International Online Report (Reporter Yang Qiong in Kenya): Since October, Kenya has faced the second peak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. According to the deployment of the Ministry of Education, all students will return to campus in January next year. A few days ago, a reporter from China Central Radio and Television visited the Msaido-Beijing school in the Masare slum, Kenya, to see if the school is ready for the restart.
Kenya is in the rainy season in November. As in previous years, the Masare slum in the eastern part of the capital Nairobi is full of mud. Masare is the second largest slum in Kenya, and Msedo-Beijing School is located on a main road in the slum. This school was funded by the Chinese Embassy in Kenya in 2007 and was expanded in 2012.
After the first confirmed case of new coronary pneumonia in Kenya appeared in March, this elementary school was completely closed. Since then, students in the middle and upper grades such as the 4th and 8th grades have resumed classes in October. According to the latest deployment of the Ministry of Education, all students will return to campus on January 4 next year. The principal of Msedo-Beijing School, Benedicte Kiag, told reporters that the school is making preparations and expecting students to return to the classroom.
Kiago said: "I must say that we are ready to open the school. So we are ready to accommodate more students. These students will come here in January next year. Therefore, we are now making preparations and trying to add more Water supply facilities. The difficulty we face now is desks. We don’t have enough desks. We are still working hard to appeal to donors to help us provide more desks and chairs so that we can have students sitting in spacious classrooms next year. ."
When the reporter arrived at the school, students in grades 4 and 8 and some students who were about to take the college entrance examination were in class. Teachers and most students wear masks and maintain a certain social distance between desks. Principal Kiago said that children in slums face more challenges. Many parents have difficulty finding jobs under the epidemic environment and cannot afford to pay for their students' meals.
Kiago said: “Most parents or residents who have lost their jobs also pay rent. Because during the COVID-19 pandemic, a considerable number of people lost their jobs. Therefore, they are still trying to overcome difficulties and do all kinds of things. Things. For children, they lack food."
In order to help the Musedo-Beijing School, some Chinese-funded institutions reached out to help. On the 19th, the Kenya-China Economic and Trade Association donated cornmeal, sugar, oil and other foodstuffs worth 197,500 Ken shillings to the Musedo Beijing School. This is the second time the Kenya-China Economic and Trade Association has donated to the Beijing school since the outbreak. In addition, some Chinese in Kenya helped the school repair water pipes and donated supplies to help the school tide over the difficulties.
Jacobs is a science and math teacher at the school. He grew up in a slum and returned to school as a teacher after graduating from college. He hopes that more children can get out of the slums through education. He said that although the school still faces the problem of lack of funds, he is very grateful to the Chinese-funded institutions for their help to the school, which makes them feel happy.
Jacobs said: "The biggest challenge we face now is the lack of financial support for paying teachers' salaries and the infrastructure needed to prevent and control the epidemic. But so far, I can say that we are lucky. We can see, Chinese friends helped us build hand-washing facilities. A few days ago, they also brought disposable disinfectant and food. I can say that we are having a good time."
When the reporter walked into the classroom, the children wore masks and sang to express their strength and optimism. Since October this year, Kenya has ushered in the second peak of the epidemic, with confirmed cases rising at an average rate of 1,000 per day. For children, there is nothing more exciting than going back to school. They also hope that Kenya will overcome the epidemic as soon as possible, take off their masks and sing together.
