Children in Kenya’s northeast Boni Forest, on the border with Somalia,
returned to the classroom this week, after seven years. Schools were forced to close
there because teachers were not willing to work in the area after deadly attacks by
the militant group al-Shaabab. DW's east Africa correspondent
Mariel Müller and a colleague from the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel got rare access
to the volatile region of Boni Forest near Lamu Island and a team visited one school.
The only way we could get to these remote villages
near the Somali border is by sea. The trip over land is too dangerous:
improvised landmines are scattered along the only road, planted by Al Shabaab.
On the edge of Boni forest, Kiangwe Primary school has finally reopened.
Kids are back, seven years after Al Shabaab attacked villages in the area.
Farid Kale is the head teacher – and also the only teacher here.
"Al Shabaab targets government employees including myself. The moment you wake up
and you realize that you’re okay, you thank God. So before you sleep you pray to God."
Kale was the only teacher who dared to come back here. Every half an hour he switches classroom,
teaching up to 3 classes at the same time. Taking care of around 100 school children.
"I’m alone at the moment, so teaching becomes a problem. It is so tiresome because I
have to teach, after completing the lesson, I go to another class, I teach…"
He has a lot to catch up on. The children are years behind in their education.
But they have learned how to react when they hear gun shots - and they know what Al Shabaab is.
"I’m afraid of them because they burn the camps./But now I’m happy to go
back to school to continue studying." Many of the children’s parents couldn’t
afford to take them to another school, so most of them had to stay at home.
"Kids are excited to be back at school. You can really get a sense of how important education
is for them. But just 20 kilometers down this road this week an Al Shabaab explosive
device blew up a military vehicle and killed at least two Kenyan soldiers."
The threat is so great that a military base has been set up next to the school.
60 border patrol officers protect the school and its children. The officers are concerned that the
security situation is deteriorating. "Currently not safe.
Currently not safe. Maybe for these 6 months that I’ve been here, I think this month is not good."
A few days ago, the military defended a larger base from an attack by the Islamists.
These men put their lives at risk to protect this school from being raided.
In 2014 Al Shabaab attacked a nearby village. The militants looted hospitals
and burned down schools. Then they started rounding up young men for recruitment.
"They told me that they would drop me to the ground, slash my neck, that's what they said./
After they captured me they started interrogating me and threatened to slaughter me. They asked if
my religion was not Islam. They got my identity from my ID card. They confirmed I am Muslim."
He was spared because of his faith. Now, with the military base in place,
villagers feel more secure. And even the military has started
helping the kids. Border patrol officers from next door are stepping in as part-time teachers.
One of them, Samuel Gitau, was even trained to be a teacher before joining the army.
"I met the teacher and I found he was being overworked./ He has so many kids here to teach and
I find the burden which he holds, I have to assist him at times. For the better of these kids."
While schools remain open, Samuel Gitau says,
educating the next generation will strengthen the fight against terrorism.