The Kapasseni School
Canadian and Mozambican flags fly together at Kapasseni School
Escola Primaria de Kapasseni was built by the villagers in July 1999, with the help of Joseph, Perpetua and four others from Canada who travelled to Kapasseni. The school was funded largely with the proceeds of a benefit concert performed by singer Ann Mortifee and the Gettin' Higher Choir. The first school building was a temporary one-room wooden structure, with 150 children and 30 adults taking classes in shifts, sitting on the dirt floor.
In 2000, a permanent brick schoolhouse was built, and has been expanded to accommodate growing enrolment, now reaching Grade 5. With generous support, we have added desks and chairs, a sewing program, a traditional music program, and a breakfast program.
The students are taught Portuguese, mathematics, geography, history, arts and physical education. The children often learn through storytelling and songs - a kind of teaching that has long been a part of Kapasseni culture. After school the older students tend a nearby garden plot. There is also a sports program, consisting of coached soccer games in the open space outside the school.
The school started its new year in January 2007 with 387 students. They
are taught by two teachers and a part time literacy instructor. There
have been so many deaths from AIDS in Mozambique that the country has
a critical shortage of teachers and other professionals. The Kapasseni
Project has hired an assistant teacher to help with the large number of
students this year, until the government is able to send another teacher.
Shivon Robinsong and Kapasseni students linking
Canada and Mozambique across the globe
