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The ‘unique’ Malian school accessible only by boat

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In the heart of Bamako, the bustling capital city of Mali, sits a “unique” school nestled on the shores and islands of the Niger River, and can only accessible by boat.

With a pupil population of 218 children, the school is located in the Dialogun Island with a small pirogue with a straw roof, and was granted public school status only in June 2022, but has continued to draw attention as the pupils have to navigate the dangerous river to and fro every day.

The school’s coordinator, Marie Garnier, said it was set up in response to a lack of schooling facility for children living in the Island.

“It was built to guarantee a place of study for young people not attending school,” Garnier said.

10-year-old Rokia Koumaré is one of the pupils of the unique school and she narrates the experiences of commuting to the school and back every day in the quest to get educated.

Every morning, at around 7:00 am, she and dozens of her classmates would head for the banks of the River Niger and boat the wooden boat that would take her to school.

“I’m not afraid of crossing the river by pirogue, as I’m already used to it,” Rokia said.

The school itself has a few classrooms protected by small walls or in tents, and are set up in the middle of a wooded area.

The school’s principal, Broulaye Konaté, is however, proud of its modest growth as he talks about it in glowing terms.

“I’m in charge of the management and two classes, which means there’s a teacher problem. There are also problems with tables. Sometimes, we’re obliged to carry out outdoor activities so that everyone has a space to work.”

“But we are proud of what we do here. We are impacting knowledge in the children,” he said.

Metro

Zimbabwe in food shortage as El Nino drought strikes harder

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Residents of the Zimbabwean community of Buhera are waiting in groups outside a primary school, hoping to be called by name to collect life-saving gifts of grain, peas, and cooking oil following a situation of below-average rainfall caused by El Nino once more this year, according to Francesca Erdelmann, the country director of the World Food Programme for Zimbabwe.

“We are grateful, but the food will only be enough for one month,” said Mushaikwa, 71, who lives with her elderly husband, as she trudged away with her bag of grain. “My crops are wilted.”

Since former president Robert Mugabe took over farms held by white people in 2000, Zimbabwe has been unable to feed itself. This disruption in production has resulted in severe drops in productivity, leaving many Zimbabweans dependent on food help to survive.

A drought brought on by El Nino that has affected several countries in southern Africa has made the situation worse. Though the actual figure may be higher, the government has projected that 2.7 million people will go hungry this year.

Poor harvests in drought-ravaged areas, where people depend on small-scale farming for sustenance, have resulted in food shortages that have put over 20% of Zimbabwe’s population at risk of starvation.

El Nino is a regular and natural weather phenomenon that warms regions of the Pacific and modifies global weather patterns. It affects different areas differently. Erdelmann said during a press conference that it makes a big difference when the rains don’t fall or come late.

A cabinet minister told journalists that the government is debating whether to impose a state of emergency. A natural weather phenomenon known as El Nino is linked to a change in wind patterns and higher ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific.

It usually lasts nine to twelve months, happens every two to seven years on average, and can cause extreme weather, including tropical cyclones, protracted droughts, and ensuing wildfires.

“When you drive around, you will see that many crops have wilted,” said World Food Programme acting country director Christine Mendes in Buhera, about 220 km (140 miles) southeast of the capital, Harare.

In four areas that are vulnerable to drought, WFP has assisted 270,000 individuals between January and March; nonetheless, Mendes stated that more funding will be required to feed even more people.

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Zambia receives $100m World Bank grant to support energy sector

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The Zambian government has announced receiving a $100 million grant from the World Bank Group to support its energy sector.

The new grant is coming barely a month after the World Bank approved a grant of $270 million under the Transport Corridors for Economic Resilience (TRACER) Project.

Finance and National Planning Minister, Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, who disclosed this in a statement in Lusaka on Sunday, said the grant would be implemented under phase one of the Zambia National Energy Advancement and Transformation (NEAT) programme, covering the period 2023 to 2033.

Musokotwane stated that the NEAT programme was “designed to increase financial sustainability, operational reliability and resilience of the electricity sector in Zambia.”

He stressed that the programme’s total resource envelope would gulp $700 million for over a period of 10 years and the World Bank’s first energy project in Zambia since 2018.

Musokotwane explained that the NEAT programme would adopt a Multi-Phase Programmatic Approach (MPA) over the estimated 10 year period.

“Under phase one of the NEAT programme, a grant of $100 million had been approved for disbursement from the pledged total of US $700 million, scheduled for disbursement between 2024 and 2026,” the minister said.

Musokotwane also explained that the World Bank disbursement of the grant was a “clear demonstration of the confidence the Bank had on Zambia’s home-grown strategic reforms and in the country’s recently strengthened public financial governance credentials, among other factors.”

“The Government of the Republic of Zambia conveys a special appreciation to World Bank Group, President Ajay Banga, and his teams at headquarters, in the region and the country office, for the exceptional generosity,” Musokotwane said in the statement.

“The World Bank’s approval of the NEAT Programme is timely because it will deliver immediate financial boost to ZESCO and support the procurement process for non-hydropower renewables at this critical time when Zambia is experiencing an extensive drought.”

The Minister added that for the Rural Electrification Authority (REA), the grant would be “channeled towards operationalization of the Rural Electrification Fund to ensure financial sustainability of capital expenditure for social objectives while increasing energy access for the country’s outlying areas.”

He noted that the NEAT Programme would further augment the government’s efforts in enhancing reliability and climate resilience of the electricity sector by supporting implementation of the ZESCO strategy for improved customer management, reliability of supply and system resilience to climate change.

“Save for the devastating effects of the drought, which we will able handle to ensure that none of our fellow citizens starve, our reform process is on course,” Musokotwane said.

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