School Supplies

Canoes rafted up outside Karati Primary school. 

This is the Gulf equivalent to the school bike rack.

One day while I was in the village, a group from the Provincial Department of Education arrived with school supply packs. These were funded through one of the companies doing development as part of their community contributions.

The teachers had been asked to present an accurate roll of enrolled students. The students were told they had to be there to receive their packs. I’m not sure so many students have been in attendance on one day before or since!

As the packs were handed out, students were given a form to be taken to their parents and have signed, to say that they had indeed received their supply pack. These forms were to be taken back to the provincial office and filed away as evidence that the supplies had reached the students.

Paddles planted in the ground at Karati Primary

The supply packs came in different categories for the different grades. The youngest children received slate boards and chalk to practice writing on, packs of coloured pencils and big blank paged books for drawing in. They also received pencil sharpeners, which was a pleasant change for me, as watching small children use razor blades to sharpen pencils makes me edgy. Older kids received lead pencils or pens and different size exercise books. Each pack was colour coded for the school grades it was intended for.

At the literacy school the next day it was lovely to see the children using their new supplies to practise writing and to do some drawing. They each sat on the floor working hard. It was the quietest I’d ever seen that class. In the evening, our house was filled with teenagers doing their homework. They sat writing out their lessons, each with their own supplies. As my solar power system was giving light to the house, we became the study centre. I’d never seen the teenagers so studious!

Level playing field? Where’s the fun in that!

These students live in a very remote and under-resourced area. Rarely could it be said that they are on a level playing field. These school supply packs, full of basic but essential things, made a big difference. I was pleased to see the immediate impact they had, as well as the evidence of the system of companies providing community assistance through government agencies working as it should. Hopefully the system continues to work and the next delivery of supply packs comes before these ones are exhausted.