Still I Rise : Rehab School in DRC
CURRENT STATUS : ONGOING
The project aims to increase enrolment and complete the basic education cycle of the underage population currently employed in child labor in the mines of Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The contribution of GGF is used to cover the salaries of all the teachers and staff of the school, in order to make it an island of peace for the children of Kolwezi.
The Current Reality
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) produces more than fifty percent of the world's cobalt and about twenty percent is mined by hand in a process called 'artisanal and small-scale mining. The DRC government says it is trying to stop the presence of children in artisanal cobalt mines and is committed to eliminating child labour in the mining sector by 2025. But improvements are very slow. Most of the children exploited in artisanal cobalt mines work up to 12 hours a day. They dig the mines with their bare hands and are forced to carry sacks weighing up to 20 and 40 kg, often heavier than themselves. Apart from the immediate risks, carrying heavy loads can have serious long-term effects, such as bone and joint deformities, spinal injuries, muscular and musculoskeletal injuries. In addition to mining, work also takes place in the open air, regardless of rain or high temperatures.
Children in Mines
Most of the children claim to earn between 1,000-2,000 Congolese francs per day (1-2 euros). The children who have collected, sorted, washed, crushed and transported minerals are paid per bag of minerals by the traders. They have no way of independently verifying the weight of the bags or the grade of the ore and, therefore, must accept what the traders pay. Children who go to school work after school hours, at weekends and on holidays. Other children have had to drop out of school, as their parents do not have formal employment and cannot afford the school fees.
Children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) engage in the worst forms of child labor, including in the forced mining of gold, tin ore (cassiterite), tantalum ore (coltan), and tungsten ore (wolframite), and are used in armed conflict, sometimes as a result of forcible recruitment or abduction by non-state armed groups.
STILL I RISE School in DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo has made significant progress in the education sector. For example, the completion rate at the primary level has increased substantially from 29% in 2002 to 70% in 2014. However, it is still one of the countries with the highest number of out-of-school children. An estimated 3.5 million or 26.7% of primary-age children are out of school, 2.75 million of whom live in rural areas.
Still I Rise operates in Kolwesi, th capital of Lualuba Porvince in Katanga, South of DRC. Katanga province has the highest rate of infant mortality in the world, with 184 of 1000 babies born expected to die before the age of five.
This region is particularly rich in mines, supplying cobalt, copper, tin, radium, uranium and diamonds to the rest of the world: child labour is used in these mines and this is why Still I Rise has decided to open a school in this area. Many children have had to drop out of school as their parents do not have formal jobs and cannot afford the school fees.
Project Beneficiaries
Children ages 10-14, girls and children with special needs have priority
Children working in artisanal mines
Children from low-income or no-income families or living below the poverty line.
Children not attending any type of school or not receiving an education.
French, Swahili , Math, Sciences and humanities lessons are provided in Pamoja , the rehabilitation centre , as well as recreational and social empowerment activities .
Still I Rise also delivers food packs monthly. Beside this they deliver non-food items : shower soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, hair comb, sanitary pads for girls , liquid soap, underwear for boys and girls .