Laine Refugee School

Friday, Nov. 3, 2006

Last Friday I finally made it to a refugee camp to visit the school... very exciting for me since I had read so much about refugee education. The IRC Guinea refugee schools are supposed to be a "success story" in refugee education and I wanted to see why.

The students in this camp are Liberian and therefore theoretically speak English, but I'd try to ask some of them "What's your name?" and the could not understand anything I said. And I couldn't understand their English either.... oooooooooh Liberian English. It's tough.


I walked around the classrooms with the IRC staff administrator and the students immediately stood up to greet us in unison with "Good After-noon Ms. Jessica. HOW ARE YOU?" I looked around at my colleagues... Nope. No one named Jessica there. Still a bit perplexed about that greeting.

Most of the classes had around 70 students in them and they were partially in buildings and partially in tents... a sign that refugee education has been going on for a loooong time in Guinea... 15 years to be specific.

Without the schools for refugees, an entire generation would have gone without education... And who would be left with the smarts to begin rebuilding Liberia now that the conflict is over?

One United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) staff member visited the IRC schools in Guinea and said that if, in 2010 there is an educated class to govern Liberia, it is because of the IRC schools in Guinea. The IRC was basically a Ministry of Education for the 80,000 refugee students attending their schools and they negotiated with the Ministries of Education in Sierra Leone and Liberia for the recognition of their students diplomas and their teacher's training certifications.

I honestly could go on for hours about this... but I'll step down from my soapbox. For now. :)