Oé-Cusse, 18 March 2024 (TVDJ) – According to Domingos Xavier, 19 years old, that as an active student at Ensino Básico 3o Ciclo, in Ensino Básico Público Meco-Sicaloti, he had to walk every day almost 5 km, between the directions of Padiae tribe Lalisuk was heading towards the Nai-Meco tribe, Aldeia Baqui and crossed the Tono river twice.
“I decided to leave my parents in the Nipani tribe to live with my brother in the Lalisuk tribe, Aldeia Padiea, just because I wanted to continue my studies at Ensino Pré-Secundário, but every day I had to cross the Tono river twice and walk almost 5 km from home to school.” He informed the TVDJ journalist on the Tono river
The student added that in Padiae there is an elementary school but it is a private school, so his parents did not have the money to pay for his schooling, therefore he decided to continue his studies at Ensino Básico Público Meco-Sicaloti. In the rainy season, he feels miserable because of the strong river currents. He and his friends have to be patient to keep crossing the Tono river so they can shorten the road to get to Baqui school more quickly.
“If I had money I would pay for a bemo to rest my feet and would get off at the Tono market of the Cunha tribe, Aldeia Noe-Ninen, then I would continue walking from Tono market to my school, when I crossed the river I had to walk about 1 km, even though it was very risky for our lives but we have to be patient and accept the reality.” said the student
Pré-Secundário students asked the government to look at their schools which are very far away, so that the government can build schools that are close to the community and the students can study well, because students cannot study well during learning process if they have to cross the river.
Based on the observations of TVDJ journalists, they saw that the reality of the distance faced by the students was very far and the river posed a big risk to their lives.
Report by : Flavio Suni
Picture by : Flavio
