May 5, 2008
Sudan snapshot #2: School-on-a-camel near Al Meganis
NEAR AL MEGANIS, Sudan - It is not every teacher who can pack up their school in a matter of minutes and stack it on the back of a camel.
But Hamad Abdullah Saleh is not every teacher.
He is the lone man at the head of a school of 61 children, all members of Sudan's nomadic A-Hamda tribe who spend large parts of the year covering miles upon miles of land across the neighbouring states of White Nile and South Kordofan.
And when the 61 students move, Hamad Abdullah Saleh moves with them, with his blackboard strapped to the back of his school camel, and his small stock of cattle trailing behind.
"As long as it is school time, I travel with them," says Hamad, a tall, white-robed man in his late 50s who spent most of his earlier career teaching children who stay in one place – White Nile State's main town of Kosti.
"The first thing we do when we arrive in a new place is unload the blackboard. Then the community spends a day collecting wood and straw for the building. Then we start teaching.
"I have to leave my family behind in Kosti. But I took on this new job as a new challenge. The children are good students. And it is very fulfilling."
Saleh's Mohammad Hamad nomadic school is the first educational establishment that the A-Hamda group has ever had...
Posted by aheavens at May 5, 2008 11:22 AM
Comments
Hey Andrew,
Great to see that you are finally stretching your horizons beyond the North of Sudan. I found the stories you posted from there truely touching.
My grandad was a nomad, back in the day the state would have huge boarding schools all across the country, where nomads like everyone else would send their children. My grandad dropped my dad and his brother in the school and they were given school uniforms, regular meals and a full school kit. If it was not for that system, many people like my dad and uncle would not have had the great opportunities that they have now.
The Sudanese government says that it is impossible to continue such a system due to the increase in population, meaning that many young nomadic children are left uneducated.
I wish the teacher Saleh the very best but the state of many nomads is depressing.
Posted by: amal at May 9, 2008 9:42 AM