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| The Minister for Education in the Ivory Coast opens the school in November 2009. |
The Victoria Climbie Charitable Trust - NEWS UPDATE:
The school was granted a licence from the Ivory Coast Government to allow the education of children to begin in September 2008. The school formally opened in the Autumn of 2009.
Your donations will help to ensure there are sufficient funds to run the school. The more money that is raised, the more children can be educated. It costs approximately £23,000 a year to run the school. The salary of a teacher is £1,000 per annum.
The civil war in the Ivory Coast forced the closure of the school from November 2010 until May 2011. The school has now reopened and life is beginning to get back to normal for people living there.
Construction work is underway to build a canteen so that the children who go to the school can be provided with a cooked meal during the school day.
Your support is vital to us. Together we can make a real difference to the lives of many vulnerable children in memory of Victoria Climbie. Please give generously to provide the school with a sustainable future.
The Trust Background:
Victoria Adjo Climbié died at St. Mary's Hospital, London, in February 2000. She had endured appalling abuse at the hands of her great aunt, Marie Therese Kouao, and Kouao's boyfriend, Karl Manning.
Victoria's parents, Francis Climbié and Berthe Amoissi, sent their daughter from the Ivory Coast to stay with her aunt in Europe, believing that she would receive a better education (a common practice in West Africa). Instead, Victoria suffered months of neglect and beatings, and died of hypothermia.
After Victoria's death, Alan Milburn, then health secretary, ordered a statutory inquiry, headed by the former chief inspector of social services, Lord Herbert Laming. In his report, published in January 2003, Lord Laming stated that one of the most striking features of Victoria's case was the sheer number of occasions (12) when the most minor and basic intervention from the many social workers, police officers and doctors who saw Victoria's injuries, could have saved her.
In the wake of the Government's Children's Green Paper, Victoria's parents established the Victoria Climbie Charitable Trust, to commemorate the life of their daughter, and to build a school in the Ivory coast in her memory.
Victoria's mother Berthe has issued the following appeal: ''If this school is built in Victoria's memory, I will know that Victoria will not have died in vain.''
The Victoria Climbie Charitable Trust was founded to build a lasting memorial to Victoria Climbie, and to ensure something positive comes out of the tragic circumstances surrounding her death.
The trust hopes to realize Victoria's parents' vision of building a primary school in Abobo, an area of the Ivory Coast near to where Victoria was born. It is hoped the school will give local children the educational opportunities that the family believe Victoria could not have had if she stayed in the Ivory Coast.
Currently, the nearest state school to Abobo is half a day's drive away and many children in the area do not receive any education as a result.
Although, there is a small private school nearby, many cannot afford the fees.
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This is a photograph of one of the 12 classrooms. All classrooms have been equipped with furniture made by local craftsmen. |
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Children from the school attending the opening ceremony. |
The VCCT was founded by Francis and Berthe Climbie, Victoria's parents.
Other Trustees are Mor Dioum and Caroline Ingram MBE, long term supporters of the family.
The Trust is a UK registered charity, number 1099695.
The Trust is working in partnership with ONEF, an NGO which specialises in the family, child protection and education projects in the Ivory Coast.
The Trust has close links with the NSPCC.
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