Back to school a month after fire disaster

Fatmat smiles for her school materials

By Abdul Sillah, Advocacy and Communication Intern

Fatmata Turay is a twelve-year-old class four pupil from Corner community in Fogbo. She has been out of school for a month since the fire that wiped out 37 houses in her community. Fatmata lost her home and belongings. Her father is old and sick, leaving her mother as sole breadwinner for the family who now has to make ends meet on her meager resources from petty trading. 

Fatmata loves school. She is one of the top performers in her class and her favorite subject is Social Studies. Since the fire, she has not been able to go to school because she lost her uniform and school materials. 

The fire displaced 428 people in a village of over a thousand people. Fatmata is one of 103 pupils who have been out of school since the disaster. 

To ensure schoolchildren go back to school, Save the Children distributed bags, books, pens, pencils and other necessary school items including basic clothing and hygiene kits as part of the relief support to affected communities.  

After receiving the items Fatmata confidently announced that she will be “returning to school tomorrow.”