and complete income support aid. This process was completed in 2023 and currently the project, part of the school education program of the Archdiocese of Bangui, aims to ensure access to education for the most vulnerable minors in Bimbo and its surroundings, through school placement and interventions to support parenting.
DEFINITION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
The Central African Republic has a very troubled recent history, which has seen the alternation of strongly authoritarian, military and centralizing governments, characterized by a personalistic management of the country’s resources. The 2013 coup led to the rise of a group of Muslim rebels, the Seleka, and the consequent formation of Christian self-defense militias, Anti-Balaka, which resulted in atrocious violence and religiously motivated crimes. After the truce proposed by President Touadera was broken in 2022, the conflict continues, devastating the lives of the civilian population. The lack of infrastructure, the absence of a skilled workforce and a legacy of inadequate macroeconomic policies hinder the development of the national economy, based on subsistence agriculture and on the trafficking of raw materials and weapons that escape national accounts. Internal instability, forms of modern slavery, child labour and very low levels of education bring the country to seventh place in the list of the poorest states in the world and to the penultimate place (188th out of 189 states) in the Global Human Development Index. It is estimated that 79% of the country’s 5.4 million inhabitants live in poverty. In 2022 the UN counted 1.3 million displaced people because of internal violence. With livelihoods disrupted by conflict, food production and household purchasing power have weakened, also causing an increase in child malnutrition, which now affects 40% of children. Health, nutrition and education services have been dismantled in most rebel-held areas. In rural areas, acts of violence continue, where the population is tortured, and young people are deported to enlist. In the refugee camps the situation is still serious, almost half of the population does not have enough to eat.
The Central African Republic (CAR) is a country in Central Africa, bordering Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Cameroon. It has a population of about 5.4 million people. The capital is Bangui, located in the southwestern part of the country, and with an estimated population of 790,000.
Bimbo is the capital of Ombella-M’poko, one of the 14 prefectures of the CAR, about 25 kilometres southwest of the capital Bangui, in a rural area near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bimbo is a small town that has welcomed many refugees who fled the civil war and who now live in great poverty. The houses are made of mud, and during the rainy season they are destroyed by water. People live from agriculture, mainly from the cultivation of cassava. In recent years, many children have not been able to attend school because of the civil war: the majority of children are illiterate, and the school dropout rate is 40%.
COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT
The Complèxe Scolaire Sainte Claire (CSSC), founded in 2017 and renovated in the following years, consists of: 15 classrooms, 15 bathrooms, a manual water pump, a sports field, a play area for the kindergarten, 2 offices and a courtyard. The staff employed for the project consists of 18 teachers, 2 cleaning women, 3 guardians, 1 gardener.
IMPLEMENTED ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES
- Curricular academic courses · from nursery school to elementary school
- · Distribution of teaching materials
- Peace Education WorkshopsLaboratori di educazione alla pace
- Training on “group leaders”
- Regular meetings with parents on the themes of reconciliation, non-violence and solidarity
BENEFICIARIES
The direct beneficiaries of the project are about 890 students aged 3 to 15 and their parents, about 2,000 adults. The indirect beneficiaries are instead 1,000 families, for a total of about 2,000 adults and 5,000 minors, to which is added the community of the local parish, for a total of about 10,000 people.
ACTIONS
- Support for the project
This is an ongoing commitment to support the educational program aimed at the entire group of minors and their families who are part of the AFN project.
- Donations
These are payments at a free frequency and amount, to support the educational program aimed at the entire group of minors and their families who are part of the AFN project.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Support the project with an annual commitment of euro 336.00
Reason for payment “New Support for the Central African Republic – Saint Claire project” and in subsequent payments “”Renewal of support for the Central African Republic – Saint Claire project”
- Donations – Causale “Donazione progetto Repubblica Centrafricana – Saint Claire”