Mar 09, 2017

Education Spells Freedom... With Your Support!


 

The fight against slavery and oppression has to continue.

For French and other languages, see column on the right.

In 2016, the project “From Slavery to Success! Read, Write and Smile” was initiated by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and the Association of Volunteers Against Illiteracy* (Association des Volontaires pour la Lutte contre l’Analphabétisme, or AVOCAN). The project was a huge success, as it enabled 106 Haratin children living in the El Mina and Tarhil townships of Nouakchott to go to school.

In these towns, as in many other underprivileged ones across Nouakchott and the whole of Mauritania, children often lack access to education, or good education for that matter. Teachers often do not come to school, or not frequently enough as for the children to learn to read, count and write proficiently. As a result, analphabetism and ignorance are widespread, both among children and among adults. Some children, mostly from the Haratin minority, are also heavily discriminated against as the government makes it incredibly difficult for them to obtain national ID cards, which in turn prevents them from being able to access education through normal channels. On top of that, too many of them are still victims of slavery.

We believe that helping Haratin women and children receive a good education is key to empowering them and enabling them to overcome this yearlong cycle of oppression. Hence, this year, UNPO and AVOCAN are renewing their efforts to fight slavery and socioeconomic vulnerability through education.

UNPO will support the Mauritania-based association in providing courses to 50 children and 25 women from the district of Tarhil, in Nouakchott. In order to provide these women and children with the best conditions to study, UNPO will also support AVOCAN in the construction of a classroom and a permanent bathroom facility. School supplies such as chalks, notebooks, pens and textbooks will also be provided to the teachers and students.

In order for this project to be put in place, we need your support!

UNPO launched a crowdfunding campaign, and every euro counts!

If, like us, you believe that the cycle of discrimination and poverty should be broken in Mauritania, please donate!

* AVOCAN is an association working in the field of social development to the benefit of underprivileged and vulnerable citizens in Mauritania. It aims at raising awareness among the general public, businesses, institutions, humanitarian organisations and other opinion leaders about the necessity of supporting the youth in areas where they suffer from analphabetism and ignorance.