One child - one chicken

UAC and the Jamadianale school has had a lot of attention from people in Cameroon due to its holistic approach to education, small class sizes and innovative programmes.

Today the one child - one chicken and the one child - one tree programmes were launched at the school, the baking sun above us showed zero mercy, but the big ceremony was a great success despite the prolific heat. The class 5's were presented with a live chick and the class 4's were given seeds to plant a tree.

I watched as these wee chicks were handed out in plastic bags to the kids, i couldn't decide whether it was a good idea or a really bad one. The thinking behind it was these kids take these chicks away to rear them over the summer holidays and thus instilling in them the importance of living things and the hardships that are synonymous with caring for them. When they come back to school they are going to sell the fully grown chickens in an auction arranged by UAC, this will give them the values of making a sustainable income from the land. Good ideas in principle, but when you've got 60 kids carrying chickens in a bag, it's hard for your mind to make up its mind. Some were carrying them at arms length in fear of their cute, fluffy, adorable faces. Some were curiously and shamelessly inspecting the birds' genitalia. I thought to myself, this is madness, but it's just crazy enough to work. I'm not sure how the wee chicks felt about it though.

The class 4's were given tree seeds and a bag to plant them in, not quite as ceremonious as a live fowl granted, but the important message was still there. They are going to plant the saplings at home and bring them to the new school site in the new term to be planted in the compound. Again these wee kids will learn the importance of living things and maybe in the future they will be less inclined to cut down are leafy friends, for if it wasn't for them we wouldn't be here at all. I presented the first girl with 6 seeds for planting, she smiled at me like she didn't have a clue what was going on, i said in her ear, 'here is some magic beans, plant them and they will grow taller than you'. She looked at me even more confused but she smiled emphatically. Some dude with a video camera filmed it all so maybe i'll be on Cameroonian T.V.

There was a carnival atmosphere in the school and Mr. Orock was giving interviews to different people and presenting the show. Kids were walking about with little bemused chicks peering out of bags with abject fear in their eyes. It was all rather surreal and i got a bit snap-happy with the old camera because it seemed wherever i looked there was a photo opportunity. It's days like when i realise i'm in Cameroon. It hits my face like a wet slap of water and suddenly i'm looking at a sea of kids holding petrified chickens aloft wrapped in crude plastic bags, I wish i could explain it better to you and to myself, but i do have photographic evidence, so i know it definately happened.