David in Côte d'Ivoire

by Save the Children Canada CEO David Morley

. A ramshackle neighbourhood called Gobelé December 06

A ramshackle neighbourhood called Gobelé

Last December I visted a ramshackle neighbourhood called Gobelé.  It is perched on a steep hillside beneath one of the nicest residential districts of Abdijan, the biggest city in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.  The country has been split in two since an army mutiny in 2002. Attempts to broker a permanent peace deal have failed and many people are unable to return to their homes.

We walk down a muddy street that turns into a river of garbage when it rains, and meet in a cinderblock community centre.  Everyone would like a school in Gobelé, but the government doesn’t want one built since the people who live here are squatters. A resident points out, “But they won’t let our children go to the public school up top, either.  We don’t have identity cards, so we can’t register.” 

In Gobelé Save the Children has supported the community to establish Child Protection Committees - a way to help children learn basic skills to survive, continue with their education, and start building a new future. 

Many children witnessed atrocities as they fled their homes in northern Côte d’Ivoire, then they were traumatized once more when they arrived here as soldiers came into the neighbourhood and beat people up. Through the Child Protection Committees we have helped the community set up, children stay safe and take part in practical activities to help them deal with what they have experienced. They also learn how to read and write, they learn about children’s rights and how to protect themselves against AIDS. 

In other areas of Côte d’Ivoire, through Rewrite the Future we are aiming to get 315 schools back up and running. Our direct practical work with community and government partners will help 85,000 more Ivorian children go to school by 2010, and offer these plus 500,000 more a better education.