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Rewrite the Future - Blogs

Carlos in Angola

Carlos Mezenga
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journalist Carlos Mezenga reports from Angola, November 2007

• All About Child Reporter, Carlos Mezenga
• Week 1: Welcome to Angola
• Week 2: "We need your help": Education
• Week 3: "Julieta's dream was to become a nurse"
• Week 4: Consequences of War: Health in Angola
• Week 5: Malnutrition, Cholera and Children Under 5
• Week 6: "A child is like a flower" TB and HIV/AIDs
• Week 7: "Understanding is improving day by day": Children's Rights
• Week 8: "Why are you crying my friend?" More on Children's Rights
•Week 9: Child Labour: Many children are being forced to work like adults
• Carlos News: A Prize for a Voice 
• Carlos News: A visit to a fully automatic country

Week 2: "We need your help" - Education

Teenager Carlos Mezenga spends his spare time informing other children about their rights. In this space, you can follow Carlos's blog, writing about life in Angola.

Angola_Education. Selestina, 14, is from Kitoque, where Save the Children has been training and supporting teachers. She is one of the brightest in her class but has missed many years of schooling during the war. Her family had to hide in the bush for several years on the run from soldiers. Although Angola's 27 year civil war ended in 2002, it has huge debts, sporadic unrest and ranks as one of the worst places for children to grow up. The government has to spend much of its budget on food and health, leaving little for education. Save the Children are working with the Angolan government to increase the number of children, especially girls and the poorest children, who can go to school and complete a good quality education. (Copyright: Louise Dyring Nielsen, Save the Children Denmark)

Hi, I am back (Carlos Mezenga).

As promised, today I will tell you about education in Angola.

Basically, education is not provided to enough people. In Angola, 75% of the children get access to school, thanks to organisations (such as Save the Children), which have contributed more schools and materials. But this hasn't been enough, so we need your help.

We Angolans know that education is the only key to a brighter future. But some parents are unable to send their children to school due to lack of money and school materials.

Many young people choose not to go to school, because they may have to walk 6 to 15 km (4 to 9 miles) to get there.
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"Back to school" is the children of Angola's first wish for their future. "A roof to sleep under" is the second wish. To attend school they need to be registered. To be registered they need a home. Pencils and books cost money. It may not be much to you, but it is an enormous amount to the street children of Uíge.
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