Learn
The second phase is LEARN. Primary school is free and compulsory. Secondary day school is free but not compulsory. 13 year old kids who now find themselves as heads of the family because of the deaths of the parents often give up secondary school to look after their younger siblings. Child lead families is a chilling but common phrase. Secondary schools are often 15-20 km away. Primary schools are more local. For a 12-16 year old to feed their younger siblings, walk or hitchhike the 20 km to school – and back, and then feed and look after the siblings again is just too much. This also raises the issue of what happens to the younger siblings when eldest sibling is happily studying at a government boarding school. The government is generally anti-orphanages because of fears of child abuse. Extended families and tribal networks are necessary here.
£10 a month will cover secondary boarding school, books etc for a year or… 2 average bottles of wine a month.
All the kids in the pictures above are orphans.
