14
Feb
2007
14 - Feb - 2007
Usa River, Tanzania Right to treatment as well as right to study ensured for child patients of DREAM centre
In Swahili, “pia mimi nitaenda shule” means “I want to go to school too”. This is the desire of many Tanzanian children. It is the desire of children receiving treatment at the DREAM centre of Usa River (Arusha) who so far never had the opportunity to go to classes (many live their grandparents, who do not have the means to pay their fees, uniform and books), or rather who had to quit school because of their sickness.So together with the centre’s activists, we set up a modest project to guarantee school enrolment and attendance for our small patients.
The project is called “Pia mimi nitaenda shule”. DREAM has decided to fight not only for the right to treatment but for the right to an education too. The necessary funds (around 2,000 euros) were collected from youth communities in Calabria and donors in northern Europe. In January, 15 children were enrolled in school: seven in the first year and the other eight in later classes. They are so happy to go to school that they wear their uniform and carry their bag all day, even coming to the DREAM centre with them sometimes. Apart from their health, education and the hope of a better tomorrow has been restored to them.
Ambito