Fondation AHDIEH participates in the sustainable development of the the Central African Republic (CAR) by supporting teacher training and community school development throughout the country. Our partner has put special measures in place to encourage the participation of women in its teacher training seminars. Unlike other schools in the country, 65% of active community school teachers trained by AHDIEH are women. According to our partner’s experience, women often become their strongest community school teachers. The following testimony illustrates this fact.
On the outskirts of Bangui, the school Marie-Therèse stands as a small community school encircled by a handmade fence. It has one building with four classrooms that accommodate its 170 students across five grades. Although the foundation for a second school building next door has been poured, its construction came to a halt when violent fighting broke out among militarized groups at the height of the civil conflict. Many surrounding homes and the government school showed signs of burned roofs and destruction. The main building of the Marie-Therèse school was protected, however, by community members who defended the school they had built, and it was the parents who helped to re-open it in 2016, once it was safe enough to do so.