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Sorie K and the MDGs
Sorie Kondi and the MDGs… Millennium Development Goals… not an R & B band, but goals set by world leaders meeting at the UN in 2000. Musician Sorie Kondi, blind from birth, has been called Sierra Leone’s Stevie Wonder – but that may be premature. Still trying to make it as a world musician, Sorie’s worried about the future of his daughter Zainab.
Getting 14-year-old Zeinab through school is a big struggle for Sorie. Busking the streets helps raise funds for this. Primary education is free in Sierra Leone. But there are extra fees demanded by poorly paid teachers and other costs.
Theophilus - concerned about 'ghost teachers'.
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Somehow Sorie always finds the money. But keeping Zeinab out of trouble is more difficult. She lives with her cousins who all have stopped their schooling early because of pregnancy.
We asked Sorie Kondi to help us make a road movie looking at what’s happening with girls’ education round the country 10 years after civil war. But Sorie Kondi’s barely ventured out of Freetown since the civil war started 18 years ago. Sorie’s trusted aide is 20-year-old Fodey P – who helped with production on Sorie’s first album.
One of the problems for girls in rural areas is the long walks to school. Sorie's daughter's lucky. Over a quarter of a million children don’t go to primary school. And most of them girls. Twelve hundred schools were destroyed in the civil war.
They give a lift to Theophilus, who's a primary school teacher. What’s making him angry – Ghost Teachers. It’s estimated the government has been paying the salaries of 30,000 teachers who don’t exist. But the government has now started a roll call of teachers to make sure the money’s spent properly. Theophilus says it’s an urgent problem.
In Sorie Kondi’s village – Mangay Loko - they meet his old friend Hassan who used to be a small time trader. Hassan did pass his school exams but no more. He is a UU, an unqualified, untrained teacher. The village pays him what they can when they can. It’s often not much. Almost half of Sierra Leone’s teachers are UUs and often have second jobs to survive.
Sorie's old friend Hassan, now a 'UU' teacher.
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Three years ago Hassan was accepted into a training programme. He has the letter. He’s just waiting for confirmation of funding. Unfortunately he’s been waiting three years.
Visiting another rural school in Mateboi, Sorie finds that free primary education has seen a huge increase in pupils here - it’s up by half. Now the school has 425 students but only five teachers and three classrooms. Half the classes are under mango trees. There are not enough buildings.
When the rain comes the problem really starts. Children from the mango tree classrooms pile into the school building classrooms and the entire school comes to a halt. For nine-year-old Fatmata that means losing up to 40 days a year of school. "When I come to school in the mornings and it rains heavily my books and uniform get completely soaked."
In Koidu, a diamond centre, they meet Sia Elizabeth Tongu who belongs to a women’s group against teenage marriage. She says: "Our young girls face a lot of challenges. People with money will lure them out of school. We’re concerned about teenage marriages, early marriages we call them out here. I mean imagine babies having babies - it’s really a serious problem. And then also, they drop out of school because they cannot continue with school once they get married and get stuck in these marital affairs."
In Kenema, Juliette is a primary school teacher, volunteer radio journalist, and a single mother. She runs a youth programme and opens the phone lines every Saturday morning.
"Most questions that used to come to our studio, whenever I’m presenting this programme, people say the teenagers themselves are responsible for the problems they usually face. They want to live big, they want to live with all opportunities. So most of the time they choose to go to the street and just live their own life. I’ll blame the parents, the guidance, I’ll blame the teenagers themselves. Then I’ll blame also the schools that these teenagers are attending."
Sorie and Fodey on Tiwai Island.
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Then on to Tiwai Island – Sierra Leone’s river island wildlife sanctuary. There’s someone who wants to talk to Sorie. Momodu’s a boat man transferring tourists to Tiwai Island. He spent a lot of money on his daughter Millicent’s secondary education. His daughter’s ‘belly business’ or pregnancy has been a disappointment… especially as it involved her teacher.
Millicent explains: "The story behind my pregnancy is that I was going to school and I suddenly get pregnant. I was in love with my teacher a long time… since I was in form one. He helped me pass my exams and paid for my practical fees and other things. When I told him that I was pregnant he said don’t tell me that… He said if I was willing, he had the money, I could have an abortion. I said no because some friends have died because of abortion. So I said ‘no’, I prefer to give birth."
Momodou's daughter Millicent, made pregnant by her teacher...
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When Millicent reported her story to the police, she was told the teacher was already in custody on similar charges of sex with a minor – another schoolgirl. Two weeks later her father heard the teacher had been released and was back teaching at the school. No one’s sure why.
Says Sorie: "I feel bad for the father of the girl. I don’t even know what to say. The police and the school authorities ganged up against the father. The police must have taken a bribe to release this man."
Back in Freetown, there’s a lot riding on his Sorie's album – his success, and Zeinab’s future.
Sorie happy at the end of his journey.
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"Zeinab’s my child, but she has a mind of her own. Even though I really hope she finishes her studies, it’s up to her. I am praying to God that she finishes her education because I believe it will be good for her. If I get money I will send her to college."
TRANSCRIPT
Read the full transcript of Sorie K and the MDGs
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