NRC Area manager Aimee Ndakala together with children attending the Gbagaga school in Carnot. The school has more than 500 pupils, but only three classrooms. Therefore the grades are sitting together; 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th grade. To educate as many as possible at the school, they have two shifts per day, in the morning and in the afternoon. NRC is now (May 2015) building a new school besides the old one, to increase capacity and because the old school building is at risk of falling apart, due to decades of erosion and building material of low quality. The children from 6 to 17 years learn to read, write and mathematics. Information about Aimee: Aimee NDAKALA MPALA - Area Manager Carnot (Central African republic) Nationality: Congolese Been working 11 months from NRC Background: She did medicine and sociology science and she is proudly and happily mother of 4 children and her home is in Kinshasa. She used to live in Goma, but because of insecurity, she decided to move in Kinshasa last year. She sees her family every 8 weeks. Her background: When the war broke in Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997, she was a student in Bukavu. She fled from Bukavu to Kindu , it is more than 500 km. She is grateful for the assistance she received from very poor people in villages. But at this time she was struggling with the prospect of herself not completing her studies if peace does not return, but also she had no news about my family for more than 2 months. Why working for NRC? She was displaced and she knows what life is like as displaced person. She works for NRC to support those who are currently in a displacement situation to overcome. Her motivation: As a displaced person in the past, she would like to be part of the solution, to be an example of success. NRC gives her the opportunity to talk to displaced persons to not give up, there always hope. She started up the NRC Carnot office last year: she came in Carnot on July 2014 and handed over with the emergency team. At this time she had no staff no office neither a house just two project funded by the common humanitarian fund and the Norwegian Ministry of foreign affairs. A start by recruiting program officers and coordinators, but also the finance and logistics staff. They began by an assessment to select villagers where they should work; they did another assessment to understand the displaced people challenges in the area. Aimee used to live in the catholic priest compound with no internet and limited access to safe water and electricity. Today she is so glad, they have a NRC office, a NRC guest house with all the facilities and more than 50 national and international staff. NRC Carnot helps children come back to school and they manage to make displaced people life more secure. They began the work on land and property, as displaced people lost their houses, their shelter program is rebuilding some houses. She is so happy to work with very talented and brilliant people. There are more male than female staff in the office. A normal working day for her is 10 hours in the office of field trying to find solution and a hub of security for displaced persons. Education is the biggest activity in NRC Carnot because it is a human right as well as a component of peacebuilding. Through education they are introducing a culture of tolerance and conflict resolution between children and youth coming from opposing communities. YEP senter is a great example on this where they are opening the door to the community safety and economic development General challenges regarding schools in CAR: overcrowded classes with poorly trained teachers. Also few female teachers are also characteristic of most of school in CAR. Quotes from Aimee: “Education is essential to prepare the displaced people to return as their situation is temporary but also to rebuild their life. Education is important because it can bring people from different places together; education can be a tool for protection. I am sure that through our education program we are impacting children but also their families and communities as well”. The issue of discrimination and safety for displaced people in Central Africa Republic present a big challenge for her work. Quotes from Aimee: “Being a woman in Africa and having such position in a country where gender based violence is common is not easy! You must challenge yourself every day, you must demonstrate every day that you can handle the work. Lack of qualified staff and more particularly qualified women is a big challenge for my work”. She hopes that displaced will return in theirs villages and have right to movement. She hopes that the communities will live together in peace Photos NRC / Ingrid Prestetun
- Utdanning er grunnpilaren for en forsoningsprosess mellom muslimer og kristne, og gjenoppbygging av landet, sier Aimee, her ved en barneskole støttet av Flyktninghjelpen. Foto: Flyktninghjelpen/Ingrid Prestetun

- Det er alltid håp!

Ingrid Prestetun, Hanne Eide Andersen|Publisert 01. jun. 2015
Den sentralafrikanske republikk Utdanning
- Med en fortid som fordrevet selv, vil jeg være en del av løsningen for andre fordrevne, og et eksempel på at man kan lykkes, sier kongolesiske Aimee Ndakala Mpala, Flyktninghjelpens områdeleder i Carnot i Den sentralafrikanske republikk.
The classrooms in the Gbagaga school in Carnot are crowded. The school has more than 500 pupils, but only three classrooms. Therefore the grades are sitting together; 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th grade. To educate as many as possible at the school, they have two shifts per day, in the morning and in the afternoon. The learning material is quite basic. The each child has a small wooden, black painted board. On one side the board has the alphabet and number 1-10, on the other side, the children writes with small pieces of chalk. Photos NRC / Ingrid Prestetun

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